The Baltimore Ravens entered the NFL in 1996 and, like other expansion teams, it took them a few years to get off and running. It says a lot about how the Ravens are run that the worst year in their entire franchise history is the very first year they were in operations.
During that 1996 season, the Ravens went 4-12 and they've never had a record that's matched that ever since. That's pretty darn impressive. While the Ravens have had a five-win season, that four-win season in their inaugural 1996 campaign is still the fewest number of wins in a single season.
Why 1996 is the worst season in Baltimore Ravens history
First and foremost, it's not uncommon for an expansion team to struggle. Even if the Ravens didn't fully fit the bill as a traditional expansion team, they were still acclimating to a new city and a new envirionment after departing from Cleveland to Baltimore.
The biggest issue with the 1996 Ravens, aside from it being the team's first year in operation, was that the defense struggled immensely. The defense surrendered over 25 points in 10 of the Ravens' 16 games and allowed 30 or more points in six games. It's hard to win games when the defense can't keep the team in the game.
The coaching staff also made a puzzling decision in a game against the Broncos when they switched from a 3-4 despite playing in a 4-3 scheme all year. The players were adamantly against the decision and turns out they had a good reason to be as the Ravens got shellacked by the Broncos, surrendering 45 points in the loss.
While the offense wasn't as big of a weakness as the defense was that year, the run game struggled to keep up with its passing counterpart. Vinny Testaverde, Michael Jackson, and Derrick Alexander balled out at quarterback and wide receiver though, which was a positive from this otherwise forgettable season. Testaverde even made the Pro Bowl that year.
When a team has had the amount of success that the Ravens have had, it makes it much easier to pick what the worst year was and that's the case here. Fortunately, the Ravens soon found their footing and won a Super Bowl just five years into their existence and then added another Super Bowl trophy to their shelf 12 years later.
The Ravens might have found their footing but the case remains -- The 1996 Baltimore Ravens were a bad football team and to this day, they're the worst team in franchise history.