You know it's the offseason when former players start taking shots at rival teams and it's all anyone can talk about. Well, we're in that stage right now. For Baltimore Ravens fans, the drama began when former Steelers franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took a random shot at the organization that he faced at least twice a year for his entire career.
Big Ben went on the record saying that he thinks Baltimore's Super Bowl window has officially closed. He thinks their time in the sun has ended and he doesn't care who knows it. In case you missed it, here were Roethlisberger's comments.
"I think they're falling apart... I don't think they're the same team," Roethlisberger said on his podcast. "They feel like their window closed. To me, losing [John] Harbaugh... [Derrick] Henry's a year older, his body's taken a beating. You just feel like, 'What was going on with Lamar [Jackson] last year?' He just didn't seem like the Lamar that we've been used to seeing. Maybe he was injured. I think he took some shots last year that we didn't think about. So, maybe he'll have a bounce back year and be great again."
So, now that that's out there, you can imagine how the other two AFC North teams are gobbling this drama up. Ernesto Cova of Dawg Pound Daily was one of those other fanbases and said that, as difficult as that may be considering their disdain for the man, Browns fans should agree with Big Ben's take.
Not only does Cova agree with Roethlisberger that the Ravens are trending downward but he also said that Baltimore and Cleveland "may not be as far apart as people think".
"The Ravens are, admittedly, a very good team. They're not as good as some national pundits make them seem, though. They're coming off another disappointing season, and Jackson hasn't been able to get over the hump in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Browns are trending up and are building their team the right way. They've added multiple young starters on both sides of the ball, and while there are some valid concerns about the quarterback situation, they have the draft assets to find one in 2027. Cleveland will also have plenty of financial flexibility once it finally gets Deshaun Watson's terrible contract off the books next offseason."
Browns fans unsurprisingly agree with Big Ben's Baltimore Ravens take
On the one hand, everything Cova said about the Ravens in this blurb is true. They are a good team, they did have a disappointing season in 2025, and Lamar Jackson has stumbled in the postseason year after year. None of that is untrue.
The good news is that the Ravens have a new head coach that can hopefully get them over the hump that John Harbaugh hadn't been able to since Jackson became the quarterback. A fresh face in the coaching room is hopefully going to be what reinvigorates this Ravens team and gets them all the way to the Super Bowl. There's at least hope that this team can be a Super Bowl contender in 2026, which is not the case for Cleveland.
While Cleveland's roster isn't atrocious by any means, as Cova noted, the Browns have to find a quarterback. Until a team finds its franchise quarterback, it's hard to pencil them in as a legitimate team on the rise. The Browns haven't had much luck in that department so it's hard to take them seriously as a potential threat.
Hey, let Browns fans think whatever they want. If they think they're on equal footing as the Ravens, they'll likely be in for a rude awakening when the two teams meet up for the first time in 2026.
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