Baltimore Has Scored One Second-Half Touchdown All Season, and It Already Cost the Ravens Their Home Opener

The Baltimore Ravens are 1-1, and the standings aren't what should worry anyone in Owings Mills. The shape of the two games is.

Through two weeks, Baltimore has produced 17 scoring plays. Six came in the first quarter, seven in the second. That's 13 of 17 before halftime. The third quarter has yielded a single scoring play and zero touchdowns. The fourth quarter has yielded three scoring plays and one touchdown — 171 total yards across two games, 117 through the air and 57 on the ground.

That is an offense that has been dominant early and close to inert late, and in a division where Cincinnati is already 2-0, it's the difference between controlling the AFC North and trailing in it.

The Saints loss was a rerun, not a fluke

Baltimore led New Orleans 14-3 in the first half and 17-9 in the second at M&T Bank Stadium. The Saints outscored the Ravens 14-0 in the fourth quarter and won 24-17, with Tyler Shough throwing a 21-yard touchdown to Chris Olave and finishing it himself on a 1-yard run.

It's the kind of loss that has followed this franchise around — the local coverage immediately framed it as a late-game ghost still haunting the team, and a blown-lead problem that new head coach Jesse Minter's staff has to break. When a team's own beat writers are writing about fourth-quarter identity in Week 2, that's a signal, not a hot take.

The passing game is the pressure point

Lamar Jackson's surface numbers remain excellent: 67.9% completions, 10.0 yards per attempt, a 104.7 passer rating, 559 yards, two touchdowns and one interception through two games. He's also been sacked five times on an 8.2% sack rate, and he's added 74 rushing yards and a score.

The issue is what happens when the run game isn't the answer. Derrick Henry has been everything Baltimore could want — 40 carries, 212 yards, four touchdowns, a 5.3-yard average — but a back who closes games requires the Ravens to be ahead and on schedule. When they're not, the offense has to throw, and the receiving corps is thin enough that the Week 2 struggles prompted legitimate external questions about whether a veteran addition is needed.

Zay Flowers has been productive when available — five catches, 150 yards, a touchdown on six targets — but his health is central to everything. Our own rating model applies a 1.7-point dock to Baltimore specifically for missing Flowers, Justin Madubuike and Teddye Buchanan. The offense without its field-stretcher is a different, narrower offense, and the fourth-quarter numbers reflect it.

The injury report isn't helping

Jackson is listed as questionable with an ankle and did not participate in practice. Mark Andrews carries an out designation with an ankle. Ronnie Stanley is limited with a toe. The offensive line has already surrendered five sacks, and the passing game's Week 2 issues were at least partly protection-driven.

What it means going forward

Baltimore still profiles as a functional team on paper: 29.0 points per game, 434.5 yards per game, a manageable 23.5 points allowed. But the ratings have moved the wrong way — down from a 4.2 rating in Week 1 to 2.1 in Week 2, with a 6.1-point gap between Baltimore's number and where the market still prices it.

That gap is the interesting part. The market is giving weight to Baltimore's prior-season quality. The recent evidence says this specific team has a first-half offense and a second-half problem.

Sunday at Dallas is the test. If the Ravens can close a game — any game — the 1-1 start looks like noise. If the third and fourth quarters stay empty, the AFC North conversation starts happening without them.