Jesse Minter’s Monday review of the Baltimore Ravens’ 13-10 loss in Cleveland kept coming back to the time between halftime and the final whistle. “There’s so many plays between the halftime and in the fourth quarter where we have a chance to create momentum, create a bigger lead, create momentum on special teams or defense, that we really weren’t able to take advantage of,” the head coach said. “When you let a good team with good players hang around … then you put yourself in that position. So it’s on us. We’ll own it.”
Baltimore scored on its first two drives, with Tyler Huntley’s 2-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Josh Cuevas and a 34-yard Tyler Loop field goal, and did not score again. The Browns tied the game 10-10 after a Derrick Henry fumble early in the fourth quarter. Andre Szmyt won it with a 37-yard field goal as time expired. Both teams are now 4-2.
“Those are critical misses”
Loop pulled a 49-yard try wide left with 14:18 to play, a kick that would have made it 13-3. Minter said the misses that hurt are not always the ones at the end of a game. “There’s kicks that take a lead from a two-score game to a three-score game a few games ago, or take that game from a one-score game to a two-score game, which the way that game is going is really, really critical,” he said. “So those are critical misses.”
He said he trusts how Loop prepares and strikes the ball, “but at the same time, that position itself is completely results-driven.” He went further: “You could argue that second-half missed field goals are no different than turning the ball over in those situations.” Asked whether the Ravens would look at another kicker, he did not rule it out. “Like any position, you’re always looking at ways of how to impact the roster, how to impact improvement,” he said. “And so that one being no different.”
Jackson: “We’ll know a lot more on Wednesday”
Lamar Jackson has missed two straight games with an ankle injury. “I’d still put it in kind of the day-to-day thing,” Minter said. “So we’ll know a lot more on Wednesday, I would say.” Asked whether Jackson had made progress over the past couple of weeks, he said simply, “Yes.”
Huntley’s offense was flagged for delay of game three times. Minter said there were “a couple operational things,” such as “later in the play clock or guys maybe going on the wrong side of a formation initially and then trying to correct it as the play clock’s running down.” He thought about using a timeout on one of them, he said, “but then especially in the second half, the timeouts are really critical to try to hold on to.”
He gave Cleveland’s defense credit for shutting down the run after the first two drives. “They did a really good job attacking our run game in some of the wide zone schemes and cutting the ball off and getting really downhill with their linebackers,” Minter said. He added that the Browns “got really aggressive in coverage and kind of manned everybody up.” Henry finished with 58 yards on 17 carries.
The punt and the 33-yard completion
On Baltimore’s last drive, Minter said he never seriously thought about going for it on fourth down from his own side of the field. “In a 10 to 10 game, with honestly the struggles our offense had had, give them the ball on their side of the field in a tie game, I didn’t think that would be very smart,” he said. “I trusted our guys to go make a play.” After a delay-of-game penalty, the punt went into the end zone for a touchback with 2:08 left. Minter wanted it pinned inside the 10.
Deshaun Watson then hit Jerry Jeudy for 33 yards to the Baltimore 29 to set up the winning kick. Minter would not get into the breakdown. “There’s a bunch of things based on the coverage that we were in that we could have done better,” he said. “So leave it at that.” Szmyt’s first try from 42 yards was blocked by Keyon Martin, but Martin was flagged for offside and Szmyt made the next one from 37. Looking back at the fourth quarter, Minter said it is “about not trying to do more than who you are.”
Martin was back in the defensive rotation for the first time since Week 1 after Chandler Rivers had taken some of those snaps. Minter praised how he handled the demotion. “Oftentimes when that happens to a player, it can go one of two ways,” he said, “and he’s continued to really, really practice really well.” On a pass-interference flag against the defense, he said: “PIs are subjective. They’re bang-bang plays.”
Lane, Hendrickson and the Bengals
Rookie receiver Ja’Kobi Lane caught four passes for 40 yards in his second NFL game. Minter said the game showed what made him stand out in training camp: “his ability to pluck the ball out of the air and make tough catches and be a really physical receiver.” He added: “Hopefully he can now get in rhythm and you’ll see some major jumps for him.”
Trey Hendrickson had a sack in his first game back. “I feel pretty good about how he got out of the game,” Minter said, and he called the pass rush “a good step in the right direction.” Because Hendrickson and Mike Green have both done their best work from the same side, the staff is looking for ways to move them around. “I think Trey is a really, really good right-side rusher,” Minter said. “We got to find really good ways to make sure we’re still getting a lot out of Mike.” He said there is “a little bit of optimism” that receiver Rashod Bateman, who dealt with an issue during the game, will be fine.
The Ravens host the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday, October 25, at 1:00 p.m. EDT. “It’s us versus us,” Minter said.
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