Ravens Coast For An Easy Win In Dallas.... Just Kidding They Vomited On Themselves In The 4th Quarter Yet Again And Escaped With a 3 Point Win

Sam Hodde. Getty Images.

Holy hell man. This team is gonna be the death of me before September is even over. How am I even supposed to feel after a game like that?? 

They kicked the Cowboys teeth in for the better part of 3 quarters. Just opened up their mouths and shoved a heavy dose of Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson on the ground right down their throats. They had 233 yards on the ground alone in those first 3 quarters and had built a 28-6 lead. lDefense was stout and constantly made Dak Prescott look uncomfortable. It had all the looks of the type of ass-kicking that restores confidence in a team and gets them back on track.

The 4th quarter started with the Cowboys turning the ball over on downs pretty quickly. Game over right? Even with all the trauma the Ravens has caused me over recent years, even I thought that one was donezo right then and there. We continued to move the football and chewed another 4 minutes off the clock when JT lined up for that 46 yarder. The miss was certainly disconcerting, but figured… "better miss these than the ones that might actually matter".

Then the sky started falling. Again. I mean what the fuck do we gotta do to get this thing right? Prescott shredded us in the middle of the field throughout the 4th. The onside kick was obviously where everyone's heart sank. Why can't this team do the little fucking things? Zay wasn't even under much duress when he botched it. The penalties started flying left and right (some certainly sus… like the Oweh roughing) and everything turned into quicksand. Why is every other team able to figure out ways to put games away and we can't?

Granted… it's tough for the defense to give up the first touchdown drive and then suddenly have to go right back out there after the onside kick. But I don't care. This team should have so much conditioning at this point because they're constantly doing this. And there has to be a solution or a shift in mentality or something. ANYTHING.

The offense has been nearly as culpable in these collapses in the defense. Back in 2019, they ran a masterclass of closing out games by shoving on the ground. The first opportunity they had (up 28-18 at the Dallas 47), they weren't able to get a first down after dominating on the ground all day. 3rd down featured such a familiar miss where Lamar threw it high and wide of Mark Andrews. Ultimately they punted on 4th and 3 (which… I would not have hated them going for).

Sure enough, Dallas marched right down the field. 91 yards in 2 minutes and 33 seconds to cut it to 28-25 with 2:53 left. Same old fucking story.

Ravens get the ball back. Surely another 3 and out, right?

Not quite. This is the one encouraging takeaway… in that Lamar and co. finally swung hard and actually hit the ball in a key spot. They got the two first downs they needed to shut the door, including a HUGE connection to Zay Flowers on 3rd down to move the chains. One more Lamar dash up the middle for another first down and that was ballgame.

But holy fuck. You cannot expect to consistently build multiple score leads, especially against good teams. The safety cushion was juuuust enough today, but this level of play in the 4th quarter is not sustainable whatsoever. Neither are the onslaught of penalties. They have 31 penalties for 278 yards through 3 games. That is horrrrrific and it's gotta change.

We had such an opportunity there for a care free feel good win and we just couldn't do it. We're 1-2 and have two more tough ones right in front of us. Plenty of work to do and plenty of potential… the way Derrick Henry ran the football today is so damn encouraing. But please please please… give me something to feel good about next week after 60 minutes of football.