By Nate Atkins, Jeff Zrebiec and Devon Henderson
The Lamar Jackson-less Ravens continued their disastrous slide Sunday in Baltimore, falling to 1-5 in a Week 6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams were nearly without star receiver Puka Nacua, but he returned from a second-quarter injury in a limited role as his team handed Baltimore a 17-3 loss.
Turnovers and inconsistent quarterback play sealed the Ravens’ fourth straight defeat. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush completed 11 of 19 passes for just 72 yards and an interception before being replaced in the fourth quarter by third-stringer Tyler Huntley.
Receiver Zay Flowers lost two fumbles in the second half, giving Matthew Stafford and the now 4-2 Rams extra chances to put the game away. Ravens running back Derrick Henry had been held under 50 yards for four straight weeks before breaking through against Los Angeles, rushing for 122 yards to mark his 49th career 100-yard game.
But even that effort came with frustration. On one Ravens red-zone trip, consecutive quarterback sneaks by tight end Mark Andrews from the 1-yard line were stuffed before Henry got the call on fourth down — only to trip over his own feet and fail to score.
Nacua, who had caught 10 or more passes in four of the Rams’ first five games, entered Sunday leading the league with an NFL-record 52 catches through that stretch. Limited by injury and game flow as the Rams led most of the second half, he finished with just two receptions for 28 yards.
Stafford went 17-for-26 for 181 yards and one touchdown.
Injuries notwithstanding, the Ravens are a bad football team
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The Ravens are hoping to get Jackson, fullback Patrick Ricard, middle linebacker Roquan Smith and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie back after their Week 7 bye week. That should help, but this is a Ravens team that looks broken.
They are mistake-prone on both sides of the ball. Their three turnovers Sunday are the latest example. They are losing in the trenches pretty much every game. John Harbaugh and his coaching staff have had no answers to everything that has ailed this team since Week 1. Baltimore talks about the importance of getting healthier and playing an easier post-bye schedule, but it has many issues to fix. — Jeff Zrebiec, Ravens Beat Writer
This will be a long bye week for Harbaugh & Co.
When the Rams took a 17-3 lead in the third quarter, a brief and relatively quiet “Fire Harbaugh” chant broke out at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens have lost four in a row to fall to 1-5, and a season of great expectations is circling the drain. It seems unlikely that patient Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti will fire his 18th head coach in the middle of the season, but the calls to make drastic changes will only increase after Baltimore’s latest desultory effort.
Zach Orr’s defense played reasonably well at times Sunday and was let down by a sloppy offense. However, the criticism of him isn’t going away. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken will hear plenty of it, too, after managing just three points against the Rams and not being able to punch the ball in on three straight plays from the 1-yard line late in the second quarter. – Zrebiec
Rams defense dominates … despite Derrick Henry
The defense won this game despite allowing its first 100-yard rusher of the season. Henry finally broke through as Baltimore took advantage of the absence of Omar Speights at linebacker. But outside of that and a couple of bad offsides penalties, the Rams’ defense dominated. The pass rush harassed both Rush and Huntley in the backfield, and Quentin Lake had a breakout performance with an interception and a fumble recovery.
Byron Young racked up two sacks and five quarterback hits. The turning point was the fourth-down stand the Rams made at the goal line to end the first half, where they swallowed Henry in the backfield. They’re fortunate to have faced some lacking backup quarterbacks, but this was the bounce back the pass defense needed after getting shredded by San Francisco 49ers backups last week. — Nate Atkins, Rams Beat Writer
Rams’ offense does enough
Los Angeles’ offense merely survived a game where the injuries piled up quickly and Stafford wasn’t at his best. They came in without slot receiver Tutu Atwell and right tackle Rob Havenstein and then lost Nacua and running back Blake Corum for stretches.
It showcased how much Nacua is the engine for this offense, as this was the first game he had fewer than eight catches or 85 yards. He posted just two catches for 28 yards Sunday. But it worked in a lower-scoring game and with a crazy play from running back Kyren Williams, when he made an acrobatic 30-yard reception on fourth down to set up the Rams’ first touchdown.
The good news is Nacua checked back into the game and should be good to play next week against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. — Atkins
Special teams remains an issue
The Rams’ special teams issues are ongoing and have gotten troubling. The unit had multiple penalties, including one that wiped out a forced fumble and recovery, one of their only explosive plays in that phase this season. On the next snap, they gave up a 36-yard punt return. Joshua Karty also missed a 26-yard field goal, and Rams coach Sean McVay passed up kicking another short one to instead go for it on 4th-and-3 in the fourth quarter.
McVay said the Rams are scratching and clawing to find solutions in this phase, but it’s become a weekly issue and has arguably cost them two wins this season. — Atkins
