BALTIMORE — On a warm and sun-splashed afternoon Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, the pomp and pageantry of the Ravens’ home opener had all the promise of a perhaps majestic performance for the heavily favored hosts with the NFL’s two-time Most Valuable Player, Lamar Jackson, and two-time league rushing leader, Derrick Henry.

If only.

Baltimore’s performance against an overmatched but gritty Las Vegas Raiders team belied the setting, leaving the Ravens still searching for their first win of the young season.

Behind 110 yards and a touchdown from wide receiver Davante Adams, 98 yards on nine catches from rookie tight end Brock Bowers and a 38-yard field goal with 31 seconds remaining from Daniel Carlson, Las Vegas rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to stun the Ravens, 26-23, in front of a crowd of 70,762.

The victory moved the Raiders to 1-1, while Baltimore fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2015.

Just as crushing for the Ravens was what could have been.

After holding the Raiders to just 43 yards in the first half — their fewest in a first half since 2015 — and taking a 16-6 lead early in the third quarter, Baltimore struggled to move the ball down the stretch and couldn’t stop the Raiders from doing so.

On the Raiders’ opening possession of the second half and trailing by 10, they marched 45 yards to Baltimore’s 25-yard line, aided by a 25-yard completion to Bowers. On fourth-and-2, Minshew’s end zone fade to Adams came up short, landing near the receiver’s feet with the three-time All-Pro unable to secure it as it hit off his hands and fell harmlessly to the ground.

But two plays later, the Ravens gave it right back to the Raiders, with a pass from Jackson to Rashod Bateman in tight coverage in the middle of the field deflected off the receiver and into the hands of linebacker Robert Spillane.

That led to an eventual 1-yard touchdown plunge by running back Alexander Mattison to cut the Ravens’ lead to three.

Baltimore responded with a touchdown of its own, thanks largely to the running of Henry, who scored from 3 yards out. But the 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter eventually faded away.

Carlson added another field goal on Las Vegas’ next possession, and a 1-yard touchdown catch by Adams from Gardner Minshew II that was set up because of a pass interference penalty on Brandon Stephens tied the score at 23.

After Baltimore failed again to move the ball on its next possession and punter Jordan Stout had a 24-yard punt, the Raiders drove 23 yards on six plays to set up Carlson for the winning kick.

It’s the Ravens’ 11th loss in the past five seasons when leading by seven or more points in the fourth quarter, the most in the NFL over that span. The Raiders, meanwhile, had lost 49 in a row when trailing by 10 or more points in the fourth quarter.

Only two of 32 teams to start 0-2 have made the postseason since the playoffs expanded to 14 teams in 2020, according to the Boston Globe. Only five of those squads finished the season with a winning record.

Week 3

Ravens at Cowboys

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET

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