The Baltimore Ravens have built one of the more talented and brutally physical rosters in the NFL, fresh off a run to the AFC Championship Game thanks in large part to quarterback Lamar Jackson’s MVP campaign in 2023.
After signing Derrick Henry this offseason, arguably the most ideal match of skill-set to system and need of any move made across the league during free agency, there is plenty of optimism that Baltimore could once again remain the biggest threat to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2024.
However, after defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald’s departure to become head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, and several marquee defensive players leaving via free agency, not everyone is convinced that the Ravens will survive a gauntlet that includes the Chiefs, a rejuvenated Cincinnati Bengals, the upstart Houston Texans, the Cleveland Browns’ dominant defense, among the top contenders in the conference.
Could the Baltimore Ravens Regress in 2024?
Ahead of the 2024 season kicking off, ESPN NFL analyst Bill Barnwell put together a list of the teams that could take a step back this fall, including Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
“Even with a full year from Jackson and something close to a vintage season from Henry,” Barnwell writes for ESPN. “It would be tough for the Ravens to win 13 games in back-to-back years. Allowing for the move from 16 to 17 games, teams that are this dominant in any given season often struggle to keep up their performances. Go back through 1989 and you’ll find that 31% of the teams that won 12 or more games in a given year did so again the following season.
“The question, more realistically, is what the drop-off looks like. Could the Ravens be like the 2023 Chiefs, where they fall to 11 wins and still win their division before getting hot in the playoffs? That’s entirely possible. There’s also a scenario in which they’re the 2023 Bengals, a team that struggled to overcome an outflux of talent, dealt with an injury to their quarterback and ended up shockingly missing the playoffs altogether.”
While it is entirely possible that an improved AFC North combined with the losses the Ravens will look to replace this season could cause Baltimore to take a step back, this is still one of the more talented teams in the league.
Jackson showed material growth as a pocket passer last season, and should benefit from speedy wide receiver Zay Flowers having a year of experience under his belt, not to mention the attention defenses will need to pay Henry as a battering ram.
However, the road back to the conference title game will be much more difficult for the Ravens, there is little debating that as the regular season nears.
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