11 October 2023
Here’s what The Baltimore Sun sports staff had to say immediately after the Ravens’ 17-10 loss to the host Pittsburgh Steelers in Sunday’s Week 5 game at Acrisure Stadium.
Mike Preston: The Ravens aren’t ready for prime time yet. Their receivers couldn’t hold on to the ball, they couldn’t pass-block at the end of the game, quarterback Lamar Jackson melted down under pressure and their defense couldn’t come up with a stop in crunchtime. You want more? Please, coach John Harbaugh, please allow Justin Tucker to kick a field goal at the end of the half.
Childs Walker: What a disastrous loss. Lamar Jackson made his worst throw of the day for an interception when he had a chance to put the game away thanks to a Pittsburgh special teams fumble. Then, he fumbled to cost the Ravens their chance at a comeback. Will we remember it for those mishaps or for the incredible litany of errors by Jackson’s receivers?
The Ravens dominated the first half, but four drops, a Justice Hill fumble and a botched fourth-down attempt kept them from building a commanding lead. They blew another scoring chance on a drop by Nelson Agholor in the third quarter, then courted real disaster when they allowed a blocked punt in the end zone that was about a foot from being a touchdown instead of a safety. Their defense, with coordinator Mike Macdonald designing creative pass rushes in a few clutch spots, played well enough against a struggling offense. But George Pickens beat Marlon Humphrey, playing his first game of the season, for a go-ahead touchdown, and the Ravens’ chance to build a substantial lead in the AFC North was gone.
C.J. Doon: So far this season, the Ravens’ toughest opponent has been themselves. Where do we start? Dropped touchdown passes, more fumbles — now a league-leading six lost this season — a blocked punt for a safety, an interception in the end zone and a head-scratching decision to forgo a field goal attempt on fourth-and-2 from the Steelers’ 13-yard line with 19 seconds left before halftime are the types of errors Super Bowl contenders don’t make, let alone in the same game. Given the slate of dreadful, inexperienced and/or injured quarterbacks they’ve faced, they should be undefeated and have a commanding lead in the AFC North. Now they have to sit on an overseas flight to London thinking about this horrible performance. At least they’re getting key players back from injury.
Tim Schwartz: Here we go again. The Ravens are finding ways to lose and making a master class of it. It’s reminiscent of some of the 2021 disasters they had, and it’s hard to put into words. The fourth-quarter interception when all you need is points. The blocked punt for a safety before that. The drops — and there were many — by the Ravens’ wide receivers (Nelson Agholor, yikes). Just a perfect brew of disasters resulting in a gut-wrenching loss. And now Baltimore faces its arch-nemesis — London — next week. Falling to 3-3 would seem unfathomable considering how close they could be to being undefeated. But the Ravens gonna Raven, I guess.
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