The Baltimore Ravens have begun the 2022 season as a 2-2 football team, blowing multiple big leads in the process. In Week 2, they blew a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Miami Dolphins, while in Week 4 against the Buffalo Bills they blew a 17-point lead after accumulating a 20-3 lead.
When listing off each NFL team’s biggest early-season disappointment in 2022, Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report named Baltimore’s as their second-half defense. When explaining why, he mentioned both of their blown leads, detailing just how bad each of them was.
“The unit is responsible for the biggest and fourth-biggest blown leads in franchise history, per Nick Veronica of News 4 Buffalo, the first being the 35-14 lead they blew against the Miami Dolphins. They gave up four touchdown passes to Tua Tagovailoa in the fourth quarter alone in that 42-38 loss…Their inability to close out games crept up again in the 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 4. They were ahead 20-3 at one point and mostly did a good job of slowing down Bills quarterback Josh Allen…But they gave up a touchdown right at the end of the half, the offense stalled and the defense couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain.”
The Ravens’ defense currently ranks 23rd in both run defense and pass defense from a yards-per-attempt perspective. They are trying to work in many new pieces including a new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, replacing Don Martindale. However, blown leads in the second half can’t happen, especially for a team with expectations and aspirations like Baltimore has.