Analysis: Ravens were outmuscled, outfoxed, and flat-out beat by Lions on MNF

A 38-30 scoreline hardly does justice to the chasm between the Baltimore Ravens and the Detroit Lions in terms of coaching, execution, and pure physicality on Monday night.

Heading into the game, much was made of Lamar Jackson’s record vs. NFC teams and the Ravens’ dominance in primetime games at home. With a national spotlight, Baltimore embraced a ‘Darkness Falls’ theme with all-black uniforms and a home-field advantage meant to strike fear into opposing teams.

But when darkness did fall at M&T Bank Stadium, it was the Lions who took over the night.

It didn’t happen right away. The two teams traded touchdowns on their first drives with both offenses smoothly executing their opening scripts. A pair of three-and-outs followed, with Detroit getting the ball back on their own 2-yard line with 1:43 remaining in the first quarter.

18 plays, 98 yards, and almost 11 minutes later, the Lions took a 14-7 lead on a David Montgomery touchdown having converted four third downs along the way. That left an indelible mark on the game, further underscored by the Ravens’ inability to punch the ball in from the three-yard line on their next possession.

Though the Ravens scored on either side of the half to take a third-quarter lead, another Tyler Loop landing zone penalty gave the Lions a short field for their second scripted drive, and they only needed seven plays to go 60 yards to tie the game at 21 points.

The rest of the game laid bare the differences between the two teams. The Lions moved the Ravens off the ball on offense and held firm at the point of attack on defense. Baltimore struggled to square up and bring down ballcarriers while Detroit didn’t miss a tackle all night. Again and again, when a play had to be made, it was the Lions who answered the call.

With Marcus Davenport on IR, veteran Lions edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad logged 2.5 sacks, but no Ravens pass rusher could step up with Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy sidelined. The highest paid players on Baltimore’s defense – Kyle Hamilton, Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey and Odafe Oweh – could only be found on the wrong side of crucial plays. Even Lamar Jackson couldn’t come up with any magic against a disciplined Lions front that closed in on him play after play.

Monday night also revealed the stark contrasts between the two teams’ coaching staffs. At the goal line, Todd Monken tried a roll out pass thrown by Derrick Henry that was nearly intercepted, while Lions offensive coordinator John Morton drew up a nifty double-pitch for a touchdown. In the pass rush, Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard found ways to get home with four rushers and scheme up pressure; Zach Orr could do neither. And on a 4th-and-9 in the fourth quarter, John Harbaugh brought Lamar Jackson off the field to punt the ball back to the leading Lions. On the ensuing drive, Dan Campbell kept his offense on the field for a game-sealing fourth-down conversion.

More than anything, though, this game was proof positive that the Ravens don’t have what it takes to fight through adversity against the best teams in the NFL. Their physicality was severely lacking in the first half, but there was no additional urgency or intensity coming out of the break. The Lions clearly had a solid plan to slow the run game and contain Jackson, but Monken couldn’t pull the right levers to punish their commitment upfront.

Baltimore has little time to dwell on this loss with a short week before a visit to Kansas City next Sunday, but they clearly need to do some soul-searching. This is exactly the kind of game that knocks the Ravens out of the postseason year after year. If they don’t make any changes, the same mistakes will be their undoing.

A late touchdown to Mark Andrews salvaged a more respectable margin of defeat, but make no mistake: this was an ignominious performance by the Ravens. In their current state, this team is more of a Super Bowl pretender than a contender.

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