I watched the Ravens final home game of the 2023 season like I have for each of the last 26 years. Section 502, Row 15. A lot of the names and faces around me have changed somewhat. There are still some of the same people from 1998 though. Someone always close to me (family or friend) is sitting to my left.
It was the fifth time our post-season ended right down on the field below. In ’03 it was Tennessee. The top seed in ’06 was bounced by the Colts. In 2018 San Diego got us. The next year, Tennessee again. And now Kansas City. The last two both as the top seed. I think everyone of those losses has hurt just as much as the others. Sunday’s game just happened to be the latest.
They all seem to have the same theme. Start slow, get down, get away from your strengths, panic sets in, then fight like hell to avoid the looming, inevitable reality. In the 5 home playoff losses, the Ravens have only ever led one time, holding a 10-7 lead at halftime and midway into the third quarter before losing 20-17 in 2003.
I don’t think there was any one thing in particular Sunday. It was a team loss…an organizational loss. A loss for the city and the fans – like all the other home playoff losses before it. The Ravens organization has been bred and built with a defensive slant. That defense has been the crutch to carry us so often. And I am all for it. Proud of it. Watching the team suffocate opponents is joyful even if we don’t always perform at a high level on the other side of the ball. This team always has a chance to win with that counter-culture…defense.
But once in a while, like Sunday, the perfect storm hits. The critical turnovers, the crucial penalties, the calls we hoped to get and the ones we felt the flags could have been left in the pocket. It seemed the team got ZERO breaks (save for Lamar catching his own pass). Which leads to anomalies across the board…such as the lack of rushing attempts for Gus Edwards. As fans, we can only guess how many times plays were called for Edwards (or Justice Hill) only for a defensive look to trigger something else. I presume it wasn’t the plan. It just happened.
The worst part is listening to all the bitching afterward. That was the Kansas City Chiefs across the field yesterday. Winners now of 4 of the last 5 AFC Championship Games. They get to spend $224.8 million just like every other team in the NFL this year. They have one of the great head coaches of all time. Same could be said of the quarterback…who is only 28. Baltimore was coming at the king…not the other way around.
I saw the tag on ESPN where Stephen A. Smith said Lamar’s performance was a ‘choke job’. That guy doesn’t know anything more about Sunday than I do. And likely less considering he doesn’t put a lot of energy into knowing the Ravens. He has a hot take on everything. Fuck him and all of those hot-take guys. Its the same reason I stopped reading Mike Preston columns in The Sun years ago. How can I take one man’s opinion on baseball, football, basketball, lacrosse…whatever…and consider it a truly informed opinion?
31 teams will consider 2023 a fail in the NFL in the end. Its the nature of pro sports. There is one champion. The Lions had their best season in forever…and the fans are likely just as pissed as we are now. Coach is dumb, team choked, San Fran got all the calls, blah, blah. If your team doesn’t win it all, they failed. If you’re team has won it all a few times in 32 years, consider yourself lucky. The Ravens have. I am lucky…despite having to stomach another disappointment. Cleveland and Cincinnati have never won the Super Bowl. I think that is why the state name has two 0s in it. Its gotta suck to be an NFL fan in Ohio.
Dwayne's World 