01/05/26 01:13:00
Printable Page
01/05 01:11 CST Ravens have a long offseason to think about where to go next
after stunning loss to Steelers
Ravens have a long offseason to think about where to go next after stunning
loss to Steelers
By WILL GRAVES
AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) --- Lamar Jackson thought it was over. That the Baltimore
Ravens' unwieldy season would end up in a familiar spot: the playoffs.
Then, rookie kicker Tyler Loop's potential game-winning field goal from 44
yards out drifted a little right. And then a little further right. And then a
little further right still.
By the time it fluttered well wide of the goalposts, the playoffs were gone. So
was Jackson's certainty after a 26-24 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday night sent
the Ravens into what could be a turbulent offseason.
"I'm definitely stunned, man," Jackson said. "I thought we had it in the bag.
... I don't know what else we can do."
Jackson, who never really seemed fully healthy during his eighth season as he
battled one thing after another, did his part. The two-time NFL MVP passed for
238 yards and three touchdowns, including two long connections with Zay Flowers
in the fourth quarter that put the Ravens (8-9) in front.
It just wasn't enough. Baltimore's defense, which played most of the second
half without star safety Kyle Hamilton after Hamilton entered the concussion
protocol, wilted against 42-year-old Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers passed for a season-high 294 yards, including a 26-yard flip to a
wide-open Calvin Austin with 55 seconds to go after a defender slipped,
symbolic of a season in which Baltimore's defense only occasionally found its
form.
Still, the Ravens had a chance when Jackson found Isaiah Likely for a 28-yard
gain on fourth down from midfield. A couple of snaps later, the 24-year-old
Loop walked on to try to lift Baltimore to its third straight division title.
Instead, the rookie said he "mishit" it. Whatever it was, it never threatened
to sneak between the goalposts.
"It's disappointing," Loop said.
Loop was talking about the game. He might as well have been talking about his
team's season.
The Ravens began 1-5 as Jackson dealt with injuries and the defense struggled
to get stops. Baltimore found a way to briefly tie the Steelers for first in
late November, only to then split its next four games, including a home loss to
Pittsburgh.
Still, when Jackson and the Ravens walked onto the Acrisure Stadium turf on
Sunday night in the 272nd and final game of the NFL regular season, Baltimore
was confident. The Ravens drilled Pittsburgh in the opening round of the
playoffs a year ago behind the ever-churning legs of running back Derrick Henry.
When Henry ripped off a gain of 40-plus yards on the game's first offensive
snap, it looked like it was going to be more of the same. While Henry did rush
for 126 yards and joined Hall of Famer Barry Sanders as the only running backs
in NFL history to have five 1,500-yard seasons, he was less effective in the
second half.
Even that first run was telling of what night it was going to be, as an illegal
block by wide receiver Zay Flowers cost Baltimore some field position. The
Ravens ended up scoring on the drive anyway, thanks to a 38-yard fourth-down
flip from Jackson to a wide-open Devontez Walker, but it started a pattern that
was hard to shake as several steps forward were met with one step back on a
night the Ravens finished with nine penalties for 78 yards.
"We were having a lot of penalties, which kept stopping drives," Jackson said.
"But I'm proud of my guys because we kept overcoming. We kept overcoming
adversity and situations like this. Divisional games (can) be like that
sometimes."
Particularly when the Steelers are on the other side of the line of scrimmage.
Pittsburgh has won 10 of the last 13 meetings. And while a handful of them have
been in late-season matchups with the Ravens already assured of reaching the
playoffs, the reality is the Steelers have been able to regularly do something
that most others have not: found a way to beat Jackson.
"It comes down to situations like this," Jackson said. "Two-point conversion
one year. Field goal another year. And again this year. Just got to find a way
to get that win here."
And figure out who is going to be around to help get it.
Head coach John Harbaugh's 18th season in Baltimore ended with the Ravens
missing the playoffs for just the second time in eight years. Jackson turns 29
this week and is still one of the most electric players in the league.
Yet Harbaugh and Jackson have yet to find a way to have that breakthrough
season that Harbaugh enjoyed with Joe Flacco in 2013 when the Ravens won the
Super Bowl.
There was hope when the season began that the roadblocks that have long been in
the franchise's way --- Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes chief among them ---
would be gone.
While the Ravens did get their way in a sense --- the Chiefs will watch the
playoffs from afar for the first time in a decade after a nightmarish season of
their own --- it never all came together.
Jackson declined to endorse Harbaugh returning for a 19th season, saying the
loss was still too fresh to zoom out on what it might mean for the franchise
going forward.
Harbaugh, for his part, certainly seems up for running it back in the fall.
"I love these guys," he said afterward. "I love these guys."
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
|
