3 Ravens to blame for giving Steelers a win and AFC North lead

The Baltimore Ravens walk out of Pittsburgh with their heads down after losing 17-10 to the Steelers. They came in as clear leaders of the AFC North, and walked out leaving questions about who will emerge as the authority in the division.

It clearly remains wide open, with the 1-3 Bengals just a game down in the loss column entering their Week 5 game.

One has to believe the Ravens are better than this. Purely based on talent on-paper, they are, with the Steelers loss widely viewed as uncharacteristic for Baltimore. Nevertheless, a loss is a loss, and the Ravens need to point the finger somewhere.

Not mentioned on the forthcoming list is Zay Flowers, who did remain a factor in the game despite missing some targets, and Odell Beckham Jr. who you really just don't expect to be a world-beater at this stage in his career after injury recovery. Both didn't play great, but shouldn't draw the lion's share of the blame for this one.

These three people stand out as the most at fault for the bad loss.

Todd Monken

Looking at the second half of the game, the Ravens had the lead or had the game within reach the entire time. With the Ravens flirting with double-digit drops on the day, one would think that they might have, with the lead and the game winding down, tried to mix in some rushing plays to burn clock and also get drives extended down the field.

Instead, offensive coordinator Todd Monken kept trying to direct his team to pass the ball. Those wound up resulting in incomplete passes, an interception, a strip-sack fumble and more dropped passes.

Take, for instance, the Ravens drive that started with just over seven minutes left. Baltimore was up 10-8, but went three-and-out after two pass attempts and one rush. A fumble on the return got Baltimore the ball right back. The following three plays? A rush for three yards. A pass for negative yardage. An interception.

Great use of a second chance!

Baltimore's sole touchdown drive of the day featured four rushes and just three pass attempts. Yet, the clearly weak passing game took centerstage most of the crucial points of the game.

Monken, though, should carry the least of the blame of anyone on the list. Players didn't play, and we'll get into two most to-blame players next.