Baltimore Ravens head coach Jesse Minter pointed to a big issue on the offense.
The Baltimore Ravens dropped a game to the New Orleans Saints, as they move to 1-1 on the season. One of the elements that contributed to the loss was the pre-snap and post-snap penalties that again reared their ugly head.
In Week 1, the Ravens committed 10 penalties but were able to shake those off due to a strong offensive performance. That was not the case in Week 2, and head coach Jesse Minter called that out during media availability.
The Ravens committed seven penalties against the Saints, which led to 34 penalty yards. While the yardage was nowhere near the Week 1 total of 86 yards, it did not help the team.
Minter spoke about the penalties in Week 1, stating that he has been harping on about ensuring the team does not lose momentum due to such incidents. However, it appears that the message has not been fully heard.
During media availability on Monday, Minter spoke about the offensive penalties.
"Yeah, I would say, you know, it's a major point of emphasis. Right now, we have too many, I would say, operational penalties on offense and, uh, to have the lazy excuse of, well, it's a new offense, and we've got all these new things, new players, new cadences. That would be a lazy excuse. Um, so it's a major point of emphasis," Minter said.
Minter called out the operational penalties, and stated that it would be lazy to point to a new offense needing to gel together with one another.
The issue is that the Ravens cannot allow their forward momentum to be silenced by a pre-snap penalty or otherwise. That is also the case on the defensive side of the ball.
"I would say areas where we got to be smarter, where we really got to be dialed in. Um, because those things, really in the in the grand scheme of the game, were a major deal. I mean, we have a holding penalty on a two-point play where we maybe get momentum back a little bit by stopping the two-point play, and then we give them another crack at it and so yeah, it's a major point of emphasis, and I think it's just your daily habits of how you operate that carry over and need to carry you in those moments," Minter said.
As everyone says, football is a game of inches, and those inches matter. Minter pointed out the two-point conversion that was stopped by the Ravens, but a holding penalty gave the Saints another chance to secure it.
Baltimore could have led 17-15 and played a more defensive game to stop the Saints from catching them, as opposed to having to play on offense and score when the New Orleans defense was also giving Lamar Jackson and company a lot of issues.
Penalties can be the difference maker between championship teams and those knocking on the door, and the Ravens cannot afford to allow those issues to continue to happen.
It is one thing to commit penalties during preseason, as the team is getting to know one another on the field. However, committing multiple penalties in regular season action is where it can change a drive that may decide the game.
For the Ravens, that two-point conversion may have been the momentum swing the Saints needed to close out the game, which is what they did.
Baltimore will need to heavily invest in playing clean football, or they may be in for some shocking losses.
