The Baltimore Ravens seem to have a tendency to lose in the most heartbreaking ways imaginable. Their Week 18 loss was just that: heartbreaking. They fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football, watching their playoff hopes officially slip away in a 26-24 loss that went down to the wire.
The matchup came down to the foot of kicker Tyler Loop, and the rookie was not ready for the moment, missing a game-winning attempt as time expired. In a winner-takes-all game, losses don’t get much more painful than that.
It takes a ton of time to move on from such an end to a season. For both the organization and fans, they likely won’t be able to get over it until the 2026 season kicks off, and the preparation for that year starts now.
With the loss, the Ravens now have their list of opponents for next year set in stone.
Obviously, most of their opponents were already known. Along with two games against each of their AFC North rivals, the Ravens and the rest of the AFC North are scheduled to draw matchups with the AFC South and NFC South next year.
Thankfully, they catch a break, as the NFC South did not have a single team over .500 in the regular season.
If there’s any good to come out of this loss and severely underwhelming campaign (there’s really not), it’s the fact that Baltimore won’t have to play a first-place schedule next year. In addition to the teams already scheduled, Baltimore will face three other teams that finished second in their division this year.
That doesn’t look much better on paper, though, as those second-place matchups from the AFC include the Los Angeles Chargers and, of course, like clockwork, the Buffalo Bills.
That final 17th game will be against another out-of-conference opponent in the Dallas Cowboys, who placed second in the NFC North in 2025 with a 7-9-1 record.
With some lighter competition next year, hopefully the Ravens can bounce back.
Ravens' Home Opponents
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Cleveland Browns
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Tennessee Titans
- New Orleans Saints
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Los Angeles Chargers
Ravens' Road Opponents
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Cleveland Browns
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Atlanta Falcons
- Indianapolis Colts
- Houston Texans
- Carolina Panthers
- Buffalo Bills
- Dallas Cowboys