Quarterback Lamar Jackson said this week that he doesn’t know why the Ravens have struggled against the Steelers during his time in Baltimore, but the answer wasn’t hard to come by on Sunday.
Self-inflicted wounds helped send the Ravens to an 18-16 loss in Pittsburgh. Derrick Henry lost a fumble on the second play of the game and tight end Isaiah Likely got stripped by former teammate Patrick Queen just before halftime to set up a pair of Steelers field goals. Jackson was picked off by linebacker Payton Wilson when Wilson ripped the ball out of Justice Hill’s hands, kicker Justin Tucker missed two field goals, the team wiped out productive plays with some of their 12 penalties, and Jackson only completed 16-of-33 passes over the course of the afternoon.
Jackson made it clear after the game that the team’s sloppiness has been a common thread through recent losses.
“Absolutely. It’s been that way ever since last year I believe,” Jackson said in his postgame press conference. “Going back to the AFC Championship Game, we killed ourselves. Chiefs game — the opener — killed ourselves. Raiders, we killed ourselves, and today same thing. We can’t be beating ourselves in these type of games. We gotta find a way to fix that.”
Sunday’s loss puts the Steelers in control of the AFC North heading into Week 12 and the Ravens can’t afford to give too many more games away if they want to have a chance at claiming the division crown for themselves.
