The Baltimore Ravens ended up having a very solid 2024 season, finishing with a 12-5 record and nearly making it to the AFC Championship Game.
However, it’s easy to forget all the doom and gloom at the beginning of the season.
The Ravens started the season with an 0-2 record for the first time since 2015, when they finished 5-11 in the worst season of the John Harbaugh era. Their last-second loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 was understandable if disappointing, but it was their home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2, in which they blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, that really set off the alarms.
Even their win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3 didn’t do much to ease concerns, as they nearly blew a 22-point lead with nine minutes left.
The Ravens of course got their act together soon after, but they would obviously like to avoid another slow start in 2025. Star safety Kyle Hamilton recently spoke about the secondary needing to start faster (which it absolutely does), but the message applies to the team as a whole.
“Last year, [we] didn’t get off to a great start,” Hamilton told reporters at voluntary workouts on April 21. “[We were] kind of behind the 8-ball, but we found our way at the end of the season. Who knows if we started off well [if] we would’ve had a chance at the [No.] 1 seed and stuff like that, so it’s important for us this year to … I think it’s important that we’ve gone through that and understand how hard it is to climb out of that hole and how we can change that this year.”
The good news is that the Ravens start fast more often than not, boasting a 12-5 record in Week 1 under Harbaugh. With the NFL schedule coming out this week, they’ll know who they’ll open the season against very soon, but they know they’ll have to bring their A-game no matter the opponent.
