It’s not so much the 4 losses in a row for the first time in the 9-year tenure of head coach John Harbaugh…. it’s the way the losses have taken on a pattern of self-destruction.
Granted the Ravens could go off into their Bye Week, get a little healthier at key positions and come out swinging, maybe even put together a mini-winning streak to get back into the thick of things.
But the overall feeling right now in Ravens Land is the team is undermanned and overextended—one of the winningest traditions over the last decade in the NFL is breaking down.
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco didn’t use his injured right shoulder as an excuse for one of the worst halves of his nine-year NFL career. In the second half of Sunday’s 24-16 loss, Flacco was 10-for-22 for 48 yards with two interceptions. That’s a rating of 14.6.
“I didn’t feel it today,” Flacco said. “My arm felt great.” Flacco didn’t show any effects early, averaging 13.3 yards per completion in the first half. He completed 68 percent of his throws (15 of 22) and threw a 53-yard strike to wide receiver Mike Wallace. After halftime, Flacco only connected on 45 percent of his passes and threw his first interceptions in four games.
“When you’re playing this kind of football, you can’t make mistakes in the second half,” Flacco said.
“Mistakes are frustrating and they hurt because we obviously gave the game away there,” Flacco said. “The more frustrating thing is the fact that we can’t consistently do things well. We’re not good right now.”
Flacco was picked off twice on three passes after he had gone a franchise-record 176 passes without being intercepted. Now Flacco is on another streak: 11 quarters without throwing a touchdown pass.
Heading into what will be a rough bye week, the Ravens (3-4) can say all of their mistakes can be corrected in the final nine games, and they remain in striking distance of the AFC North lead (1½ games behind the Steelers). But it’s difficult to believe that can happen after Baltimore couldn’t beat a one-win Jets team that had to turn back to benched quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and watched its punter lose a snap (which led to an easy special-teams touchdown for the Ravens).
“We’re not in a good place,” tight end Dennis Pitta said. “It’s never too late, but we have to put it together and put it together fast.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced an injured Geno Smith and led the New York Jets on three scoring drives, and a rejuvenated defense came up with two rare interceptions in a 24-16 comeback victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
Fitzpatrick came in for Smith in the second quarter and led the Jets on a go-ahead drive capped by a 13-yard touchdown catch by Matt Forte. Fitzpatrick finished 9 of 14 for 120 yards and a touchdown as the Jets (2-5) snapped a four-game losing streak.
Smith injured his right knee while taking a sack from Baltimore’s Matt Judon. Fitzpatrick was efficient after losing his job earlier in the week. Coach Todd Bowles decided to start Smith over Fitzpatrick , who had thrown an NFL-leading 11 interceptions and just five touchdown passes. Smith was 4 of 8 for 95 yards and a TD to Quincy Enunwa.
Justin Tucker put the Ravens (3-4) back up 16-14 as time expired in the first half with his third field goal, a 44-yarder.
Joe Flacco started for Baltimore after being questionable with a sore shoulder . He went a team-record 176 consecutive throws without an interception before Buster Skrine picked off his pass in the third quarter and returned it 51 yards to the Ravens 3.
But the Jets faltered and had to settle for Nick Folk‘s 22-yard field goal and a 17-16 lead.
The defense made it two possessions in a row with a takeaway — after coming in with just four all season — as Marcus Gilchrist picked off Flacco and returned it 27 yards to the Ravens 24.
This time, the Jets cashed in, but not before some hot potato with the football.
On second-and-goal from the 6, Forte ran up the middle for 3 yards and had the ball ripped out of his hands. Timmy Jernigan recovered for Baltimore and tried to advance, but Brandon Marshall stripped the ball and recovered it for the Jets.
Three plays later, Forte ran it in from 1 yard.
Forte finished with 101 yards and a TD on 31 carries and four catches for 54 yards and a score. He also joined Marshall Faulk, Marcus Allen, Thurman Thomas and Herschel Walker as the only players with 8,000 yards rushing, 4,000 yards receiving and 20 TD receptions. With 3:04 left, Folk had a chance to seal the victory, but his 51-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Brandon Williams.
Again, the Jets’ defense came up big, with Marcus Williams knocking away Flacco’s desperation heave as the Ravens dropped their fourth straight — and second in a row at MetLife Stadium after losing 27-23 to the Giants last week.
GENO SMITH’S QUICK START: Smith got New York on the board in the first quarter when he tossed a short pass to Enunwa, who motored down the left sideline and outran two Ravens for a 69-yard touchdown. An excited Smith ran all the way down the field to celebrate with Enunwa as fireworks went off at MetLife Stadium.
It was Smith’s first touchdown pass since Week 8 of last season at Oakland, when he stepped in for an injured Fitzpatrick. It was also Smith’s first start since the 2014 season finale at Miami, where he threw for 358 yards and three TDs while compiling a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating in a 37-14 win.
WHOOPS: Baltimore took a 7-0 lead when rookie Lachlan Edwards, punting on the Jets’ first offensive series, had the snap go through his hands. Edwards then couldn’t corral the football as Moore recovered and ran it in for 2 yards.
BYRD HONORED: The Jets honored the late Dennis Byrd with a pregame video tribute after he was killed last weekend in a car accident in Oklahoma.
Final:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| NYJ | 7 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 24 |
| Matchup |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Downs | 11 | 16 |
| Passing 1st downs | 11 | 7 |
| Rushing 1st downs | 0 | 7 |
| 1st downs from penalties | 0 | 2 |
| 3rd down efficiency | 3-14 | 6-16 |
| 4th down efficiency | 0-1 | 0-1 |
| Total Plays | 57 | 66 |
| Total Yards | 245 | 344 |
| Total Drives | 12 | 14 |
| Yards per Play | 4.3 | 5.2 |
| Passing | 239 | 189 |
| Comp-Att | 25-44 | 13-22 |
| Yards per pass | 5.3 | 7.0 |
| Interceptions thrown | 2 | 0 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost | 1-9 | 5-26 |
| Rushing | 6 | 155 |
| Rushing Attempts | 12 | 39 |
| Yards per rush | 0.5 | 4.0 |
| Red Zone (Made-Att) | 0-0 | 2-4 |
| Penalties | 4-35 | 4-25 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 2 |
| Fumbles lost | 1 | 2 |
| Interceptions thrown | 2 | 0 |
| Defensive / Special Teams TDs | 1 | 0 |
| Possession | 23:23 | 36:37 |
Baltimore Passing| C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | SACKS | QBR | RTG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Flacco | 25/44 | 248 | 5.6 | 0 | 2 | 1-9 | 27.6 | 54.0 |
| TEAM | 25/44 | 239 | 5.6 | 0 | 2 | 1-9 | — | 54.0 |
Baltimore Rushing| CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrance West | 8 | 10 | 1.3 | 0 | 5 |
| Lorenzo Taliaferro | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kenneth Dixon | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Flacco | 2 | -4 | -2.0 | 0 | 1 |
| TEAM | 12 | 6 | 0.5 | 0 | 5 |
Baltimore Receiving| REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | TGTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Wallace | 10 | 120 | 12.0 | 0 | 53 | 13 |
| Kamar Aiken | 3 | 55 | 18.3 | 0 | 29 | 6 |
| Dennis Pitta | 4 | 40 | 10.0 | 0 | 12 | 10 |
| Breshad Perriman | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 0 | 11 | 5 |
| Chris Moore | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
| Lorenzo Taliaferro | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | 0 | 8 | 3 |
| Kyle Juszczyk | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Kenneth Dixon | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | -1 | 1 |
| TEAM | 25 | 248 | 9.9 | 0 | 53 | 43 |
Baltimore Defense| TACKLES | MISC | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | PD | QB HTS | TD | ||
| Zachary Orr | 12 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Eric Weddle | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Brandon Williams | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Albert McClellan | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tavon Young | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lawrence Guy | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Michael Pierce | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Timmy Jernigan | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Matt Judon | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Za’Darius Smith | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Jerraud Powers | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lardarius Webb | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kyle Juszczyk | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kamalei Correa | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jimmy Smith | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ryan Jensen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Marqueston Huff | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Darren Waller | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Brent Urban | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Patrick Onwuasor | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Anthony Levine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Chris Moore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| TEAM | 78 | 36 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 1 | |
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