The Ravens may now be 1-6, but they played the 5-2 Cardinals tough in the desert.

There were a few key rulings by the referee crew which were questionable at best… like the fumble call on Ravens rookie punt-returner Jeremy Ross which sure looked to me like Ross’ knee was down before the ball was stripped from his hand…or the completely botched call against the Ravens when they legally reported in an eligible tackle… but were called for illegal formation. That kind of incompetence by the referees is mind-boggling.

Sometimes it seems like no matter how good your pedigree is in the NFL, you are doomed to a really bad season where nothing goes right.

Jamison Hensley (who covers the Ravens and the AFC North for ESPN.com) was not a happy camper observer of the Ravens last night:

“Don’t blame this loss on the Baltimore Ravens’ defense, for once, or on the officiating.

The Ravens’ offense takes the brunt of the blame for their 26-18 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night. After struggling most of the second half, Baltimore had a shot to win, but Flacco’s floating pass to tight end Crockett Gillmore with six seconds left was intercepted by Tony Jefferson, sealing another close loss.

In all of the Ravens’ six losses, Baltimore had a chance to tie the score or take the lead in the final two minutes. The Ravens have lost all of their games by one possession, eight points or fewer.

This didn’t have to come down to the final minute if the Ravens’ offense hadn’t disappeared earlier in the game. After halftime, the Ravens had 38 total yards before that final drive.

What it means: At 1-6, Baltimore is tied with the Detroit Lions for the worst record in the NFL. The Ravens lost their sixth game of the season, joining the Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks and Lions as teams who have either matched or exceeded their loss totals from 2014. Baltimore went 10-6 last season.

What were they thinking: The Ravens were left scratching their head when John Urschel was flagged for an illegal formation after catching a 6-yard pass on the opening drive. Replays showed Urschel signaling to the referee that he was reporting as an eligible receiver, but Baltimore was flagged for 5 yards. The Ravens, who should have had the ball at the Arizona 7-yard line, had to settle for a field goal.

What were they thinking (part two): Baltimore again was wondering what happened in the third quarter, when Chris Johnson broke a 62-yard run. It looked like nose tackle Brandon Williams had wrapped up Johnson for a moderate gain and that his forward progress was stopped. But because Johnson was lying on Williams’ lap and never touched the ground, he got up and raced to the Ravens’ 8-yard line, setting up a field goal.”

I feel your pain, Jamison!

Maybe the real problem with the Ravens in 2015 is that they have outlived their trend of excellence over the past 7 years. Injuries are so abundant that they exposed the thin draft results of the past few years, and free agent departures have ripped the shingles off the roof.

It happens. Maybe not to the Patriots, but to most other NFL teams, it happens.

Final
1 2 3 4 T
BAL 3 7 0 8 18
ARI 7 7 6 6 26

Chris Johnson rushed for 122 yards, 62 on a play where he rolled over the belly of a big defender and kept on running to set up a field goal, and the Cardinals held on to beat the luckless Baltimore Ravens 26-18 on Monday night.

Baltimore (1-6) drove to the 4 in the final seconds before Tony Jefferson’s interception deep in the end zone clinched the victory for NFC West-leading Arizona (5-2).

“A lot of things happened during the game,” Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. “Good, bad and one ugly one, but we finished and made a great play at the end.”

Arizona led 26-10 before Asa Jackson’s blocked a punt to set up Joe Flacco’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Juszczyk. The 2-point conversion pass to Nick Boyle made it an eight-point game with 4:26 to play.

Baltimore got the ball back and Flacco quickly moved the team downfield before the final ill-fated throw.

“The punt block and all of a sudden you let them in,” Arizona’s Carson Palmer said, “but that’s what you want on `Monday Night Football.’ We made it a game at the end.”

Coach John Harbaugh said the Ravens had trouble with the communications system throughout the game, particularly in the final drive.

“The phones were going out so he couldn’t hear (offensive coordinator) Marc (Trestman),” Harbaugh said. “I don’t know why the phones were going out on that drive but they went out on that drive. Mark had to yell, we couldn’t get the personnel groups, all those things are really challenging when the phones are out.”

Baltimore moved the ball just fine despite those issues, just not enough. The eight-point loss was the most one-sided of the season for the Ravens.

“Any time you lose it hits you in the gut,” Baltimore’s Justin Forsett said. “But we’ve been fighting. We just have to keep fighting.”

Carson Palmer completed 20 of 29 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns. Flacco was 26 for 40 for 252 yards, with a touchdown and that one interception. Forsett had a 14-yard touchdown run, but finished with only 36 yards in 12 carries.

Dwight Freeney got his first sack as a Cardinal. … Arizona cornerback Jerraud Powers left the game with a hamstring injury in the first half. … Baltimore players who left the game: cornerback Tray Walker (concussion), guard/tackle Kelechi Osemele (knee) and wide receiver Marlon Brown (shoulder). … Arizona’s Tyrann Mathieu (“Honey Badger”) had a tackle for a loss, a quarterback hit and a pass defensed.

It just wasn’t meant to be a Ravens night…

FIRST QUARTER		BAL	ARI
	FG 5:25 Justin Tucker 44 Yd Field Goal 8 plays, 29 yards, 5:27	3	0
	TD 3:59 Chris Johnson 26 Yd Run (Chandler Catanzaro Kick) 3 plays, 80 yards, 1:26	3	7
SECOND QUARTER		BAL	ARI
	TD 3:54 Justin Forsett 14 Yd Run (Justin Tucker Kick) 8 plays, 84 yards, 4:45	10	7
	TD 1:01 Michael Floyd 3 Yd pass from Carson Palmer (Chandler Catanzaro Kick) 5 plays, 12 yards, 1:47	10	14
THIRD QUARTER		BAL	ARI
	FG 9:47 Chandler Catanzaro 21 Yd Field Goal 7 plays, 46 yards, 3:07	10	17
	FG 2:27 Chandler Catanzaro 21 Yd Field Goal 8 plays, 84 yards, 3:58	10	20
FOURTH QUARTER		BAL	ARI
	TD 8:08 John Brown 4 Yd pass from Carson Palmer 11 plays, 79 yards, 6:08	10	26
	TD 4:26 Kyle Juszczyk 1 Yd pass from Joe Flacco (Joe Flacco Pass to Nick Boyle for Two-Point Conversion) 1 play, 1 yard, 0:05	18	26

Matchup
1st Downs	18	21
Passing 1st downs	14	14
Rushing 1st downs	3	5
1st downs from penalties	1	2
3rd down efficiency	5-13	5-12
4th down efficiency	1-1	0-0
Total Plays	59	59
Total Yards	276	414
Total Drives	10	11
Yards per Play	4.7	7.0
Passing	221	264
Comp-Att	26-40	20-29
Yards per pass	5.1	8.5
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Sacks-Yards Lost	3-31	2-11
Rushing	55	150
Rushing Attempts	16	28
Yards per rush	3.4	5.4
Red Zone (Made-Att)	2-4	2-4
Penalties	9-64	4-40
Turnovers	2	0
Fumbles lost	1	0
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	0
Possession	30:24	29:36

Baltimore Passing

	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	QBR	RTG
Joe Flacco	26/40	252	6.3	1	1	3-31	66.3	80.4
TEAM	26/40	221	6.3	1	1	3-31	—	80.4

Baltimore Rushing

	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Justin Forsett	12	36	3.0	1	14
Javorius Allen	3	25	8.3	0	15
Chris Givens	1	-6	-6.0	0	-6
TEAM	16	55	3.4	1	15

Baltimore Receiving
REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Steve Smith Sr. 5 78 15.6 0 29 9
Crockett Gillmore 5 53 10.6 0 23 7
Chris Givens 1 31 31.0 0 31 2
Marlon Brown 3 22 7.3 0 10 5
Nick Boyle 2 20 10.0 0 11 2
Kyle Juszczyk 4 15 3.8 1 11 5
Javorius Allen 1 10 10.0 0 10 1
Jeremy Ross 1 9 9.0 0 9 1
Justin Forsett 3 8 2.7 0 4 4
Kamar Aiken 1 6 6.0 0 6 3
TEAM 26 252 9.7 1 31 39

Arizona Passing
C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT SACKS QBR RTG
Carson Palmer 20/29 275 9.5 2 0 2-11 82.4 122.1
TEAM 20/29 264 9.5 2 0 2-11 — 122.1

Arizona Rushing
CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Chris Johnson 18 122 6.8 1 62
Andre Ellington 5 21 4.2 0 6
David Johnson 3 5 1.7 0 6
Carson Palmer 2 2 1.0 0 3
TEAM 28 150 5.4 1 62

Arizona Receiving
REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
John Brown 4 65 16.3 1 35 6
Jermaine Gresham 4 62 15.5 0 21 6
Michael Floyd 3 59 19.7 1 33 4
Larry Fitzgerald 3 39 13.0 0 16 5
Andre Ellington 3 28 9.3 0 11 4
David Johnson 2 19 9.5 0 11 2
Jaron Brown 1 3 3.0 0 3 1
TEAM 20 275 13.8 2 35 28

Baltimore Defensive
TACKLES MISC
TOT SOLO SACKS TFL PD QB HTS TD
Daryl Smith 8 8 0 0 0 0 0
Chris Canty 6 4 0 1 0 0 0
Will Hill 5 5 0 0 1 0 0
C.J. Mosley 4 4 1 2 0 1 0
Shareece Wright 4 4 0 0 0 0 0
Brynden Trawick 4 3 0 0 0 0 0
Zachary Orr 3 3 1 1 0 1 0
Lawrence Guy 3 3 0 0 0 0 0
Jimmy Smith 3 2 0 0 1 0 0
Courtney Upshaw 3 1 0 1 0 0 0
Lardarius Webb 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
Anthony Levine 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
Albert McClellan 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
Brandon Williams 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
Carl Davis 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
Jeremy Ross 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Elvis Dumervil 1 0 0 0 0 2 0
Za’Darius Smith 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
TEAM 56 47 2 5 2 4 0