The Baltimore Ravens entered Thursday Night Football at 6-2, sitting atop the AFC North and hoping to make a push for the overall #1 seed in the AFC. Remember, only one team gets a bye any longer in the playoffs. So claiming that top spot in your conference is a massive advantage.

The Ravens traveled to Miami to take on the lowly Miami Dolphins, who sat at 2-7. The Dolphins were starting their back up quarterback, Jacoby Brissett. Dolphins starter Tua Tagovailoa was out with a fractured finger.

 

The Ravens understandably entered the game as big favorites in Las Vegas. The Ravens boasted the league's most potent rushing attack. Miami was middle of the pack stopping the run. Lamar Jackson had been on a roll passing of late. All signs pointed to a big Baltimore victory.

To quote a famous phrase, that's why they play the game.

Baltimore struggled to move the ball all night. With just under four minutes remaining in the game, the Ravens had less than 170 yards of offense. Lamar Jackson was running for his life. The ground game never got going. All of which culminated in a deflating 22-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

The loss should fall squarely on three sets of shoulders: Sammy Watkins, Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh.

Let's start with Ravens wide receiver Sammy Watkins.

Watkins had not played for exactly one month before finally getting on the field Thursday. He had been dealing with a thigh injury he sustained Week 5 vs the Indianapolis Colts.

Watkins did not see the field very much Thursday, yet, had a profound impact on the result. With the Ravens trailing 9-3 early in the 4th quarter, Watkins caught his only pass of the game on a quick slant. Dolphins All Pro cornerback Xavien Howard stripped the ball from him, scoooped it up himself and took it 49 yards for a defensive touchdown.

In a game like this where there have been no touchdowns scored and we are in the 4th quarter, coughing up this play is a back-breaker. The Ravens, despite struggling to move the ball all night, only trailed by 6 and were near midfield. If they put a drive together and score a touchdown, they lead on the road. Instead, Howard got the fumble recovery for a touchdown the other way. That made the deficit almost insurmountable with the way the game was played.

But Watkins was only part of the problem for Baltimore.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson needs to shoulder a lot of the blame as well. He did not play well. Jackson missed some early throws that he typically makes. He turned the ball over late and was indecisive in the pocket. Jackson was visibly frustrated and appeared to take it out on the team.

Jackson finished the night 26-43 for 238 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Those numbers however are vastly inflated. More than half of his passing yards came in the final few minutes with the Dolphins playing prevent defense, leading by two scores.

Jackson will be the first one to tell you he did not have a good night. Neither did his team. But there is still another who needs to take some of the blame for the loss; Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.

It was clear early on that Miami was going all out defensively. They had eight or more men in the box seemingly every play. They made it a point of emphasis that they were not going to let the Ravens running game just mow them down.

Lamar Jackson led the team in rushing with 39 yards, most of which came on scrambles or broken plays. Starting running back Devonta Freeman finished with 35 yards and LeVeon Bell had one yard.

One would expect the Ravens to change their game play coming out of halftime. But Harbaugh never did. They ran the same offense out there in the second half. But there were changes that could have been made. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Dolphins sent 24 defensive back blitzes.

That is the most any quarterback has faced in an NFL game is six years. If you see that and recognize that, you should be able to scheme up and find ways to get the ball to open receivers. But it felt like we were watching the same play. Play after play, Jackson takes the snap from shotgun and someone blitzes off the edge or from the outside forcing Jackson to scramble.

Jackson is great with his legs and can be accurate with the ball when he is on schedule. But throwing downfield accurately while on the run is not a strength of his.

I am not going to take credit away from the Dolphins and Brian Flores. He was, after all, the defensive coordinator under Bill Belichick for the Patriots. So, he knows how to draw up a good game plan.

But if felt like Baltimore never made adjustments to what Flores is throwing at them.

Following the loss, the Ravens find themselves in a dog race in the AFC North. They are 6-3, with 5-3 Pittsburgh right behind them. Cincinnati and Cleveland both sit at 5-4, one game back. It should be interesting to see how this division plays out.