GOOD, BAD & UGLY: Ravens Punched in the Mouth

Lions Prove That These Are Not The Ravens of Old

You’ve heard and read the stats – you know, those historical numbers about the Ravens success during primetime games and in contests against the NFC. You’re probably already aware of the Ravens past success against the Lions. Let’s revisit past success stories for a moment, before diving into the gut-wrenching review of an embarrassing performance upon a national stage that was tricked up with a theme of darkness. Only the lights never came on for the home team.

• The Ravens were 6-1 all time vs. the Lions, winning five straight games.
• They were 4-0 in home games vs. Detroit.
• During the 2023 season in Baltimore. Lamar Jackson & Co. rolled Detroit, 38-6.
• In 9 MNF games Lamar had a (7-2) record.
• Against the NFC Lamar practically wears a cape posting a (24-2) mark which stands as the best winning percentage (.923) by a QB vs. an opposing conference in NFL history.
• The Ravens were (43-19) in primetime games under John Harbaugh (since 2008). This winning percentage (.694) is an NFL best.
• The Ravens have a record of (20-6) all-time when wearing their black-on-black uniforms.

All impressive stats. All part of the Ravens history. Want more? Since “The Bank” opened in 1998, here are the Ravens home rankings:

• Rush Offense: 1st (137.1 ypg)
• Rush Defense: 1st (92.2 ypg)
• Third-Down Defense: 1st (34.0%)
• Red Zone Defense: 1st (46.3%)
• Total Defense: 1st (300.8 ypg)
• Winning Percentage: 3rd (.702, 153-65)

And none of it meant a damn thing on Monday tonight because this version of the Ravens is something that no player, no coach, no GM, no owner, no fan wants to hear, yet it is true. The Ravens are SOFT.

Sometimes the truth hurts.

In recent years, the Ravens have developed a reputation – an earned one I might add, as a team that beats themselves. That wasn’t the case on Monday night. The Lions beat the snot out of the Ravens. The were dominated in the trenches. On defense the Ravens:

• Allowed 4 rushing touchdowns at home for the first time in franchise history.
• Were trucked for 225 yards rushing.
• Allowed the Lions to put together TD scoring drives of 98 and 96 yards.
  • 18 plays, 98 yards, 10:48 drive, 9:05 elapsed
  • 7 plays, 96 yards, 3:41 drive
• Did not record a single sack and pressured Jared Goff 5 times during 28 drop backs.
• Missed 20 tackles per Next Gen Stats.
• Produced zero turnovers.
• Have given up a league-high 97 points. (For some historical perspective, the Ravens gave up 165 points during the entire 2000 season).
• Rank dead last in rushing success rate v. 2024 when they were 2nd.

Ok, let’s get this over with, shall we?

THE GOOD

Offense

Even on an off day, Lamar still carries the team. And the way they are built this season, if he doesn’t play like Superman, the Ravens have little chance of winning. Against the Lions, Jackson was 21 of 27 for 288 yards and 3 TDs which equates to a passer rating of 148.1…Mark Andrews had 6 catches for 91 yards and 2 scores…Rashod Bateman caught 5 balls for 63 yards and a score.

Defense

Nate Wiggins did a great job of blowing up a screen late in the second quarter and he had a PD that should be displayed in DB teaching clinics…Marlon Humphrey had some unsavory moments but he had a tackle for loss in Q2 and he influenced the 9-yard loss on a backwards pass to Jahmyr Gibbs in the first quarter. He deserves some hustle points too for chasing down David Montgomery during the Lions RB’s 72-yard gallop…TJ Tampa played well in limited action.

Special Teams

Jordan Stout netted 52.3 yards on 3 punts, pinning the Lions deep in their own territory twice…Rasheen Ali averaged 26.3 yards on 4 kick returns including a 43-yard burst.

THE BAD

Offense

Although Lamar was sacked 7 times, a few sacks were on him. He held the ball too long and by the time he decided to take off, the Lions’ spy or linebackers were there to clean up and contain Lamar before he got a chance to get up field. Even when he had a chance to work downhill, he looked hesitant, even sluggish. But let’s give the Lions credit for a pass rush plan. The edge rushers seemed to seal Lamar’s escape routes forcing him towards the center of the field where the linebackers played with excellent technique.

THE UGLY

Offense

Lamar Jackson was sacked 7 times and pressured 30 times. THIRTY TIMES!!! He dropped back to throw 38 times…According to NFL.com’s Nick Shook, Derrick Henry has 683 touches between Week 18 of the 2022 season through the end of the 2024 season. He fumbled just three times. In 2025, Henry has already coughed it up 3 times during 43 touches…Henry had nowhere to go during most of his attempts. Other than the 28-yard TD run, he had 11 carries for 22 yards. The Ravens offensive front was like a speed bag for the Lions front seven. In other words, they were punched in the mouth all night long.

Lions defense vs the Ravens

7 sacks
30 pressures
1 turnover forced pic.twitter.com/linWPBOSjz

— PFF (@PFF) September 23, 2025

Defense

The Ravens’ defense is a disaster. The only identity they have is that they suck! To put things in perspective, Baltimore has scored 111 points through 3 games, the most by a team with a losing record IN NFL HISTORY!

The Ravens have 111 points this season, the most through 3 games by a team with a losing record in NFL history. pic.twitter.com/Hly5khpMkV

— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) September 23, 2025

Detroit’s IOL pushed the Ravens DT’s all over the place. The linebackers don’t shoot gaps and struggle to disengage from blocks. Roquan Smith looked nothing like the player from a week earlier v. the Browns. Kyle Hamilton and Malaki Starks did next to nothing. They seem hesitant to fill gaps v. the run…the pass rush is non-existent… Odafe Oweh put on muscle mass to improve his pass rush chops. He’s still looking for his first sack after 3 games. And his high school buddy David Ojabo had a grand total of 6 snaps on defense. Just goes to show you what they think of him – you know, a team that desperately needs a push from the edge. But hey, they did just re-sign Malik Hamm to the practice squad, so there’s hope (surely I jest)!

Remember Trenton Simpson, the guy the team talked up so much about grasping the playbook and playing faster? The guy Roquan praised as someone to watch in 2025? Well, we’re watching him get benched. He had exactly 0 snaps on defense.

pic.twitter.com/XG92u1vXyT

— Duke Manyweather (@BigDuke50) September 23, 2025

Special Teams

John Harbaugh makes a big deal about special teams. He’ll sit a player like Keaton Mitchell who could help to spread defenses because he allegedly doesn’t contribute much to teams. But I don’t see any standouts on the kick coverage team. Rueben Lowery’s 4 snaps are worth sitting a home run hitter on offense?

Following a Ravens score the Lions average starting field position was the 35-yard line…Thank you Tyler Loop who still seems to be trying to figure out this landing zone concept. What have they been doing at the Under Armour Performance Center since the NFL Draft. Coming into the game, Loop led the NFL in illegal kickoffs. On Monday he added a 4th in three games. He was fortunate that his 41-yard FGA was called “good”. It could have gone either way and that’s not a reviewable play…Seemingly every game when the Ravens need Stout to hit a clutch bomb to try and flip the field, he’ll hit a dud, a 38-yarder that went OOB. The side judge ran so far with his arm in the air to spot the football that I thought he might need oxygen.

The Paige Spiranac Award

Like Roquan Smith, Paige took the day off…

COACHING

I can’t get over how impressive Dan Campbell was tonight. It’s one thing to have conviction, but it’s another to perpetually trust your players and always maintain your identity — especially against a team as good as the Ravens.

The #Lions are a bona fide Super Bowl contender. pic.twitter.com/K3QkBWfBfZ

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) September 23, 2025

I don’t know who the Ravens are. Do you? But if pinned down, I’d say that they are a team that depends heavily on Lamar Jackson in an epically extraordinary way. If he has an off game, the team has little hope because despite the star power and the big W-2’s, the Ravens have no playmakers on defense, and the offensive line is a sieve.

Is it the organization’s philosophy to just ignore the line of scrimmage – to find reclamation projects in the trenches? Offensively the Ravens still want to commit to a clumsy right guard who moves like a robot about to run out of battery power and a left guard who is a former 7th round pick. Imagine this offense with competent veteran guard play.

And on defense, the franchise builds from the secondary forward and by the time they finish with Roquan’s $20M per, there’s not much left to pay guys to take down the quarterback. Meanwhile, because opposing QB’s can count to Mississippi 7 before getting the ball out, all those shiny toys known as first-round DBs either can’t cover or they are so far off the ball that they practically give opposing offenses a landing zone of their own.

The thought entering the season was that Zach Orr had a season of play calling under his belt and he’d be better this season because of it. The Ravens also added Chuck Pagano presumably to get the most out of the talented-on-paper secondary. Well, how’s that going? All that talent and nothing to show for it except the worst scoring defense in the NFL.

There was a time when the Ravens could dial up pressure from a multitude of defensive configurations. They could morph quickly from a pre-snap look to a post-snap transformation that would confuse quarterbacks. Today if they scheme pressure, it’s as if the Ravens are the team in a state of confusion.

Each time the Ravens play on a national stage, the broadcast team talks about how physical the Ravens play. I don’t see it. That reputation stems from history and those little trips down memory lane do NOTHING in the present.

But the Ravens weren’t just out-coached when on defense. The offense is culpable too. Admittedly I haven’t watched the coach’s film of the game yet but judging from the looks behind the quarterback in last night’s MNF broadcast, it appeared as if the Ravens repeatedly ran the same route combinations. And the Lions paid attention. Lamar kept waiting for someone to clear and it rarely happened after the Ravens first drive of the second half.

And how about that spectacular sequence after Devontez Walker’s first NFL catch that wasn’t a touchdown – a 34-yard grab that set the Ravens up with a first-and-goal from the Lions’ 3. Here’s what followed:

• 1-3-DET 3 (3:18) D.Henry right guard to DET 1 for 2 yards (D.Reed).
• 2-1-DET 1 (2:43) B.Cleveland reported in as eligible. D.Henry up the middle to DET 1 for no gain (Z.Cunningham).
• 3-1-DET 1 (2:00) J.Noteboom reported in as eligible. D.Henry right end to DET 2 for -1 yards (Z.Cunningham).
• 4-2-DET 2 (1:30) (Shotgun) L.Jackson sacked at DET 9 for -7 yards (J.Campbell). FUMBLES (J.Campbell), touched at DET 11, and recovers at DET 20

This is why the Ravens lost to the Bills in the Playoffs, too… when the going gets tough, OC Todd Monken makes HORRIFIC playcalls… 3 straight boring runs with Henry, then he backs Lamar Jackson into an impossible spot with a 4th garbage playcall
pic.twitter.com/89jPxSmU6L

— John Frascella (Football) (@NFLFrascella) September 23, 2025

Simply put, the Ravens don’t play to win. They play not to lose, particularly on defense where priority number 1 seems to be, “don’t get beat deep”.

PARTING SHOTS

The Ravens started (1-2) last season and then hosted Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. They got back on track and by the end of the season, they were among the best teams in the league and had a legitimate chance to win it all. Today, the Ravens are (1-2) and must go on the road after a short week to face the Chiefs at Arrowhead, a place where the Ravens haven’t won since Lamar Jackson became their starting quarterback.

What team shows up is anyone’s guess. But KC’s Chris Jones going up against the Ravens interior offensive front and Patrick Mahomes with all day to throw, just doesn’t feel like a recipe for success. Shockingly the Ravens are 2 ½ point road favorites.

I guess that’s why they play the games.

Perhaps the saving grace in the 2025 season thus far, is that the Ravens play in a bad division and no team at this point is any good.

So there’s that.

The post GOOD, BAD & UGLY: Ravens Punched in the Mouth appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2025/09/23/gbu-paige-spiranac/lions-beat-ravens-38-to-30/