Ravens Faced With Week 1 Deja Vu

The Baltimore Ravens' fourth-quarter face-plant to the Detroit Lions in a 38-30 loss felt all too familiar to long-suffering fans of the team.

They started off hot, firing smoothly on offense to keep the score moving early, but their defense once again disappointed. All of the star power they've spent years accumulating looked hopeless against Detroit's run game, which only seemed to grow stronger as the night progressed. When the Ravens needed that crucial fourth-quarter drive, all they could muster were momentum-killing sacks.

The Ravens now fall to 1-2, a far cry from the dominant record a contender's usually posted three weeks into a campaign. And just like the Ravens' season-opening loss to the Buffalo Bills, this most recent loss featured some embarrassing primetime performances.

Lamar Jackson has been challenged by several of the league's best quarterbacks through the season's first month, a byproduct of the Ravens defense getting walked down late in games and repeatedly turning contests into shootouts. Josh Allen simply got the better of him in Week 1 in capping off one of the best comeback performances you'll see all season, but that's the reigning MVP. Jackson's had his bouts with Allen before, and sometimes one of the best players in the game will look unstoppable if the defense continually gives him chances to stay on the field.

This time, Jackson had Jared Goff to deal with. Despite struggling in previous Baltimore matchups, an issue Allen's never had, Goff looked plenty comfortable all game long.

Even before he scored 17 points to the Ravens' nine, putting them at the wrong side of another clutch performance, he remained poised with several arduous-looking drives that started within Detroit's own five-yard line. Baltimore had yet to give up a 95+ yard scoring run in nearly a quarter-century, but gave up a pair in one singular game.