Ravens' Week 7 implosion adds a humiliating chapter to second-half history

It's spooky season, and for the Baltimore Ravens, nothing’s scarier than playing football in the second half. Week 7 made that as clear as ever. They’ve blown leads before, but Week 7 took that problem to a historically embarrassing extreme.

As soon as the Cincinnati Bengals scored their first touchdown to open the third quarter, it felt over. The dam was broken. And if you’re a body language expert, you could probably tell the team was in for a horrific second half.

What followed was a train wreck on both sides of the football. The offense couldn’t convert when they needed six points instead of three, and the defense was gashed play after play.

To put it into context, Baltimore’s 13-point lead turned into a 20+ point loss. It was only the third time that happened in NFL history. The other two? 1941 and 1950.

It just doesn’t happen anymore. But of course, if the Ravens can reach a new low in the second half, they will. It’s becoming their MO.

Baltimore Ravens’ second-half woes hit a new low

This is Ravens football. They’re a first-half team, and haven’t been able to unlock themselves as a second-half or fourth-quarter team. They can play extremely well in the first two quarters, and go into survival mode for the final two.

How crazy is the discrepancy between the first and second halves? Over a 100-point difference.

Yeah, this team is one for the century. One of a kind. In the worst way possible.

This was a familiar spot, too, because it happened just one Sunday ago in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns. In that game, the defense started hot, and the offense jumped out to a lead, but like Week 7, they blew it in the second half.

I guess if you want to look on the bright side, Baltimore’s defense went six quarters allowing 13 points. However, they blew the lead both times nonetheless. And actually, they hit a franchise-low.

According to ESPN's Jamison Hensley, it was a first time the Ravens were outscored by at least 35 points in a half.

Now, Tyler Huntley is a big problem in these recent woes. In Week 6, a lackluster performance wasted a dominant defensive showing, and in Week 7, the offense fumbled a few critical opportunities to build a lead. Six points on three drives inside Cincinnati’s 20-yard line is disgusting.

The Huntley-led offense also couldn’t move the ball in the second half. On six drives between the third and fourth, just one went for more than four plays. Sure, the defense came out flat, but they had no time to breathe with how little the offense was contributing.

And that’s the only way the defense was ever going to play well. In the first half, the offense was on the field for over 22 of the 30 minutes. It worked out tremendously; if you keep Joe Burrow and company off the field, they can’t hurt you. They couldn’t repeat that after halftime.

It’s ultimately a game of adjustments. The offense flared out for the second straight week, and the defense collapsed once the pressure got intense. This group can’t figure it out when opponents alter their game plan.

Obviously, it's not the end of the world. Baltimore is 4-3. Still, they find themselves slipping down a troubling trend that's plagued them for years. They have to snap out of it.

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