We aren’t even close to the holiday season. Heck, we haven’t even made it to Halloween! And there are still almost two months until Festivus, the holiday created by Seinfeld that comes on December 23.
But after Sunday’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens fans deserve an early chance to air their grievances. In todya
Nikhil’s grievance: I’ll have to dive into the film to dissect what went wrong in coverage beyond individual mistakes, but on offense, the short-yardage issues are absolutely inexcusable. What is most frustrating is the variety of mistakes. A one-yard distance was extended to six after a false start three times. Derrick Henry was stuffed (again). After a couple of conversions, Declan Doyle got too cute with his play-calling. Tyler Huntley and Ja’Kobi Lane failed to connect on a potential touchdown that Lamar Jackson probably completes. Which brings me to the obvious: yes, the Ravens should be better in short-yardage in Jackson. And yet, it was already a problem when he was on the field.
The solution comes from identifying the failures. Opponents are already stacking the box on third-and-short waiting to swallow up Henry – why run him into the pile when the pile includes Dexter Lawrence? Doyle found early success with two-RB ‘pony’ packages featuring Henry and Justice Hill, but the Bengals were ready when he went back to the well for a third time. The element of deception was lacking on Hill’s second-quarter sweep; Zay Flowers had only been eye candy, so the defense barely reacted to his jet motion. That actually would have been the time to mix in a sweep and keep the menu open for the rest of the game!
As for the penalties, we’re well beyond the acceptable adjustment window for a new staff and a new scheme, even including the grace period for changes along the offensive line and at quarterback. (That last part matters less when full-year starters are committing the pre-snap fouls.) The Ravens have actually improved post-snap in the last three weeks, but after just two pre-snap penalties in Atlanta, they have 12 in their last two weeks. Like I said: well past acceptable.