The NFL scheduled multiple primetime matchups for John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens. However, most of them are away from M&T Bank Stadium.
Although the Ravens host the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football in Week 10, the rest of their island games are on the road. They open the 2024 season at Kansas City, go to Houston for a Christmas game streaming on Netflix, and play two Monday Night Football contests outside Baltimore.
Appearing on The Lounge podcast after the league’s schedule reveal earlier this month, Harbaugh said he wished Ravens fans could have received another home primetime game.
“My only complaint that I have, and it’s not even a complaint but just for the fans, you want to see prime-time games in Baltimore,” Harbaugh said, per the team site. “We are always on the short end of those for some crazy reason, especially Monday night. And the Christmas games, for instance, those have gone on the road. Maybe it’s because our guys go play so well and they know they’re going to get a good game. Maybe that’s why. But I do feel like our fans deserve as many of those games as we can get.”
This will mark the second straight season the Ravens have a road game on Christmas. Harbaugh nevertheless called it an “honor” to draw another holiday matchup.
“It’s crazy for Christmas. It’s crazy for the families,” Harbaugh said. “But you know, it’s like Godfather II. ‘This is the [business] we’ve chosen,'”
The head coach is also excited to kick off the season at Arrowhead in an AFC Championship Game rematch with the Chiefs on Thursday, Sept. 5.
“I was happy. I think it’s a great game to play in,” Harbaugh said. “I watch the Thursday night game. I can’t wait to get home and watch it when you’re playing on Sunday, you’re getting ready for your game. Now we’re going to be playing in that game. I like the idea of playing early. You get to it. We get to play the season three days earlier than everybody else. So we get started.”
The Ravens will play the Tampa Bay Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Week 7’s Monday Night Football. Harbaugh will coach against his brother, Jim Harbaugh, and the Los Angeles Chargers on ESPN five weeks later.
To John Harbaugh’s point, the Ravens haven’t hosted Monday Night Football since defeating the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5 of the 2021 season. They played last year’s two Sunday Night Football games (victories over the Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars) on the road.