OTL: Ravens Face Big Decision Over Bye Week

Let me level with you guys and gals: I know what this is. It’s the worst kind of Monday after the worst kind of game. The fact that you’re here reading about the Ravens and the happenings of Week 13 in the National Football League means you’re braving your feelings and staying plugged into your team through a bevy of negative emotions.

Take a second to give yourself a pat on the back. Now, let’s dive into the miserable NFL Sunday that was…

Ravens fans got to start Sunday by sitting back and watch the early window of games. The biggest game the Ravens’ faithful had on their radar was the Pittsburgh Steelers duking it out with the Cincinnati Bengals. Baltimoreans were in an odd position of rooting for the Bengals to knock the Steelers down a peg in the race for the AFC North crown. The Ravens didn’t get the help they were looking for. Instead the Steelers sent a resounding message to the NFL. We knew the Bengals didn’t have a good defense. We didn’t know that Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh offense was capable of this. The Ravens take the Steelers on in a couple of weeks.

– 414 passing yards
– 3 TDs
– 9-3 on the season@DangeRussWilson has the @steelers rolling @FedEx pic.twitter.com/qsFqR3LIpe

— NFL (@NFL) December 1, 2024

LET. RUSS. COOK.@DangeRussWilson | @FastTwitchDrink pic.twitter.com/nThe99SjGw

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 2, 2024

On the bright side, there is just about zero chance of seeing Cincy sneak into the playoffs at this point. Much of the Flock was worried about seeing Burrow & Chase for a third time. That’s out the window.

The biggest story of the Ravens loss was Justin Tucker missing an extra point and two field goals. Tucker put on a brave face and answered tough questions after the game. It’s comforting to see his reaction to the moment. He’s obviously not happy with his performance and he’s owning up to it and taking responsibility. What’s important here is the psychology of what he’s saying. This doesn’t sound like a kicker who simply lost the ability to do his job. This sounds like a person trying to maintain professionalism and work ethic and someone who is trying to figure things out with a level head.

Justin Tucker after missing two field goals and an extra point

“I feel like I cost us this one” pic.twitter.com/44RoOZJ2fo

— Baltimore Banner Sports (@AllBannerSports) December 2, 2024

ESPN Nation’s top question coming out of the Ravens game was what the Ravens are handle field goals with Tucker’s low point:

How will kicker Justin Tucker’s struggles impact a championship run for the Ravens? Tucker has gone from the most accurate kicker in NFL history to one of the team’s biggest question marks. He continued his season-long struggles by missing two field goals (from 47 and 53 yards) and an extra point. His two failed field goals came in the third quarter when Baltimore trailed 14-12. This was the first time he has missed three kicks in a game, and he put a major dent in the Ravens’ opportunity to win the AFC North.

Harbaugh said he has no plans to move on from Justin Tucker. “I don’t think that would be wise.”

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) December 2, 2024

The Ravens have a kicker making a lot of money, who has a track record that is beyond good. I have to agree with Coach Harbaugh that looking for a Tucker replacement right now isn’t a great idea. The question for the moment is how will this factor into decision-making for the rest of the season? If the Ravens get into field goal range, are they more likely to go for the first down because they can’t trust their kicker? The offseason is a time when the Ravens will address this further. It wouldn’t be shocking if the Ravens spend a day three pick on a kicker in the NFL Draft. I can’t believe it, but that’s where we probably are.

Cooper DeJean takes down Derrick Henry

: #PHIvsBAL on CBS/Paramount+
: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/Lwq9S0PfZo

— NFL (@NFL) December 2, 2024

Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr thinks Harbaugh needs to make a decision and that decision hangs over the team:

The issues, of course, are multifaceted. Harbaugh has to decide between the heartbreak and the absolute hysteria that a kicker tryout would cause in Baltimore and … inaction. The Ravens do not currently have a kicker on their practice squad, but one would assume even that transaction would lead to hard questions he must answer in public. Harbaugh would have to either gamble that Tucker will figure it out or gamble that someone who is available on the street right now could come in and digest the enormity of replacing a well-loved team pillar who may not want the break that Harbaugh is offering. He would have to assume that his team—which is 8–5 and also carrying the weight of last season’s home loss in the AFC title game—would not fall under the wave of cynicism knowing that making it into opposing territory offers about the same chance of logging points as spinning a roulette wheel.

I don’t think trying out kickers, or giving Tucker some competition, is out of the question. There’s no realistic easy fix to this. Tucker has more talent than anyone the Ravens would be bringing in and if he could harness that talent things could get dramatically better without a desperate decision. This game against the Eagles though, is a game that could serve as a breaking point. The Ravens are beyond the “figure it out” stage because they don’t know if they can score a field goal if the offense gets the special teams unit in position.

I think we need to stop worrying about Tucker’s feelings. If you don’t like the situation you’re in you can change it by improving your performance. Tucker is a consummate professional, who is handling this in an admirable way. Baltimore loves Tucker but business is business. Tucker isn’t getting his job done. The Ravens wouldn’t be acting in a treasonous manner to look for Tucker’s replacement (or competition to spark him) now. Harbaugh should feel free to do what he thinks they need to do to win.

There’s nothing all that nice to say about the Ravens performance overall. This highlight of Cooper DeJean slamming down Derrick Henry kind of explains this game in a nutshell. The Ravens ran into a brick wall called the Philadelphia Eagles. Childs Walker from the Baltimore Sun put it this way:

The Ravens cracked in the fourth quarter, undone by too many empty drives and special teams misfires. Their defense, led by Roquan Smith and Marlon Humphrey, delivered a valiant effort against one of the league’s best teams but could not smother Saquon Barkley forever. This time, it was really the offense that wasn’t good enough.

“Cracked in the fourth quarter” is a perfect way of putting things. It’s important to remember that the third quarter was essentially a holding pattern with no scoring occurring until the fourth. The Ravens saw the dam break. The game was close and Philadelphia just took it by the horns and got in winning position.

The Sun’s Tim Schwartz had a similar train of thought:

Yikes. That was a disaster for the Ravens, who took a 9-0 lead and then melted away. Justin Tucker is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but how can he be trusted in a big spot after all this? His confidence has to be shot, and he doesn’t have the leg to make the long ones he made look so routine for so many years. Maybe a bye week spent on a hot Caribbean beach will solve his woes, but that’s probably wishful thinking.

The Eagles are a good team but Baltimore laid an egg, and Lamar Jackson never quite found a rhythm. Those missed kicks will do that. A bye week and the lowly Giants after that will make life easier for the Ravens, who are certainly headed to the playoffs but almost certainly to be playing in the wild-card round on the road somewhere. The Super Bowl feels like a long way away right now.

The Eagles probably do deserve more credit. They are one of the best teams in the NFC and they have legitimate Super Bowl expectations. The volume of things that the Ravens bloggers and fans have to pick at does however suggest that the Ravens deserve more lumps than the Eagles deserve praise. The Ravens left points on the field and were shutout in the second half until it didn’t matter to the actual outcome of the game. The kicks were deflators that took big strides of momentum from the Purple and Black.

Zach Canter from Baltimore Beatdown took the Ravens high-flying offense to task in his post-game reactions:

Just a disgusting loss. The “best offense in football” showed zero fight, showing no consistency and scoring three points after the first quarter (outside of a useless garbage time touchdown).

Lamar Jackson barely used his legs despite lanes to run and missed easy throws, Derrick Henry continued to not be used enough and given weird run calls. The wide receivers barely made an impact. Mark Andrews is the only guy who showed up. Justin Tucker’s struggles reached a peak as he left seven points on the field, dramatically hurting the team. Defensive coordinator Zach Orr, who everybody wanted fired, and his defense have been the best unit on the team for three weeks in a row. Unacceptable considering how bad the unit has been. The bye week couldn’t have come at a more needed time.

This is the level of frustration we’re talking about here. “Disgusting loss” is a good way to put it. While I would push back on the idea that the Ravens didn’t show enough fight, they certainly didn’t impress. The Ravens found ways to lose, they really did.

Lamar Jackson was as animated as he’s been all yr. More resolute than frustrated. Already was talking about Giants game after the bye. Banged podium several times. Let go a few expletives. Essentially said Ravens can’t worry about Steelers. They need to worry about themselves.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) December 2, 2024

The Ravens leader is right on the money here. The Ravens control what happens to the Ravens. They’ve taken themselves mostly out of the AFC North division title hopes and now they have to gear up for a playoff run by focusing on themselves. There’s nothing wrong with being a wild card team – the Ravens have won the Super Bowl as a wild card before. This is one of those losses that you actually hope it does get under the skin. The Ravens need to be annoyed from this. They need to demand better of themselves.

Back to surviving Monday.

We got this.

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