The Baltimore Ravens were the healthiest they had been in several years entering the AFC Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs, and it still wasn’t enough.
Health was just one of many factors in favor of Baltimore. The Ravens had everything going their way the entire season.
Baltimore boasted a historic defense that finished the season with a triple crown NFL record as the first defensive unit in history to lead the league in points allowed, sacks, and takeaways.
And the Ravens had the presumed MVP in quarterback Lamar Jackson at the helm of the fourth-ranked scoring offense 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 team knew that gaudy statistics and star-studded lineups that included Jackson, wide receiver Zay Flowers, inside linebacker Roquan Smith, and safety Kyle Hamilton wouldn’t intimidate a team with as much championship pedigree as the Chiefs.
Although the Ravens hadn’t reached that pinnacle yet, they knew putting themselves in position to win the Super Bowl was all about taking things one step at a time since the beginning of the season.
That’s why all year long, Jackson, Smith, Hamilton, and any Raven near a microphone would tell you that they were solely focused on staying “locked in.”
The Ravens told anyone who would listen that they wouldn’t suffer the same fate as the 2019 team that was unceremoniously ousted in the Divisional Round of the playoffs against the Tennessee Titans.
Baltimore was well aware this journey to redemption wouldn’t come without having to prove that it had learned from its past mistakes, and the team showed their resolve in the Divisional Round against the Houston Texans.
Heading into halftime tied 10-10 with Houston, it looked as if the Ravens were poised for another early playoff exit. But Baltimore came out in the second half and bullied the upstart Texans with a bruising running attack that culminated in 229 rushing yards en route to a convincing 34-10 victory.
A week later and just one step away from reaching the Super Bowl they so desperately coveted, the Ravens completely regressed in a stunning 17-10 home loss against Kansas City. Just when it looked as if Baltimore was ready to get over the hump, the team lost its identity.
To say this result was disappointing would be a disservice to the English language on my part, but it actually gave me a sense of hope for the future now that I’ve had time to reflect on how this loss stacks up against Baltimore’s previous heartbreaking playoff defeats.
The Ravens are no strangers to devastating losses, so now it’s time to figure out how Baltimore’s checkered past can give us an indication of what comes next as Jackson enters the seventh year of his career in continual pursuit of the elusive Lombardi Trophy that he promised the city.
How did we get here again?
The only way Baltimore’s recipe for success against the Chiefs could have been more obvious is if every fan in M&T Bank Stadium held up signs that read “RUN THE BALL,” but the Ravens simply refused to take their medicine.
Baltimore led the NFL in rushing throughout the regular season and did so with 32 attempts per game. Meanwhile, the Chiefs finished the season as a middle of the pack rushing defense. In short, Kansas City was average at best at stopping Baltimore’s best method of attack.
And if the regular season wasn’t enough of an indication that Baltimore could run the ball whenever it wanted, all it needed to do was watch Kansas City’s 27-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round matchup the previous week.
While the Bills failed to come through on their final drive, they amassed 182 rushing yards on the day. Bills quarterback Josh Allen ran for 72 yards and two touchdowns on 12 attempts. We’ve seen Jackson do more damage as a rushing threat than that with his eyes closed.
But even with all of that information at their fingertips, the Ravens opted to run the ball just 16 times for a grand total of 81 yards against the Chiefs. It was an indefensible strategy that can only be explained by one reason: panic.
I’m not here to suggest that it was Baltimore’s gameplan to go with a pass-heavy approach and avoid feeding their stable of healthy running backs Gus Edwards, Justice Hill, and Dalvin Cook.
Instead, Monken and the Ravens offense lost their patience after watching Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes orchestrate consecutive touchdown drives on their first two drives of the game.
Prior to Kansas City’s field goal to put it ahead 17-7 going into halftime, the Ravens only trailed by a touchdown in the first half. But Monken was calling plays as if Baltimore had fallen into a massive hole and Mahomes was firing on all cylinders.
Jackson didn’t help matters with his refusal to scramble either.
You don’t have to be a body language expert to tell when Jackson is getting antsy in the pocket. That became an issue from the middle of the second quarter throughout the rest of the game.
Monken could have called some short passes for Jackson to get him in rhythm and calm him down a bit — just like he did against the Texans a week prior — but he simply refused.
Although the Ravens were only behind by 10 points for most of the second half, Monken’s inexplicable play calling made the score feel much more lopsided than that. If it weren’t for Baltimore’s defense shutting out the Chiefs in the second half, this could have been an even more embarrassing defeat.
Baltimore’s unwillingness to embrace its identity of smashmouth offensive football and hard-nosed defense is bewildering to put it lightly.
It looked like the Ravens were stuck in Groundhog Day, trapped in a reality that doomed them with another heart-rending home playoff loss. At this point, it’s fair to wonder how big of a role head coach John Harbaugh plays in these baffling losses.
He was holding a play sheet throughout the game, so it’s clear he has some offensive input. It’s difficult to ascertain exactly how much influence he had on the play calling, but this is the second time we’ve seen Harbaugh lead Baltimore to the No. 1 seed by leaning into the running game only to completely abandon it when it matters most.
Implosions like this can only happen so many times before heads start to roll. I have long been a Harbaugh defender and remain steadfast in my belief that he can lead Baltimore to the third Super Bowl victory in franchise history, but he can’t allow a loss like this to happen again.
It’s one thing to lose to what feels like the new age New England Patriots in the Chiefs, but it’s a much more pressing issue to fall victim to the same problems over and over again.
Ravens fans were frothing at the mouth for the firing of former offensive coordinator Greg Roman following the 2022 season, assuming it would rectify Baltimore’s strange tendency to stray from its versatile rushing attack in the biggest games. Well, it happened again with a new coordinator who runs an entirely different scheme.
This is a Harbaugh issue, point blank.
If Baltimore suffers this fate again, the organization will be left looking for a new coach who can unlock the full potential of Jackson and this offense.
But it shouldn’t be put past Harbaugh to use this loss as a huge motivator for the team next season. We’ve seen things play out like this for the Ravens before.
This loss could catapult the Ravens to greater heights
Having watched kicker Justin Tucker nail 90% of his field goal attempts throughout his 12-year career, it’s easy for Baltimoreans to take for granted that it’s an automatic three points whenever he steps onto the field.
What’s often forgotten in watching the greatest kicker of all time’s career play out is the unique start to his NFL journey.
Tucker joined the Ravens as an undrafted free agent out of Texas after Baltimore suffered one of the most painful playoff losses in team history.
The Ravens put themselves in scoring position while trailing 23-20 in the 2012 AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots. Then-quarterback Joe Flacco delivered a strike right into the breadbasket of wide receiver Lee Evans for the go-ahead touchdown, but it was knocked away at the last second.
Baltimore failed to convert on third down, meaning kicker Billy Cundiff simply needed to convert a 32 yard field goal to send the game into overtime. Most of you remember what happened next, and for those who didn’t get to watch that game, it wasn’t a good result.
The statistics and the eye test all point to that 2011 team being better than the following year’s team, but the 2012 Ravens played like a team hellbent on vengeance once the playoffs started.
They were determined to redeem themselves for their disappointing playoff exit the prior year — and the looming retirement of the most iconic Raven in franchise history in inside linebacker Ray Lewis was a powerful motivator as well.
Lewis’ speech after that gut-wrenching playoff loss a year earlier encapsulates the mentality that the Ravens had throughout 2012, culminating in a thrilling 34-31 Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
It’s not absurd to think that Baltimore can do the same thing next season.
We don’t yet know what the Ravens will look like once the 2024 season kicks off, but it’s certain that they’ll be an extremely different team.
Baltimore is already facing huge losses in former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, former defensive line coach and associate head coach Anthony Weaver, and former defensive backs coach Denard Wilson.
The roster will need to be retooled as well, depending on who stays and goes among standouts like inside linebacker Patrick Queen, defensive lineman Justin Madubuike, edge rushers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy, and many other critical free agents.
Those who return in 2024 must turn the page from this memorable 2023 season and improve their abilities, too.
Newly promoted defensive coordinator Zach Orr has massive shoes to fill following a historic 2023 season, but the Ravens clearly believe he’s more than up to the task. They eschewed other impressive internal candidates such as Weaver, Wilson, and secondary coach and pass game coordinator Chris Hewitt in favor of the 31-year-old Orr.
Orr’s career as a Raven began as a player, making the team as an undrafted free agent out of North Texas in 2014. He earned the job as a starting inside linebacker in 2016, and immediately proved to Baltimore that it made the right call.
That season, he registered 133 tackles, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. But just when he put himself in a position to earn a massive contract with a second-team All-Pro season, he had to walk away from football at just 25 years old because of a congenital spine condition.
Orr joined Baltimore’s coaching staff as a defensive assistant from 2017 through 2020. He left to join the Jacksonville Jaguars as an outside linebackers coach in 2021 before returning to coach Baltimore’s inside linebackers in 2022. Now, Orr is tasked with leading the whole defense — making him the second-youngest defensive coordinator in the NFL.
For Baltimore to give him this opportunity this early in his career is as strong an endorsement as the Ravens could possibly offer.
On the other side of the ball, it’s imperative that Monken and Jackson work out the kinks in this offense. The Ravens often look in disarray when the opposing defense starts putting extra pressure on Jackson by blitzing.
Baltimore having issues consistently beating the blitz has been an ongoing issue for several years at this point, and it’s especially exposed in January. That’s how Houston kept itself in the game in the first half of the Divisional Round matchup.
It’s incumbent that general manager Eric DeCosta adds another receiving threat to complement Flowers and deter the defense from blitzing. Wide receiver Rashod Bateman has all the potential to fill that role, but that can only happen if he develops better chemistry with Jackson.
Solving this conundrum can raise the ceiling of this offense, which would be a huge boon for the Ravens’ playoff success. Baltimore’s running game is unblemished save for the fact it’s underutilized when things matter most.
All in all, the Ravens can go one of two ways after this AFC Championship game loss…
They can let it hang over their heads and gnaw its way into their psyche every January, or they’ll use it as fuel to expel their playoff demons and return to New Orleans — the site of their 2013 Super Bowl victory — to finally capture the franchise’s third Lombardi Trophy in 2025.
