CUP OF JOE: Raven on the Brink?

The new year draws near. The current one will soon be the old one, fading into the rearview mirror. As with any year, there are wonderful memories and some not so good ones. Let’s file the Ravens in the latter folder.

The 2025 Ravens were a preseason Super Bowl favorite. And for 3 quarters of their opening game in Buffalo, it felt like the prognosticators were on to something. And then it happened – an old habit that has reared its ugly head far too many times on John Harbaugh’s watch reappeared, uninvited. The Ravens completely shit the bed in the fourth quarter. Once again, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

We heard how that loss was a huge blow to the team. It had them reeling. The offseason training, the hours spent in the weight room, the attention to proper nutrition – all of this and more fueled by the quest for redemption. To a man the team wanted to atone for that loss on January 19, 2025, during the Divisional Round in Orchard Park, NY. But they failed and the loss left a scar – an unwelcomed souvenir from an unfulfilled early season goal.

The loss took a mental toll, or so we’re told. I wish that I’d never heard those words because it is symptomatic of a team that is soft. No one wants to be associated with a soft team. If you want to really piss off an NFL player, call him or his team “soft”.

The Ravens season started (1-5). They are a highly underachieving team that now sits on the verge of elimination. They only have themselves to blame.

I do admire those fans who keep hope alive until it’s 6 feet under. They are like Lloyd Christmas when considering the mathematical chances of a Ravens playoff berth.

I wish I shared that optimism.

It will be interesting to see how the Ravens respond in Green Bay tonight under the bright lights of a nationally televised game. Maybe it’s better that the game will be broadcast on Peacock, thus limiting the audience, fewer witnesses to a once enviable franchise that now features cracks in its foundation.

Should the Ravens show up and play inspired football on the road in late December with fading playoff hopes in tow, I’ll be impressed. It might even suggest that Harbaugh hasn’t yet lost the locker room.

But if they come out flat, fall behind early, and then make individual business decisions that place safety first, the vultures may start circling above even it the night winter sky of Wisconsin.

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