Ravens Loss is a Humiliating Kick in the Crotch

Earlier this year, Orchard Park became the Boulevard of Broken Dreams for the Ravens and their fans after the Ravens were once again ousted from the postseason in a dramatically painful way. Along with Mark Andrews, Super Bowl hopes were scattered across the Bills frosty turf in the north end zone of Highmark Stadium.

The team vowed to learn from their mistakes. The players, to a man, would use the utter despair of that loss to fuel their offseason preparation. It would become the true north of their navigational compass to guide them towards a level of achievement befitting their massive talent. They were locked and loaded and ready to earn another chance to redeem themselves, or so they said.

In many ways, the schedule makers were kind. A rematch was scheduled right out of the gate. The 8 months since January’s loss to the Bills in the Divisional Round could be exorcised. Redemption Day was set, and it would take place on a national stage under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football in America.

I bought into the hype. I bought into the alleged determination and steely-eyed conviction. I believed that revenge was a sweet nectar that would propel victory. Instead, we were tortured with more of the same – a team that fails to put opponents away. Like a heavyweight prize fighter that has his opponent beaten but can’t finish the job, the Ravens allow quality opponents to hang around long enough to deliver a knockout blow at the bell.

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“We just have to finish the game. It’s never over until it’s 0:00 on the clock. We found that out tonight.” ~ Lamar Jackson

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Heard this one before?

Look, let’s just admit it and accept it for our collective sanity. Until proven otherwise, the Ravens are Super Bowl pretenders. In high leverage situations, they are like a once brilliant sandcastle trying to hold up against the incoming tide. In those high leverage situations against good teams, the Ravens seem hopeless. It has happened far too many times. This ending wasn’t an anomaly. It is a regular thing during the Harbaugh regime, particularly since the days following Super Bowl 47. And let us not forget, that Harbaugh team nearly collapsed too!

You know, sometimes I wish that I was more like the beat writers and columnists who cover the team. They aren’t emotionally invested. I once asked a couple of them if they are fans of the team. And while they hope for the team’s success, they refrain from being fans because they believe it could taint their objectivity.

Maybe that works for them. I don’t think that being a fan blurs my objectivity. But that’s really for you to judge. What I do know, is that today sucks. It really sucks, and I’m not so sure that writing this article is going to help. It might.

One thing that already has helped me to feel better is a new perspective, something that eluded me when I posted my Bold Predictions for the season. I’ve seen enough of the John Harbaugh-led Ravens to know that they are unlikely to advance beyond the AFC Championship Game and that realization has helped me to curb my enthusiasm. My level of expectation has fallen precipitously. Faith in the team’s talent left me expecting more. But my broken faith in the team’s coaching staff ironically has a healing effect. I’ve hit the reset button. If wrong, I’ll be happy. If I’m right, I’ll be ready.

And right about now I can hear my late Dad saying, “TONY, what took you so long? You’re a gabadost!”

That’s Italian American slang for “hard head”.

Sometimes the truth hurts. Are you ready for the truth?

Well, here goes…

THE GOOD

Offense

Lamar Jackson was magnificent for 3 ½ quarters during which he had a perfect passer rating. He also rushed for 70 yards on 6 carries including a score, untouched from 10 yards out…Derrick Henry was equally as magnificent for the same 3 ½ quarters. He had 18 carries for 169 yards and two TD’s…

LONG LIVE THE KING pic.twitter.com/g5LG3LVkSB

— Jimmy’s Famous Seafood (@JimmysSeafood) September 8, 2025

DERRICK HENRY IS THE FIRST PLAYER OF THE YEAR TO SCORE 30+ FANTASY POINTSpic.twitter.com/OUGfiQUDST

— Yahoo Fantasy Sports (@YahooFantasy) September 8, 2025

Zay Flowers had a career-high 143 yards on 7 catches while DeAndre Hopkins put an exclamation point on his Ravens debut with a spectacular catch for a score from 29 yards out…Ronnie Stanley, Tyler Linderbaum and Roger Rosengarten all had very solid games. Stanley’s kick out block on the Bills’ DB manned-up on Flowers was the key to Zay’s 23-yard score on a bubble screen.

Observem o Ronnie Stanley nessa jogada.

6’6″ e 310 libras, tá?pic.twitter.com/mariHs3B4C

— The Pick Is In (@ThePickIsInBR) September 8, 2025

Defense

After the Ravens closed the gap to 7-3 in the first quarter, the Bills took over from their own 35. On the first play of that drive, James Cook ran it 9 yards to set up a 2nd-and-1. Enter Travis Jones. Two more runs by Cook netted -2 yards thanks to two consecutive stuffs by Jones to force a momentum changing punt…Kyle Hamilton was all over the field and was really the only player in the Ravens secondary to impact the game. He had two PDs and a couple of terrific tackles to blow up a pair of Bills’ screens… Teddye Buchanan played well in the red zone using his plus speed to string plays out to the sideline long enough until help arrived.

Special Teams

Rasheen Ali looked purposeful and determined in the kick return game. He averaged 27.8 yards on six returns. Keaton Mitchell was a healthy scratch and after last night, it might stay that way for a while…Jordan Stout averaged 50.7 YPP and should have had one pinned inside the 3-yard line at the 7:27 mark of Q4 if not for the carelessness of Trenton Simpson.

THE BAD

Offense

Mark Andrews looked a bit lost. He had just one catch for 5 yards in a contest that many expected to be a statement game for Andrews. He looked to be in the wrong spot on a completion to Flowers bringing unnecessary traffic with him to Lamar’s target area.

Defense

At this point, it isn’t hard to project Buchanan as the eventual starter because the incumbent Simpson, too often plays like he’s in a dark room. There’s a reason why Buchanan had 29 defensive snaps to Simpson’s 26…Poor tackling efforts by Marlon Humphrey and Roquan Smith on the swing pass to Cook that went for 51 yards. Neither impacted the game.

Special Teams

UDFA Keyon Martin nearly made a boneheaded play during a punt return by allowing the punt to deflect off his leg for a turnover. Fortunately, the ball touched a Bills punt coverage player first.

THE UGLY

Offense

John Harbaugh defends him. Todd Monken stands by him. Yet defenders run by him. When Daniel Faalele makes a mistake, it’s a clunker and you can rest assured that he’ll provide at least one per game.

Daniel Faalele with a rough rep against Ed Oliver, leading to Lamar Jackson sack pic.twitter.com/TGhZ52O372

— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) September 8, 2025

During their last possession of the first half, leading 17-10, the Ravens took over at their own 46 with 2:50 to go thanks to a nice return by Ali for 41 yards. Henry ripped off a 17-yard run to the Buffalo 37. Inexplicably, the Ravens decided to snap the ball at the 2:03 mark of the half instead of allowing it to go to the 2-minute warning. Those 3 seconds proved to be costly. Then, facing a 3rd-and-5 with 1:53 to go, Lamar connected with Flowers for 15 yards to set up a 1st-and-10 at the Bills 17 with 1:46 left.

Enter Justice Hill for Henry. The Ravens decide to stretch it wide left. Joey Bosa disrupts the play and punches the ball out of Hill’s hands. The result is a 15-yard loss. Two plays later the Ravens settled for a Tyler Loop 49-yard FG to make it 20-10 with 31 seconds left in the half. They should’ve had more.

Defense

Following the Q2 field goal and the ensuing kick, the Bills took over at their 27. Without a timeout, the Bills moved the ball to the Ravens 25.

You must play the boundaries in that situation with outside contain. Smart play by Buffalo to run an out from the inside underneath the perimeter defender. One second remained on the clock. Remember that premature snap at the 2:03 mark of Q2 discussed above?

Bills kick the FG…20-13. It should have been a LOT worse for the hosts.

The Ravens’ vaunted secondary was a major disappointment. Most weren’t even in the same zip code as the receivers. I suddenly missed the days of Frank Walker, Rashaan Melvin and Chykie Brown! Jaire Alexander may as well have been Manny Alexander and played like 2024 Brandon Stephens. All that money. All of those proud five 1st-round picks were supposed to be able to close out games. You would have thought that the Bills receivers included Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase and Jerry Rice in his prime.

It didn’t help that there was absolutely no pass rush off the edge for the Ravens. Kyle Van Noy looked his age; Odafe Oweh is still counting “Mississippi 7”. Mike Green flashed at times, but his up-field pursuit left openings for Allen to run through for easy first downs…the Bills had 264 yards of offense in the fourth quarter. They had 233 yards of total offense in first three.

Special Teams

Early on ST looked clueless on how to manage the new kickoff rules. What have they been doing all summer? Tyler Loop looked loopy and confused at times on how to manage the “landing zone”. Eventually they got it together, but their gaffes proved costly. When the Bills started drives at the 50 and the 40 (following a landing zone infraction), those drives ended with touchdowns…and when Simpson failed to down the ball inside the 3, that drive which then started at the 20, also ended with a touchdown.

Coaching

This morning, I was on with Mike Popovec on WGMD Delmarva’s flagship for the Ravens. You probably know Mike for his weekend work on 105.7 The Fan. Although not completely sold on the idea, he made a soft suggestion for John Harbaugh’s dismissal and asked for my opinion.

To make such a move now makes little sense. But at what point does Steve Bisciotti tire of the same fourth quarter meltdowns – the same losing ways of the postseason? Let’s table this discussion for after the season. That said, consider the following:

after scoring 40 points on 8 drives…

and gaining 410 yards on those drives…

the Ravens final 3 drives:

PUNT – 3 & out: 6 yards
FUMBLE – 2 plays: 4 yards
PUNT – 3 & out: 7 yards

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 8, 2025

Meanwhile the Bills last 5 drives went like this:

Somewhere along the line, philosophically, John Harbaugh, perhaps influenced by his dad whose Western Kentucky Hilltoppers won 1 NCAA Division I-AA Championship in 19 years, apparently placing him atop the Mt. Rushmore of head coaching greats, regularly goes conservative when they have a comfortable lead late in the game. It’s a play not-to-lose approach and if asked, “Who has it better than us?”, well if we’re talking the 4th quarter, my answer is, “the other team”.

John Harbaugh has blown 17 double-digit, second-half leads.

That’s the most by any coach since at least 1991.

H/T @JoshDubowAP pic.twitter.com/2TJ26iFVa7

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 8, 2025

Per @pfref , #Ravens blown leads since the start of the 2022 season: pic.twitter.com/8YV9tKo3DQ

— Bo Smolka (@bsmolka) September 8, 2025

Why do the Ravens take the pedal off the gas on offense?

Why does the secondary play so soft?

And speaking of the defense, the Ravens ran the same pass rush looks repeatedly at Josh Allen and his offensive line. They repeatedly stonewalled the Ravens. Allen threw it 46 times and was touched just 3 times. No stunts, few if any simulated pressures – just a quarterback playing street ball with 7-Mississippi of protection hitting Coleman on a deep comeback in front of the red pickup or Shakir doing a hook by the Honda Civic.

Ever wonder why teams like the Chiefs and Eagles have established, iconic D-coordinators like Steve Spagnuolo and Vic Fangio while the Ravens have a second-year coordinator whose defenses crumble like John Mellencamp’s walls when the game is on the line?

For a long time, I thought that Harbaugh didn’t want to employ coordinators who could capably step into his shoes as an interim if a season went extremely awry. I got away from that sort of thinking. Now, it makes me wonder, again.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• The Paige Spiranac Award is on vacation this week. Derrick Henry was the clubhouse leader for the award but that fumble…OMG that fumble, was a dagger.
• Another thought on this All-Star secondary that reminds me of Swiss Pees. The Ravens seemingly build their defense from the back forward. Haven’t recent Super Bowl Champs built theirs from the front backwards?
• Do you think Eric DeCosta is on the phone with Jadeveon Clowney’s agent today?
• Writing this article did not help. I’ll try the gym…and maybe go hit a few golf balls.

The post Ravens Loss is a Humiliating Kick in the Crotch appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2025/09/08/gbu-paige-spiranac/bills-beat-ravens-41-40/