PITTSBURGH — The Baltimore Ravens continue to have poor results and Lamar Jackson is tired of it. The reigning league MVP made no secret of his frustration following Sunday’s 18-16 loss to the Steelers that left Baltimore at 7-4 and 1.5 games behind Pittsburgh for first place in the AFC North.
Once again, the Ravens couldn’t overcome self-inflicted wounds. Specifically, Baltimore’s offense continually shot itself in the foot with no-car penalties and negative plays that often put Jackson in obvious passing situations.
“Absolutely,” Jackson said afterward when asked if he feels Baltimore is his biggest enemy. “I think it’s been like that since last year, going back to the AFC Championship (when) we committed suicide. The Chiefs game, the first game, we committed suicide. Raiders, we committed suicide, and today it’s the same.
“We can’t beat ourselves in these types of games. We have to find a way to fix it. That shit is annoying.”
It’s hard to argue with Jackson. Despite having the league’s top-ranked scoring offense, two MVP candidates and a defense that features several stalwarts, the Ravens continue to take a backseat to Kansas City, Buffalo and now Pittsburgh in the league’s pecking order. AFC. This is due to their inability to get out of their own way.
On Sunday, Derrick Henry fumbled on the second play of the game, leading to the first of Chris Boswell’s six field goals. Leading 7-6 at the end of the first half and deep in their own territory, Baltimore decided to be aggressive rather than take a knee and go into halftime with the lead. The gamble failed, the Ravens fumbled again and Boswell made them pay with a field goal, again.
Trailing 15-10 in the fourth quarter, the Ravens defense made a big play when Marlon Humphrey intercepted Russell Wilson in the end zone. Jackson ran for 25 yards on the next play and the Ravens seemed to take control again.
But on the next play, a 15-yard completion from Jackson to Henry on a screen pass was called back after lineman Patrick Mekari was penalized for being illegally on the field. Jackson went deep on the next play and was intercepted by Steelers rookie linebacker Payton Wilson. Wilson’s pick set up Boswell’s game-winning field goal.
There were also the two missed field goals in the first half by Justin Tucker, one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history. Tucker has already tied his career record for most field goals in a season (six).
Another example of Jackson’s frustrations occurred on one play when Jackson broke seemingly a half-dozen tackles in the backfield before finding Zay Flowers on the field for what would have been a first down. But Flowers dropped the ball, nullifying Jackson’s Herculean effort.
Every team makes mistakes. The Steelers made several on Sunday, including the Wilson pick that was the result of an extremely ill-advised throw. But good teams minimize their mistakes and usually find a way to overcome them. The Ravens haven’t done it at a high enough level either, a fact that is clearly eating away at their All-Pro quarterback.
