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GOOD, BAD & UGLY: Ravens Get Tucked Up!

Monday, December 2, 2024 9:02
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Eagles 24, Ravens 19

Eagles 24, Ravens 19

The Ravens fell to the Eagles 24-19 on Sunday to drop to (8-5) on the season and they’ll now need help from other teams if they still plan on executing mission number one – to win the AFC North. The Ravens had their chances yet squandered them just as they’ve done during each of their losses by a combined deficit of 22 points. That total margin of losses is slightly less than the points Justin Tucker has left on the field in 2024. Tucker’s two missed FGAs against the Eagles combined with his missed extra point puts him at 8 missed FGAs on the season and two missed PATs.

John Harbaugh’s crew is a frustrating outfit. Just as the defense appears to be rounding into shape and hitting their stride, the offense lacks cohesion and the special teams unit looks more like a special victims unit.

Now the Ravens have a week to convalesce, to nurse their self-inflicted wounds, and then determine if they have the intestinal fortitude to suck it up and right the ship starting with one of the league’s junior varsity teams, the New York Giants on December 15. That game is the first of three the Ravens will play in a 10-day span.

But back to yesterday’s dumpster fire…

When the clock ticked down to 0:00 the scoreboard presented a 24-19 Ravens loss. But if you dive into a few stats, the story’s ending seems like a sudden plot twist and an unhappy one to boot for the hometown team.

Eagles at Ravens

When you consider numbers like those above, you’d think turnovers were involved, right? Nope. The game didn’t feature a single turnover. But there were plenty of missed opportunities that the Ravens didn’t capitalize on and they have only themselves to blame, especially in the third quarter:

“We don’t need to worry about the Steelers. We need to worry about us. That’s the first thing; worry about what we need to clean up on this side. Clean that s*** up. Forget every other team. We are beating ourselves out there. There are opportunities, [but] we’re not making them happen. We need to make those critical situations happen, and we’re not doing it.” ~ Lamar Jackson

This is an honest assessment from Lamar, albeit a tired and redundant one. And not much changes. The Ravens continue to find creative ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They are as good as any team in the league, yet they just can’t seem to get all three phases of the game working in unison on a consistent basis. And at some point, the excuses will end because the team will run out of time. “Next week” will turn into next season.

THE GOOD

Offense

You will always find good in Lamar’s game. He’s just a spectacular player. But it’s those plays he leaves on the field that are maddening – throwing into triple coverage while ignoring an open receiver; failing to throw on time; holding the ball too long; excitability that causes passes to sail.

Mark Andrews is wide open v. the Eagles

And maybe the most infuriating habit of late – not running to daylight when it presents itself.

“Yes. My momma just told me that. She just cussed me out, so I’m mad. We’re going to get after it. I’m not going to lie to you; we’re going to get after it. I can’t wait for this bye [week] to get on. We have the Giants coming up. I’m ready to go. I’m just ready to go.” ~ Lamar Jackson on if there were opportunities for him to run the ball more

Zay Flowers had a nice first half but with Bateman going down, the Eagles gave a little more attention to the Ravens talented receiver after the break. Flowers had 3 catches for 74 yards in the first half and unfortunately, that’s what he ended the game with…Derrick Henry had a decent game albeit not one worthy of The King. But that wasn’t on him. The Ravens guards were taken to the woodshed throughout the game by the Eagles interior defensive line. Henry still managed a rugged 82 yards on 19 carries and added another 29 yards on 3 catches.

Defense

Travis Jones, Broderick Washington and Tavius Robinson were all effective up front and save for one run by Saquon Barkley, they kept the MVP candidate contained…Roquan Smith is looking more like Roquan 2023, and that’s a good thing…Chris Board took some snaps from Trenton Simpson and played well for the second consecutive game…Ar’Darius Washington supported the run well coming up to make two tackles for loss…The secondary did a nice job keeping plays in front of them, yielding just 118 gross yards of passing offense.

THE BAD

Offense

With the Ravens leading 9-0 late in the first quarter, Lamar missed a wide-open Isaiah Likely for a big gain with one man to beat. Earlier in the quarter he failed to spot a wide-open Andrews all alone down the right sideline. On the team’s first possession, he overshot Andrews when a touch pass would have ended with an easy six points. Instead, his pass lacked touch and eventually behind the grasp of Andrews.

Mark Andrews v. Eagles

Patrick Mekari and Daniel Faalele were just manhandled. During the bye, the coaching staff really needs to ask themselves if this tandem of guards who struggle against the league’s better defensive fronts, is better than Andrew Vorhees and Ben Cleveland. The Eagles won this game in the trenches and the villains were Messrs. Mekari and Faalele. Hey, have you seen how well Kevin Zeitler is doing in Detroit? Yeah, me too!

Nelson Agholor failed to bring in arguably the best pass Lamar threw all night and if completed, would have changed the complexion of the game. But as Nellie did so many times as a member of the Eagles, he failed to complete the catch.

And it begs the question, why hasn’t Diontae Johnson been given an opportunity. He was acquired from the Panthers for a roll of nickels for this very situation – if and when Rashod Bateman goes down. Where was he?

Defense

There was some shoddy tackling and poor gap integrity on Barkley’s 26-yard TD scamper. I’ll let you pick out the culprits in the video below. This play was a backbreaker.

THE UGLY

Special Teams

It’s sad to see what is happening to Justin Tucker. He’s been such an important and integral part of the Ravens success since 2012 and up until this season, he’s been widely regarded as a lock for the Hall of Fame. That distinction is clearly in jeopardy and if sentimentality is kicked to the curb for a moment, so too is his job. Or at least it should be.

But for those looking to send the Royal Farms spokesman packing a bag and some ROFO World Famous Chicken on a one-way trip out of town, you’d better slow your roll. First, who would his replacement be? And secondly, according to RSR’s Brian McFarland, shipping Tucker out would hit the Ravens books next year with $7.52M in dead cap money and that figure is $445K higher than if they keep him. So, get used to the idea that the Ravens are going to try and work this thing out with their former All Pro specialist.

That said, he was the goat in Sunday’s loss and of course we’re not talk GOAT, as in greatest of all time (although he used to be). According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Tucker is now 19-for-27 on FG attempts this year for a 7o.4-percent clip, which is well below his previous low of 82.5 percent in 2015.

Tucker’s missed field goals not only cost the Ravens points but they also provided the Eagles with great field position. Making the battle for field position even more one-sided was Tylan Wallace’s inability to field punts which regularly bounce deeper into Ravens territory and consequently boxing in the offense. This is a recurring problem that hasn’t been corrected. That’s either a personnel problem, a coaching problem or both.

COACHING

Sounds like the Harbaugh doghouse added a new member this weekend. His name? Diontae Johnson who had exactly zero snaps on Sunday. When asked about Johnson Harbaugh said, “Yes, I’m not really ready to comment on that right now. I will be, [but I] just don’t have enough information right now to talk about that.”

So why dress the guy? And why sit a player like Keaton Mitchell who Todd Monken has still not gotten into the flow of the offense. How do you have that kind of game-changing speed and potential explosive plays standing along the sidelines in street clothes?

Monken has this annoying way of finding something that works but then doesn’t go back to it. He could have had a field day on crossers and corner routes using his tight ends. He did little to help his offense by moving the pocket and avoiding the dominance of the Eagles interior defenders. Play action on first down with boots and waggles with the game’s most mobile QB – not in the plan? And what’s up with this cute little race to the LOS to catch a defense before their set only to run it during all that cuteness, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Zach Orr received a lot of criticism earlier in the year. But things have settled for the Ravens defense, which did a nice job containing a dangerous Eagles offense featuring the league’s most explosive player. Orr had a nice plan to limit Barkley and in doing so the Eagles had only 252 yards of offense.

Paige Spiranac

THE PAIGE SPIRANAC AWARD

Earlier in the season some had written Mark Andrews off and were ready to pass the torch to Likely. Not so fast. If only the rest of the Ravens offense played with the tenacity and passion of Andrews, we might be talking about a different outcome. Mark had 6 catches for 67 yards and a score, but it should have been more if he weren’t held back by the misfires and poor reads from his quarterback and the questionable game plan from his offensive coordinator.

[Ravens Report Card]

The post GOOD, BAD & UGLY: Ravens Get Tucked Up! appeared first on Russell Street Report.


Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2024/12/02/gbu-paige-spiranac/eagles-at-ravens-week-13/


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