In a weekend full of surprises in the NFL – from the Saints’ loss to the Cowboys in Dallas to the Buccaneers’ narrow victory over the Lions in Detroit – none was more surprising than the Ravens’ 2-0 deficit after a loss to the Raiders in Baltimore.
The Ravens blew a 10-point lead when the Raiders scored 13 unanswered points in the final 10 minutes to pull off a 26-23 victory. Baltimore, the AFC’s top seed in last year’s playoffs, is off to an 0-2 start for the second time in John Harbaugh’s tenure.
“We’re not going to let everybody define us by saying we’re not good, we’re good (or) the season is over after two games,” Harbaugh said. “That’s what’s being said, and we understand that, but they’re not here; they’re not in there. Nobody in there is going to say that. We know we’re a good football team, and we’re going to keep getting better and better and better and define the season by the way we play.”
In their opening game of the season in Week 1 against the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, the Ravens lost by literally tenths. In Week 2, they were clear favorites to beat a Raiders team that had two consecutive losing seasons.
After running back Derrick Henry scored a touchdown to make it 23-13 early in the fourth quarter, the Ravens appeared to be winning their first home game comfortably. Then the Raiders had three consecutive drives to tie the game, forcing a couple of three-and-outs from the Ravens offense.
Reigning MVP Lamar Jackson completed 21 of 34 passes for 247 yards, with one touchdown and one interception, and ran for 45 yards on five carries. According to ESPN, Jackson is only the fourth reigning MVP to lose his first two games of the season since the 1970 merger, and the first since Kurt Warner did it with the Rams in 2002. The Rams finished 7-9 in 2002, a year after reaching the Super Bowl.
“I’m definitely going to talk to my guys because we’ve got to find our mojo,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to find it and do what we’re doing because that’s not who we are at all.”
The season is still young, of course, but it has always been difficult for teams to recover from an 0-2 start. In the expanded playoff era, fewer than 10 percent of teams with such a poor start reach the postseason.
It won’t be easy for Baltimore to get out of this hole either. The Ravens’ next game is at the Cowboys, another 2023 playoff team looking to bounce back after a forgettable performance. Then Baltimore hosts Buffalo, a team that has made five straight postseason appearances and is off to a 2-0 start.
But the schedule could be seen as an opportunity for the Ravens to turn their season around and re-establish themselves as a serious contender. Whichever way you look at it, there’s no question; it’s surprising to see Baltimore in this position so early.
Most would have expected Baltimore (0-2) to swap with Pittsburgh (2-0) in the AFC North, as the Ravens bring back the MVP at quarterback and the Steelers start projects to rebuild that position.
As the great Bill Parcells said, “You are what your record says.” And the Ravens are 0-2.
“Our standards are very high,” said tackle Ronnie Stanley. “Starting like this is definitely not OK for us.”
