The Baltimore Ravens’ offense looked unstoppable during their five-game winning streak, but that wasn’t the case in Sunday’s loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Suddenly, everything that seemed easy and changed in the last month became a huge challenge. Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson still played well, but they didn’t take over the game like they used to. Add in a lot of self-inflicted wounds, including drops, penalties and an abysmal success rate on third downs, and it was a perfect recipe for a losing game.
There’s also a much more recent problem: slow starts. For the second straight game, the Ravens were held scoreless in the first quarter. They overcame a slow start against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, falling behind 10-0 instead of 3-0 like they did on Sunday, but against a better defense, it was much more costly.
It’s not like the Ravens are struggling to move the ball. They drove 68 yards on their opening 10-play drive, but failed to convert a 4th-and-1 on a direct hit to Henry. However, yards don’t mean much if they don’t lead to points.
“We just have to put the points on the board.” Jackson said after the game. “We’re doing a good job of moving the ball, and then as soon as we switch fields, we just need to do a better job of counting downs. (Adding) first and second down — (for what we have) like third and long, second and long avoiding things’.
This slow start will definitely affect the rest of the game. The Ravens may have put some points on the board in the end, but were simply sloppy in execution. It’s hard to win games like that, especially against a stout defense led by reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.
Hopefully this game will serve as a wake-up call for the Ravens going forward, as they can’t afford to get off to a slow start in the playoffs.
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