The Ravens blew their greatest opportunity at a championship in ten years, just short of the Super Bowl. From here, where do they go?
Safety of the Baltimore Ravens Kyle Hamilton during the January 28, 2024, AFC Championship game between the Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs. Thanks to the Baltimore Ravens for the photo.
Even though the Baltimore Ravens were in better shape than they had been in a few years going into their AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs, it was insufficient.
Health was simply one of many things that Baltimore has going for it. Throughout the entire season, everything was going well for the Ravens.
Being the first defensive team in NFL history to lead the league in points allowed, sacks, and takeaways, Baltimore’s defense was legendary as it concluded the season with a triple crown record.
In the first year of offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s new scheme, which offered a more balanced style of play than the run-heavy approach from Jackson’s first four years as a starter, the Ravens had the presumed MVP in quarterback Lamar Jackson leading the fourth-ranked scoring offense.
The Chiefs were a team with a winning legacy, and the organization knew that flashy numbers and star-studded lines like wide receiver Zay Flowers, inside linebacker Roquan Smith, safety Kyle Hamilton, and Jackson wouldn’t scare them away.
The Ravens knew from the start of the season that taking things one step at a time would be the key to positioning themselves to win the Super Bowl, even though they hadn’t yet achieved that peak.
Because of this, Jackson, Smith, Hamilton, and any other Raven who was in close proximity to a microphone will tell you that their entire year’s priority was on remaining locked in.
The Ravens assured everyone who would listen that they would not meet the same fate as the 2019 squad that was humiliatingly eliminated by the Tennessee Titans in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Baltimore demonstrated its resolve in the Divisional Round matchup against the Houston Texans, knowing full well that this road to redemption would not occur unless it demonstrated that it had moved on from its previous errors.
With the score tied 10β10 at halftime, it appeared that the Ravens would lose in the first round of the playoffs once more. However, in the second half, Baltimore unleashed a brutal running onslaught that resulted in 229 rushing yards and a commanding 34-10 victory over the struggling Texans.
A week later, the Ravens totally collapsed in a heartbreaking 17-10 home loss versus Kansas City, just one step away from the Super Bowl they so desperately wanted. Baltimore seemed to be cresting the hill, but then the team lost its identity.
Saying that this outcome was disappointing would be a disservice to the English language on my side, but after giving it some thought and comparing it to Baltimore’s past painful playoff losses, it really gave me hope for the future.
The Ravens have experienced heartbreaking defeats before, so now that Jackson is starting his seventh season and is determined to win the illusive Lombardi Trophy that he promised the community, it’s time to see if Baltimore’s troubled past can provide any insight into what lies ahead.
How did we return here?
If every fan in M&T Bank Stadium had held up signs that said “RUN THE BALL, that would have been the only way Baltimore’s formula for victory over the Chiefs could have been more evident. Instead, the Ravens just refused to take their medicine.
With 32 rushes per game during the regular season, Baltimore topped the NFL in running. The Chiefs’ running defense, meanwhile, was mediocre toward the end of the season. To put it briefly, Kansas City did a mediocre job of thwarting Baltimore’s most effective offensive strategy.
And if Baltimore didn’t already know it could run the ball whenever it wanted during the regular season, it just had to watch Kansas City defeat the Buffalo Bills 27β24 in the Divisional Round the week prior.
The Bills gained 182 running yards on the day, even though they were unable to score on their last drive. Josh Allen, the quarterback for the Bills, completed 12 attempts for 72 yards and two scores. When Jackson rushes the situation, he can do more damage than when he closes his eyes.
However, despite having access to all of that information, the Ravens chose to run the ball just 16 times against the Chiefs for a total of 81 yards. It was an inexcusable tactic, and panic is the only plausible explanation.
I’m not saying that Baltimore’s decision to stick with a pass-heavy strategy and forgo feeding their stable of fit running backs, Dalvin Cook, Justice Hill, and Gus Edwards, was part of their game plan.
Rather, after witnessing Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes masterfully execute back-to-back touchdown drives on their opening two possessions of the game, Monken and the Ravens offense lost patience.
The Ravens trailed by only a touchdown in the first half until Kansas City’s field goal to go ahead 17-7 at the intermission. But Mahomes was playing at full tilt, and Monken was calling plays like Baltimore had dug itself a huge hole.
Jackson’s refusal to scramble didn’t make things any better either.
It’s not necessary to be an expert in body language to discern when Jackson is becoming restless in the pocket. From the middle of the second quarter onward, that continued to be a problem for the remainder of the match.
Like he did against the Texans a week earlier, Monken could have called a few quick throws for Jackson to help him get in rhythm and settle down a little, but he just refused.
For the most part of the second half, the Ravens were only behind by 10 points, but Monken’s strange play calling made the score appear much more lopsided than that. This loss may have been much more humiliating if Baltimore’s defense hadn’t shut out the Chiefs in the second half.
To put it mildly, it is puzzling that Baltimore seems unable to embrace their brand of hard-nosed defensive and smashmouth offensive play.
With another heartbreaking home playoff loss, it appeared as though the Ravens were doomed to remain in Groundhog Day. It’s reasonable to question how much of these puzzling losses are due to head coach John Harbaugh at this time.
It’s obvious he had some offensive involvement because he was carrying a play sheet the entire time. This is the second time we’ve seen Harbaugh lead Baltimore to the No. 1 seed by relying heavily on the running game just to utterly abandon it when it matters most. It’s hard to say precisely how much effect he had on the play.
There’s only so many times these kinds of revelations can occur before heads start to roll. Although I have always supported Harbaugh and am adamant that he can win Baltimore’s third Super Bowl in team history, he cannot allow a setback like this to occur again.
Losing to the Chiefs, who seem to be the New England Patriots of the modern day, is one thing, but repeatedly falling prey to the same issues is a far more serious concern.
Following the 2022 season, Ravens supporters were licking their lips for the sacking of previous offensive coordinator Greg Roman, believing that the move would halt Baltimore’s peculiar habit of deviating from its varied rushing approach during the biggest games. It did, however, occur once more under a new coordinator who employs a totally different plan.
Without a doubt, this is a Harbaugh problem.
The organization will have to search for a new coach who can maximize the potential of both Jackson and this offense if Baltimore meets this fate once more.
However, Harbaugh can utilize this setback as a major inspiration for the team’s performance in the upcoming season. This is not the first time that things have gone this way for the Ravens.
The Ravens might reach new heights as a result of their defeat.
After witnessing kicker Justin Tucker convert 90% of his field goals over the course of a 12-year career, Baltimoreans may have come to believe that every time he takes the field, three points are certain.
It’s easy to overlook the outstanding beginning of the greatest kicker of all time’s NFL career when observing his career unfold.
After one of the most agonizing playoff defeats in Baltimore Ravens history, Tucker signed with the organization as an undrafted free agent out of Texas.
In the 2012 AFC Championship game, the Ravens trailed the New England Patriots 23β20 when they got into scoring position. For the game-winning score, then-quarterback Joe Flacco threw a strike directly into wide receiver Lee Evans’ breadbasket, but it was blocked at the last second.
Billy Cundiff, the kicker, only had to make a 32-yard field goal to force overtime since Baltimore was unable to convert on third down. For those of you who were not able to witness that game, the outcome wasn’t good. Most of you recall what happened afterward.
Both the eye test and the statistics indicate that the 2011 squad was superior to the one from the following season, but once the playoffs got underway, the 2012 Ravens performed like a team out to get revenge.
The impending retirement of inside linebacker Ray Lewis, the most famous Raven in team history, served as another major incentive for them to avenge their heartbreaking playoff elimination from the previous season.
Lewis’s remarks following that heartbreaking playoff defeat a year prior perfectly capture the Ravens’ 2012 mindset, which culminated in an exciting 34-31 Super Bowl triumph over the San Francisco 49ers.
The idea that Baltimore can repeat its performance the next season is not ludicrous.
The Ravens will undoubtedly be a very different club when the 2024 season begins; we just don’t know what they will look like yet.
With the departures of former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, defensive line coach and deputy head coach Anthony Weaver, and defensive backs coach Denard Wilson, Baltimore has already suffered significant losses.
Depending on who remains and who departs among standouts like defensive tackle Justin Madubuike, edge rushers Kyle Van Noy and Jadeveon Clowney, interior linebacker Patrick Queen, and many other important free agents, the roster will also need to be reorganized.
The players that come back in 2024 will need to learn from this incredible season of 2023 and advance as well.
After a historic 2023 season, newly promoted defensive coordinator Zach Orr has big shoes to fill, but the Ravens obviously think he can handle the job. Orr, 31, was chosen over other strong internal options like Weaver, Wilson, and pass game coordinator and secondary coach Chris Hewitt.
Orr joined the Ravens as a player in 2014 after being selected as an undrafted free agent out of North Texas. 2016 saw him emerge as a starter at inside linebacker, and he quickly showed Baltimore that it had made the proper decision.
He recorded 133 tackles, two fumble recoveries, three interceptions, and one forced fumble during that season. But a congenital spine issue forced him to give up football at the age of 25, just as he was positioning himself to earn a large contract with a second-team All-Pro season.
From 2017 until 2020, Orr worked as a defensive assistant with the Baltimore coaching staff. In 2021, he departed to become an outside linebackers coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and then in 2022, he came back to lead Baltimore’s inside linebackers. Orr is now the second-youngest defensive coordinator in the NFL after being given responsibility for the entire defense.
This early in his career, Baltimore’s decision to provide him with this opportunity is the strongest recommendation the Ravens could give.
Monken and Jackson need to iron out the wrinkles in this attack on the other side of the ball. When the opposition defense starts blitzing to put more pressure on Jackson, the Ravens often appear disorganized.
It has been a problem for Baltimore to regularly defeat the blitz for a number of years, and it is particularly evident in January. Houston managed to stay in the game during the first half of their Divisional Round clash in this way.
General manager Eric DeCosta must add a second receiving threat to go along with Flowers in order to prevent the defense from blitzing. Rashod Bateman, a wide receiver, has all the makings to play that position, but only if he and Jackson get along better.
The resolution of this puzzle could boost this offense’s potential, which would be extremely beneficial for the Ravens’ postseason success. Except for not using it as much when it matters most, Baltimore’s running game is flawless.
Overall, the Ravens have two options following their loss in the AFC Championship game.
They can either let it gnaw at them mentally every January or they can use it as motivation to drive out the demons from their playoff run and go back to New Orleans, the location of their 2013 Super Bowl triumph, to ultimately win the team’s third Lombardi Trophy in 2025.