Ravens prove shoddy in loss to Bears
The Baltimore Ravens had a chance to stay atop the AFC North alongside the Pittsburgh Steelers with a victory at home over the Chicago Bears on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. Instead, the Ravens lost to the Bears, 27-24 in overtime, while the Steelers were able to knock off the previously unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs, 19-13.
Baltimore has to be concerned moving forward about the state of this sorry offense. While it’s true that Jeremy Maclin was inactive with a shoulder injury, the Ravens have to be able to generate more of a threat. The Ravens were limited to 180 yards through the air, with Joe Flacco completing a measly 24-of-41 for 4.4 yards per attempt to go with two interceptions.
The ground game was able to churn out 125 rushing yards on 4.8 yards per carry, but it wasn’t enough to get the job done against one of the worst teams in the league. If the Ravens are going to challenge the Steelers, or even some of the lower-tier teams in the AFC for a wild card slot, this effort can’t be the norm going forward.
The Bears did nothing offensively, throwing for 113 yards with a touchdown (not including the Tarik Cohen 21-yard touchdown pass, which was set up by the threat of a run). Mitchell Trubisky looked overmatched and overwhelmed throughout the contest, something to be expected o a rookie making his first career start on the road.
Still, Chicago was able to win the game thanks to a key defensive scores, including a 90-yardinterception return for a touchdown courtesy of safety Adrian Amos. If the Ravens are going to win anything significant, they can’t afford to make these types of mistakes.
Moving forward, Baltimore has a tough schedule. Next week, the Ravens have to travel for a game against the Minnesota Vikings. After that, they welcome in the Miami Dolphins on a Thursday night before going on the road for the Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers, split by a bye week.
At this juncture, the Ravens have to start thinking about the wild card more than anything else. The Denver Broncos seem like one of those two eventual wild card teams, but the other slot is wild open. Both the Los Angeles Chargers and Oakland Raider sit at 2-4, and the AFC South could very well only send the division champion to the postseason. That would leave a battle with the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills and Dolphins, decent but beatable teams.
The season remains young, but the Ravens have to figure out who they are and where they plan on going.
