The Ravens walked into Thursday night already carrying low expectations, and they left with a 33-10 loss to the Jaguars that only hardened the feeling around this team: there’s not much left to dress up here.
Undrafted rookie quarterback Joe Fagnano was stuck on 60 passing yards while dealing with a clearly injured ankle, and Baltimore’s defense spent the night giving up too many explosive plays through the air. That was the backdrop for a performance that left plenty of people around the team sounding like they’d seen enough.
Nikhil Mehta took the most measured view of the bunch, but even he landed in a bleak place. He said the game played out “more or less, exactly as I expected,” pointing to Fagnano’s limited ability to plant and throw off his ailing right ankle, the pressure from Jacksonville’s defensive front, and a defense that was never likely to suddenly fix itself in one week.
He also called Liam Coen one of the NFL’s top offensive minds and said the crowd was “(understandably) ready to check out early.” The offense, he said, can move on with Jacoby Brissett, but the defense under Jesse Minter and Anthony Weaver has been “bad.
Shockingly bad,” and needs a major personnel overhaul this offseason.
Zach Canter didn’t bother softening the blow. “I don’t even know what to say or do at this point,” he wrote, adding that while the game had the potential to get ugly, nobody pictured it looking this bad.
With eight games still to go, he said the offense was “unwatchable” and suggested the Jacoby Brissett trade was necessary just so the outside weapons wouldn’t look as miserable as they did Thursday night. “I don’t think I saw Zay Flowers smile once,” he added.
He also said there are still a lot of questions to answer, but not until the offseason, and hoped the Ravens would sell a few pieces at the deadline to start the process.
Kevin McNelis said he’s lived through dark stretches with this franchise, but this one feels different. He compared it to the Super Bowl hangover, only with “bloated contracts and none of the payoff of having won a title.”
His answer was simple: sell at the deadline and hit the reset button on the roster and the mentality, especially on defense. He also added, “My thoughts are with Jacoby Brissett.
I just hope he goes out there and has some fun playing ball.”
Mark Myers called it “Rock bottom,” and said everything that could go wrong did. He pointed to the same recurring issues, from the players who keep making mistakes week after week to the few standouts who struggled on Thursday.
He said the offense was putrid, that Declan Doyle didn’t trust Joey Fagnano to push the ball, and that the defense showed a lack of effort. Myers also asked, “I wonder how Marlon Humphrey will blame the fans this time.”
He agreed Brissett is better than Fagnano, but not enough to rescue a roster this underwhelming, and said it’s hard to feel excited about Week 10 against the worst team in the league.
Dustin Cox kept it blunt as well. He said this simply isn’t a good enough roster without Lamar Jackson at quarterback, and that an undrafted rookie never had much chance on a short week while dealing with an ankle injury.
He pointed to the top-paid players and veterans who keep underperforming, including Marlon Humphrey’s big completion allowed on the first drive, Mark Andrews’ fumble on a direct snap on fourth down, and the weekly false starts from Andrews and Ronnie Stanley. Cox said Baltimore needs to get through the season and then gut the roster in the offseason.
He added that Jackson potentially returning later this year almost feels pointless, because even he would have a hard time lifting this group over the hump if a playoff push somehow materialized. Cox wants Jesse Minter to get a full offseason to rebuild the defense, though he admitted Minter has been “extremely disappointing so far.”
In Other News...
Ravens Secondary Nightmare Just Got Worse With Kyle Hamilton
Baltimores secondary took another hit on Thursday night when Kyle Hamilton went down with a hip injury against the Jaguars and was ruled out for the rest of the game. The Ravens were already trying to navigate a battered defensive backfield, and now they have one of their most important pieces leaving in the middle of a game they were already chasing.
Hamilton entered the night carrying a knee issue that had limited him in the lead-up, so his availability for next weeks matchup with the Chargers is suddenly in question. For a defense already stretched thin in the back end, the timing could hardly be worse, especially with the Ravens trailing and the injury list continuing to grow at a spot where they can least afford another setback. [Read more 🡒]
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The Ravens also enter the Jacksonville game in a far different spot at quarterback, with the offense turning to a rookie under center after the latest injury moves. In a week when Baltimore needs stability wherever it can find it, Henry has a chance to keep doing what he has done all season and add another milestone to a resume that keeps climbing. [Read more 🡒]
Jesse Minter Sounds Off As Ravens Collapse Keeps Getting Worse
The Ravens slide deepened in Jacksonville, where a 33-10 loss pushed the teams losing streak to four games and left the offense searching for any kind of stability. Undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano got the start at quarterback because of injuries, and the afternoon quickly turned into a difficult one as Baltimore struggled to sustain drives and keep the game from slipping away.
Head coach Jesse Minter did not hide his frustration afterward, pointing specifically to the second half as the part of the performance that fell short. He acknowledged the challenge of the current situation, but the bigger concern now is how quickly the Ravens can steady themselves before the seasons problems keep compounding. [Read more 🡒]