BALTIMORE — The Ravens have gotten too good at this routine, looking shocked as they clean out their lockers less than 24 hours after their own mistakes doomed them to eventual defeat.
With majestic quarterback Lamar Jackson leading the most efficient offense in team history, they were good enough to win the Super Bowl this year. But they return home one step away from playing in the big game after three turnovers and a gruesome fall by Mark Andrews left them two points behind the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night.
The ending is deeper because it so closely evokes the collapse a year earlier when the Ravens also turned the ball over three times in a devastating AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs .
“We know our team. We know what we’re supposed to do,” wide receiver Zay Flowers said Monday. “We know the only way we can’t do what we want is what we did yesterday.”
National commentary quickly focused on this numbing familiarity.
“So to show up in a game like this – on the road and against a 13-4 team, with an extremely small margin for error – and give the ball away twice in the first half… well, that n “It’s not the kind of thing that helps turn narratives around,” wrote ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
The Ravens knew going in that giving the ball away would be their quickest path to another disappointment, and sure enough, that was the case.
“That’s the way football works,” coach John Harbaugh said. “If you want to draw a big cosmic thread, you draw it for every team in the league except the team that wins. That’s why the Chiefs — you have to admire what they did. It’s hard to win playoff games.
Discussion following last year’s final loss indicated that the 2024 Ravens would not be judged on what they did in the regular season, but solely on their ability to advance further in the postseason. They didn’t, and from that perspective their season was a failure.
However, it would be incorrect to view the Ravens as a team that has made no progress.
They signed Derrick Henry during the offseason, betting that the 31-year-old running back would defy common NFL aging models with his impressive blend of size and speed. If anything, Henry exceeded those lofty expectations, rushing for 1,921 yards, getting stronger as the season went on, and forming an unstoppable partnership with Jackson, the greatest quarterback in league history.
These two Hall of Fame talents stepped up, leading an offense that moved the ball more efficiently than any other, both on the ground and through the air.
“The best attack I’ve ever been a part of,” said fullback Patrick Ricard as he put the contents of his locker into trash bags Monday afternoon.
Jackson won his second NFL Most Valuable Player award a year ago and was clearly better in 2024, setting career highs in passing yards, touchdown passes and passer rating. He and Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen put together a thrilling MVP duel, with the winner to be announced on February 6.
His teammates still believe that as long as they have Jackson, they will have a real chance to go all the way every year.
“How special he is – this year you have seen how he has grown as a player, how quickly he makes decisions, the way he throws the ball and decides when to run – it is inevitable that he wins a Super Bowl, and I want to be a part of it,” Ricard said.
For all their firepower, the Ravens got off to a shaky start, losing their season opener after tight end Isaiah Likely’s toe landed an inch out of bounds on a potential game-winning score and losing a lead at home against the hapless Las Vegas Raiders.
Such 0-2 starts sometimes portend difficult seasons, and the Ravens repeatedly made mistakes, squandering another lead in Cleveland against the dismal Browns and stumbling to a sloppy 18-16 loss at the hands of their rival Pittsburgh Steelers.
Their defense, in the hands of first-year coordinator Zach Orr after prodigy Mike Macdonald left for Seattle, looked hopeless for 10 weeks, unable to protect leads as opponents connected on deep pass after deep pass.
The Ravens entered their bye week in early December looking certain to make the playoffs, but trailing the Steelers by two games in the AFC North.
Then they found their place. An already powerful attack kicked into high gear. Orr’s defense no longer gave in to explosive plays. The Ravens crushed their last four regular-season opponents by an average of 23 points and cruised past the Steelers to repeat as division champions. They dominated Pittsburgh in the wild-card round of the playoffs, rushing for an incredible 299 yards against a proud defense.
Suddenly, it wasn’t hard to find national pundits who considered the Ravens the best team left standing, even without their top receiver, Flowers, who suffered a knee injury in the regular-season finale. But they would need to win in Buffalo and then in Kansas City to reach Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans.
The Ravens will return for training camp in late July with a team expected to be built around the same core players.
Jackson, one of the league’s iconic stars, may not play much better in the regular season, but he will chase that elusive perfect playoff run. Henry is under contract for another year. None of Jackson’s top targets are headed to free agency in March. The most important offensive player on the open market is left tackle Ronnie Stanley, and general manager Eric DeCosta will have to decide whether to continue the youth movement he started this season on his offensive line.
Offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who has helped Jackson reach another level over the past two years, is a candidate for several head coaching jobs, and if he leaves, replacing him would become job No. 1 during the offseason.
The team’s defensive leaders, from linebacker Roquan Smith to safety Kyle Hamilton to cornerback Marlon Humphrey to edge rusher Kyle Van Noy, are under contract through 2025. Orr, still 32, grew up in his role as the season progresses and will expect to be better in year two, just like his mentor, Macdonald.
Then there’s Harbaugh, who hasn’t taken the Ravens back to the Super Bowl since winning it 12 years ago. Some fans inevitably blame the coach when his team has a disappointing finish, even though Harbaugh had little power to prevent Jackson and Andrews from losing those critical fumbles. In his 17th season in Baltimore, the Ravens have peaked before their trip to Buffalo, and there is no indication that owner Steve Bisciotti is considering a change, although Harbaugh is entering the final year of his contract and will be willing to extend more early. rather than later.
Players weren’t considering an overhaul as they emptied their lockers. They want another chance, with the 2024 team as intact as possible.
“I wish the whole group could come back,” Flowers said. “These are my guys. Why not take another chance?
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