Key Baltimore Ravens must be better than they were against Patriots

Key Baltimore Ravens must be better and it’s that simple:

The snapping woes of Matt Skura continued for the Baltimore Ravens in the New England rain against the Patriots. There were many positives to take away from the Sunday night loss. In a weather predicament where it would be a running backs DREAM of being fed carries, the coaching staff did not hold their end of the bargain by making adjustments to feed the running backs more carries as the weather worsened. Instead offensive coordinator Greg Roman and Head Coach John Harbaugh put their trust in Lamar Jackson to deliver strikes through the air to lead the team to victory.

If you were to ask “can you blame Harbaugh and Roman for asking their reigning MVP to deliver a win in a storm?”  I would answer “yes and no”. Yes, because it is your job as a coach to make adjustments, especially in inclement weather. Feed “The Bus!” Gus Edwards is a big back that only had seven carries for 42 yards. Edwards ran hard all night and deserves more carries. A back his size would benefit from getting carries in the rain. Defenses would struggle to tackle him because of his size and he may have slipped off of tackles for the entire second half.

I would answer no, simply because he is your reigning MVP and there is that level of trust for him to make the plays to win the game with his natural abilities. This was also one of Jackson’s strongest displays of the year through the air as he threw for 249 yards, two touchdowns, and completed 70.6% of his passes.

Matt Skura has to get it together. Dating back to the week nine game against Indianapolis Skura has struggled with getting in rhythm with his snaps. It’s easy to point out that he is struggling because of his knee injury from last year or the cut to his hand or even the rain may have played a part. All these factors should not be an excuse because he still has a job to do.

Skura is the most important player on the offense because a play cannot be executed without him delivering a perfect snap. Skura made two crucial snapping mistakes that led to a loss of massive yardage.

Skura has to dig deep and fight through the mental and physical exhaustion. Yes, Skura has to take accountability for not doing what he is paid to do but to be fair and to take some weight off Skura’s snapping hand, this team has to get back healthy. This team has been plagued with injuries all season.

With the absence of key off-season addition Calais Campbell, the mean presence of Brandon Williams in the middle, and defensive back Jimmy Smith, this team had to be perfect. Their absence was surely felt.

New England’s running back Damien Harris was the beneficiary of having those three players out for the game. Harris finished with 22 carries for 121 yards. Most of Harris’ yards were made after the first contact. Hopefully Coach Harbaugh and Roman took notes from Belichick to understand whenever there is a heavy rainstorm to feed your running backs.

Feeding the running backs on this team is very important. Especially because this team has not received much production from their receiving core. Everyone needs to STEP UP!  Someone has to get open and help the reigning MVP out!

The Ravens need Skura and all of the receivers to get back to performing at a high level now. The receivers have not shown up all year. It is now the time for Hollywood Brown to step out of his comfort zone and shine into the talented player that he is. The Ravens need everyone right now before things make a downhill turn,