ExtremeRavens Posted yesterday at 11:30 AM Posted yesterday at 11:30 AM The Ravens can’t fix their home record Sunday night. Sadly, it’s already too late for that. They enter their regular-season home finale with a 3-5 record at M&T Bank Stadium, locked into one of the worst home seasons in franchise history. Even a win over the visiting Patriots wouldn’t bring them back to .500. But the Week 16 contest still matters, perhaps more than any other home game this season. If the Ravens want to lift the AFC North crown and host a playoff game next month, Sunday is the next domino. Since coach John Harbaugh’s first season in 2008, the Ravens have won 102 home games, which ranks third-most in the NFL over that span behind only Green Bay and New England. Last year, the Ravens went 6-2 at home. This season, though, Baltimore is guaranteed a losing record in its own building for the first time since 2015. It’s worth noting, of course, that the Ravens started the season 1-5 and quarterback Lamar Jackson missed three games earlier in the year, all at home. Through eight home games, the Ravens are averaging 70,243 fans (14th in NFL) in paid attendance, down from 71,052 (ninth) last season. Seventy thousand-plus fans is nothing to shy away from. But the amount of empty seats this season has told a bit of a different story. It’s become common to see sparse purple patches across the upper bowl. Baltimore’s home stadium noticeably wasn’t full for a nationally televised prime-time game, a 32-14 loss to the Bengals on Thanksgiving night. When asked whether being under .500 at home was a point of frustration, Harbaugh emphatically waved off the notion. “No, I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Harbaugh said. “A point of frustration? No. The guys are locked in for the next game. That’s it, period. … There’s no frustration. There’s just opportunity.” Some veteran players have taken a different approach this week when asked about the team’s shortcomings at home. “That’s something that definitely bothers me,” cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “I think every home game we have, it’s probably … someone’s first game in ‘The Bank,’ and to continue these performances [of] people’s first memory of being in this stadium is losing, I’m not a huge fan of that. Obviously, when you’re home, you have the fans to your advantage. You want to win in front of them. People pay a lot of money to get in these seats. We appreciate them a lot, so losing at home, really, it’s unacceptable.” Safety Kyle Hamilton, the team’s second-highest paid player behind only Jackson, agreed with Humphrey. “I think our home record is not what we want it to be,” Hamilton said. “I don’t think it’s as much as focusing on finishing strong at home as it is just finishing strong for the whole year. Obviously, we have some pretty important games coming up, starting with this one. “So home, away, neutral, wherever it may be, in the parking lot — we have to lock in and do what we need to do so we can get into the dance.” Hamilton’s college teammate at Notre Dame and fellow safety Alohi Gilman framed it in a similar way, pointing to the team’s lack of consistency. Since the team acquired Gilman, the reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week, in an Oct. 7 trade with the Chargers, the Ravens are 6-3, but just 2-3 at home. “It’s not a big jump,” Gilman said. “It’s just little things here and there. That’s not a question of our character, culture or identity. It’s just a matter of executing on a high level, on a more consistent basis.” When I asked Jackson after his return to practice on Thursday whether the Ravens felt added urgency to protect their home turf in the final regular-season game at M&T Bank Stadium, the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player replied: “I can’t say we really look at it like it’s the last home game. We feel like each and every game, we have to win. No matter where we’re at, we have to win.” He continued: “But this game is special. You just said it, it’s the last home game. I didn’t even think about that. So we just have to lock in and protect our territory.” Easier said than done, as this crazy season has shown. The Drake Maye-led Patriots will march into town Sunday evening with a perfect 6-0 road record, making New England the only remaining team with an undefeated mark away from home. The Patriots have made a habit of surviving uncomfortable environments. Five of their six road wins were decided by one possession. Despite the wide gap in records, the Ravens (7-7) are 2 1/2-point betting favorites over the Patriots (11-3). Hmm. Will the Ravens make up for earlier disappointing losses with a statement victory on prime time? The NFL and NBC, after all, marked this late-season AFC showdown as a highly appeasing game after they flexed Baltimore-New England from its original 1 p.m. kickoff slot. There’s no erasing what’s already happened at home this season. But the Ravens could right those wrongs by throwing a haymaker to the chin of one of the conference heavyweights. Jackson owns a stellar 16-0 record during his career in Weeks 15-18. Can he make it 17-0 on Sunday night? It’d be a mighty step toward bringing playoff football, and at least one more home game, back to Baltimore. Have a news tip? Contact Josh Tolentino at jtolentino@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200, x.com/JCTSports and instagram.com/JCTSports. Ravens fans sit quietly late in an early season loss to the Rams. Baltimore is just 3-5 at home this season. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) View the full article Quote
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