Ravens have recent history of grabbing losses from jaws of victory

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — In a sense, the Baltimore Ravens had one job this season: stay out of their own way.

They’re 0 for 1 so far.

Last weekend’s 41-40 loss at Buffalo was every bit the thriller neutral fans were looking for, but for the Ravens it was yet another instance in which they looked dominant at times, pulled off spectacular plays — and lost because they made more big mistakes at important moments than the opposition.

“I think it goes with what (coach John Harbaugh) addressed in the team meeting. He said, ’We’re just not mature enough as a team yet,’” cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “It’s very clear that we’ve got great players on both sides of the ball, but defensively, we have to work on our maturity, too.”

Humphrey needn’t have exempted the offense from that criticism. The Ravens blew a 40-25 fourth-quarter lead thanks in part to a fumble by Derrick Henry and the offense’s inability to get a first down on its final possession.

If that defeat felt familiar, it was. Here is a description of each Baltimore loss since the start of the 2022 season, excluding games when star quarterback Lamar Jackson wasn’t available.

Sept. 18, 2022 — Miami 42, Baltimore 38: The Ravens led 35-14 before allowing Tua Tagovailoa to throw four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.

Oct. 2, 2022 — Buffalo 23, Baltimore 20: The Ravens blew a 20-3 halftime lead. With the score tied late, Baltimore decided to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 2, figuring even if the Bills’ defense held, they’d be pinned back. But Jackson threw an interception in the end zone - one of the worst possible outcomes —and Buffalo drove for the winning field goal.

Oct. 6, 2022 — New York Giants 24, Baltimore 20: Up 20-10 in the fourth, the Ravens allowed a touchdown. Then a penalty cost Baltimore a first down, and an interception gave New York a short field en route to another TD. A fumble by Jackson helped seal the game.

Nov. 27, 2022 — Jacksonville 28, Baltimore 27: The Ravens squandered a 19-10 fourth-quarter lead. Trevor Lawrence threw for a touchdown and then a 2-point conversion with 14 seconds left to win it. Lawrence and the Jaguars got out of a third-and-21 jam on their final drive.

Sept. 24, 2023 — Indianapolis 22, Baltimore 19: Up 19-16 after a safety with 2:03 to play, the Ravens were about to receive a free kick, and the Colts had only one timeout left. Baltimore needed to run 3 seconds off, so Indianapolis wouldn’t have the benefit of the 2-minute warning, but confusion about the clock led to a fair catch. The Colts were able to get the ball back, tie the game and win in overtime.

Oct. 8, 2023 — Pittsburgh 17, Baltimore 10: The Ravens botched an end-of-half situation in which they were likely to end up with a field goal, dropped several key passes and lost two fumbles. They were still up 10-3 in the fourth when they had a punt blocked for a safety. Later, Baltimore started a possession at the Pittsburgh 7 but came away with no points when Jackson was intercepted. The Steelers finally scored the go-ahead TD with 1:17 left.

Jan. 28, 2024 — Kansas City 17, Baltimore 10: Playing the AFC championship game at home, the Ravens turned the ball over three times to Kansas City’s zero. That included a fumble near the goal line by Zay Flowers and an interception in the end zone thrown by Jackson.

Sept. 5, 2024 — Kansas City 27, Baltimore 20; The Ravens outgained Kansas City 452-353 but lost when Isaiah Likely was just barely out of bounds after catching a near-touchdown on the final play.

Sept. 15, 2024 — Las Vegas 26, Baltimore 23; The Ravens blew a 10-point lead in the fourth against a team that would go on to finish 4-13.

Oct. 27, 2024 — Cleveland 29, Baltimore 24: The Browns scored the winning touchdown with 59 seconds remaining.

Nov. 17, 2024 — Pittsburgh 18, Baltimore 16: Justin Tucker missed two field goals and the Ravens turned the ball over three times, losing to the Steelers even though Pittsburgh did not score a single TD. Baltimore also had a dozen penalties and gifted the Steelers one of their field goals with a fumble deep in its own territory near the end of the second quarter.

Dec. 1, 2024 — Philadelphia 24, Baltimore 19: The Ravens led 9-0 early, but more kicking problems helped the Eagles gradually take control of the game.

Humphrey said last weekend’s collapse was avoidable.

“It’s crazy how we did the exact scenarios that we lost on multiple times throughout camp,” he said. “We were in the perfect calls for a lot of the things that happened and we did not execute the calls properly.”