With the Super Bowl matchup set between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, every other team will sit and wonder how they didn’t make it to New Orleans and how they can get better next season. The Baltimore Ravens are one of those teams after their 27-25 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.
With the Ravens, however, it’s a more perplexing situation because the talent is there. They have enough to get to the Super Bowl; it’s just about executing in the playoffs and translating their dominant regular-season play into January. Here are some things the Ravens need to fix to finally get over the hump.
Lamar Jackson needs to limit turnovers
This has been a talking point for Lamar Jackson’s entire playoff career, and it continued after he turned the ball over twice in the first half of Baltimore’s loss to Buffalo. Jackson has taken steps toward becoming a better playoff quarterback, especially after his performances against the Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers in his last two playoff wins.
His second half against Buffalo was stellar, and he was a dropped pass away from tying the game late. However, ball security remains a key factor for him, with 11 turnovers in eight playoff games—including 10 in his five playoff defeats. If Jackson takes care of the ball, he and the Ravens will be much harder to stop in the postseason.
Stick to pounding the rock
In the regular season, the Ravens are one of, if not the best, rushing teams in the NFL. They’ve been one of the most dominant rushing teams in league history over the last several years. When they run the ball well, they’re nearly unstoppable. The playoffs, however, have been a different story.
In last year’s AFC Championship game, the Ravens ran the ball just six times with their running backs in a 17-10 loss to the Chiefs. In the Divisional Playoff loss to the Bills, Derrick Henry was held in check in the first half but got going in the second, finishing with 16 carries for 84 yards.
Henry should have had more than 16 rushing attempts in a game like that, especially in those cold conditions. That number needs to be at least 25-30. The Ravens must remain committed to the run throughout the postseason to reach their ultimate goal—especially now with Henry on the team.
Preventing timely penalties
Any team that wants to win the Super Bowl needs to be disciplined and avoid costly penalties. The worst penalties are the ones that extend what should’ve been stalled drives and ultimately lead to points.
The Ravens were hit with those last year in the AFC Championship game. Against the Bills, a pass interference penalty on Tre’Davious White on a 3rd-and-5 deep in Ravens territory extended a Buffalo drive that ended in a touchdown. The Bills went up 21-10 at that point.
This season, the Ravens ranked first in the NFL in penalties. John Harbaugh and his staff must preach discipline and awareness next year to keep these costly mistakes from derailing another playoff run.
Defense needs to force turnovers
Since 2018, the Ravens' defense has only had one truly bad playoff game—against the Tennessee Titans in 2019, when Derrick Henry ran for 195 yards in a 28-12 loss at M&T Bank Stadium. Other than that, the unit has been solid.
However, one thing has been lacking: takeaways. The Ravens' defense hasn’t forced a turnover in their last five playoff games and has only forced two in Jackson’s eight postseason starts.
Baltimore knows all too well that the best defenses generate takeaways in the playoffs. In a conference where they have to battle Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Josh Allen, the defense must start creating turnovers if they want to be a true championship-caliber unit.