The Baltimore Ravens' season ended in yet another gut-wrenching fashion in Buffalo. Hopes for a third Super Bowl championship ended in a 27-25 loss to the Buffalo Bills, and now, for Ravens fans, it's time to find out who is responsible. It's easy to find and point at one person soon after excruciating, painful losses like this one.
However, it's never that simple. Especially with these Ravens because, once again, they were their own worst enemy. They lost as a team.
Ray Lewis, in his A Football Life documentary, said it best about Baltimore's 2011 AFC Championship game loss to the New England Patriots:
"What you gonna do, put that on two men? Oh, Lee should've caught the ball. Oh, Billy should've made the kick. Maybe I should've made a tackle in the third quarter. So, anything can cost you. So, there's no one person you can ever put blame on. We came here as a team; we locked and loaded as a team. Let's make sure we leave as a team."
The same thing applies to the Ravens' loss in Buffalo on Sunday. Mark Andrews will be the topic of discussion throughout the offseason. It's easy to solely point at Andrews's fumble and 2-point conversion drop. However, he's just one conundrum in a sea full of errors.
We can also look at Lamar Jackson's two costly turnovers in the first half. The offensive and defensive lines losing their battles in the first half. Todd Monken not getting Derrick Henry going early in the game and not giving him the ball in either of the Ravens' 2-point conversion attempts.
The defense as a whole did not do a good enough job in the first half to stop Josh Allen, James Cook, Ty Johnson, Ray Davis, and the Buffalo Bills' offense, especially against the run. Baltimore was the best run defense in the NFL, and the Bills had no fear running the ball on them. Debatable as it may have been, Tre'Davious White's pass interference penalty set up a Bills touchdown.
All of that contributed to the Ravens' 21-10 deficit they had to climb out of at halftime.
The Ravens did what everyone's biggest fear about them was this year and throughout these last seven seasons: They repeatedly beat themselves with costly mistakes. It's a collective effort all around—from coaches to quarterbacks, tight ends and receivers, offensive line, defense, and special teams. It's everyone. It's not about one play or one player.
This offseason will be an interesting one for the Ravens and general manager Eric DeCosta. They thought last year all they needed was a guy like Henry to put them over the top. Now, DeCosta needs to really think about what else he has to do with a roster this talented to finally get them a Super Bowl again. It won't be easy.
If the Ravens eventually want to climb the mountaintop again with this core group of players, they have to do it as a team, and everyone needs to do their part—not just from September to December; it has to continue into January. The team can't keep making the same mistakes that have hurt them in six of their last nine playoff games. You come in as a team, and you win and lose as a team because it's not about just one player. It's about the team.
They came into Buffalo and lost as a team the same way they've lost in the playoffs from 2018 onwards. Learning from it as a team is the only way for them to get better.