Some games are so bad, you just turn them off and watch something else, anything else. You just forget it.
That’s what the Baltimore Ravens should do after they laid an egg Saturday against the Cleveland Browns, losing 13-3.
Why should they forget it? Because that’s all they can do; you can’t take anything positive from this stinker.
Where do you point the blame for this loss? Take your pick: special teams, turnovers, stalled drives, miscommunication.
If it smelled bad, it belonged to Baltimore today.
The longer Lamar Jackson is sidelined, the more obvious it becomes – this team is just bad without him. The missed opportunities continue to pile up like freshly plowed snow for Baltimore.
The script on how this game was likely to be played came right before halftime as Justin Tucker hooked a 48-yard attempt, the ball tailing off at the last second outside the left upright.
And then to continue that thread, Cleveland cornerback Denzel Ward just outwilled a contested pass from DeSean Jackson in the red zone to start the second half. Two missed opportunities, 10 points squandered away.
At that moment it was obvious, that this might not be the Ravens’ day here on the shore of Lake Erie. Without Jackson, the passing game barely has a pulse, the running game is one-dimensional; in other words, the Ravens’ margin of error is minuscule. And when Baltimore consistently leaves points on the field, that margin of error vanishes.
For the Ravens offensively, it was running back J.K. Dobbins, who accounted for 125 rushing yards. And that was all they had. When the opposing defense knows the opponent’s passing game is nonexistent, it simplifies things a bit for the defense. For Baltimore backup quarterback Tyler Huntley, it must have looked like the Browns had a few extra players on the field all game.
When the Ravens fell behind by 10 points, they had to have plays through the air to make a comeback. Dropped passes, bad routes, bad timing, the overall lack of capable receivers became evident.
The frustrating part of the loss is that Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson did not exactly have a Pro Bowl-type outing himself. His numbers were pedestrian, but when he did begin to feel comfortable, he made the few plays he needed to make to secure the win.
The reality of today’s game against the Browns is clear. Even when Jackson has been healthy this year, the Ravens have been far from a talented team. More like a seriously flawed team that was on the verge of being exposed. Today, against a bad Cleveland team, the curtain was pulled fully away.
The other reality for Baltimore is that without Jackson, this team is mired in the mud. Even being sidelined with a knee injury for the last two games, the cost of signing Jackson is only getting larger.
The Ravens had 198 rushing yards, but forced to throw while playing from behind in the fourth, Huntley couldn’t produce a big play, and made a critical mistake in the third quarter, when he was picked off at the Cleveland 9, with the Ravens threatening to take the lead.
The Ravens had been imploring Huntley in practice to avoid taking the big hit; on the errant pass he did just that, throwing high and behind DeShawn Jackson. A healthy Lamar Jackson may have taken off and scored.
Without Jackson, Baltimore is one-dimensional, and the rest of the NFL defenses, like sharks, smell blood in the water. This must be disturbing for the Ravens management, who now can no longer negotiate from even neutral grounds with Jackson.
If Lamar is to remain in Charm City next season, he can practically write out his own check.
And he may need help getting it to the bank.
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