The rollercoaster that is the Baltimore Ravens has most of us nauseous. One minute, Lamar Jackson is looking like a huge value in the race for MVP. The next? They're blowing 10+ point leads.
It's happened not one, not two, but three times this season. Here's a live look at Ravens fans.
Now begs the question — what do the Ravens need to do to stop blowing leads? Can they really be a championship caliber team if this is how they’re losing games?
In short, probably. It’s a nice position to be in to be able to lose that kind of lead in the first place. The defense is mostly to blame here, though they aren’t incapable of playing well, if the splits tell us anything.
Baltimore is averaging just over eight points allowed in the first half — the fourth-fewest in the NFL. The second half tells another story, though. Their defense sits as just one of four in the NFL to allow an average of 15 or more points in the third and fourth quarters.
It’s kind of an ironic outcome given that the Ravens ball-control style of offense should be exactly what they need to maintain leads if the defense struggles in the second half. That’s when we need to consider Lamar Jackson’s part in all of this.
Jackson’s had some in opportune turnovers that have helped put opponents in positions to come back. We’ve already seen him play at a high caliber level this season, though. Heck, after three weeks, he looked like a surefire candidate for NFL MVP.
There are a lot of things to clean up here. But the good news for Ravens fans is that the pieces of a championship team are there. John Harbaugh just needs to fit them all together.
- The Ravens offense is scoring 26 points per game — good for fifth-best in the NFL.
- Each of the Ravens losses this season came thanks to a double-digit blown lead.
- No team in the AFC North has winning record, keeping the Ravens still very much in play for a divisional title. They’re currently the favorite on FanDuel Sportsbook at -135 (Bet $13.50 to win $10 profit).