The Baltimore Ravens went 14-2 in the regular season, the best record in the NFL. Their record meant they got a bye in the first round of the playoffs and had a home-field advantage up until the Super Bowl.
It's hard to get a home-field advantage if you're out of the playoffs, though. In their first playoff game, the Ravens lost to the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans won 28-12 in the divisional round of the playoffs. It was their second straight major postseason victory, having beaten the New England Patriots in the wild card round.
For the Titans, that means they will move on to the AFC championship game, and if they win, they will go to the Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, the season is now over for the Ravens. Baltimore's incredible season ended in a very unexpected way.
Superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson had an MVP season. However, he struggled in this game. He feels like the team was just too excited for the big moment.
“I feel like we were too excited,” Jackson said postgame, via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. “We got out of our element a little too fast.”
Jackson made himself a household name in 2019. He was virtually unstoppable and an actual human highlight reel. In the loss to the Titans, he showed that off quite a bit. Jackson managed 365 passing yards and another 143 on the ground.
However, he also had two interceptions and a fumble. There were quite a few drops from receivers, and the running game outside of Jackson looked flat.
While Jackson struggled, so did the rest of the team. The defense was not nearly as sharp as it had been in recent weeks either, giving up numerous big plays.
It's hard to disagree with Jackson. This is a young team that had a lot of fun together this season. Maybe they were too excited for the postseason and the prospects of making it to the Super Bowl. That's something a lot of the players will learn to temper with age.
While they didn't make it far this year, expect to hear a lot more from the Ravens in the coming seasons.
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