In loss to Steelers, Ravens raise ‘annoying’ question: Where was the help?
PITTSBURGH — The Ravens' 18-16 loss Sunday did not come down to one play, even if all of the Ravens' losses to the Steelers these days seem to come down to one play. But there was a cruel irony to the manner in which Pittsburgh broke the Ravens' spirits one last time inside Acrisure Stadium.
For 59-plus minutes Sunday, the Ravens' defense had not been the problem. It had been the backstop, the stabilizing force, the momentum swinger. It had allowed 4.3 yards per play until the Steleers lined up for the game's decisive run, and that has usually been enough to win. But, after running back Najee Harris converted a third-and-1 with 57 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, leaving the Ravens out of time and timeouts, it was the defense that was left to absorb the on-field agony of another rivalry game stinker.
"I was hot about that," quarterback Lamar Jackson said after maybe the offense's worst game all season. "Our defense played great today. They held a great team, great offense, to 18 points, and we just scored 16 points. We had been putting up all of these points all of this year. It's annoying."
Eleven weeks into a season with championship aspirations, the Ravens (7-4) remain almost allergic to complete games. They rewarded their sterling defensive effort Sunday — 3.6 yards per carry allowed, a season-best 5.7 yards per pass attempt allowed, four sacks, two takeaways — with a shrug on offense and a kick in the teeth on special teams.
Mere mediocrity from either unit would've given the Ravens control of the AFC North, would've prevented a four-game losing streak to their nemeses, would've dulled the pain of a seven-losses-in-eight-meetings stretch. Instead, the Ravens watched the Steelers (8-2) win without scoring a touchdown, a first in the history of the storied, spirited and recently one-sided rivalry.
"I think it's clear we've really struggled against them over the years," said cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who was so eager to wash the stink off from the Ravens' loss that he headed to the locker room after Harris' conversion but before the game was over, not knowing coach John Harbaugh had called the team's final timeout.
"I've been on at least two or three of those eight or nine or whatever were game-winners on me. They've kind of had our number. You get to see them twice. You just keep fighting. You know they're going to be a well-coached team with [Steelers coach Mike] Tomlin over there. It's always a battle, so they've had our number, but we'll just keep fighting."
The Ravens' offense wasn't supposed to be the albatross. Pittsburgh entered Sunday with the NFL's No. 2 scoring defense (16.2 points per game) and the No. 10 overall defense, according to FTN's opponent-adjusted efficiency metrics , but the Ravens had held their own against some of the league's stiffest units, even dominated a few.
The challenge for Harbaugh had been aligning offensive excellence with acceptable defense. In nine of the Ravens' first 10 games, they finished with positive expected points added on offense, indicating they'd outperformed expectations relative to their field position, down and distance. Only their Week 2 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders had ended in the red, according to TruMedia.
But the Ravens' partner for a historically good offense had been a malfunctioning defense. As their attack took flight, their collaborators mostly crashed and burned. The team finished with positive defensive EPA in just three of its first 10 games. (In another cruel irony, one of those games was the loss to Las Vegas.)
Sunday's loss produced a stunning inversion. The Ravens' offense finished with a season-low 329 yards, a season-low-tying 6.1 yards per play, a season-worst three turnovers and a season-worst minus-9.40 EPA. The Ravens' defense finished with 303 yards allowed (its fewest since Week 5), a season-best 4.1 yards per play allowed and a season-best 17.7 EPA — almost a touchdown better than in the team's Week 4 demolition of the Buffalo Bills.
"There are too many things of us starting behind the eight ball and not doing the right things, and it's been kind of week by week," tight end Mark Andrews said of the Ravens' offensive struggles. "We continue to fight and we continue to move the ball and put ourselves in good positions and put ourselves right at the end of the game to tie the game up, but it didn't go that way. We're going to learn from that."
The Ravens' offense could've forced Pittsburgh into a do-or-die drive late. Jackson, who finished 16-for-33 (48.5%) for 207 yards, a touchdown and an unlucky interception, hit six straight passes to lead the Ravens on a nine-play, 69-yard touchdown drive that culminated with a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Zay Flowers with just over a minute remaining.
But the pressure that enveloped Jackson on every other drop-back found him on the Ravens' ensuing 2-point conversion. On a designed quarterback sweep to the left, outside linebacker Nick Herbig easily beat a block attempt from wide receiver Nelson Agholor, impeding the path of not only Jackson but also pulling center Tyler Linderbaum and left guard Patrick Mekari. Jackson was derailed well short of the line of scrimmage and flung a pass hopelessly to no one in particular.
Watching from the sideline, unable to put the Ravens ahead or draw them even, was kicker Justin Tucker. He'd missed from 47 yards midway through the first quarter, then from 50 yards less than four minutes later. He'd atoned somewhat on a 54-yard field goal in the third quarter that cut the Steelers' lead to 12-10, but by then the game's best kicker was known to all. The Steelers' Chris Boswell would finish 6-for-6, nailing three field goals from at least 50 yards.
That was not the difference, just as penalties (12 for 80 yards) were not the difference, just as fumbles by running back Derrick Henry (13 carries for 65 yards) and tight end Isaiah Likely were not the difference. But it was another disadvantage, one the Ravens could not afford. They finished the loss with minus-10.29 EPA on special teams, one of their worst single-game performances under Harbaugh. Tucker's two misses accounted for well over half of the damage, and Boswell's makes didn't help, either.
"Tuck needs to make kicks," said Harbaugh, a former special teams coordinator. "He knows that; that's important. He makes them in practice, and he made the long one later, which was good to see, which means he's still very capable. Kick them straight, we'll be good."
"It's certainly frustrating, especially when we know that these games come down to the wire, like this one did today," said Tucker, who's 16-for-22 on field goal attempts this season. "But, like I've said before, the only thing that we can do is just get right back to work and focus on making the most out of our next opportunity."
The Ravens must wait five weeks now for their next crack at the Steelers. They will need more from their offense, more from their special teams and more of the same from their defense. That is what remains most elusive this season, a team on the same page. Only then can they write the next chapter in this rivalry. Only then can they begin to dream about winning something bigger.
