The Baltimore Ravens were humiliated in their playoff home loss to the Tennessee Titans. Going for it on fourth down twice is what cost them their season.
This came as a surprise to most.
Outside of Nashville, who thought the Tennessee Titans were going to dominate the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens in their AFC Divisional round matchup? But from the jump, Tennessee was the more physical team and the one that executed at a higher level on the offensive side of the ball. Offensive miscues were what ultimately did Baltimore in.
Of course, Tennessee was able to pull off the stunning 28-12 road upset of the Ravens by winning the turnover battle, 3-0. The Titans probably needed to be plus-two in that department if they wanted to come out of Baltimore with another shocking victory. But if there was anything that hurt the Ravens more than anything, it was failing on two huge fourth-down conversions.
After Lamar Jackson threw an interception on the Ravens’ opening drive, Tennessee would take an early 7-0 lead on an impressive touchdown catch by tight end Jonnu Smith from quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Baltimore would essentially panic on the ensuing drive. The Ravens went for it on a fourth-and-1 from their own 45-yard line at the start of the second quarter and came up short.
On the very next play from scrimmage, Tannehill would unleash a beautiful 45-yard touchdown bomb to wide receiver Kalif Raymond to make it 14-0 after the made PAT. Baltimore would add a pair of Justin Tucker field goals before halftime to make it 14-6 Tennessee, but the seeds were already being sewn for how this night was going to go for the Ravens.
Even though the Ravens were down by eight points at halftime to the visiting No. 6 seed, many people thought Baltimore could take a few minutes to recharge and get ready for the second half. Instead, we got more madness out of the Ravens offense to start the third quarter.
Baltimore would begin to orchestrate a solid drive to start the third frame. The Ravens even got into the red zone on the Titans defense. However, a questionable fourth-and-1 play call from the Titans’ 18-yard line yielded the Ravens’ second turnover on downs in the ball game. Jackson went nowhere on the carry, as there looked to be a ton of confusion in the Baltimore backfield.
Fate would have it that Tennessee would take it 82 yards the other way to pay dirt on the Titans’ ensuing offensive drive. It was a six-play drive set up by a powerful 66-yard run by Titans’ star running back Derrick Henry. Three plays later on a third-and-goal, Henry channeled his inner Tim Tebow to throw a quarterback jump pass to wide receiver Corey Davis to break Baltimore’s soul.
This led to the Titans having a commanding 21-6 lead just under seven minutes left in the third quarter. Baltimore would fumble on its next offensive possession, which led to another Titans’ touchdown, this one being a Tannehill scamper to pay dirt from one yard out. Tennessee played so well on Saturday night, but Baltimore’s boneheadedness did Ravens Flock no favors whatsoever.