OTL: #RavensFlock Trying to Resist the Pull of Apathy

It’s a sad state of affairs that, for the SECOND time this season, I’m agreeing with something Marlon Humphrey wrote on Twitter.

Sigh

— marlonhumphrey.eth (@marlon_humphrey) January 2, 2023

What else does one say at this point? In the course of suffering an embarrassing home loss to their most hated rival, the Ravens surrendered yet another double-digit lead, their fifth such loss of the season. Let me quantify that another way: if you picked any Ravens game at random to attend this season, the odds that you watched them blow a double-digit lead in a loss were nearly one in three.

It’s just so damn predictable

— Russell St. Report (@RussellStReport) January 2, 2023

In a sense, it’s the worst kind of familiarity. In another, there’s a much more dangerous feeling creeping into the fanbase as a result: fatigue.

Living in the D.C. area for the majority of my life, I’ve grown up around a lot of Washington fans. There’s always been a bit of a friendly rivalry with the cross-town team, but the Ravens have felt like the happier fanbase for the most part. Granted, a pair of Super Bowl wins and not having Dan Snyder as your owner will do that. Still, winning cures a lot of ills, and Washington fans grew disgruntled long ago with stretches of poor play or teams that were just good enough to get shelled in the first round of the postseason. Anger and frustration began to give way to indifference, as fans became emotionally checked out, and now Washington regularly ranks as one of the lowest-attended teams year after year.

I’m not suggesting that the Ravens are set to go down the same path per se, but the last two seasons have been extraordinarily painful in nature, the worst such stretch I can remember as a fan of this team. The nature of these seasons hasn’t been defined by amassing losses, but by how awful these losses have been in the way they’ve come. Sunday’s game was within reach, yet again, and the abundance of “almost” plays felt like another heartbreak was inevitable.

Ravens had a chance to knock Steelers out of playoff contention and give Mike Tomlin his first losing season. Instead, they were knocked out of division-winning contention. And that was with a 13-3 lead in Q3. Offense went completely cold, going 0-4 on last four possessions.

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) January 2, 2023

The pass rush has always just felt a half-step too late, or can’t get enough of a grip on the QB. It’s been a painful sight.

— Baltimore Beatdown (@BmoreBeatdown) January 2, 2023

This team feels like a group of dead men walking as they march toward the postseason, and with that comes the urge for me as a fan to check out of being invested. I know logically that anything can happen once the playoffs begin, but looking at this team as it stands right now, they seem like cannon fodder for the likes of Buffalo or Kansas City. As a fan, it sucks to feel like that, and I want to have optimism, but what has optimism done at this time of year the past two seasons if not lead to disappointment?

I love this team, as evidenced by the fact that I’ve written about them every week like clockwork for the past two years. I attend games, team functions and Training Camp as many times as I possibly can. I block out the opening night of the NFL Draft like it was a religious holiday. I have a room in my condo filled to the brim with black and purple memorabilia. And even so, I’m tired of this. A month ago, I wrote in one of these pieces that I’m exhausted by what we’ve seen this season, and that hasn’t changed. The players aren’t absolved of accountability by any stretch, but listen to how they feel after these losses and tell me that they don’t feel the same way.

Postgame timeline of frustration and emotion outline loss vs. Steelers https://t.co/U4V5jBXKnH

— Baltimore Beatdown (@BmoreBeatdown) January 2, 2023

Patrick Queen: “We got our ass whooped. We didn’t play football. We didn’t play good football. We didn’t communicate enough. We didn’t play physical enough. We just got whooped.” #Ravens

— Luke Jones (@BaltimoreLuke) January 2, 2023

Maybe, just maybe, if Lamar Jackson can return, a favorable wind could somehow push this rudderless ship forward. Otherwise, expect a full-scale mutiny that sees the captain and first mate walking the plank.

John Harbaugh on if he expects Lamar Jackson to practice this week: “I don’t know.” #Ravens

— Luke Jones (@BaltimoreLuke) January 2, 2023

“Gus should have played more.” pic.twitter.com/GDXEfBJEBh

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 2, 2023

I won’t even bother expanding on those quotes, because if you’re here and reading this piece, you already know why I included them.

Stay strong, Ravens fans, and brace yourselves for the next couple of weeks.

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