The Baltimore Ravens soared into Thursday night's tilt in Cincinnati on a high coming off a Week 1 blowout win. The defense was quickly brought out of the sky.
The Ravens conceded four touchdowns on six first-half drives, including three straight to A.J. Green to fall into a 21-0 deficit. Baltimore trailed 28-14 at halftime, a hole they could never dig out of, falling 34-23.
"You play like crap in the first half, all three phases, and that's what's going to happen," safety Eric Weddle said, via the team's official website. "We battled back and fought our tails off in the second half. But too big of a hole."
Weddle doubled down on his thoughts, noting on Twitter that especially on the road, laying an egg to start is almost impossible to overcome.
Some of the Ravens' struggles were due to the loss of three-time Pro Bowl linebacker C.J. Mosley to an early knee injury. Other problems came on great plays by the Bengals offense. Weddle acknowledged that on the first touchdown to Green the Bengals caught Baltimore in zero coverage, with no help for corner Tavon Young. No corner would stand up long to Green in those situations.
Baltimore's defense clamped down in the second half, giving up just two field goals on six possessions. But the damage had been done, and the offense couldn't finish a comeback.
"It's a 16-game season, you're not going to play great week in and week out, but you've got to find ways to win," Weddle said. "We didn't do that tonight."
After the high of Week 1, Thursday's first half was a letdown for the Ravens. In a tough AFC North, however, Baltimore will be in the playoff hunt down to the wire.
