Ravens: 6 takeaways from Baltimore’s ugly loss to the Bengals in Week 7

The Baltimore Ravens lost to the Cincinnati Bengals at home in Week 7. Badly.

The loss snaps the Ravens’ five-game winning streak and brings back all the bad memories of their near-defeat against the Detroit Lions. This time, Baltimore didn’t just deserve to lose, but they deserved to get their rears handed to them in a 41-17 blowout loss.

Records were broken, but not the records we were hoping to be broken. The Ravens missed their chance to go 6-1 for the first time in franchise history.

Lamar Jackson’s reign over the Bengals finally came to an end with the star QB throwing for 257 yards and just one score. Jackson’s performance will hardly be talked about, though.

Here are six takeaways from the Baltimore Ravens’ crushing loss in Week 7.

1. Ravens secondary had one of the worst games of the season

We have no words for how the Ravens’ secondary played this game. Bengals’ QB Joe Burrow threw for over 400 yards, and rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase recorded 201 receiving yards and one touchdown.

Burrow and Chase both torched Baltimore’s defensive backfield, and the Ravens had no answer.

Anthony Averett and Marlon Humphrey had 14 tackles between the two of them along with four passes defended, including a couple of important swats in the end zone.

But by and large, the Ravens’ secondary unit looked thin and needy all throughout the game. Baltimore never needed Marcus Peters more, though Humphrey did nab one red-zone interception.

The Ravens defense continues to miss tackles

One of our favorite phrases that reporter Jonas Shaffer uses to describe the Ravens’ defense is “tackling optional.” It’s almost as if the Ravens just completely lost their marbles in the tackling department this game.

Baltimore had the 26th-best tackling grade according to PFF heading into the game with the third-most missed tackles in the league. That showed in the Ravens’ floundering performance against a Cincinnati offense that scored a season-high 41 points in Week 7.

Including the C.J. Uzomah touchdown above, a particularly shameful segment of missed Baltimore tackles came in the third quarter, when rookie Ja’Marr Chase ran for an 82-yard touchdown.

Chase is agile and speedy in his own right, but the Ravens had at least three chances to take him down at midfield, but missed their tackles.

That score put the Bengals up 27-17 and started to change the momentum of the game. Anytime your defense starts swiping and tackling the air, it’s never a good sign.

The Ravens offensive line could not stop Cincinnati’s pass rush

Bengals’ edge-rushers sacked Jackson a total of five times with three different players getting on the sack stat sheet.

Clearly, Lamar Jackson is not used to getting sacked that often, and in Week 7, Baltimore’s offensive linemen simply didn’t do a good job keeping him on his feet. The Ravens’ offensive line has fluctuated in recent years, ranked by PFF third best overall in 2019 but 23rd in 2020.

It looks like the offensive line will continue to be as inconsistent as ever.

The Ravens running back room was nonexistent

One week ago, all three of Baltimore’s running backs scored a touchdown: Latavius Murray, Le’Veon Bell, and Devonta Freeman.

This game, with Murray listed as inactive, Ty’Son Williams joined Bell and Freeman in the backfield, and all three….did not play well.

Together, all three running backs recorded 11 carries for 29 yards with Freeman getting one touchdown. Jackson, instead, did most of the running with 12 carries for 88 yards and a long of 16.

Baltimore has struggled to find consistency in their running game this season and it goes without saying that they have dearly missed J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards.

Prior to this game, trade rumors circulated within the Ravens’ multi-pronged RB room, but after that performance against Cincinnati, teams may not be so interested anymore.

The Ravens wide receivers came to play

Finally, a bit of sunshine: Marquise Brown and Rashod Bateman both played solid games today. Brown caught five passes for 80 yards and one touchdown while Bateman caught three passes for 80 yards and averaged a whopping 26.7 yards per catch.

We knew of Brown’s greatness prior to Week 7, given his superhuman catches (and occasional drops) in previous games.

But Bateman has really burst onto the scene as a potentially uber-reliable target for Jackson this season. The rookie struggled with an injury in the summer, but now that he’s back on the field, the Ravens could use someone like him who provides an edge to their revamped passing game.

With Sammy Watkins still out, Brown and Bateman took on primary receiving duties and did their part. It just wasn’t enough.

The Ravens had a lack of morale/energy compared to the Bengals

We’re not sure how to phrase this other than, the Ravens lost this game long before the final whistle. As corny as it is, they lost it due to a lack of heart.

For whatever reason, Baltimore didn’t come out to play in their home stadium and the Bengals completely humiliated the Ravens with this 41-17 drubbing.

In the second half, the Bengals had three touchdown drives. The first drive consisted of four plays, the second drive consisted of three plays, and the third one took four plays as well.

Simply put, it was too easy for the Bengals to barrel down the field toward the Ravens’ goal line, and much of that falls on the Ravens’ defense (if that wasn’t already apparent).

In a key division matchup, Baltimore looked like they hit the bye week early with far too many mistakes on the defensive side of the ball.

Their loss against the Bengals was one season performance that the Ravens hope they forget.