Coming into Thursday night’s game, the Baltimore Ravens were in a prime position to take a commanding lead in their division and stay atop the AFC conference.
However, things didn’t go as planned as the Ravens fell to the Miami Dolphins 22-10 on Thursday Night Football.
Now, even though they are still the No. 2 seed, they are only half a game ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are also only a full game ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals so it will be a dogfight to win this division.
This game revealed a lot of continuing concerns for the Ravens. Let’s take a look at the top three takeaways from it.
3. Ravens defensive miscues
All season long, the Ravens defense has given up big plays. This is very uncharacteristic for a franchise that is known to be physically tough and disciplined.
While there are stretches where the defense has played outstanding, in each game, there has been at least one or two plays where the opposing offense got a big chunk play.
Some of them were due to missed tackles, but the majority of breakdowns have come from miscommunication. Too many times, receivers have run down the field with no defender within 10 yards of them.
It was understandable earlier in the season because of the injuries the secondary suffered. But now they are relatively healthy and it is still an issue.
Thursday night, both Tua Tagovalioa and Jacoby Brissett completed 50+ yard passes. That is unacceptable for a Ravens defense.
On Isaiah Ford’s 52-yard catch, Anthony Averett was in coverage. He played in the underneath zone expecting safety help over the top, but Chuck Clark played deep coverage in the middle of the field. Therefore, Ford was by himself down the sideline for a huge play.
The worst came at the worst time possible. After the Ravens scored to make the game 15-10, there was a little over four minutes left on the clock.
The defense needed a stop to give their offense a chance to pull off another comeback. Instead, Tagovailoa found Albert Wilson for a 64-yard gain.
Wilson came across the formation in motion and ran a wheel route down the sideline. The Dolphins ran play-action which sucked in all the Ravens defenders.
While it was a great play design, the Ravens cannot have a breakdown like that in pivotal moments of the game. The miscommunication with this team is a huge issue because it has been a recurring theme all season.
If the Ravens want to win the division and make a run in the playoffs, their defense has to be better overall. Especially with communication in the secondary.