The Baltimore Ravens had briefly climbed into the AFC playoff mix after Thursday night, but one loss on Sunday pushed them right back out and then some. Cincinnati’s win over Baltimore bumped the Bengals into seventh place, leaving the Ravens sitting ninth in the conference, behind the New England Patriots in eighth.
Baltimore’s current problem is hard to miss: it has scored just 23 points over its last two games, and the next two matchups loom large with the Buffalo Bills in Week 8 and the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 9. The Ravens need Lamar Jackson back.
The AFC North has tightened up around them, too. Baltimore dropped to the bottom of the division after a weekend in which every other team in the North picked up a win. The Cleveland Browns took a close one over the Tennessee Titans to move to 5-2 and stay in first, the Pittsburgh Steelers won in Paris and remain right there at 5-2 as well, and the Bengals moved past the Ravens with their win.
Here’s how the AFC playoff field looks after Week 7: the Kansas City Chiefs are still on top at 5-0, followed by the Buffalo Bills at 5-1. Cleveland holds the No. 3 spot, Jacksonville sits fourth at 4-2, and Denver is fifth at 5-2 with a 2-1 AFC mark. Pittsburgh checks in at No. 6, and Cincinnati is seventh at 4-2.
New England is right behind them at 4-3 and 4-1 in the conference, while Baltimore has slipped to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the AFC. The rest of the standings run through the Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers.
In the Wild Card race, Denver’s win mattered, and so did the Steelers’ and Bengals’ victories. New England’s loss kept the Patriots bunched up with Baltimore, but the Ravens are the ones staring up from ninth after a rough Sunday.
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Ravens Have A Bigger Problem Than Their Record Right Now
The Ravens have spent most of this season fighting the same frustrating battle, and it has little to do with who is under center. After John Harbaugh was fired earlier this year and Jesse Minter took over as head coach, Baltimore has watched three separate games slip away after building double-digit leads, a pattern that has turned routine wins into painful what-ifs and left the team searching for answers beyond the standings.
Lamar Jacksons absence has been part of the backdrop, with the quarterback missing the last three games while Baltimore tried to steady itself. He has since resumed practicing, which at least gives the Ravens a path toward getting their offense back in place, but the bigger issue remains how a team that keeps getting in front keeps letting those games get away. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Pro Bowler Is Taking Heat After Costly Bengals Matchup
Marlon Humphrey found himself in the spotlight after Baltimores latest meeting with Cincinnati, and not in the way a Pro Bowler usually wants. The Ravens cornerbacks comments about JaMarr Chase drew attention before the game even settled in, with Humphrey making it clear he would rather not see that matchup quite so often.
Chase then did his part in the Bengals win, catching five passes for 62 yards and a touchdown while Baltimores defense struggled to slow the game down. Humphrey finished with three tackles and a pass defended, and the criticism online came quickly after the final whistle, with fans using the result to question how the veteran cornerback handled the matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Second-Half Collapses Put Jesse Minter Under A Brutal Spotlight
Jesse Minters first season running the Ravens defense has quickly become more complicated than the early results suggested. Baltimore has repeatedly looked organized and in control before halftime, only to see games tilt the other way after the break, and the latest swing has only sharpened the scrutiny on how this group is built and coached. The concerns go beyond one bad quarter or one missed assignment, because the defensive problems have shown up in the same painful pattern.
The Bengals game fit the script in the harshest possible way, with Baltimore protecting a 13-0 halftime lead before everything unraveled. Through seven games, the split has been stark enough to raise real questions about whether this roster and coaching staff are equipped to keep pace when opponents start adjusting, and Minter is the one left answering for it. The numbers tell one story, but the bigger one is whether the Ravens can stop bleeding points after halftime before the seasons most frustrating trend becomes their defining one. [Read more 🡒]