We are here today to mourn the 2024 Baltimore Ravens, a team with Super Bowl aspirations that failed to make the AFC Championship game. Their NFL MVP hopeful at quarterback was defeated by his top rival for the award, as turnovers and late miscues doomed the Ravens on Sunday night.
The Ravens have won 78 regular-season games since the 2018 season, which are the most victories by any team in a seven-season span without a Super Bowl appearance all time. In Sunday’s divisional-round loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Ravens became the fifth team in postseason history to outgain an opponent by 140 yards and not punt the ball once. They were the only team out of the five to lose their game.
Is Baltimore’s Super Bowl window closing following this most recent postseason loss? Can the franchise find its way back to contending as a top AFC threat next season? If not, what must it do this offseason to be more prepared for next postseason? Let’s take a look.
Why Ravens can run it back in 2025
1. Lamar Jackson is elite. If you have an elite quarterback, your Super Bowl window is open. Consider the fact that the Washington Commanders went 4-13 last year, and are now one game away from the Super Bowl thanks to Jayden Daniels. As long as Jackson is their quarterback, the Ravens’ Super Bowl window is open. Half of the NFL is looking for a playmaker like Lamar.
In 2024, Jackson recorded the first season in NFL history where a player had 4,000 passing yards and 800 rushing yards. The two-time NFL MVP also was the first player to ever throw 40 touchdowns and fewer than five interceptions in a season. Having the most dangerous dual-threat weapon in the world play the most important position keeps your Super Bowl window open.
2. Derrick Henry isn’t done yet. Some may have questions about Henry now that he’s 31 years old, but if there’s one running back who can still shine at 31 years old, it’s definitely Henry. In his first season with Baltimore, Henry tied for the league lead with 16 rushing touchdowns, and ranked second in rushing yards with 1,921. The former No. 45 overall pick of the Tennessee Titans was named to his fifth Pro Bowl, and earned his fourth All-Pro selection.
No 30-year-old has ever rushed for as many yards as Henry did in 2024. He’s not your typical running back in more ways than one, as Henry even set a Ravens franchise record with 186 rushing yards and two touchdowns on Wild Card Weekend after a bruising 17-game regular season. Jackson and Henry combined for the most total yards by any duo in a season in NFL history with 7,201, and were tough to contain for opposing defenses. Even if Henry doesn’t finish top two in rushing in 2025, he’s still a force to be reckoned with.
3. A great front office. Have you noticed that this Ravens front office clearly knows what it’s doing? Last year, a survey of 40 executives and coaches from the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL conducted by The Athletic revealed the Ravens were regarded as the best front office in the NFL, and No. 3 overall in the world of sports. When it comes to free agency and draft picks, Eric DeCosta and his executives deserve the benefit of a doubt. They’ve traded for stars like Roquan Smith, drafted difference-makers like Kyle Hamilton, landed important free agents like Henry and developed talent like their star quarterback.
4. Improvement at WR. The Ravens had their first-ever wide receiver make the Pro Bowl this season. Unfortunately, Zay Flowers wasn’t available for the postseason due to a knee injury. Still, his 1,059 receiving yards were the most by a Ravens wideout since Steve Smith Sr. in 2014, and he clearly has a bright future. It’s also worth mentioning that Rashod Bateman, their 2021 first-round draft pick, had a career year in 2024 with 756 yards receiving and nine touchdowns on 45 receptions.
The Ravens still have some work to do regarding the wide receiving corps — especially when it comes to the depth at the position — but the 2024 campaign was the first time a Jackson-led Ravens offense featured two 700-yard wide receivers.
5. A clear Mark Andrews replacement is already on the roster. Mark Andrews’ stock hit an all-time low after his nightmare fourth quarter vs. the Bills, but he did catch a career-high 11 touchdowns in 2024. I thought Isaiah Likely was a key storyline this past season, as he had a career year with 42 receptions for 477 yards and six touchdowns. The athletic pass-catcher is just 24, and will play more of a role moving forward in this offense. We saw how critical Andrews, who will enter his contract year in 2025, was for Jackson in the early stages of his career. Likely is going to be that key replacement who keeps the tight end position more than relevant in Baltimore.
6. Talented defenders already under contract. The Ravens defense was one of the best units in the league during the second half of the season. From Week 11 up to Sunday, the Ravens defense ranked No. 1 in scoring defense, total defense and third-down defense. Previously, they ranked 25th or worse in each category. Looking at Baltimore’s defensive free agents this offseason, there’s not really anything to be worried about. The Ravens signed Nnamdi Madubuike to an extension last year, Roquan Smith signed an extension in 2023, Marlon Humphrey has two more years remaining on his contract, Kyle Van Noy signed a two-year deal just last offseason and then star safety Kyle Hamilton has at the very minimum one more year with the Ravens — who will likely pick up his fifth-year option if not sign him to a new deal altogether.
Ravens’ Lamar Jackson expresses frustration after sloppy playoff loss to Bills: ‘Hold on to the f—ing ball’
Tyler Sullivan
What went wrong in 2024/What has to go differently
All those reasons above should ease the mind of disappointed Ravens fans. Still, what can the team do to fix what went wrong in 2024?
The next few months will be dominated by conversations about where the Ravens could upgrade their roster and what needs to be fixed for Baltimore to make a legitimate run. However, there’s one issue that keeps coming up in the playoffs, and it’s not something that can necessarily be fixed by a free agent or draft pick.
The Ravens’ turnover margin in Jackson’s five career playoff losses is -12. For as good as Jackson is, he’s committed multiple turnovers in 50% of his postseason starts, compared to 15% of his regular-season starts. If you turn the ball over, it’s tough to win games. You can outgain your opponent 416 yards to 273 yards, you can record more first downs than your opponent and convert on 70% of third downs. If you lose the turnover battle, 3-0, like Baltimore did on Sunday night, you will likely lose. If you fumble away possession in the fourth quarter of a playoff game while trailing, you will likely lose. If you don’t catch an open pass in the end zone with the game on the line, you will probably lose.
The Ravens haven’t come up clutch in big postseason moments, and that’s absolutely something that needs to change. I think it’s fair to shift some blame to head coach John Harbaugh as well. Having one of the best offenses of all time and an incredible defensive turnaround means nothing if you’re bound for Cancun on Jan. 20. So to summarize, the Ravens’ Super Bowl window is certainly not closing, but Jackson and the Ravens need to begin rising to the occasion.
What to worry about this offseason
The future is still bright for the Ravens, but there are a couple of things to worry about this offseason. One is the contract of left tackle Ronnie Stanley. While he made the Pro Bowl in 2019, which led to a lucrative five-year extension, Stanley had never played a full season until this year. He had a fantastic campaign in a contract year, and it will be important for Baltimore to find a way to retain him.
The other potential issue to worry about is key coaches leaving. The losses of Mike Macdonald, Dennard Wilson and Anthony Weaver appeared to be felt early in the season on defense, and now Baltimore could be in danger of losing its offensive architect in Todd Monken, who is reportedly interviewing with multiple teams looking for new head coaches this offseason. Under Monken, Jackson has put together the best two-year stretch of his career. If he leaves to pursue another opportunity, it would certainly hurt the offensive progress Jackson and the Ravens as a whole have made over the last two seasons.
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