Ravens Need to Recover Quickly From Devastating Loss to Steelers

The Ravens also fell to the No. 6 seed behind the Los Angeles Chargers (10-6), who moved up to No. 5 because of a better conference record.

BALTIMORE — Embarrassed. 

Poor performance.

Frustrating.

"We got our [butt] whooped."

These are just some of the ways the Ravens described their performance in a 16-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17.

If the Bengals beat the Bills on Monday night, the Ravens will be eliminated from the AFC North race, which means next week's road game at Cincinnati will be a formality.

The Ravens also fell to the No. 6 seed behind the Los Angeles Chargers (10-6), who moved up to No. 5 because of a better conference record.

If the playoffs began this week, the Ravens would have to travel to Cincinnati, which has won seven consecutive games. 

The @Ravens' offense sputtered and the defense could not get a key stop in a 16-13 loss to the Steelers in Week 17.
Here's the Report Card#RavensFlock https://t.co/mwUcjb4Xm2

— Todd Karpovich (@toddkarpovich) January 2, 2023

The Ravens' offense was largely inconsistent with Lamar Jackson, who has been out since Week 13 with a knee injury, in the lineup. Baltimore has been held to 17 or fewer points in five straight games with Jackson only playing one quarter over that stretch.  

The defense has played better, but the players tend to fade down the stretch because they are left on the field too long. In the most recent loss, the Steelers held the ball for 34:14, compared to 25:46 for the Ravens.

“We got our [butt] whooped," linebacker Patrick Queen said. "We didn’t play good football. We didn’t communicate enough; we didn’t play physical enough. We got whooped.”

Baltimore allowed 10 points in the fourth quarter while being held scoreless over that stretch. 

With defensive end Calais Campbell out of the lineup with a knee injury, the Ravens allowed 198 yards rushing on 40 carries. In the first meeting, the Steelers (8-8) had 65 yards on the ground on 20 attempts.

“To be honest, I’m really just embarrassed," defensive tackle Broderick Washington said. "I just feel like, myself, presently, I didn’t play up to our standard. I’ve just got to go back to the drawing board and get better.”

The NFL's regular season wraps up this weekend and the Ravens have to travel to the Bengals, where they are already 6.5-point underdogs.

"[That was] not one of our better performances at all," coach John Harbaugh said. "Coaching staff; start with that, start with me. Start with the coaching staff, game plan, all of it – not good enough. [It was] very disappointing. We have to bounce back.”

The Ravens need Jackson back in the lineup to have a chance to make any type of impact in the postseason. However, there doesn't appear to be any set timeline for Jackson's return. 

Either way, the Ravens have a lot of heavy lifting this offseason, and reaching a contract extension with Jackson is at the top of the list. 

The team also has to add an elite wide receiver and perhaps reach a new deal with linebacker Roquan Smith, who has re-energized the defense.

The Ravens have already dealt with a lot of adversity this season, and even more challenges are still ahead of them.