:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/baltimorebanner/3C25U2F5PRAZ5NKEMXPQROVOWI.jpg)
If the Ravens needed any further motivation for the remainder of the season after surrendering double-digit leads in each of their three losses, including their most recent inexplicable meltdown against the Giants, they won’t need to look any further than their own sideline on Sunday when they take on the 2-4 Cleveland Browns.
Some of the raw emotional energy that defined the team for so long will return to M&T Bank Stadium, with legends Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and approximately 50 members from the 2012 team in attendance so the franchise can honor them on the 10th anniversary season of their Super Bowl XLVII win. Lewis and Reed will address the fans at halftime.
The current roster, aside from kicker Justin Tucker (the lone remaining active player from that squad still wearing a Ravens uniform), could learn a thing or two from that team’s journey through adversity.
The 2012 team looked to be in a free fall when they lost four of their last five games.
Those Ravens had opened the season at 9-2 thanks to Ray Rice’s incredible conversion on 4th-and-29 against the then-San Diego Chargers, which came with Baltimore trailing 13-10 and only 1:59 left in the fourth quarter.
But the energy from that play and early success was gone by December, as the Ravens went 1-4 with losses to Pittsburgh, Washington, Denver and Cincinnati.
From the outside, they seemed to have as much of a positive outlook as Winthorpe at the Duke & Duke Christmas party heading into the playoffs. It seemed that Lewis, who had announced his plan to retire after the season, would see his career go out with a whimper.
But coach John Harbaugh steadied the ship, and after their 38-35 overtime playoff win against the Broncos in Denver and subsequent 28-13 smackdown of the Patriots in Foxborough in the AFC Championship game, the Ravens culminated the most thrilling season in recent franchise history with an unforgettable 34-31 Super Bowl victory over the 49ers.
This current version of the 3-3 Ravens still has plenty of football and opportunities left to make the 2022 campaign a memorable one. And that journey through adversity must start on Sunday against the division rival Browns.
“The foundation is there,” Baltimore coach Harbaugh said earlier this week. “We know we’re playing good football [on] both sides of the ball. Just keep striving, keep trying to get better, keep building on what we’ve done in the past, and we’re going to be good.”
Both teams will be hungry, with Cleveland having lost three straight. Baltimore’s defense will be tested by the best running back in the NFL thus far this year in Nick Chubb, who leads the league with 649 rushing yards. The Browns also pound you on the ground with Kareem Hunt as well.
But Bill Belichick put the league’s top rushing attack in check last week when the Patriots demolished the Browns 38-15, limiting Chubb to 56 rushing yards. The entire team combined to rush for only 70 yards.
The Ravens have the league’s fifth-leading rusher in Lamar Jackson, who has 451 yards on the ground to go along with his 1,277 passing yards and 13 passing touchdowns. Kenyan Drake added a surprising spark to the offense last week with his 119 yards on only 10 carries.
With J.K. Dobbins out four to six weeks due to his impending arthroscopic knee surgery, the return of Justice Hill and Gus Edwards to the backfield will be happily welcomed.
Jackson should specifically be extra motivated for this one, given that Cleveland intercepted him four times in last year’s 16-10 Ravens win. The offense could be buoyed by the recent addition of veteran wideout DeSean Jackson, who, even at the tender age of 35, possesses the breathtaking speed that can tear the roof off a defense (Jackson was signed to the practice squad but could be elevated to the game-day roster.)
That should open up the field even more for gifted tight end Mark Andrews, who leads the team with 39 catches for 455 yards and five scores. He was busy in last week’s loss, catching seven receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown.
The Ravens must shake themselves out of their fourth-quarter doldrums and play a complete game, because this one is far from a gimme.
Browns quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who has thrown for 1,326 yards through the first six games this year, will test the Ravens’ steadily improving secondary by spreading the ball around to a talented receiving corps, headlined by Amari Cooper, a four-time Pro Bowl selection.
This is a statement game for the Ravens, who have a short week ahead before they face Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in Tampa on Thursday night.
The sense of urgency to establish themselves as a playoff-bound team to be reckoned with should already be in place. Having Lewis, Reed and the 2012 Super Bowl squad in the house can’t hurt, either.
alejandro.danois@thebaltimorebanner.com
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/baltimorebanner/1f03cfaf-89d7-4478-8734-4fff1066ebf6.png)
Alejandro Danois was a sports writer for The Banner. He specializes in long-form storytelling, looking at society through the prism of sports and its larger connections with the greater cultural milieu. The author of The Boys of Dunbar, A Story of Love, Hope and Basketball, he is also a film producer and cultural critic.
:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/baltimorebanner/UTOU6RCPLZEOREZ3XZNRG2ZDKY.jpg)
:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/baltimorebanner/YO2XC34J6JHOZKTPKVPUWFEYVE.jpg)
:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/baltimorebanner/5VYMTB6UOFHKXG72LMP42HMWOU.jpg)
:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/baltimorebanner/7V65VJ4Z2FCCNPYEXDDIMABSPE.JPG)