The Baltimore Ravens have locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC ahead of their matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final game of the regular season. Quarterback Lamar Jackson is the favorite to win MVP after throwing five touchdown passes and finishing with a perfect passer rating while dropping over 50 points on the Miami Dolphins.
If you have a sense of Deja Vu, this also happened in the 2019 season for the Ravens. However, Baltimore is hoping for one significant difference this season compared to 2019: The ending.
Baltimore was on top of the world during a 12-game winning streak to close out the 2019 season, blowing through opponent after opponent with the unanimous MVP of the league at quarterback in just his second year in the NFL. It all came crashing down to Earth in an instant after being punched in the mouth by the Tennessee Titans in their first playoff game in the divisional round, leaving the Ravens with nothing outside of individual awards to show for the best regular season in franchise history.
That nightmarish loss has stuck with fans ever since, making many weary of the first-round bye and the potential rust that comes with it.
Now, four years later, Baltimore has not forgotten the pain of that day either — particularly Jackson. Soon to be 27 years old and in the sixth season of his NFL career, Jackson has seen about anything the NFL can throw at him. He has reached the pinnacle of individual success, dealt with heartbreak and frustration, and had his last two seasons cut short due to season-ending injuries. Those scars have hardened him and prepared him to take another swing at finishing the story this time around by accomplishing the one thing he has yet to do: win the Super Bowl as he promised on draft night.
“We know what it was in 2019 when we were playing against [teams] like this [and] winning regular season games,” Jackson said following the team’s victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Christmas Day. “When the time came, we didn’t finish the season. We’re just going to keep taking it a day at a time, a practice at a time and a game at a time. That’s all I’m focused on right now.”
Head Coach John Harbaugh was asked about his lessons from the 2019 season.
“That was a disappointment,” Harbaugh said. “It was just a disappointment. We did our best. [It was] a certain kind of a season. It’s different from this season; it’s a different team; [it’s] different circumstances; [it’s a] different, everything except the record is about the same and [earning] the [first-round] bye. I remember the experience and the choices we made, but the decisions we made, we made for certain reasons, and we thought they were the right decision. What impacted what [and] how in terms of us not playing our best football that day, it’s really hard to say what the cause and effect was. We just didn’t. We didn’t go out there, and we didn’t do it. That’s the thing I kind of take from it the most.”
Following the win over the Dolphins, Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley was asked how much of a learning experience 2019 was.
“I think it’s been a big learning experience for this team,” Stanley said. “That learning experience helped us overcome so many things just to get to where we are now. We know where we still have to go. That memory, that’s always gonna stay with us. It’s a learning experience that we know we can grow from and we’re gonna grow from it.”
Baltimore understands the opportunity before them, incredibly after it was ripped away so quickly in 2019. After every big win this season, Jackson has preached about the need to stay locked in — a contrast to the joyous 22-year-old Jackson living it up on the sidelines with his teammates during blowouts in 2019. The now veteran quarterback understands what it takes to get to this point and how quickly it can all fall apart. Players such as inside linebacker Roquan Smith deliver the same mentality to the other side of the ball.
“We remember 2019,” Harbaugh said. “It’s not something we’re going to forget, and it’s going to be something that’s going to … You’re not going to take it for granted. Not that we ever would, but it’s one more thing that makes you who you are now. We haven’t forgotten that.”
