With the Ravens needing a win in Green Bay Saturday night and a Cleveland win over Pittsburgh on Sunday to stave off postseason elimination, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. Considering the bleak playoff hopes and status of Lamar Jackson, how the Ravens compete will be interesting to watch. A single game or outcome isn’t determining John Harbaugh’s future, of course, but players are aware of the speculation. How hard do they fight for the head coach in such circumstances?
2. Baltimore’s need to address Jackson’s contract is a given, but where is the two-time NFL MVP’s own level of urgency this offseason coming off this injury-plagued and frustrating campaign? Maintaining greatness over time is a moving target for even the most transcendent athletes as they age.
3. As much as the local focus has been on the Ravens after the collapse against New England, the Packers held a 10-point lead in Chicago just before the two-minute warning and eventually lost in overtime. Both teams are reeling, and Green Bay will be without starting quarterback Jordan Love.
4. The difference is the Packers receiving a Christmas gift that punched their postseason ticket. That’s led to speculation about how they’ll approach Saturday, but Matt LaFleur’s team still has a shot at the NFC North. Downshifting too much with two games remaining and something for which to play sounds farfetched.
5. Derrick Henry carried the ball a season-high 25 times in the Week 14 loss to Pittsburgh. Barring Baltimore falling behind multiple scores early in the game, I’d be surprised if Henry doesn’t eclipse that, especially after what happened against the Patriots in the fourth quarter.
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6. Per Sharp Football, the Ravens lead the league with 20 runs of 20 or more yards while Green Bay has allowed a 20-plus-yard run on 0.9% of backfield attempts, which ranks second in the league. Baltimore will need explosive gains on the ground to have its best chance to win.
7. Tyler Huntley was the starting quarterback in the Ravens’ only win of the season against a team currently above .500, but the key to that one was having a lead over Chicago for the entire second half. You run into trouble with Huntley when he’s pressed into passing situations.
8. Baltimore enters Saturday with just 26 sacks in the first 15 games of the season. The 2010 Ravens own the franchise record for fewest sacks with 27. It’s wild to think a defense that had multiple Hall of Famers had such difficulties getting to the quarterback.
9. A prime-time road game is never easy, but it’s better than playing one at home after the Ravens fell to 0-3 in that department. In Harbaugh’s first 17 seasons as head coach, Baltimore was 22-3 in prime-time home games. Days later, I still can’t wrap my head around that contrast.
10. Of the Ravens’ Pro Bowl selections, I felt the best for Jordan Stout, who leads the league in net punting and ranks third in gross average. That said, the punter headlining the short list of Baltimore players truly having great seasons says much about the state of this team.
11. These teams are guaranteed to play just once every four years, but this will be the third straight Ravens-Packers meeting with at least one starting quarterback missing. Aaron Rodgers was hurt in 2017, and Jackson was also sidelined back in 2021. This once looked like a possible Super Bowl preview.
812. If the Ravens get the job done at Lambeau, it’s worth noting Pittsburgh has lost five of its last six trips to Cleveland and will be without top receiver DK Metcalf. Then again, needing the Browns to save you is never a place in which you want to find yourself.
Prediction: My advice in the aftermath of last week’s collapse was to not let this team ruin your Christmas, and I’ll say the same ahead of New Year’s with the Ravens on the verge of being eliminated from playoff contention one way or another. There’s plenty of blame to go around for how disappointing 2025 has been and it’s anyone’s guess how significant the fallout could be, but this team just isn’t good enough and hasn’t been since the final minutes of that season opener in Buffalo. That said, the Packers are also banged up and flawed enough to hardly leave you surprised if the Ravens come away with a victory Saturday night. Love’s absence would have been enough to prompt me to flip my pick to the Huntley-led Ravens as recently as a few weeks ago, but I’ll just stick with Malik Willis and the Packers to win a 17-16 slog that probably won’t matter come Sunday afternoon anyway. Can you tell how fatigued I am by this team and this season?
