ExtremeRavens Posted Monday at 07:39 AM Posted Monday at 07:39 AM Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson did just about everything he could Sunday to lead his team to the postseason. It didn’t work out that way. Despite the quarterback’s fourth-quarter heroics, Baltimore’s defensive struggles and a missed kick by Tyler Loop doomed its season. The Steelers beat the Ravens, 26-24, to win the AFC North and make the postseason. Here’s what national pundits had to say about Baltimore’s heartbreaking defeat in Week 18 of the NFL season: Bill Simmons, The Ringer Simmons focused some of his postgame analysis on Baltimore’s 10-0 lead. Early in the game, it looked as if the Ravens were going to run away with a victory, only for the Steelers to slowly crawl back into the game and then keep pace offensively in the final 15 minutes. “I do think this is one of those games that if they played it 20 times, I think the Ravens probably win 16 of the 20,” he said. “There’s a version of this game where they’re just up 20-3 in the second quarter … it just felt like a bunch of those moments where they couldn’t get over the hump. And then Pittsburgh, as soon as Hamilton — who’s the best guy on the defense — goes out, Pittsburgh starts moving. You got to give them credit, though, they’ve won a few of these.” Tim Hasselbeck, ESPN Hasselbeck says that Jackson delivered on the big stage, but his struggles throughout the season as he battled injuries was part of why Sunday’s game even mattered at all. “Lamar was MVP Lamar tonight,” the former NFL quarterback said. When you needed it the most, a negative play turned into a go-ahead, winning touchdown pass to Zay Flowers. He was MVP Lamar, but you find yourself in this situation because he wasn’t for the season.” Mina Kimes, ESPN “I don’t even know what you say about the Ravens at this point, man. If it isn’t one thing it’s another,” the analyst posted on X. It’s been a series of heartbreaks for Baltimore during Jackson’s tenure. The 2023 and 2024 seasons included narrow playoff losses to AFC rivals, and the 2025 season ended with a two-point defeat to a bitter rival because of a missed 44-yard field goal attempt. It’s been a challenging few seasons for Ravens fans hoping for a Super Bowl title. Jonathan Jones, CBS Sports Jones shared a few thoughts about John Harbaugh’s future in Baltimore. Some fans want the Ravens to move on from Harbaugh. “We’ll see what happens over these next couple of months,” Jones said. “It’s a heart-wrenching loss. Do I think that Harbaugh will not be the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens in 2026? Not right now. If they had gotten run out of the building, then we could have a different conversation … I do think Harbaugh is back in 2026.” Bryant McFadden, CBS Sports The former Steelers defensive back thinks that the Ravens’ defense doesn’t meet the franchise standard. “When I look at the Baltimore Ravens when I played with the Pittsburgh Steelers, one thing we knew they were going to have? Pass rushers or a pass rusher that would initiate all the success,” McFadden said. “They don’t have that guy right now. Kyle Van Noy is that guy, but he’s a bit older. What happened to the Terrell Suggs, the Peter Boulware’s of the world?” Baltimore sacked Rodgers twice in the game, but Pittsburgh’s quarterback largely played from a clean pocket. He passed for 294 yards Sunday, marking only the second time all season he eclipsed 275 passing yards. The other time? Dec. 7 against the Ravens. Patrick Peterson, CBS Sports Peterson, a former NFL cornerback, took a forward-looking approach to analyzing the defeat. He’s not sold on Baltimore’s roster construction. “They need a prolific pass catcher,” Peterson said. “The Baltimore Ravens haven’t had a prolific pass catcher since Steve Smith? Anquan Boldin? Derrick Mason? They need to go out and find some prolific pass catchers, and 100%, they need pass rushers. They have the interior linebacker, but they don’t have that pass rusher that can get to the passer on a consistent basis.” Mike Tomlin, Steelers coach Not a pundit, of course, Tomlin delivered a notable one-liner in Sunday’s aftermath. Asked about a hypothetical scenario where the Ravens instead made the last-second field goal to beat his team, Tomlin had a quick reply. “If my aunt had male parts, she’d be my uncle,” he said. Pittsburgh, not Baltimore, advances to the playoffs. The Steelers host the Texans next week in the AFC wild-card round, as Ravens fans will be left wondering, “What if?” until September. Have a news tip? Contact Bennett Conlin at bconlin@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/BennettConlin. View the full article Quote
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