John Harbaugh is no longer on the sideline in Baltimore, but the Ravens are still stuck in the same ugly cycle.
After seven games, the record says 4-3. The bigger problem is what’s sitting underneath it. Baltimore has now dropped three games, and in every one of those losses, it built a double-digit lead before watching it slip away.
That pattern continued Sunday in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Ravens led by 13 points and still couldn’t close it out. Before that, they let an 11-point cushion against the New Orleans Saints disappear and also squandered a 10-point edge against the Cleveland Browns.
The change from Harbaugh to former Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter was supposed to bring a different feel to Baltimore’s defense, especially in those pressure moments when games start tilting. Instead, the same issue keeps hanging around. And while Lamar Jackson has missed the last three games, the blown leads go beyond one missing quarterback.
Baltimore has been chasing Super Bowl expectations ever since Jackson won his first MVP in 2019, but that kind of goal gets a lot harder when leads can’t be protected. The AFC North remains tight, with nobody pulling away, so the Ravens still have some breathing room.
There was at least one encouraging sign late last week, when Jackson got some work in practice. That puts him in line to potentially return in the next couple of games.
Even with the division still within reach, Baltimore’s biggest priority is obvious: fix the late-game collapses before the playoffs arrive.
In Other News...
Ravens Collapse In Cincinnati Sparked A Bigger Problem Than One Loss
Zay Flowers gave Baltimore something to build around in Cincinnati, turning in another strong showing with 8 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown, but the rest of the afternoon unraveled around him. The Ravens second straight loss came with the defense looking overwhelmed in the second half under Jesse Minter, and the overall performance carried a far more troubling tone than a simple division setback.
Derrick Henry never found a rhythm on the ground, and the frustration around the team seemed to bleed into everything as the game slipped away. For a Ravens group that entered the week trying to steady itself, the concern now is less about one bad result and more about whether the mood and execution behind it point to something deeper. [Read more 🡒]
Trey Hendrickson Sends Ravens A Blunt Message After Another Collapse
The Ravens 35-13 loss to the Bengals was the kind of second-half unraveling that leaves a team searching for answers, especially after Baltimore had controlled the game early. Trey Hendrickson, who recently arrived in Baltimore from Cincinnati, did not hide his frustration with the way the Ravens let another lead slip away, making it clear the standard in the building has to be better than what showed up down the stretch.
Roquan Smith has already pointed to the need for more consistency, and Hendricksons own production has become part of the backdrop here as well. In his first five games with Baltimore, the pass rusher has not piled up the disruptive numbers the Ravens expected, which only adds more attention to how this group responds after a collapse like this and whether the edge rush can start matching the urgency of the message. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Second Half Collapse Exposed A Bigger Problem Than One Loss
For much of the afternoon, the Ravens were forced to keep adjusting on the fly up front, and the offense never really found its footing. Baltimore ran 67 offensive snaps with injuries reshaping the starting line, while Derrick Henry and Justice Hill split the workload in a running game that never looked comfortable. Even so, Zay Flowers kept giving the offense a lift as the passing game became the most reliable part of the attack.
The deeper concern is how quickly one injury can ripple through everything Baltimore wants to do. Vega Ioanes exit with a knee injury forced Emery Jones Jr. into the lineup for the final stretch, and that kind of change can expose a unit already under pressure. On defense, the Ravens leaned on familiar core pieces such as Nnamdi Madubuike, Mike Green and Roquan Smith, but the edge rush group and safety rotation were also hit by injuries, leaving Baltimore with more questions than the loss itself suggested. [Read more 🡒]