Ravens Blowing Double-Digit Leads Now 'A Thing' After Pittsburgh Steelers Loss
The Baltimore Ravens' 17-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers will burn in the mind for a while. As Baltimore heads across to London to face the Tennessee Titans, something is becoming a big concern - the Ravens are giving up big leads.
After being up 10-0 against the Steelers in the second quarter, Todd Monken's offense didn't score a single point for the rest of the game while Pittsburgh piled on 17 unanswered points to take the win.
For NFL.com's Adam Schein, the Ravens' inability to cash in on double-digit leads is concerning.
"The thing is, this is now a thing," Schein wrote. "After Sunday's painful loss to the rival Steelers, the Ravens are now tied with the Raiders for the most blown double-digit leads since the start of the 2022 season (five). Oof.
"The Ravens quarterback was seen throwing his helmet in frustration on the sideline, and frankly, I don't blame him. After all, the man's teammates completely failed him on Sunday, dropping crucial passes all game long. I still really like this Ravens team, but this was a REALLY bad loss -- one that officially put the Steelers in first place."
With the offense still coming to grips with Monken's system, there will be ups and downs, and through the first five weeks, we have seen just that.
Now, as the Ravens face the 2-3 Tennessee Titans, fans will be hoping that if a lead is gained, Baltimore doesn't allow Ryan Tannehill's team back into the game.
Part of that is not dropping passes that stall or kill drives. That happened on Sunday against the Steelers and, in truth, crippled the Ravens offense.
As tight end Mark Andrews stated, the drops can't become "contagious" for the offense, and they will get a chance to show last week was an outlier as they take on a Titans defense that only gives up 18.6 points per game (ranked ninth in the league).
With the AFC North becoming a tight battle now as the Steelers lead the division and Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals appear to have woken from their slumber, the Ravens can't afford to let double-digit leads slip.
The division title might rest on it, and Baltimore will be hoping that the loss to the Steelers, a game that they controlled for large portions, won't come back to bite them at the end of the season.