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2018 Baltimore Ravens: The good, the bad and the ugly

By Chris Schisler

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - JANUARY 06: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens walks off the field after being defeated but the Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium on January 06, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Chargers defeated the Ravens with a score of 23 to 17. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - JANUARY 06: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens walks off the field after being defeated but the Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium on January 06, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Chargers defeated the Ravens with a score of 23 to 17. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Baltimore Ravens
CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 07: Michael Crabtree #15 of the Baltimore Ravens is unable to make a catch in the end zone defended by Jabrill Peppers #22 of the Cleveland Browns in the fourth quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium on October 7, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

The Bad:

The Ravens had some awful performances in this season. The worst performance was against the Carolina Panthers. The Ravens lost in a game they barely seemed to show up for to the tune of 36-21. This is the same Panthers team that lost 52-21 to the Steelers and finished third in the NFC South after losing seven of their last eight games. The Ravens lost a game to the Browns and my keyboard may never recover from the angry writing that came out of it. The Ravens offense put up nine points in a game where there was a dropped touchdown pass, a fumble and a goal line interception as the low lights. These were the kind of performances that made a 4-2 start slip into a nearly season ending 4-5 hole.

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The Ravens seemed to have a problem winning close games against good competition. They had the New Orleans Saints right where they wanted them. The Saints won the game 24-23 after Justin Tucker missed an extra point that would have made the game tied with little time left. Patrick Mahomes slipped by Za’Darius Smith and completed a pass on 4th and 9, that allowed the Chiefs to win in overtime. Other than the Heinz Field victory, Baltimore did not have a signature win until week 16 against the Chargers. The Ravens bullied weaker competition but they had trouble beating the best teams on their schedule.

The ironic thing about this season is that it ended with many people calling for Joe Flacco to be put back into the action. When the Ravens lost 23-16 to the Steelers in week nine, many of those same people were ready to see the Flacco era end immediately. When the Ravens lost that game against the Steelers, they basically handed the Steelers a chance to win the division. Thankfully for Baltimore, Mike Tomlin’s crew spoiled this chance. It doesn’t erase the fact that the Ravens needed the Steelers to lose to the Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders and the New Orleans Saints to have a shot at earning their playoff spot. The purple and black went on a roll, but they most certainly got more help than they could have asked for.

Alex Collins was unable to back up his strong 2017 season and basically ran himself out of the Ravens backfield rotation. The Ravens rushing attack woke up in the second half of the season, but when Flacco was the quarterback they couldn’t run the ball. Things got bad enough for the Ravens to trade for Ty Montgomery and hope that Edwards could provide a spark. Edwards did. Jackson’s offense was a running game utopia, but where was the running game before that? The Ravens went 6-1 at the end of the season and they needed that kind of run. The inconsistencies of the 4-5 start could have burred this team.

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