Baltimore Sun columnist Mike Preston will answer fans’ questions throughout the Ravens season. Coming off Baltimore’s 33-31 loss in Week 10 to the Cleveland Browns, plenty of questions remain heading into a Week 11 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Here’s Preston’s take:

(Editor’s note: Questions have been edited for length and clarity.)

Sad, sad, sad. The Ravens could easily be 10-0, but fourth-quarter meltdowns have been their calling card. Why do the Ravens fold in close fourth-quarter games, letting inferior opponents march up and down the field? Is it possible the team got caught up in the national press clippings before the game with the Browns? And what happened to Keaton Mitchell in the second half after an impressive first half? Either he was injured or he is in Harbaugh’s “doghouse.” Those are the only reasons I can think of. “It’s just kind of the way it went as far as the play calling” is a very poor explanation. “Coach speak” at its finest, defending himself and his coaching staff. — Bob in North Carolina

Sorry, Bob, I can’t explain why the Ravens allow fourth-quarter comebacks but it is clear after reviewing the game tape that they lacked discipline and thought this was going to be an easy game against the Browns. The Ravens apparently thought the outcome was going to be similar to a month ago when they won, 28-3, in Cleveland, only this time the Browns delivered the knockout blows. The Ravens lacked focus and Cleveland was much more physical.

As for Mitchell, there was no reasonable explanation for his disappearing in the game. Sometimes, offensive coordinators get too caught up in a game and they might overlook things. Harbaugh wasn’t going to throw offensive coordinator Todd Monken under the bus, but you can best believe there were some conversations on why he carried the ball only once in the second half.

After years of well above-average special teams performance, the Ravens have taken a significant step back this season. Blocked punts, blocked field goals, punt returned for TD, miscommunication. Harbaugh, our special teams head coach, cannot be pleased with their performance. Can you see any reason why, and what can be done to eliminate these mistakes? It has already cost the Ravens a couple of games this year. — Robert

For the most part, coaches don’t like to play starters on special teams and I’m not sure the Ravens are at that point yet, but I don’t mind having the starting offensive line in when blocking for a field goal. Sometimes, other teams make great plays, too, especially when pressure comes from the outside. It would be a timing issue or the Ravens might need to change up the cadence.

Also, the field goal attempt that was blocked was from 55 yards. Because of the distance, the kick will have a low trajectory and it will be easier to block, especially if a team has a tall defensive lineman with long arms. Remember former Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell? But you are correct. It seems like every week the special teams commit a boneheaded play, and that cost them against the Browns and will definitely hurt in the postseason if not corrected.

The defense, specifically the secondary, had been humming going into the Browns game. Then the one-armed bandit, Marcus Williams, returns and plays all but one defensive snap, which has a trickle-down effect on others in the secondary, while Arthur Maulet, who had been doing well, sees a drastic drop in snaps. God bless him for wanting to play but Williams is not Ed Reed as a ball-hawk. So is it worth having him out there as a liability tackling for the rest of the season, or should the Ravens make the command decision to shut him down for the season or bench him? — Paul in Orlando

Someone, either defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, Harbaugh or general manager Eric DeCosta, will have to make a decision about Williams because he has become a liability. I wonder how much of an impact he had in coverage over the middle because the Browns certainly found a weakness in the team’s zone coverages.

Williams wants to play, and that says a lot about his character. But he doesn’t have much of a presence as far as run support and it’s clear he is afraid of getting hurt. He is a big-money player — the Ravens signed him to a five-year, $70 million deal in March 2022 — but it might be to everyone’s advantage to rest him and get him ready either for later in the season or next year.

There doesn’t appear to be much room for improvement in only a week even though he is expected to play with less protective gear against the Bengals.

What do you think is the real reason why Keaton Mitchell saw such limited touches versus the Browns? Coach Harbaugh’s explanation that it was, “just kind of the way it went” is rather embarrassing unless it was an effort to mimic a certain lobster boat captain. — Don Truitt in Colesville

I just think the Ravens didn’t have him in the regular rotation, and basically forgot about him. As I suggested earlier, you can bet Harbaugh talked to Monken about that poor decision either soon after the game or early Monday morning.

Monkon is at fault, but it’s Harbaugh’s team. He should have demanded Mitchell get the ball. I think the proper message has been passed on but it was a dumb move.

“I think it’s something that’s probably … as you look back on it, [it’s] part of the process of getting a young guy in there and working him into the game plan as part of the process as we go,” Harbaugh said Monday afternoon. “I don’t think we felt probably as an offensive coaching staff we were going to throw the whole game plan on him. Those are the plays that get called from the groupings that were called in the second half. Looking back on it, would we have wanted him out there more? Yes. I think that’ll factor into this game plan.

“The way it got called — those plays weren’t the ones he was scheduled for. I’ll add [tight end] Mark [Andrews]. He had two passes in the game. Is that what we want? Absolutely not. The ball goes where it goes sometimes, but we want the ball to go to Mark. That’s also part of the dynamic as the season goes along trying to work through those things.”

If you have playmakers, get them the ball. Right? Go figure.

In your opinion, how does the collapse against the Browns affect the Ravens moving forward for the rest of the season? — Ed Helinski

Not at all, just like the Ravens’ beatdowns of Seattle and Detroit have no bearing. We’re only one game past the midseason point. I’ve written this before and will do it again: The Ravens will be judged in the final weeks of the regular season based on consistency, balance and the play of quarterback Lamar Jackson.

In the loss to the Browns, Jackson missed open receivers, the Ravens had lapses in defensive coverages and the defensive line got manhandled. Offensively, they forgot about Mitchell and the passing game was out of sync. If that continues to happen then they won’t go far in the postseason.

They’ll regroup. I don’t have any idea how far they will go in the playoffs, but the Ravens have talent. They need an outside receiver to step up and a shutdown cornerback, and it will be interesting to see how veterans such as outside linebackers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy and offensive tackles Morgan Moses and Ronnie Stanley hold up in the last month, but don’t read too much into the Cleveland loss besides learning the Ravens can’t be trusted yet because of their inconsistent play.

They’ve got seven more games to figure it out and that’s a lot of time.

Does Lamar not run when the opportunity exists because he is self-conscious about the perception from some in the media (namely ESPN/Fox Sports 1) that he is a runner first and a passer second and he is trying to prove them wrong? — “Quick” on X

No, it’s a different offensive system compared with the previous one designed by former coordinator Greg Roman. Monken’s style is built around a dropback quarterback, even though he’ll roll Jackson out at times. Roman’s offense was predicated on a strong running game, one that featured Jackson.

I don’t think Jackson is as explosive a runner as he was in 2019 when he was the unanimous NFL Most Valuable Player, and that’s to be expected because of the hits he has taken over his six-year career. With that said, I think he is a better quarterback and thrower than he was in 2019.

I like this system better than the previous one. Also, keep an eye on Jackson’s ankle. I’ve seen him hobbling in the first half of the past two games.

Have a question for Mike Preston? Email sports@baltsun.com with “Ravens mailbag” in the subject line and it could be answered in The Baltimore Sun.

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