The Breakdown: Short Week Ends With Long Night for…

The Ravens have lost two quarterbacks and four straight games.

That’s the reality after Thursday night’s 33-10 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore’s third straight loss by at least 22 points.

It’s the first time in team history they’ve lost three straight games by 20 points or more. It’s also the first time in franchise history that they have been held under 14 points in four straight games.

Lamar Jackson (right thumb) won’t be returning anytime soon after being officially placed on injured reserve. If the Ravens (4-5) are to change their fortunes in the immediate future, their two-time MVP won’t be the catalyst.

The players and coaches have extra time before their next game on Nov. 16, when they host the Los Angeles Chargers on “Monday Night Football.” Time to reflect, regroup, and see if they can revitalize their season.

“Tough situation for our guys, but I just told them there’s no excuses – we don’t have this guy, we don’t have that guy,” Head Coach Jesse Minter said. “We’ve got to make a decision over this break.”

Here are my thoughts on the Ravens at this point – nine games into the regular season with eight remaining to play:

Baltimore’s defense gives up too many big plays.

The Ravens were without top cornerback Nate Wiggins (illness), and his presence was missed. Giving up explosive plays has been a problem for Baltimore’s defense all season, and against the Jaguars, it happened quickly.

On the second play from scrimmage, Jaguars blocking tight end Nate Boerkircher got behind Marlon Humphrey for a 52-yard completion from Trevor Lawrence. It set up an early touchdown that gave Jacksonville a 7-0 lead, and for the injury-riddled Ravens, that was a problem. With Joe Fagnano (10-for-18, 60 yards, two interceptions) making his first career start at quarterback, the Ravens wanted to avoid falling behind and hoped their defense would set the tone. It didn’t happen, and Baltimore’s defensive struggles weren’t over.

Less than two minutes before halftime, the Ravens blitzed, the Jaguars’ offensive line picked it up, Lawrence delivered a strike to wide receiver Parker Washington down the middle of the field, and Washington ran away from Ravens safety Malaki Starks. The 50-yard touchdown gave Jacksonville a 17-3 lead at intermission – a hole from which the Ravens never escaped.

Neither of those long completions required Jacksonville to make a spectacular throw or acrobatic catch. The receivers were simply wide open.

The Ravens can’t afford to make mistakes that lead to easy touchdowns, especially when scoring for the Ravens has become so hard.

“I really think the explosive play before the half kind of broke the game open,” Minter said. “Early on, we let them get behind us to one of their, I would call him more of a blocking tight end. Which is unfortunate.

“I take a lot of pride in the secondary. We haven’t gotten the results that we’re after. So we’ve just go to go back to work.”

Pre-snap penalties on offense remain a major issue.

Baltimore had four false starts against Jacksonville, raising its league-high total to 24. During one sequence in the second quarter, Baltimore had back-to-back false starts by Ronnie Stanley and Mark Andrews, turning a second-and-5 into a second-and-15.

The Ravens have practiced for months in Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle’s system, yet the mistakes continue.

“It’s very frustrating,” Minter said. “It’s just ownership of players and coaches that keeps happening. It’s the ninth game. The pre-snap penalties are unacceptable.”

Stanley offered no excuses, and knows the Ravens can’t be an efficient offense if they continue to self-destruct.

“Speak for myself, I’ve got to do better,” Stanley said. “I’m trying to get off the ball as soon as I hear the quarterback. Too fast. I need to hone that back a little bit and maybe come off slower. We can’t afford to have pre-snap penalties. They stall drives and take away points.”

The Ravens’ next change at quarterback is expected soon.

Baltimore is reportedly trading for veteran Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who would be slated to start for the Ravens against the Chargers.

Fagnano was in an extremely difficult spot, starting his first NFL game after just a few practices with the first team and while dealing with a heavily-wrapped injured ankle.

Instead of asking Fagnano to throw much downfield, the Ravens featured Derrick Henry in the Wildcat formation 10 times throughout the game and tried to take pressure off Fagnano.

Brissett is an 11-year veteran whose experience would help open up the playbook. While not speaking about the reported trade specifically, Minter said the Ravens had not abandoned their hopes for making the postseason.

“I know that our front office and ownership are going to do what’s necessary to give us a chance,” Minter said. “Anybody that comes in, we’ll see how it goes, we’ll see where it takes us. You appreciate the organization for trying to put us in a position.”

Still, the Ravens can’t expect Brissett to be a cure all.

“He’s going to bring his experience and all the time he’s spent through the league. I think that’ll bode well for us,” Stanley said. “But there’s a lot of things that we need to fix on our end. I don’t think anyone can just come in and fix all the problems.”

The Ravens’ fortitude will be tested with injuries piling up.

All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton left in the third quarter with a hip injury and didn’t return. That meant the Ravens finished this game without out their top quarterback, their top defensive player, and their top cornerback.

Minter did not have an update on Hamilton’s status after the game, but the last thing they need is for him to miss time.

No matter how long their injury list gets, Stanley said the Ravens are not throwing in the towel.

“We still have a lot of games to play,” Stanley said. “Thank God this isn’t the end of the season. Everyone I’ve talked to still believes. That’s the kind of guys that we want on this team.

“It’s difficult. Lamar’s the best player in the league, but even when he was here, the message was we can’t rely on Lamar to win us games. We have to be people who force that ourselves.”

Extra Points

• Henry (17 carries, 57 yards) passed Jerome Bettis and LaDainian Tomlinson and moved into seventh place all-time in rushing yards.

• The Ravens’ longest completion was a 14-yarder to LaJohntay Wester. The Ravens only attempted one pass 10 or more yards down the field.

• Baltimore did not have a sack against Lawerence, who was 16 for 26 for 242 yards and a touchdown. Minter pointed to Trey Hendrickson “having one free hand” as one reason for a lock of pressure, as well as game situations.

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