Welcome back to the Ravens Reality Check, the imitated-but-not-quite-replicated corner where we evaluate the Monday morning hot takes about the Baltimore Ravens and stick them in the picnic cooler for a few hours.
Unfortunately for the Ravens, the takes are as hot as Hades on the heels of an 0-2 start few saw coming. And while some of them might be boiling over the cauldron of sensibility, most of the calls for accountability are pretty understandable.
1. John Harbaugh should be on the hot seat!
Social media gonna social media, so I’m not surprised that this take (which we’ve seen before this year) was recirculating after the Ravens’ latest debacle, which the AP reported is the ninth time Harbaugh has lost a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.
It bears repeating: Harbaugh is pretty much as secure as it gets. For one thing, there’s the winning percentage (.613), which is truly difficult to achieve when you’ve been an NFL head coach this long. Only four active coaches have been coaching at least 17 seasons with a better winning percentage: Andy Reid, Mike Tomlin, Mike McCarthy and Sean Payton. Like those coaches, Harbaugh also has a ring (only Reid has more than one on that list).
It’s also hard to overstate the impact Harbaugh has made setting the culture in Owings Mills, overseeing aspects of the franchise and the way the team goes about their business at a precise level of detail. There is a reason why many players come to Baltimore and call it one of the best experiences they’ve had, and it has to do with the organization’s approach to leadership longevity and setting expectations — something that can seem somewhat intangible, but please trust me, it exists and it matters.
All that being said: Harbaugh has to be accountable for mistakes on Sunday. He challenged twice on plays that he should have known, even if it was by looking at the video board on the west end zone, would not be overturned. He lost two valuable timeouts that may have cost the Ravens scoring opportunities at the end of each half. The disorganized drives on offense, especially in the fourth quarter, fall on a coaching staff that led FS1′s Emmanuel Acho to ask, “What’s the Ravens’ identity? I don’t know the Ravens’ identity. I truly don’t.”
The bottom line is a coach that has made his name setting a culture known for dictating physicality and capitalizing on opponent’s mistakes hasn’t gotten his team up to that standard yet. I don’t think anyone should be impressed by where the Ravens are two games into the season, but I don’t think that means Harbaugh isn’t up for the job of turning things around.
The fact that the Ravens haven’t started a season 0-2 for the last nine years should actually be a credit to how consistent Harbaugh has been in the past, rather than a cudgel to say he’s lost his fastball. The Ravens were just in the AFC championship game. I think recency bias, plus the tiny sample size of former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald’s 2-0 start in Seattle, is fueling the overreaction here.
2. Lamar Jackson isn’t playing like an MVP!
I’ve been writing the Reality Check for a year now, and I know just how much of a flip-flopper Stephen A. Smith can be, especially on the topic of Lamar Jackson. One week, Smith tells the world that Jackson deserves more respect. The next, he’ll hammer him as untrustworthy.
That’s why it makes me take a long, deep look in the mirror when Smith says something on “First Take” about Jackson that makes me nod my head in agreement.
“Two-time league MVP, and you have a situation where you have a 10-point lead with 12 minutes left, and yet again you can’t hold onto it,” Smith said. “You got the MVP statue. You the man. Go out there and figure it out. It’s really that simple. Now I’m not saying he has to do it by himself, because we know better than that. [But] the reality is that the game was there for you to win.”
I cited this idea in my column on Sunday, and I’ll add another thought here: A week before in Kansas City, Jackson all but donned a cape as he and Isaiah Likely were a toe away from having a chance to tie the game with the defending champions. We know Jackson is capable of greatness. But that version of him wasn’t there in the fourth quarter against the Raiders, and Jackson has to know it.
It was a little uncomfortable that he had to run 16 times against the Chiefs to make the game competitive, but only five carries against Las Vegas seems like an overcorrection. As incredible as his across-the-body throw to Zay Flowers was, he missed targets downfield when he had time, like overthrowing Mark Andrews in the second quarter. The two three-and-outs before the final drive were damning for the whole offense, but Jackson bears more weight simply because he’s the best player.
FS1′s Chase Daniel mentioned that no defending MVP has ever started the season 0-2. As good as Baltimore has been in this era, Jackson has to be one of the people who answers for that.
It didn’t help that the quarterback to whom he’s most often compared, Patrick Mahomes, pulled his team back from defeat Sunday afternoon against the Bengals with a game-winning drive for a field goal.
Jackson is not the only reason the Ravens lost. No one is saying that. But the Ravens could have used hero stuff from Jackson in that fourth quarter. We know he has it in him.
3. The Ravens don’t know how to use Derrick Henry!
You’d expect a former running back to stick up for a running back. After Derrick Henry got 84 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, FS1′s LeSean McCoy was livid that Henry got just one touch in the fourth quarter. “Give the King Derrick Henry the ball and let him work!” he thundered.
I have similar concerns, especially after the season opener when Henry ran just 13 times. But after two weeks, it might be more of a blocking problem than a play-calling problem.
The Banner’s Paul Mancano got into this at length, but a quick diagnosis: According to TruMedia, Henry’s average yardage before contact in the first half was minus-0.86 yards. Think about that: On average, he was getting hit before even reaching the line of scrimmage. It points to the inexperience the Ravens have up front, and in some cases, the blocking schemes. On one of his early attempts, Henry was eaten up by Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby as Ravens guard Andrew Vorhees failed to pull to the right side in time to get the assignment. In another, Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely couldn’t stay in front of Henry.
The north-south running style that is Henry’s bread and butter hasn’t been working, and some of it is blocking, and some is also the defense’s ability to sell out on the run when he subs in the game — something ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky pointed out on several morning shows, calling the Ravens’ offense “predictable.”
An improvement in the third quarter saw Henry power the Ravens’ best drive of the day to go up 23-13, so it’s possible to get things going the right way. But man, it feels like it should be more straightforward to give Henry the ball, especially in a situation when you’re trying to run out clock to hold onto a lead.
