ExtremeRavens Posted 22 hours ago Posted 22 hours ago The Ravens closed the regular season on Saturday with a 35-10 win over the Cleveland Browns, crowning them AFC North division champs while earning celebratory postgame cigars. It’s been a season full of twists and turns leading them here, days out from a wild-card round matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here are 10 numbers that defined the Ravens’ 2024 regular season: 30 That’s Lamar Jackson’s jersey No. 8 plus Derrick Henry’s No. 22 — the most productive quarterback and running back duo in NFL history. They are the first tandem to reach 4,000 passing yards (4,172) and 40 touchdowns (41) through the air complemented by at least 1,500 yards (1,921) and 15 touchdowns (16) on the ground. Individually, Jackson passed Michael Vick as the NFL’s all-time rushing leader for a quarterback this season. And Henry became the first player to rush for over 1,900 yards in multiple seasons — that’s with a thinner workload than he had in Tennessee. 73.3% By the end of the regular season, Justin Tucker finished more than nine percentage points worse than his previous single-season career-low. His 73.3% field goal rate ranks 32nd in the NFL out of 39 players who have attempted at least one kick this season. It’s been a rough go for the most accurate kicker in the history of the sport. But it’s not all bad. He missed 10 kicks in the first 13 weeks of the season. Nine blew wide left. Eight were field goals and two were extra-point tries. Tucker said the bye week felt like putting himself through a kiln, where he could come out the other side a pretty vase. He immediately regretted the corniness of the metaphor but hasn’t missed a kick since. 9 Nine of Baltimore’s 12 wins this season came against teams with a winning record, the most of any team in the NFL. It’s a long way from where the season started: a toenail loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 and a dismal unraveling vs. the Las Vegas Raiders (one of two losses this season to a team with four or fewer wins). An 0-2 start put their championship aspirations on the back burner. Many wondered whether the shaky two weeks coming up on an unfavorable stretch of games might mean Baltimore’s demise. Oh, how quickly narratives can change. “It was a tough schedule, and we played teams when they were at their best quite often and they were on a roll when we played them,” coach John Harbaugh said. “I thought our guys handled that.” READER POLL: How far will the Ravens advance in the playoffs? 11 It took 11 weeks for the Ravens defense to figure it out. Through the first 10 weeks of the season, they were ranked 25th or worse in every category sans rushing defense, which they were the NFL’s best. Baltimore has since allowed the fewest yards per game (261.7), net passing yards per game (171.6), yards per play (4.4) and points per game (15.4). The turnaround under rookie coordinator Zach Orr became a major plot point of the season and a crucial development for their postseason aspirations. “[Orr] kept his composure,” linebacker Roquan Smith said. “He was the same guy day in and day out, and he didn’t change at all. I respect that individual, that despite going through adversity, he still had a smile, still had the same energy every single day.” 6 Marlon Humphrey’s six interceptions are the most among AFC players and tied for third most in the NFL. The veteran cornerback is playing at an All-Pro level having forced a few timely turnovers. There was a late-game interception in Cincinnati, a forced fumble against the Bengals, a pick-six vs. the Steelers and a pair of first-half takeaways in Tampa Bay. “I think he’s playing [the] highest-level football he’s probably ever played in his career,” Orr said. Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey recorded six interceptions this season, including one in each game against the Steelers. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) 8 of 9 The question elicited moans, groans and eye rolls heading into Week 16. Players were tired of hearing about having lost eight of their past nine meetings with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Ravens put that to rest with a convincing 34-17 win on Dec. 21. It has been fairly one sided in recent battles between the two longest-tenured coaches in the NFL but Baltimore finished out the regular season on a high note, stealing the division crown from the floundering Steelers. They’ll meet again Saturday night in Baltimore with the season on the line. 1,059 Wide receiver Zay Flowers flashed his potential as a rookie and stamped his prowess as a sophomore. Flowers became the third Raven to eclipse 1,000 yards in a single season and the organization’s first wide receiver to make the Pro Bowl. He also had a five-game stretch with four games over 100 yards receiving. His health will be paramount to a playoff run. 35.1% Year 2 of offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s system has yielded historically impressive results. Baltimore finished the season with the fourth-most efficient offense by DVOA in NFL history — a statistic measuring how well a team performs compared to league average. The Ravens’ 35.1% DVOA trails only 2010 New England, 1982 San Diego, 2007 New England, and they’re one spot ahead of 2018 Kansas City. As as a team, Baltimore finished seventh all-time in total DVOA at 41.4%. 26% Baltimore left the New York Times’ playoff predictor flickering in the waning weeks of the season. It pegged the Ravens to have a 26% chance of winning the AFC North and 6% odds of hoisting a Lombardi Trophy in February. That was coming out of the bye week, staring down three games in 11 days. After winning all three, the playoff predictor (with some help from the struggling Steelers) said, heading into Week 18, the Ravens had a 95% chance of taking the division and now gives them the fifth-best odds of winning the Super Bowl (10%). 361 For all the positive league-leading numbers, there was one negative the Ravens were among the best at. They were charged with 132 penalties costing them 361 yards – both the second most in football behind the disastrous New York Jets. The season opened with four head-scratching illegal formation penalties in the first half against Kansas City but the Ravens continued to kick themselves, flagged 7.76 times per game. Their worst showing came against the New York Giants, losing 112 yards thanks to 12 penalties. Eight of them came from the defense – a single-game high for any phase. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article Quote
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