Injuries, fatigue lead to 33-27 OT loss in Las Vegas.
Monday, September 13, 2021, Las Vegas, NV: It’s rather fitting that the Baltimore Ravens opened their 26th National Football League campaign in the gambling capital of the world. With the season-ending loss of the team’s top three running backs and top cornerback Marcus Peters, this opening game was more of a gamble than most.
Baltimore, a team that likes to run the ball, wear opponents down, and use the clock to shorten the game, had to rely on an unproven practice-squad back and a stable of veterans plucked off the waiver wire very late in the offseason process.
But despite all of that, you could always count on the Ravens to carry over an unbeaten preseason and win a lopsided game in the season opener. Not this time.
Baltimore, a team, weakened by its absences and fatigue, was denied a sixth straight regular-season lid-lifter win Monday night at the still-brand-new, second-year Allegiant Stadium, losing a 14-point lead and falling in overtime to the host Raiders, 33-27. Monday night’s game was played before a crowd of 61,756 in the facility’s first-ever game, with fans allowed in the seats.
Had it reached six consecutive wins, the Week One win streak would have been a new club record, breaking the old mark of five, which was set when the Ravens won the opener in each of head coach John Harbaugh’s first five seasons at the Baltimore helm (2008-2012). And it was a streak that had plenty of carryover coinciding as it did with the Ravens’ long preseason win skein.
The Ravens last lost a Week One game in 2015, 19-13 game, at Denver on the way to an 0-3 beginning.
But this game broke the mold, culminating in a wild late-fourth-quarter exchange that featured three ties, two last-minute field goals, and Derek Carr’s game-winning 31-yard touchdown pass to Zay Jones with 3:38 left in the extra session.
Harbaugh, who was denied his 130th regular-season win in this game, still pointed out team positives. “I was very happy with the team’s effort… toughness.. resiliency,” the coach said. “We just didn’t close the game out when we had the opportunity.”
And that was an understatement. Losing a 14-point lead is an uncommon occurrence in Baltimore. It hadn’t happened in nearly two decades and 98 games ago (in 2004) when Carson Palmer rallied Cincinnati from 17 points down to a late win at M&T Bank Stadium.
On this night, the Ravens did manage to rush for 189 yards, the team’s 40th straight game-breaking the century mark in that department, which is three games shy of the league record set by Pittsburgh from 1974-77. Jackson ran for 86 yards on 12 carries and former practice-squad member, Ty’Son Williams, added 65 on nine attempts, including a 35-yard burst up the middle.
Williams was relieved by just-signed Latavius Murray (28 yards, ten carries, touchdown), who started slowly before finding his rhythm. And it was his rumble into the end zone from eight yards that gave Baltimore a 24-17 lead with 6:04 to go in regulation.
Jackson contributed with his legs and arm, completing 19 of 30 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown. And despite three sacks, he played to a 98.6 rating.
A big play came when Jackson broke loose for a 28-yard run to the Raider 36 in the final minute of regulation. That set up Justin Tucker’s 47-yard field goal with 37 seconds left and gave Baltimore a 27-24 lead. But Carr would answer, hitting Bryan Edwards to get into Raven territory. Daniel Carlson’s 55-yard boot tied the contest with two seconds to go.
The Raiders won the coin toss and nearly had the game-winning touchdown when Bryan Edwards shook loose from backup corner Chris Westry–one of the reserves to spell Peters–and nearly scored a 33-yard touchdown. But he was ruled to have fallen short of the goal line, and the Ravens denied a score when Anthony Averett picked off Carr on third down.
The celebration was short-lived. Jackson fumbled the ball a few plays later (his second fumble of the night), and a gassed defense couldn’t help Marlon Humphrey when a wide-open Jones caught a TD pass on the game-winning play.
Now the Ravens return home to face the defending champ Kansas City Chiefs in an NBC-televised Sunday Night game (September 19, 8:20 p.m.; locally, WBAL-TV, Channel 11; WIYY-FM). A win would erase what happened on the Strip, but a loss would mean beginning the season 0-2 with a game in Detroit on the horizon.
The Ravens come into this season with usually high expectations–a division title, or, at the very least, a playoff appearance, and a deep playoff run. But a staggering number of injuries (N=13) have tarnished possibilities. That said, Baltimore takes pride in being able to recover quickly recover from circumstances like that and, also, from a loss like on Monday night.
But as any gambler will tell you, in both Vegas and the NFL, nothing is a sure thing.
