John Harbaugh blames short week for Ravens loss to Pats

It seemed like the Ravens didn't come ready to play in their game against the Patriots last Sunday. A 41-7 trouncing by New England in Baltimore's home stadium.

So, what's their excuse?

Apparently, they were just tired.

CSNNE:

The Ravens just didn’t have enough “juice” to play the Patriots after facing the Lions six days earlier.

That’s what Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Monday.

“It did, we felt it,” Harbaugh told Baltimore reporters. “We fought through it all week as best we could. Our guys were excited to play, and I thought the effort was there. They fought like crazy, but we just didn’t have enough juice to pull it off. It’s a legitimate factor. Everybody has scheduling issues that they’ve got to deal with in the NFL, and that was one of ours.”

Oh ok, so that makes sense.

While it might be easy to simply scoff at this, it'd also hard to completely write off what Harbaugh is saying.

Really, can you think of any other reason why the Ravens came out so flat? A team that traditionally plays the Patriots tight, and recently has usually come out the victor. As we pointed out last week, most of the Pats-Ravens games end with the final score within 6 points, not almost 5 touchdowns.

The Patriots were pumped up for that Ravens game, and Baltimore just could not match their intensity. It was a statement win for the Patriots, and maybe a statement loss for Baltimore.

The Ravens now need some help to get into the playoffs, and maybe getting blown out last Sunday shows that the defending champs just don't have what it takes this year to make it.