Ravens stumble again, slip to 1-2 with 38-30 loss to Lions: ‘No excuses’

An exasperated Marlon Humphrey was sprawled out on the M&T Stadium grass. Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown spun the ball into the ground in celebration behind him. Nate Wiggins motioned to his fellow cornerback to get up. One play later, running back David Montgomery shot through the right side of Baltimore’s defense for a 31-yard touchdown — one final blow.

No Nnamdi Madubuike, no Kyle Van Noy, no stopping Detroit from motoring to victory.

The Lions came into Monday night’s showdown with the Ravens second in the NFL in touchdown efficiency. The only team better? Baltimore.

It didn’t matter.

Without two of their Pro Bowl defenders, the Ravens failed to get any pressure on quarterback Jared Goff, and the maestro of one of the league’s top offensive attacks made them pay in a 38-30 victory at M&T Bank Stadium.

Goff completed 20 of 28 passes for 202 yards and one touchdown. Montgomery also gashed the middle of the Ravens’ anemic defense for 151 yards rushing and two scores, and Jahmyr Gibbs added another 67 yards and two touchdowns as Detroit rumbled for 224 yards on the ground. Its defense stunted and spied and sacked the game’s most elusive quarterback, Lamar Jackson, seven times, tied for the most in his career.

Afterward, Humphrey, cloaked in disappointment, frustration and a black hoodie that covered most of his face, didn’t mince words.

“I feel like they did whatever they wanted to do all night,” he said of Detroit’s offense.

The 224 yards rushing were the third-most given up by a Ravens team under John Harbaugh. Just as vexing: the 111 points Baltimore has scored this season are the most through three games by a team with a losing record in NFL history, according to ESPN research.

“When a team runs the ball like that,” Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton said, “it demoralizes you.”

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Baltimore defenders also missed 20 tackles, according to Next Gen Stats. Detroit took advantage of many of them and converted on 7 of 14 third downs and on both fourth down attempts in the second half after heading into halftime with the score tied at 14. For the game, the Lions went 3-for-3 on fourth down attempts.

“We gotta finish those third downs,” Humphrey said. “We just can’t expect our offense — I know we got Lamar Jackson — but we can’t, we just can’t expect them to score 28 points every game, 30. It’s putting unfair expectations, I think, on the offense, so we got to do our part and we got to get some stops and some turnovers, and I think that’s the key.”

They did little of the former and came up with none of the latter.

Jackson finished 21 of 27 passing for 288 yards and three scores, but it wasn’t nearly enough. The Ravens (1-2) also failed to score from Detroit’s 1-yard line in the second quarter, and running back Derrick Henry fumbled deep in his own end on a hit by Aidan Hutchinson midway through the fourth. Detroit (2-1) recovered at the Ravens’ 16-yard line, and kicker Jake Bates then tacked on a 45-yard field goal.

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Henry, who had 50 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, is the only running back with three fumbles this young season, and it marked the first time that he has lost multiple fourth-quarter fumbles in a season, according to ESPN. As he made his way to the sideline, he slammed his helmet and his fist to the bench in disgust.

Asked how to fix the inexplicable issue, he said he needs to be more cautious and will try to hold the ball tighter. Two weeks after a similarly critical fumble in a Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills in which he said he put that defeat on himself, he sounded like a broken record.

“I need to be better,” he said.

So, too, does everyone else. From an offensive line that struggled to protect Jackson or clear running lanes to a defense that couldn’t get off the field to another special teams gaffe with Tyler Loop failing to reach the landing zone on a kickoff that gave Detroit the ball on its own 40 and helped set up St. Brown’s touchdown, problems permeated what is supposed to be one of the most talented rosters in the league.

“We got some things we need to get better at,” said Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who also called Baltimore’s run defense “bad.”

If there was a series that was a microcosm of the Ravens’ woes without Madubuike and Van Noy, who combined for 33 sacks over the past two-plus seasons, it came late in the third quarter. With the game tied at 21, Detroit took over on its own 4-yard line and promptly moved down the field in seven plays with Gibbs scoring from 4 yards out on a double toss.

The last time the Ravens had allowed a 95-yard touchdown drive at home was in 2001.

On Monday night, they allowed two of them.

The other came late in the opening quarter and stretched for most of the second as Detroit’s methodical 18-play, 98-yard drive chewed up 10:48. The Lions converted four third downs along the way, including two from beyond 5 yards, and ended with a 1-yard score from Montgomery.

Time and again, Baltimore simply couldn’t stop Detroit.

That included with just under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Clinging to a 31-24 lead, Goff connected with St. Brown (seven catches, 77 yards) on a 20-yard pass over Humphrey to convert a fourth-and-2 from his own 49-yard line.

Jackson led Baltimore on a six-play, 65-yard touchdown drive in 1:13 that ended with a 27-yard score to tight end Mark Andrews (six catches, 91 yards, two touchdowns) to pull Baltimore within 38-30 with 29 seconds to go. But the Ravens failed to convert the 2-point conversion and then failed to recover the onside kick.

“I feel like the way we performed was a huge hole, but it’s still the beginning of the season,” Jackson said of starting the season with two losses in three games. “We got a lot of work to do.”

Now the question is how and if they can recover from another difficult loss.

The Ravens will next face their nemesis, the Kansas City Chiefs, on Sunday afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium. Already, the season has once again become an uphill battle with Baltimore trailing the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals by a game.

“I don’t think the sky’s falling, but we got a big one next week on a short week,” Hamilton said. “The hard part is covered. I think we have the people to do it. The quote-unquote easy part of just doing the right things the right way. It’s small things but … I don’t think there’s much to be said. We just gotta do better.

“It’s definitely not where we want it to be. No excuses can be made at this point. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.”

Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.

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