CUP OF JOE: A Perfect Storm Awaits The Ravens

I don’t expect the Ravens to win in Green Bay on Saturday night. I really don’t know what to expect from the Ravens at all moving forward during the balance of this dreadful 2025 season. What I do expect is chaos.

Let’s be honest, the Ravens are an absolute mess and there’s plenty of blame to go around. But arguably the biggest problem the team has – they lack an identity. And if they have one, it’s nothing positive. Nothing that provides hope. Nothing that inspires. They are a rudderless ship in the night, and the forecast calls for more turbulent seas ahead.

You could say that the Ravens are already in the midst of a perfect storm. Their franchise quarterback is having a horrific season by his standards and is seemingly disengaged. Lamar Jackson has never been a demonstrative leader. He’s opted to lead by example but this season, that example has led the down a dead-end road. They are lost, without answers, without a navigational compass to find their way back.

From a coaching perspective, John Harbaugh for the moment, resembles a politician who redundantly serves up meaningless word salads with empty calories that leaves us all feeling unfulfilled. Players have turned a deaf ear towards his messages and judging from the uninspired football they play these days, each is making business decisions that are self-serving and therefore costly to the team in the ultimate team sport.

And then there’s the personnel. 2025 has been a disaster for GM Eric DeCosta and his staff. The offensive line is a sieve, and the pass rush is anemic. These glaring issues weren’t new following the 2024 season. They were just ignored. Consequently, the franchise quarterback runs for his life, the offense is as consistent as someone who suffers from bi-polar disorder and misplaced the Lithium, and the defense without a pass rush, essentially wastes a secondary that features four expensive, underachieving first-round assets.

Looking ahead, DeCosta has to fix the albatross that is Lamar’s contract; the offensive line, already bankrupt of top end talent, might lose its best player to free agency; the team’s best receiver is up for a fifth-year option that will cost the Ravens $28M in 2027; their most explosive tight end probably can’t wait to get out of town, averaging less than 2 catches per game for 21 yards and he’s been shut out for the past 2 games.

Instead of hammering out extensions for key players the Ravens opt to extend Mark Andrews who looks washed, and Rashod Bateman who has a whopping 18 catches for 217 yards this season.

Yes, it is quite a mess – a developing dumpster fire that sits at the feet of owner Steve Bisciotti. He can extinguish this 5-alarm fire but it won’t be easy. But bringing this whole thing back in 2026 and pretending that Lamar’s alleged injury-plagued season is the culprit, would suggest that Bisciotti and the entire organization is in denial.

And that’s not how Bisciotti operates.

But maybe things have changed.

Time will tell.

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A related article…

The Curious Case of Lamar Jackson

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2025/12/25/cup-of-joe/the-ravens-are-a-mess/