The Ravens (6-2) might be leading the AFC North by two games and coming off beating the Arizona Cardinals 31-24 on the road, but inside linebacker and defensive linchpin, Roquan Smith isn't happy about what Baltimore did on the field last Sunday.
Smith spoke after the game, and he didn't sound too pleased with the defensive outing put together by himself and the rest of the members of that Ravens unit while playing football in the desert, according to Brian Wacker of the Baltimore Sun.
"We didn’t play to our standard at the end of the day, but that’s just a credit to those guys for coming out ready to play. And honestly, we’ve just got to look ourselves in the mirror, knowing that there’s going to be a tough Seattle team coming into town next week, and we just can’t let the same mistakes throughout this game. “It was just basic fundamentals that I feel like got to us. When you have those types of errors, it’s really unacceptable on our end."Roquan Smith, Baltimore Ravens
"We didn't play to our standard," Smith said. The Ravens conceded a touchdown on the first drive of the game after choosing to hand the ball to the Cardinals' offense following the coin toss.
#Ravens MLB Roquan Smith: “Personally, speaking for myself — and I think I can speak for the rest of the defense — we didn’t play to our standard.” pic.twitter.com/Utu5zECy8H
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) October 30, 2023
“Personally, speaking for myself--and I think I can speak for the rest of the defense--we didn’t play to our standard,” Smith said as captured by Jamison Hensley of ESPN.
Smith thinks the Ravens will have to "look ourselves in the mirror" ahead of the Week 9 matchup against Seattle in The Bank next Sunday.
The truth is, that might be very well the case and what Baltimore needs to do after opening Week 8 trailing by seven points and then surrendering 17 more points on the final three drives of the Cardinals, which are 1-7 this season.
Arizona also rushed the rock for a total of 129 yards on 32 carries, gashing the Ravens' defense with gusto on the ground. Had it not been for struggling backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs tossing a couple of ugly interceptions, perhaps the outcome of this matchup would have been reversed and in favor of the Cardinals.
The good news, however, is that Baltimore seems to have already noticed and our superheroes should already be working on fixing the little issues they showed on the field against the lowly Cards, led by Roquan Smith of all men.
Not a bad start ahead of a pivotal game next weekend.