Here's a deep dive into the Ravens' 18-16 loss in Pittsburgh in Week 11:
Lamar Jackson missed some open receivers, didn't scramble.
The narrative about Lamar Jackson's troubles versus the Steelers will roll into Week 16 when the Ravens get a rematch.
Jackson's 1-4 record against the Steelers as a starter always needed context. For example, he had a phenomenal game in Pittsburgh last year, but his receivers had numerous drops.
This time, Jackson missed some open receivers with his eyes and arm, especially early in the game.
The most frustrating may have been in the first quarter when Zay Flowers broke wide open for what would have been a touchdown, but Jackson locked in on a wheel route deep shot to Diontae Johnson. Johnson had a step, but he didn't leave much room for the throw and it faded out of bounds. Two plays later, Justin Tucker missed a 47-yard field goal.
"We didn't exploit some of the things … [We had] our guys running open sometimes that we didn't have time to get to or whatever, or we just didn't capitalize when we could," Head Coach John Harbaugh said.
Jackson's 48.5 completion percentage was his lowest of the season. It was his lowest mark since Week 7 of the 2021 season versus the Bengals.
The Steelers played a high rate of man coverage (45.7%). That was the second-highest rate any team has played man coverage against Jackson this season, barely trailing the Commanders, who played 50/50 man vs. zone in Week 6.
Part of the danger of man coverage is it allows Jackson to use his legs more. He did so against the Commanders, running 11 times for 40 yards. Against the Steelers, Jackson had three successful designed runs (one read-option) that went for 15, 7, and 25 yards, but he didn't have any scrambles.
Ravens tried a twist on their two-point conversion, but the Steelers sniffed it out.
The game came down to a two-point conversion that could've forced overtime with momentum on the Ravens' side. However, Jackson's run to the left was stuffed by Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr.
For context, the Ravens also had a successful two-point conversion the week prior against the Bengals, which proved huge in a 35-34 win.
That play was also a Jackson run to the left. Except this time, the Ravens also had Derrick Henry on the field and the fake handoff to him froze Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who had to respect the possibility of a Henry dive.
The Ravens had wide receiver Nelson Agholor in position for a crackdown block on Bengals nickel Mike Hilton. Agholor didn't get much of him, but tight end Mark Andrews, who was like a pulling blocker coming across the formation, got enough of Hilton to slow him down and blocked another cornerback, Cam Tyler-Britt, to give Jackson a clear path to the end zone.
Back in the same position in Pittsburgh, the Ravens originally dialed up a run to the right in which it looked like they were going to double team T.J. Watt, use wide receiver Tylan Wallace to crack down on Patrick Queen, and put Justice Hill and Jackson 1-on-1 with a cornerback outside. But that play was killed by a Mike Tomlin timeout.
So the Ravens went to two-point conversion No. 2. Again, it was a run to the left with Jackson and again, it put Agholor in position to execute a critical down block, this time on an outside linebacker in Nick Herbig.
Queen said after the game that the Steelers figured the Ravens were going to keep the ball in Jackson's hands. Without Henry on the field, it was even more of a certainty. So at the snap, Herbig charged upfield past Agholor's block.
There also seemed to be some confusion before the snap between Agholor and tight end Isaiah Likely about who was supposed to line up where.
The Ravens used motion across the formation from Wallace and Hill's sprint to the right to fake a run to the right and slow down Watt on the backside pursuit. However, that did nothing to slow down Herbig.
His backfield penetration not only slowed down Jackson from being able to get around the edge, but more importantly clogged up the backfield and cut off the two pull blocks by left guard Patrick Mekari and center Tyler Linderbaum that were intended to take out Porter.
Jackson was left trying to pump fake Porter to make something happen, but Porter didn't bite. Andrews was maybe open in the end zone had Jackson tried a desperation backhand throw earlier, but it was a designed run all the way.
"You want to have a better play up there – a better play call, a better-executed play, everything along those lines," Harbaugh said. "That's one that we'd like to have back, just across the board."
A deeper look at the penalties shows some bad ones and some forgivable.
The Ravens had a penalty, turnover, or missed field goal on 10 of their 12 offensive drives against the Steelers. Their only "clean" drives resulted with Henry's 1-yard touchdown plunge and Tucker's 54-yard field goal.
On offense, there were two holding penalties by Mekari and Ronnie Stanley on outside runs, false starts on Agholor and Zay Flowers, and two ineligible man downfield penalties also on Mekari.
While Harbaugh is proud of the fact that the Ravens' offensive linemen haven't had many holding penalties in pass protection, there have been too many on runs. Some of that happens because Henry is so dynamic when he gets the edge and his blockers are trying to prevent their defender from getting outside, but it needs to be cleaned up.
"We're grabbing those guys, and it's getting called," Harbaugh said.
The ineligible man downfield penalties are tougher to blame the linemen for because one came when a screen intended for Henry was defended well by defensive end Dean Lowry. He got his hands up and in the throwing lane, which made Jackson have to delay his throw to float it over him. That threw off the timing of the play and resulted in Mekari being too far down the field.
On the other, Watt didn't bite on the fake handoff inside or the fake bubble screen pass to Flowers. Harbaugh said it was intended to be a run, but Watt's quick backfield pressure forced Jackson, who made a good play even eluding him, off track and allowed safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to come bearing down on third-and-4. Jackson wasn't going to be able to pick up the first down running, so he decided to throw it up for Agholor, who made a spectacular leaping 34-yard grab.
However, Mekari had gone to the ground and didn't seem to see that Jackson was now throwing. Thus, he didn't have the same awareness of Linderbaum, who jumped back to get back closer to the line scrimmage. The penalty wiped out the catch, but at least the catch meant the Ravens got another shot on third down.
"I think we could have held our water on the line of scrimmage there a little better," Harbaugh said. "The other ones were screens where the screens get held up, and the timing gets messed up, so that's tough, but we still have to try to find a way to be intentional about that and not get downfield."
On the ensuing play, Mekari showed he learned his lesson because he quickly backed up even as another play took longer than expected when Jackson retreated from pressure before hitting Hill back across the field for a 22-yard gain. The Ravens still scored a touchdown on that drive with the 16-yard pass to Flowers.
The Ravens also had two special teams penalties. The first was an illegal block above the waist by rookie safety Sanoussi Kane on a punt return that took the ball from the 31 to the 17. The other was an obvious hold by Malik Harrison on a kickoff return, which took the Ravens from their own 28 to the 14-yard line on a key drive starting late in the third quarter.
"The special teams penalties are unacceptable," Harbaugh said. "Special teams is all about fundamentals and techniques and understanding the spacing and the geometry of those plays, and we have to better at that."
Secondary changes pay off with good communication.
The Ravens changed up their safety duo again Sunday, going with Kyle Hamilton and Ar'Darius Washington deep with Marcus Williams on the bench. Eddie Jackson stayed back in Baltimore.
This time, it worked. The Ravens held the Steelers out of the end zone and Russell Wilson completed 23 of 36 passes for 205 yards and one interception.
Hamilton and Washington showed good communication throughout the game, cracking down on some of the deep plays over the middle that have plagued the Ravens' 32nd-ranked secondary this season.
The Ravens gave up five passing plays of 15 or more yards, but only two were to a wide receiver as George Pickens got behind Brandon Stephens to catch a perfectly-placed 37-yard Wilson moon ball and Pickens slipped by a Stephens tackle attempt to stretch a short comeback route into a 17-yard gain.
New Ravens cornerback Tre'Davious White took snaps off Stephens' plate and broke up two deep passes intended for Pickens in the end zone with strong leaping plays. Harbaugh said he's "looking forward to [White's] continuing role and his expanding role."
The Steelers' other two big plays were a screen to Najee Harris (20 yards) and two completions over the middle to big blocking tight end Darnell Washington after Roquan Smith (hamstring) had exited the game. Washington muscled past Trenton Simpson's bump coverage on one and got behind Malik Harrison on the other. Ar'Darius Washington stopped both with tackles on a man who is 11 inches taller and 84 pounds heavier.
