It was a disappointing 19-17 loss for the Baltimore Ravens when they fell short to the Green Bay Packers at home on Sunday.
The loss was hard to swallow after the Ravens rallied late in the fourth quarter, but their efforts didn’t pay off. The Ravens scored 14 points in the fourth, but couldn’t pull ahead of the Packers.
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco acknowledged they must keep it up the entire game:
“It was too little, too late,” quarterback Joe Flacco said. “We’ve just got to find a way to get it going for all four quarters.”
The Ravens continue to figure out who they are; it will likely take the rest of the season to come up with an answer. They stuck to the running game, but it was ineffective against the Packers defense even without star linebacker Clay Matthews.
Running backs Ray Rice and Bernard Piece had 43 yards combined on 20 carries. The ground game failed to get going, the longest run of the day was 11 yards by Rice.
Despite the loss and offensive line issues, Flacco outplayed Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Flacco went 20 for 34 for 342 yards with two touchdowns. Rodgers went 17 for 32 for 315 yards.
In an all too familiar story…the offensive line continued to struggle, allowing five sacks with four false start penalties and a hands-to-the-face penalty.
The defense was stellar in the first half, they held the Packers to a field goal with a score of 3-0 at half time, but they tired and slowed down in the second half and couldn’t stop the Packers from putting more points on the board.
One nagging question is why head coach John Harbaugh decided to go for it on 4th and 1 with 5:22 left in the second quarter. He liked their chances:
On electing to run on fourth-and-1, Harbaugh said, “I like our chances there. If you don’t make it, you’ve got them backed up on their 1 and feel really good about making them punt out of their own end zone … I think it was a good decision there.”
I disagree with coach Harbaugh; he should have taken the field goal. It was early in the game and a field goal would have tied the game (and eventually won it). The Ravens had trouble moving the ball; a field goal would have been a safe bet.
The game was frustrating and painful at times, but overall the defense did a good job at slowing Rodgers, the final score could have been worse.
The Ravens never gave up. Their late rally gave us hope for a win, while far from perfect; they persevered and didn’t give up.
Zennie Abraham