The Baltimore Ravens entered the 2019 postseason having won 12 straight games. They had the best record in the NFL and the league MVP in Lamar Jackson.
And they lost to the Titans, 28-12. One-and-done. See you next year.
Even more surprising? Jackson said the Ravens underestimated Tennessee.
“I was shocked [when I heard that],” NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger said on The DA Show. “I was shocked that he said it; I was shocked that he felt that way. I don’t care if you were playing at home and you won 12 games in a row, like they had, to get to 14-2. The playoffs are just different. Lamar played in the playoffs the year before. He knows that. I was surprised.”
The Titans had won six of their previous eight games, including a Wild Card win over the Patriots in Foxborough. The NFL’s leading rusher, Derrick Henry, had rushed for 393 yards and four touchdowns in his previous two games.
“To take them lightly, that’s [hard to believe],” Baldinger said. “To me, it shouldn’t take anything away from the Titans. The Titans earned that victory. They put two quick scores on the board, and their defense went to town. But John Harbaugh, if he heard that, he’s got to feel like that’s an indictment on him and his staff as well.”
Jackson, 23, took the league by storm last season. He threw for 3,127 yards, ran for 12,06 yards and accounted for 43 touchdowns (36 pass, seven rush) to just six interceptions.
He was a video game.
“Maybe it did feel too easy for him,” Baldinger said. “Maybe that’s a good thing going forward, that he felt that way and he’ll never feel that way again. But I don’t believe that that was the majority of the team, and knowing John Harbaugh and his staff, he definitely didn’t feel that way.”