Ravens Stock Report: Another Crash as Ravens Sell Off in Buffalo

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Unfortunately, this is the last stock report of the 2024 season. The Ravens suffered a tough loss in Buffalo, losing by two. In a game filled with critical mistakes, the Ravens made too many to overcome a tough Bills team.

To me, the Ravens were clearly the better team.  Buffalo didn’t move the ball all that well, and the Ravens offense largely did what it wanted…when it didn’t shoot itself in the foot.

But that is the problem with the Ravens. They simply can’t get out of their own way.

Stock Up

Playoff Lamar

Yes, Lamar Jackson had two bad turnovers (one that really hurt a lot, the other not as much) but overall, he was excellent in these playoffs. The Ravens punted four times in their two games, all against Pittsburgh (and a few of those were on “just run the ball and get off the field” type drives). Of their 16 drives in the two games (excluding two drives that ended a half on kneel downs), nine ended in points, including seven touchdowns.

Lamar has some bad postseason stats but most of that was pre-24 years old and in an archaic passing offense. He looked more poised and mentally prepared this year. Yes, the two mistakes were huge (especially the fumble) but he also came back from it and didn’t allow it to snowball, which he would have in the past. He also managed the elements just fine.

Justice Hill

Justice Hill had a very solid game on Sunday. He ran the ball extremely well and did his usual work in blitz pickup. I was surprised he wasn’t a bigger part of the passing game (especially since he did well against the Bills in Week 4) but he really showed up in this game, and the whole year in general. He is just a very solid player that does a lot of things very well. As someone who questioned the decision to extend his contract, I think it’s pretty clear I was wrong and we’re lucky to have him on the team.

Isaiah Likely

Isaiah Likely, with no Zay Flowers again, had a very good game. He is in line for major playing time in 2025 and may have put himself in position to be the team’s TE1 long term.

Rashod Bateman

Rashod Bateman had another solid game and ended the season strong. He has become a big weapon in the offense and his separation is elite. He still has some chemistry things to work out with Lamar, but their relationship is growing. He truly looks poised to take the next step, and can form a dangerous tandem with Flowers.

Zach Orr

After much scrutiny in the first half of the season, Zach Orr and his staff did a great job adjusting.  They held the Bills to under 300 yards of offense. Josh Allen wasn’t a big factor in this game and while Buffalo did score 27 points, seven points were scored on a very short field and another three came on a 51-yard FG. Buffalo gets credit for that, but the defense held them down.

Overall, you saw growth from Orr and the defense and that really bodes well for 2025, as players will be in the second year of his system.

Stock Down

Goalline/Two-Point Playcalling

Down 14-7 following the Jackson fumble and a long Bateman catch, the Ravens had first down on the two. They got stuffed on a Derrick Henry run. Instead of trying to run it again, they decided to call a pass and not only call a pass but call it for Ronnie Stanley.

Stanley reports as eligible and then runs a route pic.twitter.com/2CwVommXLo

— Yuri (@Yuri_Ravens) January 20, 2025

John Harbaugh on the Ravens not scoring from first-and-goal from the 2 vs. Buffalo: “Play-calling is not good if it doesn’t work.”

The Bills stopped the Ravens’ first-down run with an all-out blitz, then covered Ronnie Stanley on a trick play on second down, which led to a sack.

— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) January 22, 2025

Now, I get that they are going for the element of surprise there but if you are going to do a trick play, why not the Henry jump pass? And by the way, Stanley was covered so well that you wonder if the Bills were in the huddle with the play call.

They also had two two-point tries and while both times, a receiver was open, not running on either of them is crazy. This morning at RSR, Tanner George laid out this case in more detail:

One More Thing About Those Two-Point Conversion Tries…

He notes two critical points: In Jackson’s tenure, the Ravens have been much more successful going for two when they run it AND Buffalo’s defense is much better defending conversions when their opponent passes. Those facts, combined with the elements, really make you question the decision-making here.

Speaking of questionable decisions, I didn’t think they should have even gone for two the first time. On that one, Henry motioned out of the backfield, signaling that a pass was likely.

I just don’t get why the team tries to get so cute in moments like this.  It continues to cost them. They did the same thing against the Steelers late in that November loss.

Bad Losses

The Ravens must avoid these bad losses during the regular season moving forward. The losses to the Raiders and Browns really ended up mattering greatly, as without those, thanks to beating Buffalo in Week 4, this game would have been at home.

Losing games is going to happen, but you shouldn’t be losing games to a team like the Raiders (at least Cleveland is a division opponent, and stuff happens in those games), especially at home and especially when you have a lead.

It’s just really bad football and games like that don’t just cost you at that moment. Kansas City doesn’t have losses like this (only lost to the Bills, and resting starters in Week 18). Buffalo doesn’t either (only lost to playoff teams). Stop toying with your food.

Mark Andrews

Mark Andrews made some big plays in this game but his fumble, which I feel was the real game changer, and the drop of the two-point conversion near the end of the game are both plays that will haunt Ravens fans for years. In addition, he had a drop on the play before the Jackson fumble that would have either moved the chains or set up a 2nd-and-short.

After getting healthy from the injury last year and the car accident during training camp, Andrews played like his normal self. He is still a very good player, and the Ravens are fortunate to have him. But the bottom line is that he comes up small in the playoffs.

Here’s a crazy one.

Mark Andrews has 33 career drops on 673 targets in the regular season and playoffs (6.6% drop %)

The split:

Regular season: 26 drops on 621 targets (5.6 drop %)
Playoffs: 7 drops on 52 targets (19.4 drop %)

19.4!

— Cole Jackson (@ColeJacksonFB) January 22, 2025

His drop% skyrockets and he has no TDs.

For a player that has a $16M cap hit in 2025 (the team would save $11M by cutting/trading him), he is at a bit of a crossroads. He may be especially important but it’s fair to wonder if losing him would ultimately matter.  I was in the camp of wanting to trade him last offseason, and I think I would rather move towards Likely long term.

For me, Andrews could be back for 2025, but he would have to take a big pay cut, a la Ronnie Stanley this year. Andrews turns 30 in early September, so he is starting to get to that age where you question if you want him in your long-term plans, especially with Likely and Charlie Kolar both up for free agency after 2025 as well.

The Ravens also should be committed to finding another weapon at WR, so that would be more targets taken away from him.

DPI calls

The DPI call on Tre’Davious White at the end of the first half was as egregious as any call made this year.

(Yes, Buffalo fans, the holding call on Dion Dawkins was also bad. But trying to compare the two is moronic.)

That call was a huge swing in this game. Instead of attempting a 48-yard field goal, the Bills got a first down at the 12 and punched it in. You go from a halftime score of 17-10 at worst, to 21-10.

Without that call, even with the three turnovers, there is a good chance the Ravens win that game.  These officials are making these huge game-changing calls and you have to wonder what they are looking at.

The NFL has to fix this. These calls are just too big and are causing teams to lose games, end seasons and cost jobs. This can’t keep happening (but it will).

The post Ravens Stock Report: Another Crash as Ravens Sell Off in Buffalo appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2025/01/23/ravens-stock-exchange/sell-off/