A fourth-quarter collapse doomed the Ravens in their home opener as they fell to the Las Vegas Raiders 26-23 and started the season 0-2 for the first time since 2015.
The Raiders scored 13 unanswered points to end the game, including a go-ahead 38-yard field goal by kicker Daniel Carlson. The Ravens are staring down the possibility of an 0-5 start, with games against the Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals looming.
After limiting the Raiders to two first-half field goals, the Ravens gave up scores on four of the Raiders’ five second-half drives. A 25-yard field goal by Carlson cut the Ravens’ lead to 23-16 five minutes into the fourth quarter, and a 1-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Gardner Minshew to wide receiver Davante Adams evened the score with 3:42 left.
The Ravens went three-and-out on their next drive, derailed by a first-down sack by star Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, and a bad punt by Jordan Stout and a penalty gave the Raiders possession at the Ravens’ 43 with 2:21 remaining in the second half.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson, who finished 21-for-34 for 247 yards, a touchdown and an interception, got the Ravens to the 41-yard line on their final drive before a last-ditch, Hail Mary run attempt fizzled out across midfield.
The loss overshadowed a promising performance from running back Derrick Henry, whose 3-yard score on a Wildcat run early in the fourth quarter extended the Ravens’ lead to 23-13. Henry finished with 18 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown after a quiet night in the Ravens’ season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
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The first half was a field goal party, with Ravens kicker Justin Tucker making three of his four attempts and Carlson nailing 51- and 53-yarders.
Jackson added to the Ravens’ 9-6 halftime lead with an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Zay Flowers on the Ravens’ first third-quarter possession, but an interception on his next drive proved costly. Raiders running back Alexander Mattison capped a 46-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge late in the third quarter that cut Las Vegas’ deficit to 16-13.
Will it get worse before it gets better?
OK, so the Ravens lost to the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in their season opener. No big deal, right?
Well, not if you don’t beat the Las Vegas Raiders, who limped into Baltimore after losing to the Zombie Ravens — excuse me, I mean the Los Angeles Chargers — in their season opener.
Now, though? After an embarrassing 26-23 loss? Things get a heck of a lot more difficult. The Ravens have to go to Dallas to take on a Cowboys team that will be fired up for its own bounce-back performance after a bad loss to the New Orleans Saints. Then the Buffalo Bills, one of the NFL’s most impressive teams through two weeks, comes to Baltimore. Then the Ravens go to Cincinnati to face a Bengals team that might’ve figured stuff out by Week 5.
So, yeah, it might get worse before it gets better.
— Jonas Shaffer, Ravens reporter
Offense still searching
Last year, Banner writers remarked that the Ravens put together a surprisingly efficient offensive performance in Week 2 under their new offensive coordinator to put away the Cincinnati Bengals. Now, it’s Week 2 again, but it’s also Year 2 for Todd Monken. Yet it felt like the offense was still trying to figure things out. Oh, we have one of the top running backs in the league? We should give it to Derrick Henry. And we have two great tight ends? Look at that. Credit to the Ravens, they tightened up after halftime for a touchdown drive. But, in clutch time, the offense, led by the reigning MVP, failed to put the game away. Sure, they have a leaky offensive line that was exposed by Maxx Crosby. But the blame doesn’t fall solely on its shoulders, however broad they may be. There should have been enough there to figure something out against a team that lost 22-10 to the other Harbaugh brother and his Chargers team last week.
– Giana Han, Ravens reporter
Frustrating in familiar ways
Leading up to Sunday, it almost felt like a joke that the Ravens couldn’t lose to Gardner Minshew for a second straight year. But, after the Ravens failed to capitalize on a two-score lead and gave it all back in the fourth quarter, it sure felt a lot like last year. The offense looking dominant on one drive but not the next. The defense losing track of the key playmakers in coverage. Missing a 50-plus-yard field goal while the competition drills more than one. Why does the way the Ravens lose to an inferior opponent always seem the same?
It’s only Week 2, but the Ravens should be asking soul-searching questions already. Can they do more along a beleaguered offensive line? Why haven’t their best weapons — including Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry — been unlocked more often? Why was it so hard to locate Davante Adams and Brock Bowers when they were understood to be the lifeblood of the Raiders’ offense? Why do games like this happen to this team a few times per season?
That last question might be rhetorical, but it is going to sit heavy on the hearts of Ravens fans who can’t help but be bitterly disappointed by another subpar showing. It was one of the most winnable games on the schedule — somehow, it’s not a win.
– Kyle Goon, sports columnist
Even with Derrick Henry, Ravens lack a finisher
Remember the Colts game in 2023? Or the first Steelers game? Or how about the second Browns game? It’s OK if you forgot — or blocked them from your memory — because the Ravens provided a replay on Sunday.
After stumbling blindly through a touchdown-less first half, the offense appeared to have picked up some momentum after the break, producing a methodical 70-yard touchdown drive to open the second half. They added one more touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, but when the game was on the line, the Ravens offense fell back asleep. We’ve seen this Todd Monken-led unit go quiet at inopportune times before, and it cost them three winnable games last year and another one Sunday. Derrick Henry was supposed to be their finisher, the guy who melted away the clock when the Ravens had the lead. So much for that.
– Paul Mancano, Banner Ravens Podcast co-host
Eric DeCosta fixed the wrong thing
Signing Derrick Henry was fun. How could you not get excited about having him plunge into a defense that also has to account for Lamar Jackson? It just made sense, as a concept, and as a thing that would add buzz to an offseason that saw beloved players leave in free agency.
The reality, as pointed out by Ravens coach John Harbaugh to the CBS broadcast team, is the Ravens have been very good at running the ball without a marquee back for years. And that’s in part because of the way Jackson keeps a defense conflicted but also because Baltimore always tended to the offensive line and had enough talent there.
That’s not even close to the case this year, and it is ruining the entire plan. Although it’s possible that Roger Rosengarten acclimates fully at right tackle and somebody who is not way too tall to play guard will emerge to play right guard, those feel like risky bets. And the Ravens are already in a hole they haven’t been in since 2015.
– Chris Korman, sports editor
