Ravens, at 6-3, have more regular-season losses than 2019

With the Ravens’ 23-17 defeat Sunday night against the Patriots — a loss in which the weather, injuries and inefficiencies all conspired against them — Baltimore now sits at 6-3. It’s a fine record, placing the team within the playoff mix in a competitive conference.

But it’s a step back from last year. Those three regular season losses are more than the Ravens accumulated throughout the 2019 campaign, which ended with the AFC regular season title.

For much of 2020, though, things have been off for quarterback Lamar Jackson and Co. When the ball hit the turf on the penultimate play of Sunday night’s game — an incompletion to running back J.K. Dobbins — the gap in the AFC North widened.

Three games back of the undefeated Steelers and hanging onto the last playoff spot in the AFC, the Ravens aren’t the offensive force they were throughout the 2019 campaign. And with the weather Sunday night partially to blame, those difficulties continued, scoring their second fewest points since Jackson became the starting quarterback.

“We’re ticked off,” Jackson said postgame. “Don’t nobody like losing. I know none of you guys would like losing, especially when we have a lot of talent on our team. We’ve just got to regroup. Tuesday, we’ll go watch film on our [next] opponent, on Tennessee, and we’re going to build from there.”

Jackson finished with 249 yards, two touchdowns and one interception that came shortly before halftime, trying to force the ball downfield. But Baltimore was trailing heading into the locker room at halftime because of its suspect run defense — an area of the team decimated by injuries.

Baltimore lost nose tackle Brandon Williams to an ankle injury early in the contest, and it was already without defensive tackle Calais Campbell, cornerback Jimmy Smith and linebacker L.J. Fort. Without those four starters, the Patriots picked up 5.3 yards per carry for 173 yards. 

“There isn’t an excuse,” linebacker Matthew Judon said. “Whoever is in the game needs to play to a standard. When we let up that many rushing yards from a team, that’s unacceptable. … If a team runs the ball like that, you usually lose. So, there’s no excuses.”

The Ravens need to find answers quickly, slated to play the Titans and Steelers and in consecutive weeks. Those two games could go a long way in righting the ship. Or, it could put Baltimore in a more precarious playoff position.

“We’re just going to stack one game at a time,” safety Chuck Clark said. “The goal every week is to win, so this sucks. But we’re just going to stack one game at a time.”