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There the Ravens were Sunday, the squad without its talismanic backmost oregon Pro Bowl cornerbacks oregon apical 3 moving backs, down to 2 Week 1 starters on its violative line, missing its apical NFL draught prime and truthful overmuch more. There the Ravens were, needing conscionable 1 halt to reverse their season’s downward slide, to participate Week 18 with a playoff pulse.
If the Ravens had gotten utilized to thing successful this roller-coaster play entering Sunday’s crippled against the Los Angeles Rams, it was having to play with an incomplete roster. And if determination were immoderate acquisition hammered location by a crushing 20-19 nonaccomplishment successful Baltimore, an all-but-fatal stroke to the Ravens’ fading playoff hopes, it was that teams this incomplete thin not to play implicit games.
On a imaginable put-away thrust precocious successful the 4th quarter, the Ravens, starring the NFC West-best Rams 16-14, turned second-and-goal astatine the Rams’ 2-yard enactment into a 34-yard field-goal effort for kicker Justin Tucker. On the Rams’ decisive touchdown thrust 3 minutes later, backmost Matthew Stafford recovered wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. draped by cornerback Tavon Young — but unfastened capable for a 5-yard completion connected fourth-and-5. One play later, Stafford recovered Beckham again, much unfastened this time, for a go-ahead, last-minute 7-yard score.
With that, the Rams (12-4) had efficaciously done what the Ravens (8-8) erstwhile could but nary longer can: enactment the margins, adjacent retired a game, snatch triumph from the jaws of defeat. The Ravens person mislaid 5 consecutive games for the archetypal clip nether manager John Harbaugh, 4 of which person been by 2 points oregon fewer. If their play ends adjacent Sunday, abbreviated of the playoffs for the archetypal clip since 2017, Sunday’s nonaccomplishment volition basal arsenic a fitting memorial to this play of diminished imaginable and wasted opportunity.
“There’s thing bully astir losing, particularly 5 times successful a row,” extracurricular linebacker Tyus Bowser said. “A batch of these person travel down to the past minute, past thrust oregon whatever, and we’re conscionable not uncovering ways to triumph and uncovering ways to finish. That’s what we’ve got to do. We made plays passim the game, had a mates stand-up, big-play drives, but we’ve conscionable got to find a mode to decorativeness successful each phases of the ball. Unfortunately, we haven’t done that, and we request to fig it out.”
They are apt retired of time. A triumph Sunday would not person been capable to support the Ravens’ AFC North rubric hopes live — the Bengals’ 34-31 triumph implicit the Kansas City Chiefs has the title postmarked for Cincinnati for the archetypal clip since 2015 — but it would’ve kept their heads supra water. A Week 18 triumph implicit the Steelers, successful what volition apt beryllium Pittsburgh backmost Ben Roethlisberger’s last game, might’ve near the playoff likelihood successful the Ravens’ favor.
Now they request thing adjacent to a occurrence to widen this season. For the Ravens to person adjacent a changeable astatine the playoffs, the 2-14 Jacksonville Jaguars would request to upset the 9-7 Indianapolis Colts adjacent weekend. And that’s conscionable the commencement of it.
“If the shot gods bless america with an accidental to marque the playoffs, I deliberation each of this acquisition is going to wage off,” antiaircraft lineman Calais Campbell said. “All of these hard-fought battles, adjacent games, that’s going to marque a quality if we get a accidental to dance. Obviously, we request immoderate help, but we’ve got to bash our part. It’s conscionable 1 time astatine a time, and we’ll clasp the opportunity, but it would person been bully to triumph this shot game.”
How galore times person the Ravens said that successful the past month? Their descent from the AFC’s No. 1 effect to No. 11 effect started implicit a period agone with a 20-19 nonaccomplishment to the Steelers, successful which a last-minute 2-point-conversion effort failed conscionable minutes aft Marlon Humphrey suffered a season-ending injury. He soon joined chap prima cornerback Marcus Peters, moving backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards and galore others connected injured reserve.
Next came a 24-22 nonaccomplishment to the Cleveland Browns, a near-comeback present remembered arsenic the crippled that knocked retired backmost Lamar Jackson for 3 weeks (and counting). The week aft that, different failed 2-pointer doomed an injury- and coronavirus-ravaged Ravens squad precocious successful a 31-30 nonaccomplishment to the NFC-leading Green Bay Packers. In Week 16, the Ravens started journeyman Josh Johnson astatine backmost and a motley unit of signifier squad call-ups successful the secondary successful a 41-21 nonaccomplishment to the Bengals.
“Man, I don’t deliberation I’ve been a portion of a play with this galore adjacent games ever successful my life,” Young said. “All those overtime games, the last-drive games — it’s been crazy.”
More assistance materialized earlier Sunday, but not enough. Jackson’s ankle wounded kept him from practicing Thursday and Friday and sidelined him for a 3rd consecutive game, overshadowing the instrumentality of contributors similar backmost Tyler Huntley, antiaircraft lineman Justin Madubuike, extracurricular linebacker Justin Houston and cornerback Jimmy Smith from the reserve/COVID-19 list.
For overmuch of Sunday’s game, the Ravens seemed similar they would person enough. Even without starting halfway Bradley Bozeman, scratched precocious due to the fact that of illness, the discourtesy averaged a steadfast 6 yards per play against a talented Rams defence successful the archetypal half. The Ravens entered halftime starring 13-7, helped by information Chuck Clark’s 17-yard interception instrumentality for a touchdown precocious successful the archetypal quarter. Clark added his 2nd interception of the play conscionable 1 thrust later.
But the Ravens should person had much successful the archetypal half, conscionable arsenic they should’ve had much successful the 2nd half. Late successful the 2nd quarter, Rams prima antiaircraft tackle Aaron Donald’s unit connected third-and-goal disrupted Huntley capable to propulsion disconnected his walk to a wide-open Devin Duvernay successful the backmost of the extremity zone. Rather than a 14-0 lead, the Ravens settled for a 10-0 borderline aft Tucker’s 22-yard tract goal.
A akin destiny awaited them successful the 4th quarter. After moving backmost Sony Michel’s 1-yard people drew the Rams to wrong 16-14 with astir 12 minutes remaining, the Ravens answered with an emphatic thrust that lacked an exclamation point.
In a seven-plus-minute possession, violative coordinator Greg Roman called conscionable 1 walk implicit the archetypal 11 plays of a 12-play drive. But mediocre timepiece absorption undercut their hopes of a imaginable 23-14 lead. The Rams seemed to leap the drawback arsenic the play timepiece ticked down to zero connected second-and-goal, stuffing moving backmost Latavius Murray for a 2-yard loss, past watched the Ravens instrumentality a delay-of-game punishment earlier the ensuing third-down play.
Huntley said helium thought the Ravens had snapped the shot successful clip connected 3rd down — “I conscionable deliberation [the officials] short-handed america close there” — but determination was thing helium could bash postgame. Tucker’s 34-yard tract extremity was a tiny consolation prize, giving the Ravens a 19-14 pb they couldn’t hold.
“Football is simply a crippled of inches, you cognize what I mean?” said choky extremity Mark Andrews (six catches for 89 yards), who broke the Ravens’ single-season receiving yards record. “That content and that combat that this squad has is inactive there. Obviously, successful the opening of the season, we had a clump of those [close games] and came retired connected top, but that’s conscionable sometimes the mode it goes. That’s conscionable benignant of the mode things went. We were close determination until the precise end. I privation it would’ve gone our way. Just a mates small things present and there, and we triumph that game.”
They’d done capable to get close. They forced 3 turnovers, including a important red-zone strip-sack by extracurricular linebacker Tyus Bowser successful the 3rd quarter. They ran for 165 yards contempt missing Bozeman and starting near defender Ben Powers (foot). They constricted Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp to six catches for 95 yards. Tucker made each 4 of his field-goal attempts, including 2 46-yarders.
But they besides handed the Rams a abbreviated tract earlier a second-quarter touchdown thrust with an interception by Huntley (20-for-32 for 197 yards). They ended the crippled without an violative touchdown for the archetypal clip since 2018 contempt 2 trips wrong the Rams’ 10. They forced conscionable 1 third-down play connected the Rams’ go-ahead drive, past couldn’t get a halt connected 4th down. They managed conscionable 3 yards successful 57 seconds connected their impotent last drive.
Asked astir his connection to the squad aft Sunday’s loss, Harbaugh was concise. “Win. Find a mode to triumph the game. That’s our message.” But adjacent that apt won’t beryllium enough. Not aft much of the aforesaid Sunday.
Week 18
STEELERS@RAVENS
Sunday, 1 p.m.
TV: Chs. 13, 9 Radio: 97.9 FM, 1090 AM
Line: Ravens by 6 ½
English (US) ·