Surprise defense and mistakes doom Ravens.
Sunday, January 6, 2019, M&T BANK STADIUM, BALTIMORE – The Baltimore Ravens had not been here for a while, but they have been here before. Sunday, on six years to the date, they played a home playoff game after their most recent one–playing as a No. 4 seed. That’s the spot they occupied for both of their championship runs.
For Jackson, it was a bad day at the office (photo, Orange County Register).
But another set of coincidences was working against the Ravens. The two one-and-done instances in Baltimore’s playoff history took place at home with one of the NFL’s best home-field advantages.
The only thing new about this Wild Card Weekend game was the opponent, the Los Angeles Chargers, against whom Baltimore had never played a postseason game. But, then again, the teams had only met two weeks ago in the regular season’s next-to-last game.
And in this return match, it was the Chargers, where were making their first playoff appearance in five years, that made the necessary adjustments. It meant that the home crowd went home yet again in disappointment.
Despite a spirited two-touchdown, fourth-quarter rally, the fourth-seeded Ravens lost, 23-17, for their third home playoff-opening loss, and ending their season at 10-7. The Chargers now move on to face second-seed New England next Sunday in the Divisional round.
Baltimore was coming off its fifth division title, but this season ended as 2003 ended. That year, Baltimore won the AFC North only to lose on Wild Card Weekend to Tennessee. Three years later, a 13-3 Ravens team fell in the Divisional round after a bye to Indianapolis, 15-6.
Once again, despite playing at home, the Ravens were flummoxed, this time by a Charger defense that not only held them down in the second half of the previous meeting but continued their line-of-scrimmage domination.
The Chargers gave quarterback Lamar Jackson no room to move. They pursued aggressively through the gaps, forced early turnovers, and allowed just 90 net rushing yards and 11 first downs.
Most of those first downs came while the Ravens trailed, 23-3. Then the Charger defense played soft defense as a means to force the home team to eat up the clock.
But with touchdown passes of 31 and seven yards to Michael Crabtree, Baltimore got within six points before Jackson’s third fumble of the game (and 15th of the season) was recovered by Melvin Ingram (seven tackles, two sacks, forced fumble, fumble recovery) with 19 seconds left. That turnover sealed the Ravens’ fate and gave the Chargers their 19th win in their last 24 games–the NFL’s best mark since Week 11 last year.
Jackson (14-for-29, 194 yards, two touchdowns, interception, seven sacks, 78.8 rating) was the youngest signal-caller ever to start an NFL playoff game (he turns 22 on Monday). He looked so rattled that some of the 70,432 fans in attendance began chanting for starter Joe Flacco to return.
But even though Flacco warmed up, he never played. “I don’t think Joe would’ve played any better than Lamar did in the last few minutes,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “So, give Lamar some credit.”
According to a CBS sideline report, cornerback Jimmy Smith admonished the fans for chanting. “How do you think we got here (in the playoffs)?” Smith said, according to CBS’ Tracy Wolfson. “Don’t be a fair-weather fan.”
But it was the Chargers defense that won the day, holding the Ravens to their lowest rushing total during their torrid 6-1 stretch run.
The Chargers employed a two-pronged strategy, committing eight defenders in the box and taking more direct pursuit angles through the gaps. The latter approach meant that defenders would move laterally down the line of scrimmage rather than getting more easily blocked.
Los Angeles ran blitzes from the secondary and picked on left guards James Hurst and Bradley Bozeman, as well as right tackle Orlando Brown, Jr. That approach paid dividends right from the beginning. The Ravens fumbled three times in their very first eight scrimmage plays, twice by Jackson and once by Kenneth Dixon.
Dixon’s fumble, his third in seven games, was forced by Ingram and pounced on by Adrian Phillips at the Ravens’ 15-yard line. It set up Michael Badgely’s 21-yard field goal for the game’s first points.
But even though the Chargers would only get field goals (21, 53, 40, and 34 yards) to forge a 12-0 halftime lead. One of the field goals was set up by a Jackson throw that was too high for Chris Moore. The ball was tipped and intercepted by Phillips near the Charger 40. It was Jackson’s first picked-off pass in 128 pass attempts.
But relying on field goals didn’t cost the visitors. That’s because the Ravens gained just 20 first-quarter yards and 76 total yards in the first half. Those yards yielded just three first downs for a team never got past their 44-yard line.
Worse yet, Baltimore was the first team since the ’06 Saints to have three first-quarter fumbles in a postseason game.
As the second half began, the Ravens faced their first two-score deficit while playing under Jackson. And the team also faced this harsh reality: many of the Ravens’ tried-and-true tenets weren’t working this day, including making timely defensive plays and kicker Justin Tucker missing a 50-yard field goal try, his third miss against the Chargers this year.
Even though Buck Allen got his hands on a Donnie Jones punt and Za’Darius Smith blocked a field goal, those special teams plays didn’t translate into momentum.
On top of all that, the injury bug struck. Safety Eric Weddle and linebacker Matt Judon were both shaken up, leaving the game, but returning later. Linebacker Terrell Suggs and defensive tackle Michael Pierce also missed chunks of time with unspecified ailments.
The Chargers, not the Ravens, were more fundamentally sound, committing no first-half penalties and only five for the game.
Los Angeles did have a hard time containing Ravens’ linebacker Patrick Onwuasor, who had two sacks and seven tackles in the first meeting, and a sack and a forced fumble on Sunday. CJ Mosley recovered that fumble, and it set up the Ravens’ first points.
But a Melvin Gordon touchdown run and Badgely’s 47-yard field goal gave the Chargers enough breathing room before the Ravens’ launched their comeback bid.
With the season over, the Ravens will decide how to handle unrestricted free agents and salary-cap dumps and, most importantly, how to reconfigure the offense around the electrifying Jackson.
“He’s the future,” safety Eric Weddle said of Jackson. “As you guys can tell, he’s devastated right now. But that’s going to drive him next year. We gave ourselves a chance. I’m proud of that. Jackson is going to be a great one.”
If that prophecy comes true, the Ravens should be able to get back to where they’ve been before–without waiting a long time to get there.
