Welcome back to another edition of ‘Ravens Reacts’, a Cool Sports Newsletter series made by a die hard Ravens fan! The Baltimore Ravens 2023-24 season ended in their AFC championship loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, falling short of the grand prize once again. And it is very unfortunate. Because this was one of the best teams in NFL history…had they gone on to win it all. This roster was talented, and proved their dominance against incredible teams. And yet they still came short again. Here is a recap to the season, what to think, who to blame, but also think about the Ravens for the 2024 season and how next time capitalize on the opportunity.
The Ravens struggled offensively to begin the season, going 3-2 with losses to Gardner Minshew and Kenny Pickett because of their lack of scoring. A lot of that probably had to do with Todd Monken just joining the team as the offensive coordinator. In fact in his first six weeks, MVP Lamar Jackson went 4-2 with nine total touchdowns to seven turnovers and a 93.0 rating, which is good. But the final ten weeks of the season was when Jackson exploded. When the offense exploded. In his final ten games, Jackson went 9-1 with 20 total touchdowns to six turnovers and a 118.0 rating. This is why Jackson is took home his 2nd career NFL MVP award, almost once again unanimous.
It also resulted in the Ravens offense exploding, leading the league in rushing, breaking a franchise record in rushing touchdowns, and ranking top five amongst all teams in the league in yardage and points per game. But most teams don’t usually combine that with a potent defense. Well Baltimore did. The Ravens became the first team in NFL history to lead the league in points allowed per game, takeaways and sacks, which was not expected pre-season. Baltimore took advantage of unseen talents like Geno Stone–who led the AFC in interceptions this season–or Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy, who each recorded 9 sacks. Then add on 4 more All-Pro defenders on all areas of the field, and the Ravens defense was also towards the top of the league.
So what happens when you have an offense with the best offensive player in the game, and a defense with many of the best defensive players in the game? Well, you get pure dominance. And the coaches sure get credit. Baltimore had three positional assistants get defensive coordinator jobs, both of their coordinators were in the running for Assistant Coach of the Year, one became a head coach, and your head coach was in the running for Coach of the Year.
And eventually this turns into dominance. Baltimore led the league in point differential, with 11 wins against .500 or better teams. Baltimore put massive beatdowns on a 12 win Detroit team, above .500 Seattle team, an 11 win Cleveland team, a 9 win Jacksonville team, a 12 win San Francisco team, and an 11 win Miami team. They just the sucked the will to live out of everybody, and they were by far the most dominant team in the league. That was a huge reason why they were picked as the favorite to win the Super Bowl, and were the most picked team by fans to take home the luxurious trophy heading into the postseason. They just thought: Flock Around And Find Out!
But then it all fell apart. After one great postseason win over Houston, Baltimore did what they’ve done now for the past half-decade; choke it all away when it matters most. Baltimore played their worst game at the worst time. Lamar had two turnovers. Their leading receiver fumbled the ball at the goal line. A once great Ravens defense let Mahomes start 11-11. And the once dominant untouchable Ravens watched their season fall apart on their home turf and watched the reigning champs celebrate an AFC conference win…on their field!
There are many reasons as to why this team fell apart. Some may say the play-calling, only giving your running backs six carries as the number one ranked rushing team in the league in the AFCCG. I personally think Baltimore was great this year when they were “locked in”. But I think they lost that underdog mentality after the wins they put on dominating teams. They lost that commitment. The dancing in the locker room. The ‘Big Truzz’ after touchdowns. It was very similar to how they acted in 2019, and well that result didn’t end far different than this one. I think Baltimore lost what got them there, and they thought they could just roll over Kansas City. They were obviously in for a rude awakening. But some may just think John Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson can’t win in the playoffs, as we’ve now had the same result on multiple occasions with a team that was far better than their opponent.
So the huge question is what has to change. And to be brutally honest with you, I think it’s going to be very hard to build a better team than Baltimore just built. They lost the best defensive coordinator in the league. They’re going to have to let go of one of their superstar 24-25 year old All-Pro’s. They’re going to have to replace veterans or pay to keep veterans like Clowney or Odell Beckham Jr. It is going to be very hard for Baltimore to, forget get better, but be even a shell of how dominant this 2023 team was. But the point is, they don’t have to be. As long as they have capable enough weapons around Harbaugh, Jackson, Roquan Smith and Kyle Hamilton, Baltimore will be in a similar position. It is all just going to come down to staying locked in and winning when it matters most, which continues to be the problem for all teams in Charm City!
So look, the season has wrapped up. I have appreciated all of our viewers and followers throughout the year. This newsletter grew a ton during this Ravens season and I can’t thank you all enough. The Ravens are faced with some tough questions and decisions this offseason, and you will see articles on that periodically over the next two months. You’ll also see some more coverage in April for the draft, and in May for the schedule release, etc. But we are going to slow down the rate we post for this series. We will post some more articles on the Orioles with the season starting soon, and also some articles on the Capitals with an important playoff push having to come soon. Thank you all so much. It was a fun season, but we didn’t get the result we wanted. However, after an offseason, we’ll be right back here on Ravens Reacts ready to finish the job next time around!
Chase Coburn
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