Baltimore Sun columnist Mike Preston answers fans’ questions throughout the Ravens’ season. After a 27-25 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC divisional round on Sunday night, Baltimore is left to sort through another disappointing playoff exit.
Here’s Preston’s take on a handful of questions from readers:
(Editor’s note: Questions have been edited for length and clarity.)
Year after year, the Ravens lose in the playoffs in just what seems to be the most brutal fashion. Lamar’s pick-6 in Buffalo, the Huntley fumble, the Flowers fumble, the Andrews fumble and drop. With Lamar and the amount of talent we have, our Super Bowl window is certainly open, but how long will that remain to be the case? Have you ever seen a team consistently underachieve in terms of execution despite having rosters that are on par with Super Bowl-winning organizations? Is there a fix? Is there any reason for optimism? — Frustrated Fan from North East
There is always room for optimism, even for a Frustrated Fan from North East. Fortunately, the Ravens will retain the nucleus of the team they’ve had for the past two seasons, and that means they will be in the hunt again. A year ago against Kansas City in the AFC championship game, the Ravens abandoned the run and got away from their game plan too quickly. Sunday night against Buffalo, the great players didn’t deliver great plays in the big game.
You are correct, it’s always something with this team. Maybe the third year is the charm. Maybe they’ll put it all together in 2025 with this great offense and an improved defense under second-year coordinator Zach Orr.
It’s hard to win the Super Bowl, which is why there are 12 franchises that have never done it. I’m not a fan of any team, but a fan of the game itself. I suspect there are still a lot of disappointed fans in Baltimore, but that will change when training camp starts in late July or early August.
As Ray Lewis used to say, there are 31 teams that are ticked off at the end of the season because only one can win the Super Bowl. I agree.
OK, is it time for Harbaugh to go? He’s been great, but maybe it’s time for some new life at the castle. — Rich in Atlanta (from Baltimore)
Rich, Rich, Rich. Whenever the Ravens lose, regardless if it’s in the regular season or in the postseason, there are fans who want Harbaugh fired. It’s like death and taxes. I get it because he has been here in Baltimore since 2008. But overall, he is one of the five best coaches in the NFL and the Ravens are usually in contention for the title.
Do I agree with Harbaugh’s game day decisions? Hell no. But at this point, I pretty much can predict how he will react to certain situations and it doesn’t bother me. He stays with his philosophy, and that’s good because he is consistent. He has only one year left on his current deal and it will be interesting to see if owner Steve Bisciotti offers him a new contract or if Harbaugh wants to possibly move on from coaching and get into TV as an analyst.
I don’t agree with the idea that if Harbaugh moves on there aren’t better coaches available. That’s ridiculous. Quality organizations hire good coaches. The Pittsburgh Steelers have for decades, and so have the Ravens in moving on from Ted Marchibroda to Brian Billick to Harbaugh.
We will see how this plays out, but Harbaugh has and continues to do well during his tenure in Baltimore.
What, if any, assistant coaching changes might occur with the Ravens? Or do you anticipate the entire staff being retained? — Ed Helinski in Auburn, New York
The major question is about offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who is believed to be a candidate for the coaching jobs in Las Vegas and Jacksonville. At age 58, Monken probably needs to be hired this offseason because that’s considered old in the NFL these days.
There is speculation that Monken is the “fall back” or Plan B option in Jacksonville and that he would go there because he at least has a quarterback to build around in Trevor Lawrence. The Raiders have no one. In the big picture, Monken’s departure would be a step back for Jackson because he developed well in Year 2 under Monken.
The assumption here is that there won’t be as many departures as a year ago, when the Ravens lost three top defensive assistants. Anthony Weaver and Dennard Wilson went on to become coordinators for other teams, while Mike Macdonald became coach in Seattle.
During the Bills game, after scoring a TD, Harbaugh elected to go for 2 and we failed, leaving the score 21-19. Subsequently the Bills kicked 2 FGs to make the score 27-19, making it necessary for the Ravens to score a TD and a 2-point conversion. Had Harbaugh just kicked the extra point we would have trailed 21-20. After the Bills scored 2 FGs, we could have tied the game with our late TD and extra point. Why go for 2 when it was totally unnecessary at the time? What am I missing? — Jan in Naples, Florida
It was a bad decision, Jan, but again, one that I expected. Harbaugh likes to gamble because he has a lot of offensive talent led by Jackson, running back Derrick Henry, tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely and receiver Zay Flowers.
Harbaugh needs to improve his game day decisions. Instead of trying to be too aggressive based on analytics, he needs to rely more on gut instincts and what is going on in the game at the current time.
From his very beginning with the Ravens, you have been a believer in Ar’Darius Washington. Is he their safety of the future or just a stop-gap for this year? And in the long run, is the Ravens’ defense better with a safety Kyle Hamilton playing closer to the line where he has a better chance to create havoc on opposing offenses? — Brian
Washington can be the starter, but the Ravens also need to draft another safety or sign one via free agency. As for Hamilton, the Ravens need to be able to move him around because it keeps other teams guessing. I like his versatility and the ability to attack an offense in different ways.
Of the 17 unrestricted free agents entering this offseason, which ones do you think should be brought back and which ones should be let go? Also, what is the cap space outlook in 2025?
It will be interesting to see what the Ravens do on the offensive line. Two unrestricted free agents are left tackle Ronnie Stanley and left guard Patrick Mekari. Stanley will draw interest, but as I’ve mentioned before the Ravens might opt to move rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten to left tackle, move right guard Daniel Faalele back to his natural position at right tackle and insert Andrew Vorhees at one of the guard positions. The Ravens have some options.
Mekari, though, can play any position on the offensive line and he stayed relatively healthy for most of the 2024 season. Another player to watch is fullback Patrick Ricard. He might earn big money from some teams focusing on the running game again.
As for cap space, the Ravens have a projected $13.8 million available, according to Over The Cap, but that to me is never a big issue until the season starts. Teams have time to restructure contracts to find more money.
Do you have any book recommendations to keep us busy during the offseason? — Nate
Read The Bible. It works for me.
P.S. Thanks for the questions this season.
Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun.