OWINGS MILLS, Md. — It was throwback to the first few weeks of the season for the Ravens - the inability to close games, not finishing and blowing double-digit fourth quarter leads.
"You take everything in perspective. Yes, it’s a fourth-quarter collapse; you can call it that, and that’s what it is in the grand scheme," said head coach John Harbaugh on Monday. "We’re looking at every play, every technique. But there’s a psychological aspect to it, too, and that’s the other part of if that you try to address. But you can’t live in it. We’ve got to just focus on football, focus on the details of what we do and come out there and play our next play and give it our best shot. I’m very confident that we’re going to do what we need to do, but you’ve got to go do it. The season is going to play out. If we get it done, if we get better on defense in the fourth quarter and offense in the fourth quarter, obviously, we’re not going to have any more issues with fourth-quarter collapses, so to speak, and if we don’t, we are. That’s up to us. That’s our job. It’s [up to] our guys, our coaches, players, all of us to get the job done, and we’ve got to find a way to do it, and that’s what we’ll be working to do and continue to work to do.”
Harbaugh was speaking after reviewing Sunday’s 28-27 loss in Jacksonville. Many factors contributed to Baltimore’s fourth loss of the season. Among the biggest was the defense melting down in the fourth quarter. The unit allowed 18 points, including a touchdown and the deciding two-point conversion with 14 seconds to go. The offense only scored two touchdowns in five trips inside the red zone.
"At times we’ve had the right plays and we haven’t executed them. I do think once it starts happening you get a little momentum that way. But also we’re going to look at the scheme part of it," Harbaugh said regarding the struggles in the red zone.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson was inaccurate downfield early. His receivers routinely dropped passes as well. Frustrations started to show on the sideline.
"Lamar hates to lose and we all hate to lose and we hate to not execute. We all hate to not score touchdowns in the red zone. So, if that’s frustration, sure, I don’t mind that kind of frustration. I want us to be frustrated with that. I want a bunch of guys that want to win," said Harbaugh.
The Ravens aren’t only dealing with this latest loss, they’re also dealing with the fallout from an explicit postgame tweet posted by Lamar Jackson. He was replying to a Twitter user critical of his play.
The tweet was deleted about 3-and-a-half hours after it was published. Harbaugh said he talked to Jackson about it on Monday morning.
Here is Lamar Jackson's tweet, which was later deleted. The expletives have been blurred. pic.twitter.com/7eqhD7jJxO
— Shawn Stepner (@StepnerWMAR) November 28, 2022
"I talk to these guys. We talk a lot about football, but we also talk a little bit about that stuff too, what goes on in terms of the media and everything. Really, you just beg guys not to get into the Twitter world right after the game, especially after a loss. It’s never going to be positive. It’s not going to be a nice place. That’s kind of reflected in Lamar [Jackson]’s response, because what he said was just so out of character for him; that’s not the way he speaks, that’s not the way he talks, it’s not the words he ever uses. I’ve never heard him say things like that before, but like you said, he wants to win. I’m sure he’s frustrated, just like we all are, and that’s just a place you just don’t want to live right after a game. I know he understands that. Lamar Jackson – you’ve been around him – he has one of the biggest hearts of anybody I know. You all have seen him, the way he treats people, the way he treats kids, the way he treats the media. He’s also one of the biggest competitors I’ve ever met, so those kinds of conversations he takes very seriously. So, you get trapped sometimes by someone who’s baiting you just a little bit, and you can’t live there. It’s not important. I see you shaking your head, and you’re right. That’s something I love about him, but I think that’s not a place he wants to be in, [and] those are certainly not things he wants to say."
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