The Ravens Are Now in a Fight Against History After Starting 0-2
The last time the Ravens began a season 0-2, Lamar Jackson was a freshman at Louisville, Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken was Head Coach of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, and Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr was a Ravens linebacker.
Winless entering Week 3 after falling to the Raiders, 26-23, isn't where Baltimore wanted to be. And climbing out of this hole will take improvements in all three phases as the Ravens look to define themselves in the 15 games remaining.
But getting back to the playoffs won't be easy.
"History, however, is not in the Ravens' favor. They've started 0-2 four other times and not only missed the playoffs those years, but they didn't finish with a winning record," The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec wrote.
It's not just the Ravens who struggle to right the ship after back-to-back losses to begin a season.
"Since the NFL playoffs expanded to 14 teams in 2020, 32 franchises have started the season 0-2," The Baltimore Sun’s Bennett Conlin wrote. "Only two of those 32 teams (6.25%) — Cincinnati in 2022 and Houston in 2023 — made the postseason. Just five of the 32 teams finished the season with a winning record."
A winning record or simply making the playoffs aren't the Ravens' ultimate goals. They entered the season as Super Bowl contenders, but lifting the Lombardi trophy after an 0-2 start is rare.
"Only three teams (1993 Dallas Cowboys, 2001 New England Patriots and 2007 New York Giants) have ever won the Super Bowl after an 0-2 start," Conlin wrote.
Zrebiec notes their next few opponents won't make it any easier. The Ravens head to Dallas next, then return home to face the 2-0 Bills, and then travel to rival Cincinnati.
"They already trail the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers by two games," Zrebiec wrote. "If the Ravens don't figure things out quickly, the anticipation that accompanied this season of great expectations will be extinguished quicker than Baltimore's 23-13 lead was Sunday afternoon."
He's not alone in expressing concern for the Ravens and their challenging schedule. Both The Athletic's Mike Jones and Ted Nguyen share the same apprehension.
"The Ravens always seem to figure things out even if they start slow, and they have the talent to get back into the race, but starting 0-2 is extremely difficult to come back from historically," Nguyen wrote.
"The Ravens have to do some fine-tuning in a hurry. They really needed to pick up a win [on Sunday], because next week they face the Cowboys on the road, and then comes a date with the Buffalo Bills," Jones wrote. "Things could get out of hand quickly if they're not careful."
Odafe Oweh, Kyle Van Noy Shine
Entering the season, the Ravens edge rusher group showed a lot of potential and promise, but production had been limited. Other than veteran Kyle Van Noy (42.5), only Odafe Oweh had more than five career sacks (13).
But through two games, Oweh, Van Noy, and David Ojabo have totaled 5.5 of the team's seven sacks.
"The edge rush group was a primary concern entering the season, but Oweh, Van Noy and Ojabo showed how they can affect a game. And after being one of the most impressive players of training camp, Oweh has carried that over to the regular season," Pressbox’s Bo Smolka wrote. "That bodes well for him and this team."
The Ravens' edge group was relentless in both facets of defending the run and generating pressure on Gardner Minshew II.
"Anytime Minshew took more than a couple of seconds to look downfield, Oweh and fellow outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy were on him," The Baltimore Sun's Childs Walker wrote. "No one could have guessed Van Noy fractured his orbital bone 10 days earlier. Not only did he get after Minshew; he set a tough edge, forcing Raiders running backs to the middle, where Ravens defensive linemen smothered them. Las Vegas averaged 1.8 yards per play in the first half."
CBS Sports Rules Analyst Gene Steratore Disagrees with Stephens' DPI Penalty
On third-and-goal from the 17-yard line, Minshew looked to wide receiver Davante Adams for a game-tying touchdown but was denied as cornerback Brandon Stephens out-dueled Adams for the ball.
However, an official 15 yards away threw a flag and called pass interference, putting the Raiders at the 1-yard line. They tied the game on the next play.
The call was met with boos in M&T Bank Stadium and after the game, CBS Sports Rules Analyst Gene Steratore, who spent 15 years as an NFL official, disagreed with the flag.
Harbaugh and Ravens safety Eddie Jackson also were under the impression it was a clean play from Stephens.
"I'm not going to be able to say, because on the big screen, it looked like [Brandon Stephens] had his hands completely off of him. I wouldn't know, on either one of those, what to say to those two guys for better technique," Harbaugh said. "It looked like perfect technique from where I was, but I'll have to look at the TV copy to see what the official thought he saw when he called that."
Derrick Henry on the Cusp of Getting Going
Through two weeks, defenses have sold out to keep running back Derrick Henry from getting rolling. But against the Raiders, the Ravens saw their first glimpse of "Henry as the hammer."
"When it looked like the Ravens would put their mistakes behind them and close out a win, Henry was the major reason. He carried five times for 34 yards on the drive that put them up 23-13, knifing through inside gaps and swinging around the edge with force," The Baltimore Sun’s Childs Walker wrote.
"We even got our first glimpse of the vaunted Henry stiff arm when he galloped 29 yards down the sideline to set up a Zay Flowers touchdown catch on the first drive of the second half. This was the Henry we envisioned when the Ravens signed him in the offseason — a hurricane on two legs who would unleash hell on tired defenses and put leads in the bag. Send him behind battering ram fullback Patrick Ricard and watch them crumble."
After finishing with five yards in the first half, Henry and the run game found rhythm in the second as he finished with 84 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries (4.7 yards per carry). Walker sees this as good news for the weeks ahead.
"As we learned across his magnificent seasons in Tennessee, Henry is a good inside runner, but he's an all-time-great outside runner," Walker wrote. "The Ravens made the right calls to unlock that facet of his game in the second half, which portends well for their offense in the coming weeks."
Pundits React to Ravens' Loss
The Ravens' loss sparked commentary and critique from pundits across the NFL world.
ESPN’s Jamison Hensley: "Another collapse. This marks the Ravens' fourth loss after leading by double digits in the fourth quarter since 2022. This ties the Bears for the most in the NFL in that span, according to ESPN Research. The Ravens can only blame themselves for that fourth-quarter collapse."
CBS Sports’ John Breech: "This was a total team loss for the Ravens, who blew a 10-point lead in the second half. Their defense couldn't stop the Raiders in the second half, their offense couldn't move the ball in the fourth quarter and even the normally reliable Justin Tucker might not be reliable anymore, at least from long range. … Everything is falling apart in Baltimore, and with the Cowboys on deck next week, 0-3 isn't out of the question for Baltimore."
CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin: "Lamar Jackson insisted after the Baltimore Ravens' upset loss to the Las Vegas Raiders that 'that's not us at all.' But actually, it is. The Ravens have been notoriously poor at closing out double-digit leads under Harbaugh. They're still talented, but they've yet to prove themselves as true finishers."
The Baltimore Sun’s Tim Schwartz: "This has to be up there among the worst losses in recent memory. To let Gardner Minshew II rally the Raiders to victory in the home opener in Baltimore is about as bad as it gets for the Ravens, who couldn't protect a 10-point fourth-quarter lead."
The Baltimore Sun’s Bennett Conlin: "That's a disastrous loss for Baltimore, given the opponent and how the game played out. A Super Bowl contender built to run the ball effectively with Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry shouldn't squander a double-digit home lead to Gardner Minshew and the Raiders. The Ravens looked tight in the final 10 minutes, with the defense going from dominant to out of sorts in an instant."
NFL.com’s Bobby Kownack: "Ravens aren't playing Ravens football just yet. Baltimore let its opponent hang around far too long in this one and paid for it with an 0-2 hole to start the season. The defense played well for nearly the first three quarters, especially Odafe Oweh (2.5 sacks) and Kyle Van Noy (2.0 sacks), but late lapses allowed Las Vegas to steal one. The Ravens, last year such a defensive force, gave up four consecutive scoring drives -- 20 points -- to close the game."
