By Edward G. Robinson III
AFRO Sports Editor
Flush it.
Let’s hope the Baltimore Ravens flush this Week 1 disappointment–a crushing loss 41-40 to the Buffalo Bill in their NFL season-opener–down the toilet.
Flush it and forget it.
Who wants to remember the Bills rallying from a 15-point deficit with seven minutes remaining? Who wants to remember Derrick Henry fumbling the ball late in the fourth quarter? Who wants to remember Buffalo kicker Matt Prater nailing a 32-yard field goal to secure the game at Highmark Stadium?
Flush it. Let it swirl away.
Don’t think about it. Don’t talk about it over coffee. It’s too early in the season to allow this type of trauma to fester.
Good times are around the corner for this team. But only if it can move beyond the Bills – a franchise that has been trying to get past losing four Super Bowls in the 90s. These types of losses stick with you if you let them.
“We are just going to have to regroup and get ready to go play a long season,” said Ravens Coach John Harbaugh, in a post-game press conference. “We’ve got 16 games in front of us.”
Flush it.
A loss to Buffalo at this point in the season, after that last loss to Buffalo last season, can create a phobia hard to overcome later in the season.
It happens.
The Baltimore Ravens entered the Sept. 7 season-opener with a desire to avenge a 27-25 loss to the Bills in last season’s AFC Divisional playoff round. That loss was clear motivation for Harbaugh and his team, especially the way things went down.
Remember, the Ravens pulled within two points late in that game and had a chance to tie the score. After orchestrating a touchdown drive, the Ravens elected to try for a two-point conversion. Quarterback Lamar Jackson hit tight end Mark Andrew near the right pylon and he dropped the ball. Season over.
They still haven’t flushed that hurt.
Harbaugh was asked before the Sept. 7 game what the team learned from last season’s playoff game with the Bills. He said, “You certainly don’t flush it, because there’s a lot to learn.”
As a coach, a very wise man, he was right. There’s so much to learn from your mistakes until you become obsessed with them.
“We have to understand how the game went, how they played us and what the schemes were,” Harbaugh said during a preseason press conference. “There were a lot of chess moves going on in that game that will be built upon this game on both sides of the ball.”
He was right.
Harbaugh, who is in his 18th season, is the second-longest-tenured head coach in the NFL. The Ravens own 12 playoff berths in the past 17 seasons. He clearly understands what’s needed to coach a football team through the season and into the playoffs.
He’s qualified to coach this group into the next game against AFC North rival Cleveland. His staff will review film, make corrections, prepare notes and construct an intelligent game plan.
But, this one, they’ve got to flush it.
“Our mindset has to shift to the Browns,” said Jackson in a postgame press conference.
Move on as if the result didn’t happen. Start over and play with the unadulterated freedom of three quarters and the two Ravens’ drives before Henry’s fumble. That’s when the Ravens looked mostly unstoppable.
At the very least, they appeared to have two of the league’s most vaunted assets –Jackson and Henry–a dynamic duo with a Mike Tyson one-two punch.
In one defining fourth quarter drive, the Ravens gave us an early look at their enormous potential on the night of Sept. 7.
Faced with third-10, a gaggle of Buffalo Bills defenders forcing him backwards, Jackson found an escape route and turned a negative into a 19-yard gain. His fleet-foot scramble set the Ravens up for first-and-10 at the 46-yardline.
On the next play, Jackson handed off to Henry out of the I-formation. He sprinted left off tackle and raced up the sideline past defenders into the endzone for a 46-yard touchdown run.
Henry continued to make history on Sunday. He surpassed Jim Brown in career touchdowns and moved into sixth most in NFL history.
Jackson continued to amaze. He completed 14 for 19 pass attempts for 209 yards and two TDs. He completed a 29-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins that will make top-10 lists for the remainder of the season.
Hopkins, running full speed and a step in front of single coverage, pulled in the crowd-pleasing pass with his right hand while a defender yanked on his left arm.
For anyone watching, the combination of Jackson and Henry served as an impressive statement as the Ravens’ swarming defense held off the Bills … until … they didn’t.
Then the Buffalo defense made way for its star quarterback Josh Allen to calmly lead the Bills to victory. The league’s MVP passed for 394 yards, rushed for two touchdowns and passed for two more. He scored late in the fourth quarter on a dive play where he leapt over the pile for a 1-yard TD.
On the game’s final drive, Allen led the Bills down the field, zipping passes to receivers, completing five attempts, including a 32-yard attempt to Joshua Palmer to set up the game-winning field goal.
That part causes nightmares. Some teams don’t conquer nightmares. For players, the mistakes replay in their minds, the mistakes fester and they want revenge. They look for an edge and never grow past the loss.
What will Jackson do?
“Probably let it linger for tonight,” he said. “We all hate losing on our team…But then forget about it.”
Exactly, flush it.
The Ravens will face off against the Cleveland Browns at 1 p.m. on Sept. 14 at M&T Bank Stadium.