Ravens-Saints: An Unexpected Early Stumble Shows Baltimore Still Has Work to Do

By Charles Harris | Ravori Sports

Let’s call this Ravens-Saints game exactly what it was: a bad loss that Baltimore had every opportunity to prevent.

Yes, the controversial Tyler Shough touchdown at the end of the game is going to dominate the conversation. Yes, Ravens fans have every right to question whether Shough actually got the football across the goal line. And yes, if that call goes the other way, Baltimore gets the football with a chance to tie or potentially win the game.

But Ravori Sports isn't going to let the Ravens off the hook because of one controversial call.

Baltimore blew a 14-6 halftime lead.

The Ravens scored only three points in the second half.

The Saints scored 18.

Baltimore had opportunities to put New Orleans away and didn't do it. The offense stalled when it needed to make plays, the defense couldn't get the final stop, and mistakes came at critical moments.

That's why this loss bothers me more than simply saying, "The refs cost the Ravens the game."

No. The Ravens helped put themselves in position for the officials to decide the game.

That's the part Baltimore has to own.

The Saints didn't walk into M&T Bank Stadium and dominate the Ravens from start to finish. In fact, Baltimore looked like the better team for much of the first half. The Ravens had the lead, Lamar Jackson was making plays, Derrick Henry found the end zone, and Rashod Bateman delivered a big touchdown.

Then everything changed.

New Orleans found its rhythm.

Tyler Shough settled down.

Chris Olave started making plays.

The Ravens' offense stopped finishing drives.

And suddenly a game that looked like another Baltimore victory became a 24-17 Saints comeback.

That is an unexpected early stumble for Jesse Minter and the Ravens.

And I'm not buying the idea that the controversial touchdown somehow absolves Baltimore.

It doesn't.

The Ravens had 60 minutes to win this football game.

They had a halftime lead.

They had a fourth-quarter opportunity.

They had the ball late.

They had their defense on the field when the Saints needed to go the length of the field.

And they still couldn't finish.

That is the story Ravori Sports is taking away from Sunday.

The officiating controversy deserves its own conversation, but Baltimore's inability to close out the Saints deserves an even bigger one.

Because if the Ravens want to be the team many of us believe they can be, these are the games they have to win.

Not eventually.

Not when everything goes perfectly.

Now.

A Fast Start That Didn't Last

Baltimore opened the game exactly the way it wanted.

Derrick Henry capped a 76-yard opening touchdown drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, giving the Ravens a 7-0 lead. Lamar Jackson moved the offense effectively, and Baltimore looked comfortable against a Saints defense that was expected to give the Ravens problems.

New Orleans eventually answered with a Daniel Carlson field goal, but Baltimore continued to control the game.

The Ravens then put together a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive late in the second quarter.

Jackson found Rashod Bateman for a 22-yard touchdown with 24 seconds remaining in the half.

That touchdown was particularly important for Bateman, who had seven catches for 88 yards on the afternoon.

Baltimore led 14-3.

Then a 53-yard kickoff return by New Orleans' Barion Brown set up another Carlson field goal as the half expired.

The Ravens went into halftime ahead 14-6.

From a Baltimore perspective, that should have been the beginning of a comfortable second half.

Instead, it became the beginning of the collapse.

ESPN's final scoring breakdown shows the Ravens scoring just three points after halftime while New Orleans scored 18.

That is the number I keep coming back to.

Three points.

That's not enough.

Not at home.

Not with Lamar Jackson.

Not with Derrick Henry.

Not with the expectations surrounding this football team.

New Orleans Slowly Took Control

The Saints did not suddenly become unstoppable.

They simply stayed patient.

Daniel Carlson hit a 51-yard field goal early in the third quarter to cut Baltimore's lead to 14-9.

The Ravens answered with a 49-yard Tyler Loop field goal.

Baltimore led 17-9.

Again, the Ravens had control.

Again, they failed to finish.

New Orleans continued to chip away.

Shough began making the critical throws.

The Saints controlled the clock and eventually found the matchup they needed.

With 9:42 remaining in the fourth quarter, Shough connected with Chris Olave for a 21-yard touchdown.

New Orleans then went for two.

Travis Etienne converted.

Suddenly, the score was tied 17-17.

That was the moment Baltimore's lead disappeared.

The Saints had erased an eight-point deficit.

And they had all the momentum.

Tyler Shough Deserves Credit

It would be wrong to discuss this game as if the Saints simply benefited from Baltimore's mistakes.

Tyler Shough played well.

The Saints quarterback completed 27 of 34 passes for 252 yards, threw one touchdown and did not throw an interception. He also rushed nine times for 23 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown.

Chris Olave finished with eight catches for 86 yards and a touchdown, while Juwan Johnson added four catches for 66 yards.

The Saints converted eight of 15 third downs.

That is another number Baltimore needs to pay attention to.

When you allow an opponent to convert more than half of its third downs, you are putting enormous pressure on your defense.

New Orleans also won the time-of-possession battle, 32:45 to 27:15.

Baltimore actually finished with more total yards, 312 to 298, and averaged more yards per play.

But the Saints had the better finish.

And in the NFL, finishing is everything.

The Third-and-1 That Will Be Discussed

There is one offensive decision that deserves serious attention.

The game was tied 17-17.

Baltimore got the football.

The Ravens needed to sustain a drive.

Instead, they went three-and-out.

On third-and-1, Baltimore took a deep shot to Chris Moore.

The pass fell incomplete.

Baltimore punted.

That decision will be debated all week.

I'm not saying every third-and-1 has to be a Derrick Henry run.

The Ravens have Lamar Jackson.

They have explosive receivers.

They have the ability to hit defenses over the top.

But there is something to be said for playing complementary football.

You have Derrick Henry.

You need one yard.

Your quarterback is Lamar Jackson.

The game is tied.

The safest way to keep the drive alive may have been to attack the line of scrimmage.

Instead, Baltimore went for the explosive play.

It didn't work.

And New Orleans got the football.

That possession eventually became the winning drive.

The Saints' Final Drive Was the Real Problem

This is where the Ravens have to take accountability.

New Orleans got the football with just over eight minutes remaining after Baltimore's punt.

The Saints then went 68 yards on a 16-play drive that consumed 6:38.

Read that again.

Sixteen plays.

The Saints converted critical third and fourth downs.

Juwan Johnson made a huge 26-yard catch-and-run on third down, taking the Saints down to the Baltimore 4-yard line with 1:54 remaining.

Then came the controversial play.

But notice what happened before it.

Baltimore had opportunities to get off the field.

Baltimore didn't.

That's why the touchdown call cannot become an excuse.

The Saints didn't magically appear at the 1-yard line.

They drove there.

The Controversial Tyler Shough Touchdown

New Orleans faced fourth-and-goal from the Baltimore 1-yard line with 1:32 remaining.

Shough took the snap.

He followed the pile.

He appeared to disappear into the mass of players at the goal line.

The officials ruled touchdown.

Baltimore challenged.

After review, the call stood.

The NFL later explained that the replay officials could not find clear and obvious evidence that Shough had failed to break the plane. The league also said the available angles did not provide enough evidence to establish that he lost possession before scoring.

That explanation is important.

It explains why the call was upheld.

It doesn't mean everyone has to agree with the call.

From the Ravens' perspective, there was legitimate frustration.

Roquan Smith went over the pile attempting to stop Shough, and Marlon Humphrey eventually came away with the football.

The question was whether Shough had actually crossed the goal line before losing control.

That's going to be debated.

And it should be.

But here's the Ravori Sports position:

Question the call. Don't use the call as an excuse.

Those are two completely different things.

Baltimore's Mistakes Matter

The Ravens committed seven penalties for 34 yards.

New Orleans committed five penalties for 35 yards.

The yardage difference was almost irrelevant.

The timing wasn't.

One Baltimore penalty helped New Orleans on its two-point conversion attempt after the Olave touchdown. The Saints eventually tied the game when Etienne reached the corner of the end zone.

The Ravens also had the only turnover of the game.

Jackson's interception came with 21 seconds left, when Baltimore was attempting to tie the game.

The Saints did not turn the ball over.

Those details matter.

You cannot turn the ball over once, commit seven penalties, fail to score a touchdown in the second half and then put the entire loss on one officiating decision.

That's not an honest evaluation.

Lamar Jackson Wasn't Terrible — But Baltimore Didn't Finish

Lamar Jackson finished 21-of-31 for 235 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

He also rushed four times for 34 yards.

This wasn't a terrible performance.

It wasn't the kind of game where Jackson was completely overwhelmed.

But the Ravens needed their franchise quarterback to deliver one final drive.

And he almost did.

After Shough's touchdown, Jackson moved Baltimore quickly.

He connected with Rashod Bateman.

He found Mark Andrews for 14 yards.

He scrambled for 13 yards.

With 39 seconds left, Jackson had Baltimore at the New Orleans 37-yard line.

The Ravens were still alive.

Then came the interception.

Jackson's deep pass was intercepted by Julian Blackmon with 20 seconds remaining.

Game over.

That interception will be remembered, but it should not overshadow everything that happened before it.

Baltimore's offense had already struggled to produce in the fourth quarter.

The Ravens had held the football for only 96 seconds in the fourth quarter before the Saints took their final lead.

That is a problem.

Derrick Henry Needed More

Derrick Henry finished with 16 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown.

He averaged 4.25 yards per carry.

Those aren't bad numbers.

But I wanted more Henry late.

This is why that third-and-1 bothers me.

Baltimore has one of the most physically imposing backs in football.

Henry doesn't have to carry the offense.

But when the game gets tight, Baltimore should be willing to lean on him.

Sixteen carries isn't an outrageous workload, but the Ravens needed to find ways to make their run game more influential in the second half.

Instead, New Orleans dictated the terms.

That's not the Baltimore formula.

Rashod Bateman Was a Major Positive

There were positives.

Bateman was one of them.

Seven receptions.

88 yards.

A touchdown.

He led Baltimore in receiving.

His 22-yard touchdown was one of the biggest offensive plays of the game.

Mark Andrews also caught six passes for 49 yards.

Devontez Walker had a 47-yard reception.

So the Ravens weren't completely shut down.

They moved the ball.

They produced 312 total yards.

The problem was converting production into points.

That's the difference between having good numbers and winning football games.

The Defense Had Good Moments

The defense deserves some credit.

Trey Hendrickson recorded his first sack as a Raven.

Mike Green produced two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits.

Baltimore generated pressure and played well enough for stretches.

But good enough for three quarters isn't good enough when the game is decided in the fourth.

New Orleans scored 15 points in the final quarter.

The Saints converted eight of 15 third downs for the game.

That tells me Baltimore's defense couldn't get off the field when it absolutely had to.

And that's a concern.

An Unexpected Early Stumble

This is why I'm calling Sunday an unexpected early stumble.

The Ravens entered the game 1-0 after an impressive 41-23 victory over Indianapolis.

The new Jesse Minter era had started with energy.

Then Baltimore returned home and lost to a Saints team that came into the game looking for its first victory.

New Orleans got it.

The Saints are now 1-1.

Baltimore is 1-1.

And the Ravens have to answer some questions.

Can this offense finish games?

Can the offensive coaching put Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry in the best situations late?

Can the defense get off the field when the opponent is driving?

Can Baltimore eliminate the untimely mistakes?

Those questions are more important than whether one inch at the goal line went the Saints' way.

The Bigger Picture

The Ravens cannot afford to spend the entire week arguing about the officials.

Talk about the call.

Break down the replay.

Ask whether the evidence should have been enough to overturn it.

But after that, move on.

Because the Ravens had chances.

They led 14-3.

They led 14-6 at halftime.

They led 17-9 in the third quarter.

They had the ball with the game tied.

They had their defense on the field during the final Saints drive.

They had the ball with a chance to tie after the controversial touchdown.

And they lost.

That is a complete team loss.

The box score makes that clear.

Baltimore had 312 yards to New Orleans' 298.

But the Saints had 32:45 in possession compared with Baltimore's 27:15.

New Orleans ran 64 offensive plays.

Baltimore ran 56.

The Saints converted eight third downs.

Baltimore's only turnover came at the worst possible time.

Those numbers tell the story.

Final Ravori Sports Take

The Ravens did not lose Sunday simply because of a controversial touchdown.

They lost because they allowed the Saints to erase an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit.

They lost because their offense disappeared for long stretches after halftime.

They lost because the defense couldn't get off the field on the final Saints drive.

They lost because they couldn't capitalize on their opportunities.

And they lost because when they finally got the ball back with a chance to tie, Lamar Jackson threw an interception.

That's the reality.

The Shough touchdown call will be debated all week, and Ravens fans have every right to be frustrated about it. The NFL's explanation was that there wasn't clear and obvious evidence to overturn the ruling on the field.

But the controversial call does not absolve the Ravens.

That's the message Baltimore needs to hear.

This team has too much talent to spend the week blaming everybody else.

Own the loss.

Fix the mistakes.

Get ready for Dallas.

The Ravens are 1-1, and the season is far from over.

But Sunday's game was a warning.

The Ravens cannot expect to win simply because Lamar Jackson is on the field.

They cannot expect Derrick Henry to save every late-game situation.

They cannot expect the defense to produce a miracle stop every time.

And they certainly cannot expect the officials to make the right call every time.

Good teams put themselves in position where one controversial call doesn't decide the game.

Baltimore didn't do that Sunday.

That's why the Saints walked out of M&T Bank Stadium with a 24-17 victory.

That's why this wasn't just a bad call.

It was an unexpected early stumble.

And now Jesse Minter has to make sure it stays exactly that — one stumble, not the beginning of a pattern.