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The Detroit Lions dominated on the ground, rushing for 224 yards, and the Ravens’ second-half offense came up quiet in a 38-30 loss Monday night inside M&T Bank Stadium.
Detroit running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for 218 rushing yards and helped put away the Ravens late in the fourth quarter, handing them their second loss in the season’s first three weeks.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson went 21-for-27 for 288 yards and three touchdowns, but he took seven sacks, tied for a career high, and led the offense beyond midfield just twice after halftime against a vulnerable Detroit defense. On Sunday, the Ravens (1-2) will face the Kansas City Chiefs (1-2) at Arrowhead Stadium, where they haven’t won since Jackson’s arrival in Baltimore.
Tight end Mark Andrews moved past a slow start to finish with six catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Rashod Bateman had five catches for 63 yards and a score.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff went 19-for-27 for 182 yards and a touchdown. He wasn’t sacked by a defense missing top pass rushers Kyle Van Noy and Nnamdi Madubuike. Goff led a balanced offense (224 rushing yards, 202 passing yards) that had two touchdown drives of at least 96 yards.
Ravens running back Derrick Henry struggled again, losing his second fourth-quarter fumble in three weeks, victimized by an Aidan Hutchinson punch-out on the first play of a potential go-ahead drive. Henry finished with 12 carries for 50 yards, 14 of which came after the Ravens’ opening drive.
Motngomery had 12 carries for 151 yards, including a 72-yard sprint that was more than double the longest run the Ravens allowed all last season. Gibbs had 22 carries for 67 yards.
The matchup profiled as a potential shootout, and the first 10 minutes played out that way, with the Lions and Ravens each finding the end zone on their opening drive. But the teams entered halftime tied at 14, and it wasn’t clear whom that score flattered more.
The Lions took a 14-7 lead in the second quarter on an 18-play, 98-yard touchdown march that took 10 minutes, 48 seconds off the clock, one of the longest drives in the Ravens’ defensive history.
The Ravens, meanwhile, came away with no points after Detroit (2-1) denied them three times in a row at the 1-yard line on the following possession. Less than a minute later, the Ravens started a four-play, 49-yard touchdown drive that evened the score in the final minute of the first half.
No help anywhere
The defense was bad. Really bad. But the thing is, it got no help from the offense. When the offense did score, it did so quickly, sending the defense out for another grueling drive. But too often the Ravens turned it over or went three-and-out, giving the defense the briefest breather after marathon defensive series. With Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy out, hiccups were expected, although maybe not this many. Normally, even when the defense is struggling, you can trust the offense to make up some of that ground. But the two sides felt almost equally bad.
– Giana Han, Ravens reporter
Outmuscled and outplayed
Lions coaches talked last week about how they were outmuscled in Baltimore two years ago, and they looked like a Dan Campbell-coached team Monday night. The Ravens, however, did not look like a John Harbaugh-coached team. They were bullied on both lines and outplayed in high-leverage spots.
The Ravens rarely lose games this decisively, a bad omen heading into a crucial Week 4 trip to Arrowhead Stadium. If Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy are out for long, this game could be a preview of a long season for the defense.
– Jonas Shaffer, Ravens reporter
Where is the run?
Count me as one of the people whose jaw literally dropped when Derrick Henry, Mr. Reliable in his illustrious career, fumbled in Ravens territory, coughing up the ball for the third time in as many games. The turnovers have been gobsmacking but merely the twist of the knife in a run game that has come up dry the past two weeks.
It felt like the Ravens got off to a great start in their first drive, winning up front to allow Henry to rip off a 28-yard touchdown run that looked like cruise control. But those explosive plays in the run game have been the exception. Henry has gotten limited carries, Lamar Jackson has been corralled in the run game, and the ground churn that makes this offense hum has come up woefully short. It’s the foundation of everything Baltimore wants to do, and somehow the Ravens have to get back to it. Kansas City’s defense next week? Gulp.
– Kyle Goon, columnist
No answers on D
Quick, name the last good offense the Ravens defense held in check. We all — myself included — spent a good amount of the offseason talking about Baltimore’s turnaround on defense after Week 10 last season. With each passing week, that stretch begins to look more like a mirage.
The fact is the Ravens defense hasn’t looked good against a good offense since Mike Macdonald left town after the 2023 season. They’ve tried morning workouts and personnel changes. Nothing seems to be working.
— Paul Mancano, Banner Ravens Podcast co-host
A loss is one thing, but like that ...
Turns out the $24.5 million Nnamdi Madubuike earns per year is well worth it. Without him in the middle of the Ravens defensive line, the Lions faced little resistance. (Travis Jones has yet to emerge as the player the Ravens have tried to sell him as.) On the other side of the ball, this much is clear: The guards are not playing well enough. Nor the tackles. It’s rare that a Ravens team gets straight up pummeled in the trenches on both sides of the ball, at home, but that’s what happened. And, to fully assign blame to everybody, John Harbaugh opting to punt late and hope for a stop felt entirely apart from reality given how things had gone. You have one of the best football players ever playing QB. Give him a chance.
– Chris Korman, sports editor
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