It would be easy to blame the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive problems against the New England Patriots on the monsoon that showered the field in their 23-17 loss on “Sunday Night Football.” Baltimore had trouble snapping the ball, which was consistently wet. The winds were intense, which made it hard to throw.
But that doesn’t tell the whole story.
The Ravens have had issues on offense all year long.
As Baltimore enters the second half of its schedule, the Ravens (6-3) have yet to re-create the dynamic offense that took the league by storm in 2019. In Sunday’s loss, the Ravens totaled 357 net yards. It was another instance in which the team failed to top 400 — a mark that the Ravens broke nine times last year, but have only done twice in 2020.
Against New England, Baltimore’s offense took a further hit when the unit lost tight end Nick Boyle to a season-ending knee injury. Boyle was the latest important contributor that Baltimore has lost for the year as it is also without tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle).
“We just have to overcome them,” coach John Harbaugh told reporters after the loss. “I don’t think it does anybody any good to sit there and say, ’Well, it’s this degree of a problem.’ Teams have them; Guys are going to have to step up, and they’re going to step up. They’re going to step up and play well, and we’re going to be in good shape. I’m not worried about guys stepping up and playing well. That’s their job and that will be an opportunity for other guys until other guys come back.”
MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson is turning the ball over at a higher rate than he did in 2019. On Sunday, he threw another interception — bringing his season total to five. On the year, Jackson has thrown a pick on 2% of his passing attempts. That’s a respectable number, but it was just 1.5% a year ago.
Jackson is also throwing far fewer touchdowns than he did during his MVP campaign. His touchdown percentage is just 5.7% — down from his league-leading 9% in 2019.
Last week, Jackson notably said that opposing defenses were calling out Baltimore’s plays before the ball was snapped. His comments raised questions about whether the league had solved the team’s innovative offense.
According to Pro Football Reference, the Ravens rank 13th in points per game and 22nd in total yards. They were first and second in those categories last season.
Against the Patriots, their 17 points were a season low.
“We’re ticked off,” Jackson said. “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.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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