3 takeaways from Ravens Week 18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers

It’s now official. The Baltimore Ravens season has come to an end after their 16-13 loss to their rival the Pittsburgh Steelers. As usual, this game had a lot of drama that came down to the wire.

Tyler Huntley had his worst game as a pro and the defense couldn’t come up with enough stops to win the game. Both teams needed to win to have a chance to reach the postseason.

Although it seemed bleak at first, they both got the help they needed with the Jaguars upsetting the Colts on Sunday. Though the Ravens ended up losing the game, their playoffs chances seemed to be improving as the game went on.

However, the team couldn’t come up with the necessary plays to pull out a win. The offense was subpar for the majority of the contest and the defense couldn’t get a stop in the final minutes of overtime.

1. A glimpse of what’s missing

The Ravens’ offense came out aggressive to start the game. However, for the most part, the unit struggled to move the football.

Any momentum they gained was either snuffed out by penalties or ill-advised turnover. However, coming out the second half we saw something that we haven’t seen from the Ravens since last season.

After halftime, they made it a mission to establish the run. As a result, Latavius Murray and Devonta Freeman broke off several huge runs.

Murray was especially impressive finding the right gaps to run through and breaking tackles. Watching this unfold in the second half showed what this offense was sorely missing all season.

Although the stats say the Ravens are one of the best-run teams in the league, that’s somewhat misleading because most of that production came from their quarterbacks scrambling.

What made this team so dangerous in the past under Lamar Jackson was the explosiveness they got from their run game. That explosiveness was sorely missing this season without J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards.

Although Freeman and Murray performed admirably, it was evident that the offense would’ve been much more effective if at least one of those starters were healthy.

Hopefully, that happens next season in 2022 and we will see the Ravens offense of old.