Risers and fallers after Ravens 18-16 loss at Pittsburgh
In a familiar pattern, the Ravens, hampered by a relentless cycle of penalties, drops, fumbles, and other self-inflicted errors, fell short against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have now triumphed in nine of their last ten encounters with the Ravens, with many of these games following a similar script. Despite Baltimore appearing to be the superior team for much of the game, they turned the ball over twice in their own territory. Additionally, kicker Justin Tucker’s struggles continued as he missed two kicks in the first half. While some players displayed the energy and passion expected in this rivalry, an overall lack of execution left Baltimore trailing Pittsburgh by 1.5 games in the AFC North after Sunday’s game.
Stock Up
Odafe Oweh, OLB
Oweh had one of the best defensive performances by a Raven this season, racking up 2.5 sacks, and multiple pressures on Steelers QB Russell Wilson. Oweh has been somewhat inconsistent this year but has already elapsed his career high in sacks through 11 games of the 2024 season.
Marlon Humphrey, CB
Humphrey was clearly the most passionate Raven on the field today, and made another game changing play, that unfortunately couldn’t propel Baltimore’s offense like it did last week against the Bengals. Humphrey is now up to 5 interceptions on the year and is playing at as high a level as he has in recent memory.
Zach Orr, the Defense
The Ravens defense, as a whole, had their best performance of the season in Pittsburgh. The defense has been a rightful subject of criticism this year but made a few key changes that should give fans optimism moving forward. Safeties Marcus Williams and Eddie Jackson didn’t see the field today and were instead replaced by Kyle Hamilton and Ar’Darius Washington. Newly acquired CB Tre’Davious White also made his debut and looked quite impressive, forcing two pass breakups on star WR George Pickens. Despite injuries to Travis Jones, Roquan Smith, and Kyle Hamilton, the defense held of their end of the bargain today and will hopefully build off this performance in future weeks. While it’s a little late in the season for a team to make major strides, the personnel changes and positive result that came from it could a ray of light.
Stock Down
Lamar Jackson, QB
While it’s hard to criticize Jackson considering his incredible level of performance this year, there might be something to the idea that the Steelers have “figured him out.” While I don’t think this idea necessarily holds water considering Jackson’s incredible performance in Pittsburgh last year, he certainly had his worst game of the season on Sunday. For as great as he’s been, it would be nice to see Jackson consistently perform to his standard against the Steelers and Chiefs.
Fumbles
Just like the Ravens blew their game in Pittsburgh last year with drops, the Ravens had two crucial fumbles in their own territory that ended up being a deciding factor in the result. On the first drive of the game, the usually sure handed Derrick Henry coughed it up, resulting in three points for Pittsburgh. Subsequently, TE Isaiah Likely fumbled late in the second quarter which resulted in another Steelers field goal.
Penalties
The Ravens continue to be the most penalized team in football, now up to 92 on the season. As good as their offense has been this year, they have been handicapping themselves recently with holds, false starts, and ineligible players down field. The Ravens were consistently behind the sticks today which made it harder for Derrick Henry to get involved and put the offense in more obvious passing situation. While penalties are always subject to bias and controversy, the sheer number of penalties on Baltimore is a sign of poor coaching and discipline.
Justin Tucker, K
Tucker missed two kicks today and it should now be a serious consideration for the team to bring in new competition at the position until the consensus GOAT can get back on track. Simply put, the Ravens might have 2-3 more victories this season if Tucker put just a few more through the uprights. Per ESPN, Tucker has now matched his 2023 total in missed kicks through 11 weeks in 2024.
Play Calling
The same story is continuously written about the Ravens and yet, they still seem to abandon their identity and get predictable in their play calling in high leverage games. Last year’s AFC Championship was an infamous example of this, but today it was another failure that star RB Derrick Henry only received 13 carries. It’s been a clear theme that the more effective Baltimore is on the ground, the more likely it is they will emerge victorious. Unfortunately, today, Henry didn’t touch the ball in the fourth quarter of a one possession game and even worse, wasn’t on the field for Baltimore’s pivotal two point conversion attempt which was a complete trainwreck of a play call. While we all assumed the addition of Henry would put these issues to rest, it seems more and more likely that the same issues that have plagued this team for years, will again come to fruition in January.