BALTIMORE (AP) 鈥 Pushed around on defense and manhandled when they had the ball, the Baltimore Ravens stumbled mightily at home in an ugly, surprising defeat.
The Ravens allowed the Detroit Lions to amass 426 yards 鈥 including a whopping 224 on the ground 鈥 which proved to be simply too much for Lamar Jackson and Baltimore’s high-powered offense to overcome.
Jackson was sacked seven times, Derrick Henry fumbled in the fourth quarter when the game was still close, and Baltimore absorbed a humbling on Monday night.
The final score was deceptively close. In truth, the Ravens (1-2) let a 21-14 lead turn into a 14-point deficit before tacking on a meaningless TD with 29 seconds left.
鈥淭he biggest problem is we didn鈥檛 play good defense,鈥 coach John Harbaugh said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nobody in that locker room that thinks that鈥檚 good enough. That鈥檚 not who we are. It cannot be who we are. It鈥檚 not acceptable.鈥
So, three weeks into the season the Ravens have lost 41-40 and 38-30. In between, they beat lowly Cleveland despite leading by only a touchdown at halftime.
That’s why Jackson scoffed at the notion that this defeat might serve as motivation to improve.
鈥淲eek 1 was a wake-up call. Last week was a wake-up call,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to find a way to win.鈥
Jackson struggled to get free and Henry coughed up the ball down the stretch, but this loss was mostly about the defense. The Ravens were mercilessly pushed around by a Lions team that two years ago came to Baltimore and lost 38-6.
In this one, the Lions had drives of 95 and 98 yards before putting together a 70-yard march that produced a field goal for a 38-24 lead with 1:42 left.
鈥淣o excuses can be made at this point. If it鈥檚 not one thing, it鈥檚 another,鈥 safety Kyle Hamilton said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e just go to patch it up right now.鈥
There once was a day when the Ravens went weeks at a time without giving up 100 yards on the ground. That’s why it hurt so much to have David Montgomery ramble for 151 yards and Jahmyr Gibbs pick up 67.
鈥淥ur run defense has been pretty good the whole time I鈥檝e been here,鈥 Hamilton said, 鈥渂ut when a team runs the ball like that it demoralizes you. It鈥檚 on us as a defense to put that fire out, and we just didn鈥檛 do that.鈥
Given that Jackson was 7-2 in Monday night games and 24-2 lifetime against the NFC, it was an uncharacteristic performance by a team with aspirations of reaching the Super Bowl. The trek doesn’t get any easier next week, when Baltimore faces the defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs on the road.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the sky is falling, but we鈥檝e got a big one next week on a short week,鈥 Hamilton said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 up to us to be professionals and go out and win.鈥
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