For the second time this season, the Baltimore Ravens threw away a 17-point lead on their way to a loss. After watching the Miami Dolphins storm back from a 35-14 deficit in Week 2, the Buffalo Bills scored 20 unanswered points against the Ravens in Week 4 to bump their record on the season down to 2-2.
It was another confusing day for Baltimore, as they dominated the proceedings in the early going. But they didn't score a single point in the second half, and slowly but surely, allowed Josh Allen to lead his team back into the game. Tyler Bass kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired, completing the comeback for Buffalo.
For Baltimore, this is another disappointing loss in the early-going of their 2022 season. While you win and lose as a team, it's clear there were a few players who contributed to this loss more than others. Let's take a look at the three players that are most responsible for this loss and see why that is the case.
3. Odafe Oweh
It's tough to include Odafe Oweh on this list, because truth be told, he had one of the better games of his young career against the Bills. He finished with seven tackles, a sack, a tackle for a loss, two QB hits, and a forced fumble. Oweh was all over the place, and he played a big role in keeping Buffalo's vaunted offense quiet throughout the day.
Unfortunately, Oweh made a big mistake on Buffalo's game-winning drive that probably cost the Ravens a shot to get the football back. With 1:50 left in the game, the Bills were at the Ravens 11-yard line, and Baltimore only had one timeout left. They decided to let Devin Singletary score a touchdown so that they would have a chance to go down and tie the game since Buffalo could simply run the clock out and win if the Ravens tried to stop them.
Oweh tried to strip Singletary of the ball, and ended up tackling him, forcing the Ravens to burn their final timeout. The Bills bled the rest of the clock after picking up a first-down on the next play, leading to Bass' game-winning field goal. Overall, Oweh had a great game, but this crucial mistake ended up sealing the deal for the Ravens.
2. Lamar Jackson
Through the first three weeks of the season, Lamar Jackson seemed like the frontrunner for the league's MVP award. The Ravens offense had been on fire, and Jackson was at the center of everything that was going right for them. Week 4 may have changed that, though.
Jackson didn't have his best day in the air (20/29, 144 YDS, 1 TD, 2 INT) and while he had a solid game on the ground (73 yards on 11 carries) he was a big reason the Ravens offense stalled out in the second half. He also made a massive mistake on the Ravens last offensive play of the game that set up Buffalo to complete their comeback.
On fourth-and-two from the Bills two-yard line in a 20-20 game, the Ravens elected to go for the touchdown rather than take the field goal to give them the lead. Jackson had Devin Duvernay wide open early in the play, but didn't see him until it was too late, and he ended up getting intercepted by Jordan Poyer instead. Jackson did not have a good game, and this costly play cements his spot on this list.
1. John Harbaugh
Of course, Jackson may not have been put in that position had Ravens head coach John Harbaugh opted to kick the field goal instead. It's tough to argue that Harbaugh made the right call in the aftermath of this game. Hindsight is 20-20, but the Bills won by three points in a game where Harbaugh willingly passed up an opportunity to take a three-point lead on their last drive.
The logic behind Harbaugh's decision is sound to be fair. Against a strong Bills offense, you need to be aggressive, and getting seven points is better than getting three. But the Ravens defense had done a good job at keeping Buffalo quiet on the day; Harbaugh appears to simply have not trusted them to get the job done here.
Harbaugh's comments after the game, in which he basically said he didn't want to put his defense in a bad spot, ended up being pretty ironic, because he put them in the worst spot possible. Rather than being up 23-20 and forcing Buffalo to score a touchdown to win, the Ravens allowed the Bills to meander down the field and kill the clock in the process. They don't have that luxury if they are playing from behind, even if it's just by three points.
Chances are Buffalo would have gotten at least a field goal to tie this game, but if that's the case, you still have a chance to win in overtime, which is better than losing as time expires. Harbaugh's reason for going for the touchdown makes sense, but it didn't work, and his failed decision makes him the biggest scapegoat for Baltimore's latest loss.
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