Takeaways from Ravens Devastating Loss to Jaguars
The Ravens could not hold a 9-point fourth-quarter lead and fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars 28-27 in Week 12.
Here Are the Takeaways
1. The Ravens stopped the Jaguars on a fourth-and-1 at midfield on a tackle by Calais Campbell. It was the first time Baltimore made a stop on fourth down in seven tries this season. JaMycal Hasty, who entered for the injured Travis Etienne, created matchup challenges for the entire Ravens defense in the first half. He found holes in the defensive line and got behind cornerback Marcus Peters for a 28-yard touchdown reception.
The Ravens played well in the third quarter, allowing one first down and forcing a turnover over Jacksonville's three drives. However, the fourth quarter was a different story and the secondary faltered down the stretch.
The Ravens' defense could not make a stop in the final two minutes and allowed the Jaguars to go the length of the field and pull within a point on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Lawrence to Marvin Jones. Jaguars coach Doug Pederson made the ultimate gamble and went for the 2-point conversion. Lawrence threw a short pass to Zay Jones for the victory. The Jaguars completed two key fourth-down conversions to help win the game.
Are the Ravens' defenders tired?
Are they not making the necessary adjustments?
There will need to be answers to these questions.
2. The Ravens offense continued to have challenges in the red zone and with their time management. They had another delay-of-game penalty in the red zone that made Baltimore settle for a short, field goal. It's Week 12 and Baltimore should not be dealing with these careless penalties anymore. The defense gave them a short field in the next possession but the Ravens had to settle for another field goal once they moved the ball inside the 20.
Overall, the Ravens scored two touchdowns on five trips inside the red zone. That's not going to win games in November or December, forget about January.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson was inconsistent for a third straight game but was also let down by a couple of drops by Mark Andrews and Kenyan Drake. Jackson was 16 of 32 for 254 with a touchdown (87.2 rating). He also ran for 89 yards on 14 carries and converted several third downs.
Running back Gus Edwards returned to the lineup and had 52 yards rushing on 16 carries with a touchdown. However, Edwards had a critical fumble late in the fourth quarter that led to Jacksonville's go-ahead field goal.
3. What would the Ravens do without Justin Tucker? The future Hall-of-Fame kicker converted four field goals and accounted for all of the Ravens' points in the first half. Tucker made three short kicks and one from 55 yards. Baltimore relies too heavily on Tucker and needs to do a better job scoring touchdowns as opposed to settling for field goals. This will be especially vital in the postseason.
After the defense had another late-game breakdown, the Ravens turned to Tucker again. This time, he could not bail them out as his 67-yard attempt fell a yard short as time expired.
