Ravens' Lamar Jackson on Red Zone Failures vs. Tennessee Titans - 'Gotta Punch it in!'

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Tennessee Titans 24-16, but the offense's struggles in the red zone nearly caused an unlikely loss.

The Baltimore Ravens handled their business in London, defeating the Tennessee Titans 24-16, but the game was closer than it should have been.

The Ravens were leading 18-3 at halftime before a second-half comeback from the Titans sent a scare through the Baltimore team. The reason the Titans were able to claw their way back into the game was the Ravens' inability to convert their red zone chances into touchdowns.

In total, Baltimore would punch just one of its six red zone chances in for a touchdown. For Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the offense needs to find a way to score touchdowns and not rely on the golden boot of kicker Justin Tucker.

“We just have to find a way, lock in more,” Jackson said via the team's official website. “We do a great job of driving the ball down the field, but if every time we get there, we’re just kicking field goals, it's up to Tuck [Justin Tucker]. We don’t need that. The biggest emphasis was we caught the ball this week, we drove the ball down the field, protected it, except for that one interception. We gotta punch it in. It’ll help our defense out a lot, they been doing a great job of protecting us.”

For most of the season, the Ravens have been good at converting their red zone chances into touchdowns. They rank ninth for converting them (58.33%), but against the Titans, that dropped to 16.67%. 

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackon knows the offense needs to be better in the red zone / © Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Now, that can be seen as an outlier, but so far this season, the Ravens offense hasn't had that complete performance in Todd Monken's system (the Cincinnati Bengals win was close).

With many having the Ravens as a genuine threat to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC and even being labeled Super Bowl contenders, for Jackson, there is no telling how far this team can go...but the red zone issues need to be fixed.

“How far can we go this season? Skies the limit,” Jackson said. “But we have to finish in the end zone, need to find a way to score points, and I believe that’s what is slowing us down. We drive the ball down the field no problem, it’s been happening every game, but it’s the red zone part we need to find a way to punch it in.”

There will no doubt be work on the Ravens' red zone problems this week in practice, as up next is Dan Campbell's Detroit Lions. 

Currently sitting at 5-1, the Lions will present a serious challenge to Jackson and the Ravens. If the offense goes 1/6 in the red zone again, then it will make winning extremely hard.

For now, the Ravens can bask in their win over the Titans, but the red zone issues could loom large if it's not quickly fixed.