The Ravens had a home playoff game where the offense wasted a masterful defensive performance… We’ve seen that before.
Months after the Baltimore Ravens were defeated by the Los Angeles Chargers, the playoff loss still stings. One reason it hurts is that it was so much like one of the Ravens other bad moments in the playoffs. The 23-17 loss to the Chargers felt like the 2006 playoff battle with the Indianapolis Colts.
In 2006, the Ravens had a 13-3 record and they went into the playoffs red hot. The Colts had one of the best offenses in football. At the time, Peyton Manning was still building a legacy of a top five all-time quarterback. The Ravens had one of the best defenses they have ever had (and that’s saying a lot). Manning had a bad day but the Colts still won.
Manning failed to get the Colts into the end zone and he threw two interceptions. Ed Reed was schooling a legendary quarterback. Manning had a 39.6 quarterback rating. He only picked up 170 yards with his arm. The problem for the Ravens was that Steve McNair left a similar set of numbers in the box score. The Colts had one of their worst games in terms of statistics. They only out-gained the Ravens in total yards, 261-244.
It could have been the best defensive performance to see a loss in NFL history. The Ravens had their best record in franchise history give them nothing but heartbreak in their own stadium. The Colts were held to five field goals. Baltimore scored two field goals. The final score was 15-6.
The Chargers game was the same thing. The defense played their heart out. The offense did nothing (at least until the very end of the game). Lamar Jackson had a horrible game in which he threw for 190 yards, had an interception and a couple of fumbles. It was bad. The Ravens couldn’t get the running game going. It got to the point where Sam Koch was punting so much that the stadium must have been in a time loop.
It’s not like Phillip Rivers had a good day though. Rivers had 160 yards yards. The Chargers had just 89 yards on the ground. It was tough sledding for both teams on offense.
The Ravens have had some painful playoff losses, yet these two games hurt the fanbase in the exact same way. It’s almost cruel. A great season ended with the offense not measuring up at the end. We’ve seen that before and it didn’t hurt less the second time around.