Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 658 Focus Showdown
In 1995, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced that he was moving the team to Baltimore.

Modell reached a three-party agreement with the Cleveland city government and the league. Modell must keep the team name, jerseys, team history, etc. in Cleveland. In 1999, a brand new Cleveland Browns will inherit all of this; while Modell will go to Baltimore with players, coaches and his own team culture to establish a brand new team.

Then, the Baltimore Ravens were born.

In other words, the predecessor of the current Baltimore Ravens in the league is actually the Cleveland Browns, but because of the three-party agreement, the Cleveland Browns' record and history were all left to the new team that came later, and the Baltimore Ravens started from scratch and is considered a brand new team.

Because of this, the Baltimore Ravens' history in the league must be counted from the 1996 season.

but!

This Baltimore Ravens team has become one of the most successful teams in the league.

From the 1996 season to the 2023 season, the Baltimore Ravens had a regular season winning percentage of 56.9%, ranking third in the league's history; a playoff winning percentage of 56.7%, ranking fourth in the league's history.

Fifteen playoff appearances, two Super Bowl titles, seven division titles.

At the same time, as of the 2018 season, the Baltimore Ravens are the only team that has advanced to the Super Bowl more than once and still maintained a 100% Super Bowl winning rate, advancing twice in the 2000 season and the 2012 season and winning the championship twice.

Since the millennium, when people have been discussing the New England Patriots, the Baltimore Ravens are one of the few teams whose records can be compared with them, and they have remained competitive from beginning to end.

This team values ​​tradition and inheritance.

Ozzie Newsome has been the team's general manager since 1996, and has remained in the position even after the team's ownership changed.

The same goes for the team's coaches. There have been only three coaches in more than twenty years, and the current coach, John Harbaugh, has never wavered since taking office in 2008.

As mentioned before, Harbaugh is also an important member of Coach Reid's team. His first job after entering the league in 1998 was as the special teams coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, and he stayed with the Philadelphia Eagles for a full ten years.

Then, now.

Harbaugh rose to become the third head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.

Moreover, Harbaugh lived up to the trust, withstood the pressure and continued the team's fine traditions, and now has become the backbone of the Baltimore Ravens.

Under Harbaugh's leadership, the Baltimore Ravens continued their tradition of being a strong defensive team, while also opening up new horizons in passing offense. The all-round development and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances on the spot became the key to the team's continued competitiveness in the NFL.

However, the 2012 Super Bowl run seemed to have run out of luck for the team.

After that, Baltimore Ravens legend "Thor" Ray Lewis announced his retirement, and the team has been trying to find the next spiritual totem, coupled with the unpredictable injuries, which held them back.

In 2015, 2016, and 2017, the Baltimore Ravens missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons; but in fact, their performance has always been good.

In the 2016 season, the team had eight wins and eight losses.

In the 2017 season, the team had nine wins and seven losses.

For two consecutive seasons, the Baltimore Ravens were only one win away from a playoff spot, and they missed the cut by a very narrow margin.

Therefore, despite missing the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, no one can underestimate the Baltimore Ravens. They are still an opponent that any team needs to be wary of.

This year is no exception.

This season, the Baltimore Ravens' "Super Bowl Curse" seems to have reached its peak.

At the beginning of the season, the team started with three wins and one loss, defeating the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos by a large margin, performing exceptionally well.

However, injuries hit the team, and the team's competitive state fluctuated. After the Cleveland Browns defeated their rivals in the overtime of the fifth week of the regular season, the team fell into a quagmire and suffered humiliation from the Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints, losing by a large margin.

The record is only one win and three losses, and is deeply shrouded in the shadow of three consecutive defeats.

The record fell to four wins and five losses.

It's terrible. It's terrible.

To make matters worse, in the ninth week of the regular season, in the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, their arch-rivals in the same division, starting quarterback Joe Flacco was injured and left the game.

"The Steelers vs. the Ravens" has always been the most exciting, best-watched and most thrilling rivalry between the two rivals in the NFL. The point is that no matter whether the two teams are at their peak or at their lowest point, as long as they encounter their opponents, they will definitely be involved in a tough battle, which is not only a tug-of-war, but also bloody, a true hand-to-hand fight.

The end result is that both sides suffer losses. There are almost no exceptions.

This time, it's the same.

The Baltimore Ravens lost the game and also lost their main quarterback. Their season record fell into a dilemma of four wins and five losses and they are standing on the edge of a cliff.

Everything is terrible.

However, this is what a strong team is like. Never ignore their foundation. This is especially true for the Baltimore Ravens. Harbaugh has blood and tenacity in his bones. This is also the biggest difference between him and his brother Jim Harbaugh. In the face of difficulties, John always persists a little more.

In the tenth week of the regular season, the Baltimore Ravens rested.

Using the bye week, Harbaugh made a bold and courageous decision:

Abandoning Robert Griffin III, a quarterback who already has starting experience and has advanced to the playoffs, the team promoted Lamar Jackson, a rookie quarterback who has been declining and collapsing in this year's draft, as the starting quarterback.

In fact, everyone understands this truth.

The Baltimore Ravens picked up Lamar Jackson with the 32nd pick in the first round of this year's draft, obviously hoping that he could succeed Flacco.

But the reality is that the Baltimore Ravens have missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons and are in trouble this season. Whether using a rookie quarterback as a starter at this time is a blind risk or a bold move is a matter of opinion.

Didn’t you see the New York Giants’ awkward and hesitant look last season? Although it was laughable, that was the norm.

Hubble, however, did not.

Be decisive, resolute, and efficient, and judge the situation and make choices at the first moment.

And, instead of taking random chances, Harbaugh used the bye week to change up the playbook.

Yes, you read that right. Harbaugh changed the offensive tactics decisively and created a new tactic with Lamar Jackson as the core.

Flacco is a traditional pocket quarterback, while Jackson is a typical running quarterback. They have completely different styles, and Hahab needs to prepare the team.

Harbaugh is no stranger to running quarterbacks, though.

When he was with the Philadelphia Eagles, Harbaugh watched Reid coach Michael Vick, allowing the quarterback with rough passing skills to shine and become the first of the league's pioneering new generation running quarterbacks.

Now, Harbaugh is ready to follow in his mentor's footsteps, reshape Jackson, and turn the Baltimore Ravens into a different team in just one week.

It was a huge gamble, and Hubble won.

(End of this chapter)