December 22, 2025 • 29 mins
Team insiders Ryan Mink and Garrett Downing break down how Sunday's loss was a microcosm of the Ravens' season, try to explain why their fourth quarter struggles continue, examine Baltimore's fleeting playoff chances, and more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome ins the Lounge presented by DraftKings. I'm ran Ink
here with Garrett Downing. Following the Ravens twenty four to
twenty eight loss to the New England Patriots, rough night
for the Ravens that pretty much puts them on the
brink of getting into the playoffs. They no longer control
their own destiny. They would have to win out and
they would need the Steelers to lose out in order
(00:26):
for the Ravens to get in. With two games left,
just another disappointing night at home, primetime, huge game, huge stakes,
and the Ravens fall short.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, this obviously it's so disappointing, and we just walked
out of the locker room. You could feel the disappointment
as you talk to the players and head coach Sean Harblaugh.
I think, honestly, like when I look at this game,
in so many words, it was a micro cosmo the
Ravens season and the disappointment that this season has been
in a lot of ways. You can go through it,
(00:59):
and we're gonna talk through all the specifics of it.
But it was a game where the Ravens had an
injury to quarterback Lamar Jackson, which of course, has been
a theme unfortunately of this season. It was a game
where the Ravens had a two score lead in the
fourth quarter and felt like they had it in hand
and the defense gave that up. It was a game
where they had costly turnovers by star players that really
(01:20):
hurt them. And those things have all been themes throughout
this season and some of those even previous years too.
And so to have all that, basically, all the things
that have haunted you at points this year be your
undoing in this game and I got to have a
game is really frustrating.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah. Absolutely, And all of those things, like you said,
they've cost the Ravens games at different points of this season,
and it just kind of all came together in a
really frustrating way tonight. Let's let's jump into it here, Garrett.
You talk about Lamar Jackson's injury. He suffered a back
(02:00):
injury in the first half near the end of the
first half. John Harball afterwards described it as a bruised back,
went to the locker room and could not return in
the second half. Tyler Huntley finished the first half and
the remainder of the entirety of the second half and
Lamar after the game was clearly still in pain. He
(02:22):
talked to reporters and said he got some strong pain
medication in the locker room afterwards, tried to throw the
ball with a Ravens trainer in the locker room and
was just in too much pain to go back out there.
I mean, Tyler Huntley said he could barely move on
the Ravens bench. He hobbled his way out to the
Ravens sideline in the second half, but could barely move.
(02:44):
And I mean we saw him in the locker room.
I mean it was like Frankenstein moving around. He was
extremely stiff, extremely in pain, and emotionally hurting after not
being able to finish this game in a must wing game.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
The two days that really shooed out to me after
talking with Lamar in the locker room. The first was
just the severity, the pain that he was in, the
anguish that he was in. Moving from locker to leave
the building or leave the locker room was a challenge,
Like just even when he talked with the reporters, he
(03:18):
kind of braced himself up against the locker and was
clearly an anguish.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
You could hear it in his voice.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
It was a pretty raw version of Lamar that we
don't often see. And so the first was just the
physical anguish that he was in. The second, to me
was the disappointment and he just feels like he just
kept saying it's bs because he felt like these injuries
have come up multiple times this year, and this is
a guy that badly wants to be on the field,
has high expectations for himself and for this team, and
(03:46):
wanted to play. And he said, like all the things
that had bothered me this year, the knee and the
ankle and stuff, he didn't those weren't issues.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
He was feeling good exactly. That was really the frustrating
part too, is the Ravens offense came out and the
way that Lamar was playing early in this game, Like wow, Like,
is the Ravens offense back? Is it back back? You know?
Is this an offense that you could maybe go on
a run with? And if the defense is playing well
as it has the previous weeks, like whoa wait a second,
Like we're putting it all together here, you know, in
(04:13):
the first quarter and then you know, Derrick Henry Fumble,
Lamar gets injured and all of a sudden, like oh god,
it's coming crumbling apart. Yeah, right, And and yeah, Lamar
was also pretty frustrated, I think by the play itself,
got neat in the back as he was going to
the ground giving himself up. Yeah, was not happy about
(04:35):
the way that went down.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Yeah, not at all.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
And you know, I just he tried everything he could
to get back in that game. You know, said he
got a turtle shot in the locker room and was
trying to do everything.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
He could to play.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
And he knew he understands the significance of this game,
like he knows that this is as close to a
must win game as you can have, and so he
was trying to do everything possible to get back out
there on the field, and the fact that he just
wasn't able to do it was.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Incredibly frustrating to him.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And and that was on his face as he talked
with reporters after the game. And I felt for him,
like this is Lamar has been a guy obviously throughout
his career that's like carry this team in so many
different ways, and he wanted to be out there and
playing in this game, and the fact that he wasn't
able to do it, it tears him up, and now
(05:29):
I know we're gonna talk about Tyler Huntley. I actually
thought he came in and did a really nice job
and moved this offense and put points on the board,
and I think I think he played well enough to win.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Did yep, But I mean completely nine to ten passes, yeah,
six five hoard it's pretty good. Yeah, but it's it's
different when you don't have Lamar. It's not the same offense, no, of.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Course, Like, and there's one there's one guy that runs
the offense the way Lamar does and it's and it's
Lamar Jackson, and so not having him out there, like,
there's definitely a hit that you take, but you just could.
It sucked with me just how how frustrated he was
and by the fact that he wasn't able to get
back out there and play.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah, Lamar said he's going to have further tests tomorrow
and we'll see what his status is for Saturday night
in Green Bay.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
But he did say that that's the hope, hope, right.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
He certainly did not rule himself out and so yeah,
I'm done, he said, the hope will be to come
back and play, and so hopefully he can make that happen.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Right, Yeah, he said further testing.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I think he said a cat scan even on Monday,
and and so we'll see. Obviously it's it's right after
the game, and you have to see how he responds
over the course of the week. But he he at
least has the hope that he's able to get back
out there and play on Saturday. Tough week two on
a short week going to Green Bay. Both the quarterbacks
on both of those teams, Jordan Loves dealing with concussion
(06:51):
and al Lamar's dealing with the back injuries. Both teams
are dealing with quarterback issues.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Now to the The other talking point of the game
is kind of just how it came on raveled here
in the fourth quarter for the Ravens, and and Kyle
Hamilton spoke this, you know, unfortunately, that's that's just been
the theme that's unfortunately been who the Ravens have been
this season, previous seasons. You know, this is this is
(07:17):
all an all too familiar story for the Ravens, and
you know that the blame for that goes on both
sides of the ball, offense and defense. And you know,
we'll start here offensively. I think certainly one of The
big talking points coming out of this game is why
did Derrick Henry not get the ball and the Ravens
second to last offensive drive. Ravens had an eleven point lead,
(07:40):
the Patriots went down, uh scored a touchdown. Ravens are
still winning by three, yep. Because they scored a touchdown
and version Ravens are winning by three. This is the
biggest drive of the seasons to this point. And it's
Keaton Mitchell out there, not Derrick Henry. Derek Henry did
not see the ball at all, or see the field
at all, not just the ball. He didn't see a
(08:02):
snap on that drive or for the remainder of the game.
And so an obvious question is Derrick Henry really wasn't
stopped all night for the most part. I mean, eighteen carries,
one hundred and twenty eight yards, two touchdowns. He was
averaging seven point one per carry. He wasn't stopped all night, yep.
And why wasn't he given the ball on that series
(08:24):
when this is what Derrick Henry has made for wearing
down teams late in the fourth quarter, especially when he's
been wearing wearing on y'all game long.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Well, I think it's especially.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
It stands out because his last carry was a touchdown
and the Ravens really rode him that entire drive down
the field before he scored on that two yard carry,
and heid the way that this was a big topic
of conversation out to the game, John hard Ball was
asked about it, Derrek Henry was asked about it, and
the way that they basically explained it is that there
is a consistent rotation between him and Keaton Mitchell, and
(08:59):
the decision was that Keith Mitchell is starting that drive
and the plan was for Derek ultimately to come in
on that drive. Now, they all they had a punt
on that they didn't have a long enough drive, but
that was that was the plan. Derek talked about the
rotation and said, this is something we've been doing really
for the second half of the season and they feel
like it's been working well. And he even said, like
(09:20):
we did this last week and it's not It wasn't
a story last week because we won, but because we lost,
it becomes a story.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
It's obviously a story because his last carry is a touchdown.
He had he was the biggest offensive weapon of the night,
and then he doesn't see the field the rest of
the game.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
I agree with him. It wouldn't it wouldn't have been
a story if they had won. Yeah that's a fact. Yeah,
but the fact that it didn't work, yeah, you know, fakes,
it makes you question, and I mean I think that
it's a it's a fair question to pose, you know.
I mean, Keith Mitchell nine carries for thirteen yards, he
averaged one point four. So it wasn't like Keaton Mitchell
was like on a hot on a heater here tonight.
(09:56):
Derek Henry had the high hand. Yeah, yeah, you know,
he and and and this is really they couldn't stop
him all night. This is and this is what he's
made for. And so like that that was the plan.
I think that it's fair to say, like why didn't
you break script? Like that has been you've been rotating,
but in this situation, given them what you've seen during
this game, the effectiveness that Derrick Henry has had and
(10:19):
Keaton wasn't hot, Like I said, like, why didn't the
Ravens break the pattern on that.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
Drive say we're just rolling with this guy, We're just
we're just gonna ride Derrick Henry, Which I think is
a totally fair way to go, and John Harbaugh made
the point I didn't like that drive at all, said,
looking back on it, you do want Derek in there
on that drive.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Yeah, it's a game when he drives it.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Starting to drive, that's the quantum on the Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Well, now they got a first down on that drive. So,
like the first couple of plays ended up not mattering
really because they ultimately got one first down on that
drive with a catch by DeAndre Hopkins to move the chains.
And so you could have brought Derrick Henry in the
game at that point and said, okay, fresh set of downs,
let's kind of reset here.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
And they didn't do that.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
They just kept heating in that the rest of that
drive and they weren't able to move the ball and
they punted it away.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Right after that snoop completion the DeAndre Hopkins on third
and six, it was then eight yard completion for our
first down. The Ravens are now the forty three and
it's Keaton Mitchell right in for no game. So like that,
Carrie could have gone right to Derek Hennery.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Right, and of course you never know, like would he
have gotten yards?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
You don't know, you know, But it's but I think
that the argument holds water considering that Derek had one
hundred and twenty eight yards on the ground of two
touchdowns and average seven over seven yards of pop.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Yeah, he was.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
He was doing all the things in this game that
you talk about at the start of the season. Gets
better as the game goes along, wears teams down, gets
better in December, Cole don't want to tackle all those things, Like,
all of that applied to the way that he played tonight,
And so that was that was the rationality x as
the explanation from the Ravens, And I'm sure they're going
(12:04):
to be looking at all that as as a break
down this game and assess, you know, what they could
have done differently.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yeah, and then defensively, you know, it's also become too
familiar for the other team to just heat up in
the fourth quarter and go on a run. I mean,
you look at it, Drake May. You know, they're chanting
MVP in empty Bank Stadium and it's for Drake May.
Down the stretch late in the fourth quarter. The Patriots
scored two straight touchdowns in the fourth quarter, seventh place
(12:34):
seventy three yard drive and a nine play eighty nine
yard drive. Drake May finished the game thirty one to
forty four for three hundred and eighty yards, two touchdowns
and one interception. It's the first time in his young
career that he's thrown for more than three hundred yards,
and it comes against the Ravens here in Baltimore, And
(12:55):
you know, I think it's for me, it's it's two
things in trying to explain why this keeps happening, and
it's it's hard. It's hard to explain why this keeps
happening To me. I think it boils down to two things.
I think that there is a self fulfilling prophecy element
at play here to a degree. You know, like we've
seen this story before, and I think you have a
(13:18):
tough time blocking that out of your mind if you're
a player that like this here we go again factor.
And then I think more and the Axes knows of it.
I thought Kyle Hamilton brought up a pretty good point
after the game and that in some ways the Ravens
run defense can be to their own detriment, and the
(13:41):
Patriots did not have much success at all running the
ball with their running backs. I mean, Trevon Henderson was
knocked out of the game.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Yeah, part of the reason they did. I mean that's
part of running back out of concussion.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Exactly second quarter, but there are two running backs, had
thirteen carries for fifty four yards, right, so like they
were averaging it's four yards of pop, but that's not
they were not running the ball all that great. And
really twenty one of those yards came on their final touchdown.
They're Mare Stevenson touchdown. So really they did not have
(14:14):
much going on the round. And in some ways that
can be to the Ravens detriment, and especially when teams
get behind, obviously they're gonna throw more, and these quarterbacks
get on a roll and they start to get hot,
and once you have a good quarterback that gets hot,
it is really hard to stop them, and like they
start carving you up. And it's a double edged sword
(14:37):
also for the Ravens. In order to stop that, when
teams become one dimensional and have to throw the ball,
you have to either get turnovers or incomplete or get
pat knocked down passes, or you get sacks or penalties.
You can get that if you're lucky, but we all
know that it's.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Gonna that's not the presence exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
You don't plan for that. Basically, you gotta get your
hands on the ball in the secondary or you gotta
get sacks. And the Ravens have had trouble getting to
the quarterback for much of the season. I mean, they're
near the they're not high in the league rankings, and
sacks at all. Quarterback pressure has been a problem. Getting turnovers,
(15:19):
getting interceptions has been a problem. So, like the Ravens
have not been a particularly great team when they're pinning
their ears back. Like you say, we got to stop
the run, so we have the chance to rush the
passer and do all those things we want to do
and blitz and get turnovers and all that stuff. You're
in that situation, but not making those things happen.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Well, for on turnovers, they got them tonight. They got
two turnovers. Rollal Hoover had an early interception and then
our Darius Washington had the strip sack right before half,
which actually was a big player. I know, I know,
And so they didn't get this, but you have two
turnovers on defense, Sure, that's a good starting point. And
like there's probably merit to the idea that if a
(16:00):
quarterback is just passing on it every down as an
MVP level quarterback that Drake may is in the conversation
and he certainly helped his cost tonight. YEP, that it's
gonna be hard to just consistently stop it. And Stefan
Diggs has been a great player for a long time
and it seems to always show up in primetime games,
which he did here tonight. So like it's it's hard
to stop those guys. But at the same time, like
(16:23):
every team that's trailing in the fourth quarter is passing
to try to get their way back into games. And
it seems like this is a theme for the Ravens
more so than what I see around the league in
terms of giving up these fourth quarter leads in this season.
And so like, as Kyle Hamilton put it, like it's
it's you guys, he said to the media, You guys
(16:43):
are tired of asking the question, We're tired of answering it.
It's become redundant, it's become a theme. And so like
the Ravens know that it's become this. You made the
point of self fulfilling prophecy. Like whether that's true or
whether it's just like this is it's happened too many
times and now we're talking about it. Ever, it does happen,
and it's this theme of this team, and well that's
the question, like how why does it keep it?
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Why?
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Right?
Speaker 1 (17:06):
The question is why why does it keep happen? Maybe
there's no question a theme?
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, And like I think it's I think it's a
worthwhile exercise to try to explain it. I don't know
that I'm like buying that rationale quite as much as
it seems like you are in terms of like the
run defense almost that.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Piece of it.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Like, I don't know that I'm totally buying that, like
the reason what do you got for me?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
I do think.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
I do.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I do think that the pass rush has has been
an issue and not getting after the quarterback. And Drake
May especially throughout this game, had plenty of situations where
he had time to step back there.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
And throw and wait for players to develop.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
A lot of times, a lot of times, sorry to
cut you off, but a lot of times, like when
you watch other games around the league, in those situations,
it's an elite pass rusher who gets a big sack
that base clean puts them in second in pan or
second in fifteen or whatever, and like that then they
close the game out from there, like you need a
negative play, yeah, right, And sacks are often what it is,
(18:11):
or a hold because the guy's going to sack your
quarterback and you draw a holding penalty and then now
they're off course and that's how you get them off
the field. That's often what it is. And like the
Ravens really have not had that closer at pass rusher
that you need and you're a team that's gonna be
as the Ravens have in many situations, you know. Part
(18:32):
of it is like, yeah, the Ravens have been in
a lot of games where they had two point or
you know, two score leads in the fourth quarter. That's
a good place to be. But like you're not going
to become the team that you should be, that you
could be until you can finish this. Yeah, And that's
been the Ravens bugaboo for years now, honestly, And so
like that's how they haven't been able to get over
the hump that way. Part of it is because they
(18:53):
haven't had that closer to sack the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Yeah, and it.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Likes you there's whatever blame to go around offense defense.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
When I look at it.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
You feel like if you have a two score lead
with over nine minutes left, like that's a lead that
I just feel like the Ravens defense should be able
to hold. Especially on that first touchdown drive. We kind
of glossed over that one, like they just march down
the field. It was like a three minute drive and
no time. Like if you're gonna, if you're gonna, if
you're gonna give up a score, you definitely don't want
it to be a quick score. You want them to
(19:28):
especially when you have that two score lead at that point,
you're up eleven points there, like make them eat up
the clock and.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
With little more quick drives. The first touchdown drive after
the Ravens took the eleven point lead, that was a
seventh place seventy three and three forty.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
That's that's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
YEA next one was nine for eighty nine and two
fifty five. They went further in less time.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I actually, I was actually okay with the second one
being quick because they at least gave the offense a
prayer to come back, and you and that situation, I
might just score rather than getting down at the one
yard line and and.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
So Yeah, I think they're just too quick.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Like it's not it's bad enough that you go up
the yards and the points, but when you compound that
with it being quick, it's it's really tough. And then
the offense gets the ball back, has a chance to
try to come back down and score and say Flowers fumbles.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, and that's that's to the third prong of the
microcosm that has been the Ravens season here that we
saw tonight, Uh, the turnovers for the Ravens and and
two very costly turnovers, obviously the one that really ended
the game. Zay Flowers loses the ball after making a
catch and and he got careless. He's trying to make
(20:39):
a play, he's trying to cut back on somebody. Ball
comes out away from his body as he's trying as
he's juking, and put a punch out from behind. And
and we've seen that now too many times from from Zay,
you know. And then early on it's another Derrick Henry
fumble and that really short circuited early momentum that the
(21:00):
Ravens had offensively. They marched down the field on their
opening drive score touchdowns to begin the game. Then they
get the interception, go right back down the field. You
have a chance to go up two touchdowns in the
first quarter and you're in scoring position. Derrick Henry fumbles
at the end of a solid run, and so those
are killers. It also kills you that it's two of
(21:22):
your best players, you know, and it's been all season,
I mean, you know, going all the way back to
Buffalo and the Derrick Henry fumble in that game, the
Detroit game here on primetime. You know, too many fumbles
in critical situations for Derrick Henry. And he was very
honest after the game also and saying for him personally,
(21:42):
it's been a really frustrating season. You know, for the team,
it has been with the expectations that everybody came into
this year with, and for him personally, it's just been
a really frustrating season because he feels like he's made
to any of these kinds of mistakes.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yeah, he said that he felt like he basically took
the wind out of the team's sales with that fumble
in the first in the first half, again, it's looking
like it's gonna be a two score lead, at least
ten nothing, maybe fourteen nothing. It felt like it was
gonna be a quick touchdown based on the way that
the offense looked at that point, and so and then
it just then things comeound and this is like part
(22:16):
of the problem. But he fumbles, then the page shoots,
get the ball, they march right down the field touchdown.
Then the offense gets the ball back three and out.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
And then also drop.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Pass run for one yard and Lamar Jackson passed a
shot by more than on the same page nowhere in
the same zip code, you know, I mean, just like
you're like, oh boy, now here we go, right, and
so it's like, at.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
One point it felt like, man, the raves are gonna
run away with this thing.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
H this team is gonna be gonna be an It
was right, and then all of a sudden it all
came to a screeching halt, and that's part of the problem.
And then yeah, the fumble at the end of the game,
I think, say, isay somebody who's always trying to make
a play and at that point of the game you
do have to make a play because you had a
long way to go there.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
But it's all that was fourth down, like like you.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
I think part of it, honestly, for this team is
like it's been, it's been a tough season so far,
and I think that they want to break through so bad,
and all of them do, and I think that, like,
especially the stars of this team feel like, hey, I'm
one of the I'm one of the guys, Like I'm
a star on this team, and I need to make
(23:24):
a play. Everybody wants to make that play help this
team get over the hump and break through and finally
get on track, you know, offensively specifically, and I and
I'm sure it's to a degree defensively too, but offensively,
I just I feel that like, you know, you're just
you're trying to do too much. You get careless of
the ball. You know, you're reaching the ball out I say,
(23:45):
likely you know in previous games, and you know you're
just not doing the fundamentals that it takes to win
because you're trying to make a play so much to win. Yeah, right,
And and that can be to your detriment. And it
just feels like it's been that way all season long,
where they've been like fighting against the current.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
You know, yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
So we'll take a break when we come back, we'll
look ahead to what the Ravens have on the horizon
and give our final thoughts on this game here against
the Patriots. You're listening to the Lounge podcast. We are
coming to you from the Sea Geek Studio. We want
to mention our partners with Draftickings Sportsbook. They are an
official sports betting partner of the Baltimore Ravens DraftKings Sportsbook.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
The crown is.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Yours, so before we completely turn the page. One other
note from this game was special teams now a little
bit up and down. The Ravens get the big stop
on fourth down, which was a big moment in this game.
Great play by Tess Walker.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Got a saxonite. Tes Walker got a saxonite.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Did not expect that one in the stat sheet coming
into the game. But on the flip side, Tyler Loop
comes up way short on a fifty six yard field
goal that the Ravens really needed at that point of
the game.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
And for a.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Guy that we've talked about how he has a huge
leg and we've seen that in practice and in preseason,
I was shocked when that one came up the way
that it did. And I don't know if he just
mishit it, but that was pretty startling to see that
one come up short for a guy that has such
a big leg.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Yeah, I mean that would have been a season long
slash career along for Tyler Loop this year. It was
a big kick and he hasn't been in a ton
of high leverage situations this year. His season long is
fifty two yards, So that was a big kick and
he missed it, right, And is it a gimme? Certainly not. Yeah,
(25:32):
you know, fifty six yards in late December is not
in this stadium. Is not a slam dunk by any
stretch of the imagination. But like you know, you're brought
here to make kicks. And I don't think he's gonna
make excuses about it either. He feels like he should
make that kick. And the raven you know, he was
the Ravens guy. And this one of the kind of
the sub stories of this game was Andy Borigalis, the
(25:56):
Patriots rookie kicker, was the first draft kicker draft after
this year, and the Ravens were sweating it out then
and the Patriots might take their guy, Tyler Loop. They
took any Borialis. The Ravens got in the Tyler Loop
four pickx later and borri Allis. Was he won the night,
you know, I mean he had a forty five yard kick,
went two for two, I was perfect on his extra
(26:17):
points and leapsmiths that did hurt.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
So now the Ravens have two games left in the
regular season. They do not control their own destiny any longer.
Things just got off on the wrong foot here because
everybody in the stadium was watching the game, the Steelers
Lions game, as during warm ups they headed on the
video boards here, so there was kind of a buzz
in the stadium as the Lions were mounting a comeback
in that one, and the Steelers end up winning that game,
(26:44):
and so that meant the Ravens had to keep pace
and they didn't.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
So now the.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Ravens need help in order to get to the playoffs.
First of all, the Ravens need to beat the Green
Bay Packers on Saturday night, and then they need the
Cleveland Browns to do the Ravens a favor and beat
the Steelers on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
If those things have happened, then it's a Week eighteen win,
a get in game. If the Ravens lose or if
the Steelers win, then that's all she wrote, the week
eighteen is relevant and doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
That's there.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
They're eliminated.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Yep, the Ravens are done.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
And so that's the that's the scenario that we're looking
at going into these final two games of the season.
There's obviously a frustration and disappointment around that, but the
Ravens also are just gonna They're gonna.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Well, the Ravens play Saturday night. They have everything to
play for on Saturday night in Green Bay, right The
Steelers don't play till Sunday, so that game has a
ton of meeting and you know, we'll see about Lamar Jackson.
Jordan Love, the Packers starting quarterback left their game yesterday
with a concussion, so whether he's able to play or
(27:45):
not is very much in question as well. And but
the Ravens, first things first have to take care of
their own business and they need to win in lambeau Field.
And then then they pray to the football gods that
the Cleveland Rounds can pull off an upset. And who knows, right,
I mean, it's a AFC North game in Cleveland. You know,
(28:07):
Sheder Sanders has played well at times and had that offense,
and you never know, what the Browns defense and get
you know what, I'll be rooting for Miles Garrett to
get ten sacks in that game.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Well, look the record, the Browns almost beat the Buffalo
Bills today exactly.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
The Brown's played pretty darn well today. You know, they
just lost their rookie running back WHI John Judkins to
a pretty gnarly injury, is what it looks like. So look,
the Browns will be underdogs in that game. It will
be an upset, but is it impossible? Certainly not so
the Ravens. First thing, first, they got to recover after
a tough loss yere. They got to get healthier Lamar Jackson,
you know needs I know what I'll have on why
(28:42):
Christmas wish list, and that's for a healthy back for
Lamar Jackson. And and they got to try to win
that game.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
So thank you as always for listening to the podcast.
You can email us with the Lounge at Ravens dot
NFL dot net. We appreciate those emails, so keep those coming.
Thank you for listening. We'll be back with you again
later this week.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
M
Welcome ins the Lounge presented by DraftKings. I'm ran Ink
here with Garrett Downing. Following the Ravens twenty four to
twenty eight loss to the New England Patriots, rough night
for the Ravens that pretty much puts them on the
brink of getting into the playoffs. They no longer control
their own destiny. They would have to win out and
they would need the Steelers to lose out in order
(00:26):
for the Ravens to get in. With two games left,
just another disappointing night at home, primetime, huge game, huge stakes,
and the Ravens fall short.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, this obviously it's so disappointing, and we just walked
out of the locker room. You could feel the disappointment
as you talk to the players and head coach Sean Harblaugh.
I think, honestly, like when I look at this game,
in so many words, it was a micro cosmo the
Ravens season and the disappointment that this season has been
in a lot of ways. You can go through it,
(00:59):
and we're gonna talk through all the specifics of it.
But it was a game where the Ravens had an
injury to quarterback Lamar Jackson, which of course, has been
a theme unfortunately of this season. It was a game
where the Ravens had a two score lead in the
fourth quarter and felt like they had it in hand
and the defense gave that up. It was a game
where they had costly turnovers by star players that really
(01:20):
hurt them. And those things have all been themes throughout
this season and some of those even previous years too.
And so to have all that, basically, all the things
that have haunted you at points this year be your
undoing in this game and I got to have a
game is really frustrating.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah. Absolutely, And all of those things, like you said,
they've cost the Ravens games at different points of this season,
and it just kind of all came together in a
really frustrating way tonight. Let's let's jump into it here, Garrett.
You talk about Lamar Jackson's injury. He suffered a back
(02:00):
injury in the first half near the end of the
first half. John Harball afterwards described it as a bruised back,
went to the locker room and could not return in
the second half. Tyler Huntley finished the first half and
the remainder of the entirety of the second half and
Lamar after the game was clearly still in pain. He
(02:22):
talked to reporters and said he got some strong pain
medication in the locker room afterwards, tried to throw the
ball with a Ravens trainer in the locker room and
was just in too much pain to go back out there.
I mean, Tyler Huntley said he could barely move on
the Ravens bench. He hobbled his way out to the
Ravens sideline in the second half, but could barely move.
(02:44):
And I mean we saw him in the locker room.
I mean it was like Frankenstein moving around. He was
extremely stiff, extremely in pain, and emotionally hurting after not
being able to finish this game in a must wing game.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
The two days that really shooed out to me after
talking with Lamar in the locker room. The first was
just the severity, the pain that he was in, the
anguish that he was in. Moving from locker to leave
the building or leave the locker room was a challenge,
Like just even when he talked with the reporters, he
(03:18):
kind of braced himself up against the locker and was
clearly an anguish.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
You could hear it in his voice.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
It was a pretty raw version of Lamar that we
don't often see. And so the first was just the
physical anguish that he was in. The second, to me
was the disappointment and he just feels like he just
kept saying it's bs because he felt like these injuries
have come up multiple times this year, and this is
a guy that badly wants to be on the field,
has high expectations for himself and for this team, and
(03:46):
wanted to play. And he said, like all the things
that had bothered me this year, the knee and the
ankle and stuff, he didn't those weren't issues.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
He was feeling good exactly. That was really the frustrating
part too, is the Ravens offense came out and the
way that Lamar was playing early in this game, Like wow, Like,
is the Ravens offense back? Is it back back? You know?
Is this an offense that you could maybe go on
a run with? And if the defense is playing well
as it has the previous weeks, like whoa wait a second,
Like we're putting it all together here, you know, in
(04:13):
the first quarter and then you know, Derrick Henry Fumble,
Lamar gets injured and all of a sudden, like oh god,
it's coming crumbling apart. Yeah, right, And and yeah, Lamar
was also pretty frustrated, I think by the play itself,
got neat in the back as he was going to
the ground giving himself up. Yeah, was not happy about
(04:35):
the way that went down.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Yeah, not at all.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
And you know, I just he tried everything he could
to get back in that game. You know, said he
got a turtle shot in the locker room and was
trying to do everything.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
He could to play.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
And he knew he understands the significance of this game,
like he knows that this is as close to a
must win game as you can have, and so he
was trying to do everything possible to get back out
there on the field, and the fact that he just
wasn't able to do it was.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Incredibly frustrating to him.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And and that was on his face as he talked
with reporters after the game. And I felt for him,
like this is Lamar has been a guy obviously throughout
his career that's like carry this team in so many
different ways, and he wanted to be out there and
playing in this game, and the fact that he wasn't
able to do it, it tears him up, and now
(05:29):
I know we're gonna talk about Tyler Huntley. I actually
thought he came in and did a really nice job
and moved this offense and put points on the board,
and I think I think he played well enough to win.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Did yep, But I mean completely nine to ten passes, yeah,
six five hoard it's pretty good. Yeah, but it's it's
different when you don't have Lamar. It's not the same offense, no, of.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Course, Like, and there's one there's one guy that runs
the offense the way Lamar does and it's and it's
Lamar Jackson, and so not having him out there, like,
there's definitely a hit that you take, but you just could.
It sucked with me just how how frustrated he was
and by the fact that he wasn't able to get
back out there and play.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah, Lamar said he's going to have further tests tomorrow
and we'll see what his status is for Saturday night
in Green Bay.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
But he did say that that's the hope, hope, right.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
He certainly did not rule himself out and so yeah,
I'm done, he said, the hope will be to come
back and play, and so hopefully he can make that happen.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Right, Yeah, he said further testing.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I think he said a cat scan even on Monday,
and and so we'll see. Obviously it's it's right after
the game, and you have to see how he responds
over the course of the week. But he he at
least has the hope that he's able to get back
out there and play on Saturday. Tough week two on
a short week going to Green Bay. Both the quarterbacks
on both of those teams, Jordan Loves dealing with concussion
(06:51):
and al Lamar's dealing with the back injuries. Both teams
are dealing with quarterback issues.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Now to the The other talking point of the game
is kind of just how it came on raveled here
in the fourth quarter for the Ravens, and and Kyle
Hamilton spoke this, you know, unfortunately, that's that's just been
the theme that's unfortunately been who the Ravens have been
this season, previous seasons. You know, this is this is
(07:17):
all an all too familiar story for the Ravens, and
you know that the blame for that goes on both
sides of the ball, offense and defense. And you know,
we'll start here offensively. I think certainly one of The
big talking points coming out of this game is why
did Derrick Henry not get the ball and the Ravens
second to last offensive drive. Ravens had an eleven point lead,
(07:40):
the Patriots went down, uh scored a touchdown. Ravens are
still winning by three, yep. Because they scored a touchdown
and version Ravens are winning by three. This is the
biggest drive of the seasons to this point. And it's
Keaton Mitchell out there, not Derrick Henry. Derek Henry did
not see the ball at all, or see the field
at all, not just the ball. He didn't see a
(08:02):
snap on that drive or for the remainder of the game.
And so an obvious question is Derrick Henry really wasn't
stopped all night for the most part. I mean, eighteen carries,
one hundred and twenty eight yards, two touchdowns. He was
averaging seven point one per carry. He wasn't stopped all night, yep.
And why wasn't he given the ball on that series
(08:24):
when this is what Derrick Henry has made for wearing
down teams late in the fourth quarter, especially when he's
been wearing wearing on y'all game long.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Well, I think it's especially.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
It stands out because his last carry was a touchdown
and the Ravens really rode him that entire drive down
the field before he scored on that two yard carry,
and heid the way that this was a big topic
of conversation out to the game, John hard Ball was
asked about it, Derrek Henry was asked about it, and
the way that they basically explained it is that there
is a consistent rotation between him and Keaton Mitchell, and
(08:59):
the decision was that Keith Mitchell is starting that drive
and the plan was for Derek ultimately to come in
on that drive. Now, they all they had a punt
on that they didn't have a long enough drive, but
that was that was the plan. Derek talked about the
rotation and said, this is something we've been doing really
for the second half of the season and they feel
like it's been working well. And he even said, like
(09:20):
we did this last week and it's not It wasn't
a story last week because we won, but because we lost,
it becomes a story.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
It's obviously a story because his last carry is a touchdown.
He had he was the biggest offensive weapon of the night,
and then he doesn't see the field the rest of
the game.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
I agree with him. It wouldn't it wouldn't have been
a story if they had won. Yeah that's a fact. Yeah,
but the fact that it didn't work, yeah, you know, fakes,
it makes you question, and I mean I think that
it's a it's a fair question to pose, you know.
I mean, Keith Mitchell nine carries for thirteen yards, he
averaged one point four. So it wasn't like Keaton Mitchell
was like on a hot on a heater here tonight.
(09:56):
Derek Henry had the high hand. Yeah, yeah, you know,
he and and and this is really they couldn't stop
him all night. This is and this is what he's
made for. And so like that that was the plan.
I think that it's fair to say, like why didn't
you break script? Like that has been you've been rotating,
but in this situation, given them what you've seen during
this game, the effectiveness that Derrick Henry has had and
(10:19):
Keaton wasn't hot, Like I said, like, why didn't the
Ravens break the pattern on that.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
Drive say we're just rolling with this guy, We're just
we're just gonna ride Derrick Henry, Which I think is
a totally fair way to go, and John Harbaugh made
the point I didn't like that drive at all, said,
looking back on it, you do want Derek in there
on that drive.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Yeah, it's a game when he drives it.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Starting to drive, that's the quantum on the Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Well, now they got a first down on that drive. So,
like the first couple of plays ended up not mattering
really because they ultimately got one first down on that
drive with a catch by DeAndre Hopkins to move the chains.
And so you could have brought Derrick Henry in the
game at that point and said, okay, fresh set of downs,
let's kind of reset here.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
And they didn't do that.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
They just kept heating in that the rest of that
drive and they weren't able to move the ball and
they punted it away.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Right after that snoop completion the DeAndre Hopkins on third
and six, it was then eight yard completion for our
first down. The Ravens are now the forty three and
it's Keaton Mitchell right in for no game. So like that,
Carrie could have gone right to Derek Hennery.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Right, and of course you never know, like would he
have gotten yards?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
You don't know, you know, But it's but I think
that the argument holds water considering that Derek had one
hundred and twenty eight yards on the ground of two
touchdowns and average seven over seven yards of pop.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Yeah, he was.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
He was doing all the things in this game that
you talk about at the start of the season. Gets
better as the game goes along, wears teams down, gets
better in December, Cole don't want to tackle all those things, Like,
all of that applied to the way that he played tonight,
And so that was that was the rationality x as
the explanation from the Ravens, And I'm sure they're going
(12:04):
to be looking at all that as as a break
down this game and assess, you know, what they could
have done differently.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yeah, and then defensively, you know, it's also become too
familiar for the other team to just heat up in
the fourth quarter and go on a run. I mean,
you look at it, Drake May. You know, they're chanting
MVP in empty Bank Stadium and it's for Drake May.
Down the stretch late in the fourth quarter. The Patriots
scored two straight touchdowns in the fourth quarter, seventh place
(12:34):
seventy three yard drive and a nine play eighty nine
yard drive. Drake May finished the game thirty one to
forty four for three hundred and eighty yards, two touchdowns
and one interception. It's the first time in his young
career that he's thrown for more than three hundred yards,
and it comes against the Ravens here in Baltimore, And
(12:55):
you know, I think it's for me, it's it's two
things in trying to explain why this keeps happening, and
it's it's hard. It's hard to explain why this keeps
happening To me. I think it boils down to two things.
I think that there is a self fulfilling prophecy element
at play here to a degree. You know, like we've
seen this story before, and I think you have a
(13:18):
tough time blocking that out of your mind if you're
a player that like this here we go again factor.
And then I think more and the Axes knows of it.
I thought Kyle Hamilton brought up a pretty good point
after the game and that in some ways the Ravens
run defense can be to their own detriment, and the
(13:41):
Patriots did not have much success at all running the
ball with their running backs. I mean, Trevon Henderson was
knocked out of the game.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Yeah, part of the reason they did. I mean that's
part of running back out of concussion.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Exactly second quarter, but there are two running backs, had
thirteen carries for fifty four yards, right, so like they
were averaging it's four yards of pop, but that's not
they were not running the ball all that great. And
really twenty one of those yards came on their final touchdown.
They're Mare Stevenson touchdown. So really they did not have
(14:14):
much going on the round. And in some ways that
can be to the Ravens detriment, and especially when teams
get behind, obviously they're gonna throw more, and these quarterbacks
get on a roll and they start to get hot,
and once you have a good quarterback that gets hot,
it is really hard to stop them, and like they
start carving you up. And it's a double edged sword
(14:37):
also for the Ravens. In order to stop that, when
teams become one dimensional and have to throw the ball,
you have to either get turnovers or incomplete or get
pat knocked down passes, or you get sacks or penalties.
You can get that if you're lucky, but we all
know that it's.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Gonna that's not the presence exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
You don't plan for that. Basically, you gotta get your
hands on the ball in the secondary or you gotta
get sacks. And the Ravens have had trouble getting to
the quarterback for much of the season. I mean, they're
near the they're not high in the league rankings, and
sacks at all. Quarterback pressure has been a problem. Getting turnovers,
(15:19):
getting interceptions has been a problem. So, like the Ravens
have not been a particularly great team when they're pinning
their ears back. Like you say, we got to stop
the run, so we have the chance to rush the
passer and do all those things we want to do
and blitz and get turnovers and all that stuff. You're
in that situation, but not making those things happen.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Well, for on turnovers, they got them tonight. They got
two turnovers. Rollal Hoover had an early interception and then
our Darius Washington had the strip sack right before half,
which actually was a big player. I know, I know,
And so they didn't get this, but you have two
turnovers on defense, Sure, that's a good starting point. And
like there's probably merit to the idea that if a
(16:00):
quarterback is just passing on it every down as an
MVP level quarterback that Drake may is in the conversation
and he certainly helped his cost tonight. YEP, that it's
gonna be hard to just consistently stop it. And Stefan
Diggs has been a great player for a long time
and it seems to always show up in primetime games,
which he did here tonight. So like it's it's hard
to stop those guys. But at the same time, like
(16:23):
every team that's trailing in the fourth quarter is passing
to try to get their way back into games. And
it seems like this is a theme for the Ravens
more so than what I see around the league in
terms of giving up these fourth quarter leads in this season.
And so like, as Kyle Hamilton put it, like it's
it's you guys, he said to the media, You guys
(16:43):
are tired of asking the question, We're tired of answering it.
It's become redundant, it's become a theme. And so like
the Ravens know that it's become this. You made the
point of self fulfilling prophecy. Like whether that's true or
whether it's just like this is it's happened too many
times and now we're talking about it. Ever, it does happen,
and it's this theme of this team, and well that's
the question, like how why does it keep it?
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Why?
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Right?
Speaker 1 (17:06):
The question is why why does it keep happen? Maybe
there's no question a theme?
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, And like I think it's I think it's a
worthwhile exercise to try to explain it. I don't know
that I'm like buying that rationale quite as much as
it seems like you are in terms of like the
run defense almost that.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Piece of it.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Like, I don't know that I'm totally buying that, like
the reason what do you got for me?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
I do think.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
I do.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I do think that the pass rush has has been
an issue and not getting after the quarterback. And Drake
May especially throughout this game, had plenty of situations where
he had time to step back there.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
And throw and wait for players to develop.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
A lot of times, a lot of times, sorry to
cut you off, but a lot of times, like when
you watch other games around the league, in those situations,
it's an elite pass rusher who gets a big sack
that base clean puts them in second in pan or
second in fifteen or whatever, and like that then they
close the game out from there, like you need a
negative play, yeah, right, And sacks are often what it is,
(18:11):
or a hold because the guy's going to sack your
quarterback and you draw a holding penalty and then now
they're off course and that's how you get them off
the field. That's often what it is. And like the
Ravens really have not had that closer at pass rusher
that you need and you're a team that's gonna be
as the Ravens have in many situations, you know. Part
(18:32):
of it is like, yeah, the Ravens have been in
a lot of games where they had two point or
you know, two score leads in the fourth quarter. That's
a good place to be. But like you're not going
to become the team that you should be, that you
could be until you can finish this. Yeah, And that's
been the Ravens bugaboo for years now, honestly, And so
like that's how they haven't been able to get over
the hump that way. Part of it is because they
(18:53):
haven't had that closer to sack the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Yeah, and it.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Likes you there's whatever blame to go around offense defense.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
When I look at it.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
You feel like if you have a two score lead
with over nine minutes left, like that's a lead that
I just feel like the Ravens defense should be able
to hold. Especially on that first touchdown drive. We kind
of glossed over that one, like they just march down
the field. It was like a three minute drive and
no time. Like if you're gonna, if you're gonna, if
you're gonna give up a score, you definitely don't want
it to be a quick score. You want them to
(19:28):
especially when you have that two score lead at that point,
you're up eleven points there, like make them eat up
the clock and.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
With little more quick drives. The first touchdown drive after
the Ravens took the eleven point lead, that was a
seventh place seventy three and three forty.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
That's that's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
YEA next one was nine for eighty nine and two
fifty five. They went further in less time.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I actually, I was actually okay with the second one
being quick because they at least gave the offense a
prayer to come back, and you and that situation, I
might just score rather than getting down at the one
yard line and and.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
So Yeah, I think they're just too quick.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Like it's not it's bad enough that you go up
the yards and the points, but when you compound that
with it being quick, it's it's really tough. And then
the offense gets the ball back, has a chance to
try to come back down and score and say Flowers fumbles.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, and that's that's to the third prong of the
microcosm that has been the Ravens season here that we
saw tonight, Uh, the turnovers for the Ravens and and
two very costly turnovers, obviously the one that really ended
the game. Zay Flowers loses the ball after making a
catch and and he got careless. He's trying to make
(20:39):
a play, he's trying to cut back on somebody. Ball
comes out away from his body as he's trying as
he's juking, and put a punch out from behind. And
and we've seen that now too many times from from Zay,
you know. And then early on it's another Derrick Henry
fumble and that really short circuited early momentum that the
(21:00):
Ravens had offensively. They marched down the field on their
opening drive score touchdowns to begin the game. Then they
get the interception, go right back down the field. You
have a chance to go up two touchdowns in the
first quarter and you're in scoring position. Derrick Henry fumbles
at the end of a solid run, and so those
are killers. It also kills you that it's two of
(21:22):
your best players, you know, and it's been all season,
I mean, you know, going all the way back to
Buffalo and the Derrick Henry fumble in that game, the
Detroit game here on primetime. You know, too many fumbles
in critical situations for Derrick Henry. And he was very
honest after the game also and saying for him personally,
(21:42):
it's been a really frustrating season. You know, for the team,
it has been with the expectations that everybody came into
this year with, and for him personally, it's just been
a really frustrating season because he feels like he's made
to any of these kinds of mistakes.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yeah, he said that he felt like he basically took
the wind out of the team's sales with that fumble
in the first in the first half, again, it's looking
like it's gonna be a two score lead, at least
ten nothing, maybe fourteen nothing. It felt like it was
gonna be a quick touchdown based on the way that
the offense looked at that point, and so and then
it just then things comeound and this is like part
(22:16):
of the problem. But he fumbles, then the page shoots,
get the ball, they march right down the field touchdown.
Then the offense gets the ball back three and out.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
And then also drop.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Pass run for one yard and Lamar Jackson passed a
shot by more than on the same page nowhere in
the same zip code, you know, I mean, just like
you're like, oh boy, now here we go, right, and
so it's like, at.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
One point it felt like, man, the raves are gonna
run away with this thing.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
H this team is gonna be gonna be an It
was right, and then all of a sudden it all
came to a screeching halt, and that's part of the problem.
And then yeah, the fumble at the end of the game,
I think, say, isay somebody who's always trying to make
a play and at that point of the game you
do have to make a play because you had a
long way to go there.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
But it's all that was fourth down, like like you.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
I think part of it, honestly, for this team is
like it's been, it's been a tough season so far,
and I think that they want to break through so bad,
and all of them do, and I think that, like,
especially the stars of this team feel like, hey, I'm
one of the I'm one of the guys, Like I'm
a star on this team, and I need to make
(23:24):
a play. Everybody wants to make that play help this
team get over the hump and break through and finally
get on track, you know, offensively specifically, and I and
I'm sure it's to a degree defensively too, but offensively,
I just I feel that like, you know, you're just
you're trying to do too much. You get careless of
the ball. You know, you're reaching the ball out I say,
(23:45):
likely you know in previous games, and you know you're
just not doing the fundamentals that it takes to win
because you're trying to make a play so much to win. Yeah, right,
And and that can be to your detriment. And it
just feels like it's been that way all season long,
where they've been like fighting against the current.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
You know, yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
So we'll take a break when we come back, we'll
look ahead to what the Ravens have on the horizon
and give our final thoughts on this game here against
the Patriots. You're listening to the Lounge podcast. We are
coming to you from the Sea Geek Studio. We want
to mention our partners with Draftickings Sportsbook. They are an
official sports betting partner of the Baltimore Ravens DraftKings Sportsbook.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
The crown is.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Yours, so before we completely turn the page. One other
note from this game was special teams now a little
bit up and down. The Ravens get the big stop
on fourth down, which was a big moment in this game.
Great play by Tess Walker.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Got a saxonite. Tes Walker got a saxonite.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Did not expect that one in the stat sheet coming
into the game. But on the flip side, Tyler Loop
comes up way short on a fifty six yard field
goal that the Ravens really needed at that point of
the game.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
And for a.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Guy that we've talked about how he has a huge
leg and we've seen that in practice and in preseason,
I was shocked when that one came up the way
that it did. And I don't know if he just
mishit it, but that was pretty startling to see that
one come up short for a guy that has such
a big leg.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Yeah, I mean that would have been a season long
slash career along for Tyler Loop this year. It was
a big kick and he hasn't been in a ton
of high leverage situations this year. His season long is
fifty two yards, So that was a big kick and
he missed it, right, And is it a gimme? Certainly not. Yeah,
(25:32):
you know, fifty six yards in late December is not
in this stadium. Is not a slam dunk by any
stretch of the imagination. But like you know, you're brought
here to make kicks. And I don't think he's gonna
make excuses about it either. He feels like he should
make that kick. And the raven you know, he was
the Ravens guy. And this one of the kind of
the sub stories of this game was Andy Borigalis, the
(25:56):
Patriots rookie kicker, was the first draft kicker draft after
this year, and the Ravens were sweating it out then
and the Patriots might take their guy, Tyler Loop. They
took any Borialis. The Ravens got in the Tyler Loop
four pickx later and borri Allis. Was he won the night,
you know, I mean he had a forty five yard kick,
went two for two, I was perfect on his extra
(26:17):
points and leapsmiths that did hurt.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
So now the Ravens have two games left in the
regular season. They do not control their own destiny any longer.
Things just got off on the wrong foot here because
everybody in the stadium was watching the game, the Steelers
Lions game, as during warm ups they headed on the
video boards here, so there was kind of a buzz
in the stadium as the Lions were mounting a comeback
in that one, and the Steelers end up winning that game,
(26:44):
and so that meant the Ravens had to keep pace
and they didn't.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
So now the.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Ravens need help in order to get to the playoffs.
First of all, the Ravens need to beat the Green
Bay Packers on Saturday night, and then they need the
Cleveland Browns to do the Ravens a favor and beat
the Steelers on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
If those things have happened, then it's a Week eighteen win,
a get in game. If the Ravens lose or if
the Steelers win, then that's all she wrote, the week
eighteen is relevant and doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
That's there.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
They're eliminated.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Yep, the Ravens are done.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
And so that's the that's the scenario that we're looking
at going into these final two games of the season.
There's obviously a frustration and disappointment around that, but the
Ravens also are just gonna They're gonna.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Well, the Ravens play Saturday night. They have everything to
play for on Saturday night in Green Bay, right The
Steelers don't play till Sunday, so that game has a
ton of meeting and you know, we'll see about Lamar Jackson.
Jordan Love, the Packers starting quarterback left their game yesterday
with a concussion, so whether he's able to play or
(27:45):
not is very much in question as well. And but
the Ravens, first things first have to take care of
their own business and they need to win in lambeau Field.
And then then they pray to the football gods that
the Cleveland Rounds can pull off an upset. And who knows, right,
I mean, it's a AFC North game in Cleveland. You know,
(28:07):
Sheder Sanders has played well at times and had that offense,
and you never know, what the Browns defense and get
you know what, I'll be rooting for Miles Garrett to
get ten sacks in that game.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Well, look the record, the Browns almost beat the Buffalo
Bills today exactly.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
The Brown's played pretty darn well today. You know, they
just lost their rookie running back WHI John Judkins to
a pretty gnarly injury, is what it looks like. So look,
the Browns will be underdogs in that game. It will
be an upset, but is it impossible? Certainly not so
the Ravens. First thing, first, they got to recover after
a tough loss yere. They got to get healthier Lamar Jackson,
you know needs I know what I'll have on why
(28:42):
Christmas wish list, and that's for a healthy back for
Lamar Jackson. And and they got to try to win
that game.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
So thank you as always for listening to the podcast.
You can email us with the Lounge at Ravens dot
NFL dot net. We appreciate those emails, so keep those coming.
Thank you for listening. We'll be back with you again
later this week.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
M
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