The Baltimore Ravens lost Lamar Jackson just before halftime of the game they needed to have with a back injury, then they lost the game, too.
Yet the New England Patriots surely had a full share of injury setbacks, too, while surviving with a 28-24 triumph that clinched a playoff berth in Mike Vrabel’s first year as the coach they needed to have.
Another way to assess the result, though, was reflected in identity.
And that is not a good thing for the Ravens (7-8), who blew it again while fighting for their playoff lives.
Sure, the Patriots (12-3) bounced back in dramatic fashion, rallying from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit a week after coughing up a 21-point lead in losing to the Buffalo Bills with a chance to win the AFC East title.
This time, Drake Maye, who threw for 380 yards and 2 TDs, not only notched his first NFL 300-yard game, he also posted his first professional fourth-quarter comeback win. All told, it was an indication of lessons learned from a missed opportunity, with resilience you can believe that Vrabel seeks to instill in his evolving operation.
“We talked about bringing a belief in our identity,” Vrabel said. “Believing that under any circumstances we were going to win a football game – that’s what we talked about before we left. We said we needed to pack two things: We needed to pack our belief and our identity. I feel like we did.”
But in another sense, haven’t we seen this before?
Of course we have, from John Harbaugh’s team. It’s safe to suggest that no would-be contender in the NFL in recent years has squandered big, fourth-quarter leads quite like the Ravens. Since 2022, the Ravens have lost nine games after holding double-digit leads in the second half.
As much as they’d want to think otherwise, that is an unfortunate essential to their identity. And, fumbles or not, they just let another one slip away.
The loss left Baltimore, which plays at Green Bay on Saturday, without control of its playoff destiny. Even with an upset win against the Packers, the Ravens would be eliminated with a Pittsburgh victory at Cleveland, which would give the Steelers the AFC North crown.
The formula for heartbreak goes beyond Jackson going down in what has been such a trying season, which was severely unhinged when he missed the four games due to a hamstring injury.
There was also another momentum-swinging Derrick Henry fumble, this time in the first quarter when the Ravens seemed poised to go up to two touchdowns. Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins punched the football loose…and it jump-started a 10-play, game-tying TD drive for the Patriots.
“It’s just really embarrassing,” Henry said. “I feel like I took a little bit of the momentum from the team.”
Take away that gaffe, and it was a banner night for Henry. He rushed for 128 yards and 2 TDs. And he averaged 7.1 yards per carry. It was inexplicable that he never touched the ball in crunch time – as in zero carries after his 2-yard score made it 24-13 early in the fourth quarter.
That too, has happened before with the Ravens, with Harbaugh and his offensive coordinator, Todd Monken, seemingly intent to go with a rotation that gets Keaton Mitchell (9 rushes, 13 yards, 1.4 per carry) some work rather than going with a hot hand.
“It’s part of that rotation,” Harbaugh said afterward. “He was going to back in the game, then we got stopped.”
Not the most convincing explanation.
Then there’s Zay Flowers. Typically, the slippery Baltimore playmaker was the go-to target in the passing game (7 catches, 84 yards) for Jackson and his sub, Tyler Huntley. He also delivered with a splendid 18-yard TD burst on a jet sweep. Yet Flowers also had the ball punched out for a fumble in the fourth quarter – linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson forced it by rallying back to the football – which essentially doomed Baltimore.
And no, it’s hardly the first time that Flowers has made a crucial error in a big moment. It was Flowers’ third lost fumble of the season. Compounded with Henry’s issues with fumbles, it’s no wonder that the Patriots defense had such a heavy emphasis during the practice week on creating turnovers.
“We knew they had a couple of speed skaters on their side,” Chaisson said, referring to running style of Henry and Flowers, leaving the football exposed. “So, obviously, it’s time for us to make a play.”
That’s one way to create an identity. Of course, it goes both ways.
The Ravens lost their sixth home game of the season. So much for the home-field advantage that used to be so well-established for Baltimore. That’s the old identity.
Meanwhile, the upstart Patriots are 7-0 on the road this season. And they’ve shown an ability to bounce back from a heartbreaking defeat.
A week earlier they had a chance to win with a last-minute drive and came up short. This time, they started at their 11-yard line with 5:02 on the clock and didn’t flinch. Maye led an 89-yard TD drive capped by Rhamondre Stevenson’s 21-yard jaunt.
That’s an identity to grow with.
“It was kind of a wakeup call last week,” Maye said. “We had a chance to win the game with a game-winning drive, and this week it was like, ‘Let’s not have that same feeling two weeks in a row.’ It was kind of an elephant in the room going out there once the defense got the ball back. Like I said, just trust and belief. I like our chances when we’re in those scenarios. I like our chances.”
Which sounds like the ultimate identity.
Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell