The rivalry between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers is one of the most iconic in the NFL and they delivered another exciting matchup in Week 5.
Baltimore held control of the game for the first half before slowly loosening their grip and allowing Pittsburgh to creep back into it.
The Ravens allowed a safety and then a field goal to give the Steelers life, and Kenny Pickett later delivered the final blow when he found George Pickens for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson had a miserable time as he was intercepted, lost a fumble, and sacked on fourth down to close out the afternoon.
Baltimore’s offense hasn’t taken off like some thought it would, though Jackson has done his best to make it work.
Rex Ryan responded to some of Jackson’s detractors as he astutely pointed out how his teammates let him down via First Take.
“[Lamar] can’t throw it and catch it….They had eight drops, including three that would have been touchdowns. That’s not Lamar’s fault,” Ryan said.
Rex Ryan defending Lamar Jackson
“[Lamar] can’t throw it and catch it….They had eight drops, including three that would have been touchdowns. That’s not Lamar’s fault” pic.twitter.com/grtVl2XHWK
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) October 9, 2023
Jackson’s receivers had a tough time coming down with passes, particularly Zay Flowers who seemed to take his eye off a few of them.
There were also missed scoring opportunities when Mark Andrews and Nelson Agholor couldn’t reel in what would’ve been touchdowns.
It was a disappointing effort from Baltimore who had no business losing that game, though divisional matchups are always much tougher than the average game.
The Ravens were probably hoping that the offense would have looked better by now, but it’s clear that offensive coordinator Todd Monken and the coaching staff still have some work to do.
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