The Ravens' Goal-Line Sequence Was Horrible Play-Calling, Personified

• Derrick Henry had been beating the Los Angeles Rams' defensive line into submission throughout Sunday's game.
• Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken responded to this with as bad a series of goal-line play calls as you'll ever see.
• The Ravens are now 1-5, and the postseason could be beyond them.

The Baltimore Ravens came into Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams with a 1-4 record and no Lamar Jackson, who is out with a hamstring injury that's kept him off the field since Week 4. So, you'd think the idea for offensive coordinator Todd Monken would be to lean on Derrick Henry as much as possible.

The Ravens did that to a point — Henry finished the game with 122 yards on 24 carries — but when it made the most sense to use his best player on the field, Monken took the ball away from Henry in favor of playing with his food. This has been a trend throughout Monken's time in Baltimore, and it's cost the Ravens in the postseason before. But in the Ravens' 17-3 loss that put the Ravens as far out of the playoff picture as possible. Monken outdid himself with a series of play calls that... well, we're not in the habit of encouraging job changes for people, but wethinks Monken has some serious explaining to do after this one.

Let's set the scene. With 3:38 left in the first half, LaJohntay Wester's 35-yard punt return put the ball on the Los Angeles 32-yard line with 3:25 left in the half. In the following five plays, Henry got the Ravens down to the Rams one-yard line with consecutive rushing attempts, and even the Rams' outstanding defensive line had no answer for him.

So, with second-and-goal at the one-yard line, with three chances to get a touchdown by giving the ball to El Tractorcito, what did Monken do? He called two ill-advised tush-push plays with tight end Mark Andrews as the ballcarrier, and Henry pushing in back. The results were predictable — the two plays gained a total of zero yards, and Baltimore was very lucky that referee Alex Kemp's crew ruled that Andrews' forward progress had stopped on what looked to be a third-down fumble.

Finally, on fourth-and-goal, the idea was to give the ball to Henry. But in a scheme that had reserve tight end Zaire Mitchell-Paden blocking Jared Verse from out of the backfield — Verse is the Rams' most disruptive defensive lineman — Henry lost two yards, and the Rams got the ball back.