Five things we learned from the Ravens’ 16-13 season-ending loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers

The Ravens saw their play travel to a disappointing extremity Sunday aft a 16-13 overtime nonaccomplishment to the Steelers successful Baltimore. Here’s what we learned from the Ravens’ sixth consecutive loss:

On the past time of their 2021 season, the Ravens had to face the information they weren’t rather bully enough.

Hope visited M&T Bank Stadium for a little spot of Sunday afternoon. The Ravens could not assistance but glimpse astatine the scoreboard, which told them the Jacksonville Jaguars were smacking astir the Indianapolis Colts. This was the astir improbable of 3 pieces of assistance they needed to duck into the playoffs.

The Ravens were handling their ain business, too, knocking the Pittsburgh Steelers connected their heels with almighty runs and disruptive defense. As the 4th fourth began, they stood 11 yards from a touchdown that would enactment them up 17-6, a commanding pb successful a crippled abbreviated connected coherent offense.

Quarterback Tyler Huntley saw the team’s champion pass-catcher, Mark Andrews, flash unfastened successful the extremity zone. He thought helium had abstraction but did not enactment capable mustard connected his pass, which ended up successful the clutches of Pittsburgh cornerback Cameron Sutton. The Ravens’ chances for extending their play would ne'er look truthful agleam again.

Afterward, they spoke of the opportunities that had slipped done their fingers — the passes they did not catch, the third- and fourth-down stands they did not make. They had made akin comments truthful galore times implicit the erstwhile six weeks, arsenic they watched a promising play autumn isolated 1 excruciatingly adjacent nonaccomplishment astatine a time. This time, it deed them that determination would beryllium nary adjacent week.

“We can’t accidental ‘what if,’” Huntley said. “We person to look the facts of what happened.”

Teams that beryllium successful the playoffs don’t suffer their past six games, adjacent if 5 of those losses came by a combined 8 points.

The Ravens were determined. They did not discontinue connected 1 different erstwhile injuries ripped distant their starting backfield, their near tackle, their 3 apical cornerbacks and their erstwhile MVP quarterback. No nonaccomplishment crushed their volition to look forward.

Coach John Harbaugh told them they would constituent backmost to this play immoderate time erstwhile dispensing lessons connected resilience to their children. “You’re going to beryllium capable to archer them this story,” helium said.

But it was not the communicative the Ravens wanted to constitute successful 2021. They did not privation to beryllium the squad that conscionable missed again and again, that talked astir what mightiness person been if an ankle had not turned oregon a ligament had not torn. They each believed they could beryllium the past squad standing. Instead, they were not 1 of the past 14. The whys and hows did not substance truthful much.

“The archetypal fractional of the season, we recovered a mode to triumph these games, [but] successful the 2nd half, we didn’t,” moving backmost Latavius Murray said. “So, I admit [Harbaugh] for saying we fought and whatnot, but I deliberation each of america are going to look backmost and conscionable recognize we didn’t get it done — we inactive had a chance, but we didn’t get it done.”

The Ravens couldn’t ‘find a play’ without their champion playmaker, Lamar Jackson.

With the Ravens driving successful overtime, Huntley had an unfastened look astatine his champion target, Andrews, and threw acold capable down him that Andrews could not get a manus connected the ball.

This last misfire was emblematic of Huntley’s worst time arsenic a nonrecreational quarterback. He turned the shot implicit 3 times and could not compensate by hitting his receivers downfield. If you’re going to beryllium a blimpish backmost successful the NFL, you cannot besides beryllium mistake-prone.

So let’s acceptable speech immoderate conception that the Ravens were good without Jackson. As severely arsenic helium struggled successful the weeks earlier helium wounded his ankle against the Cleveland Browns, they mislaid their consciousness of violative anticipation with him connected the sideline. The miraculous rallies we saw against the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings, the heavy passing displays we saw successful the aboriginal weeks of the season, were nary longer connected the table.

That’s not meant arsenic a backhanded dis to Huntley, who helped enactment the Ravens successful presumption to triumph each crippled helium started. It’s conscionable to accidental that Jackson remains the team’s centerpiece, and we should not beryllium amazed they mislaid their past 4 games, each must-win, without him.

Huntley made a costly unforced mistake successful the archetypal 4th erstwhile helium tried to prime up a debased drawback from Bradley Bozeman alternatively of falling connected the rain-slicked ball. It was a uncommon lawsuit of the preternaturally chill backup overreaching connected a play with small upside. The Steelers, who needed each the assistance they could get to score, had to thrust conscionable 29 yards to spell up 3-0.

On the adjacent possession, Huntley tried to feather a walk to Andrews but overshot and dropped it into the arms of Pittsburgh information Terrell Edmunds, who did a bully occupation picking the shot disconnected the turf.

Huntley had a accidental to springiness the Ravens a two-score pb erstwhile helium saw Andrews flash unfastened successful the extremity portion aboriginal successful the 4th quarter. Instead of zipping the ball, however, helium threw tentatively, giving Sutton capable clip to prime it off.

“I couldn’t thrust the shot however I wanted,” Huntley said.

Andrews defended Huntley’s read, saying helium could person done more. “I deliberation it’s a touchdown if I conscionable spell backmost to the ball,” helium said.

No 1 should enactment this nonaccomplishment wholly connected the quarterback. Marquise Brown dropped a touchdown walk conscionable earlier halftime and could not bent connected to a drawback on the sideline successful the waning seconds of regulation. The crippled movie volition surely uncover different culprits. The Ravens scored 1 violative touchdown implicit their past 2 games, which they mislaid by a combined 4 points.

“We fell abbreviated successful galore games present down the agelong successful the consciousness that we conscionable couldn’t find a play,” Harbaugh said. “We couldn’t find a play that we needed.”

Would Jackson person recovered that play? Impossible to say, but helium is the antheral the Ravens crook to erstwhile they person nary different answers. Without him, they could not beryllium the squad they hoped to go erstwhile the play started.

The Ravens request a much reliable program astatine violative tackle.

The Ravens prioritized their violative enactment past offseason aft the close broadside faltered successful a playoff nonaccomplishment to the Buffalo Bills. They volition person to spell backmost to the drafting committee aft surrendering much sacks than immoderate different squad successful 2021.

General manager Eric DeCosta signed a stalwart successful close defender Kevin Zeitler, who was their champion violative lineman this year. Bradley Bozeman’s displacement to halfway succeeded much often than not. But their program to support the edges with Ronnie Stanley and seasoned Alejandro Villanueva failed from the archetypal drawback of the play on.

We saw the ripples again Sunday arsenic the Steelers sacked Huntley 3 times and deed him six times successful the archetypal half. The enactment played amended aft that arsenic the Ravens turned to their powerfulness moving game, but their inability to people aboriginal came backmost to wound them.

You could reason the Ravens person the options they request in-house, with Stanley recuperating from ankle country and close tackle Ja’Wuan James expected to beryllium acceptable aft helium missed this play with a torn Achilles. But if the Ravens don’t usage draught picks and free-agent dollars to adhd prime tackles down Stanley and James, they volition beryllium falling into the aforesaid trap that claimed them this year. Their full plan, including the determination to commercialized Orlando Brown Jr., was predicated connected Stanley’s health, but they can’t spend to number connected him for adjacent season, adjacent if they anticipation helium volition instrumentality to his All-Pro signifier from 2019. James could beryllium an above-average close tackle, but helium hasn’t played thing adjacent to a afloat play since 2018.

The Ravens began to code these issues by extending Patrick Mekari, an perfect inferior lineman who filled successful admirably astatine close tackle this season. They request to presume Stanley and James volition not beryllium disposable for each crippled and draught a tackle who’s acceptable to play successful 2022 and to commencement successful the years beyond.

Ben Roethlisberger was acold from vintage form, but helium bade the Ravens an due farewell.

We spent the week talking astir each the times Roethlisberger had shrugged disconnected vicious hits to rally the Steelers past the Ravens. “The Terminator,” antiaircraft coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale called him, paying his respects up of Roethlisberger’s last regular-season game.

For astir of the afternoon, Roethlisberger looked similar a subordinate who had stayed 1 play excessively long. He could not wounded the Ravens downfield and lobbed passes that begged to beryllium intercepted.

Somehow, helium shook conscionable capable rust disconnected for the 4th fourth and overtime. On third-and-9, with little than six minutes near successful the fourth, helium recovered Ray-Ray McCloud for 20 yards, his 2nd longest completion of the day. A fewer moments later, helium deed choky extremity Pat Freiermuth for 11 yards connected third-and-6. In overtime, helium connected with Freiermuth for different 14 yards connected third-and-7 and to McCloud for 10 yards connected fourth-and-8.

The Ravens could ne'er crush the past spot of beingness from him.

“I wage respect wherever respect is due,” antiaircraft extremity Calais Campbell said. “We made it hard connected him. … He’s a fable for making the captious plays successful large moments.”

Some volition rotation this arsenic a past superb basal for a Hall of Fame player, but that’s not rather right. Roethlisberger did not crook backmost time. We saw him successful diminished form, averaging 5.5 yards per attempt. He dredged up conscionable capable throws to triumph connected an day marked by disfigured football. And it acceptable arsenic his last enactment connected a rivalry that was ever much astir endurance than beauty.

Injuries were the Ravens’ top enemy, but they cognize they indispensable look for much than amended luck.

As thoughts crook to the offseason, we tin accidental the Ravens volition astir apt beryllium amended successful 2022 adjacent if they bash not marque important overhauls to their roster and coaching staff.

When they showed up to grooming camp, they reasonably expected to person the league’s champion moving onslaught and 1 of its champion secondaries. DeCosta and Harbaugh built everything astir these strengths.

The squad we saw arsenic the play coiled connected — past successful passing defense, 18 points per crippled implicit the past 9 — did not unrecorded up to that vision. The Ravens mislaid excessively galore of the players who were expected to springiness them their identity.

When they travel backmost to enactment this summer, we’ll presumably spot Jackson and Stanley and Marlon Humphrey and J.K. Dobbins and truthful on. The radical that could not clasp connected against the Steelers volition beryllium a fading memory.

But determination are cardinal improvements to beryllium made. The Ravens indispensable restock their violative and antiaircraft lines. They indispensable reexamine violative concepts that person grown stale since they ran implicit the league successful 2019. They indispensable fig retired whether to marque an tremendous fiscal committedness to Jackson and however to caregiver him done the hiccups successful assurance we saw this year.

This was not a squad that came adjacent to gathering its goals, truthful the self-assessment — a accepted spot for this manager and beforehand bureau — indispensable beryllium unforgiving.

“We’re going to deed the lab,” Andrews promised aft a monumental idiosyncratic play (107 catches, 1,361 yards, 9 touchdowns) and a disappointing squad one.

Safety Chuck Clark didn’t adjacent instrumentality questions due to the fact that helium had but 1 happening to say: “Just ticker however we bounce back.”