Ravens Nest: The playoffs have shown what the Ravens are missing

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Mike Preston: Sunday’s playoff games showed what the Ravens have been lacking — The Baltimore Sun

That’s the kind of excitement and brand of football that has been missing in Baltimore for the last four or five years. Those games are the major reason why so many fans and media are looking forward to the annual state of the Ravens news conference.

Head coach John Harbaugh has already said despite the team failing to qualify for the playoffs three straight years and four of the last five, his staff will remain the status quo and insisted the same for the front office staff as well.

But Sunday’s games got the blood pumping and the juice flowing again. Watching Antonio Brown with those acrobatic catches in Pittsburgh and Stefon Diggs with that game-winning touchdown at the last second in Minnesota got you screaming and thinking about what it was like to be a serious playoff contender again.

A look at numbers that will have to change in 2018 if the Ravens are going to reach the playoffs — The Baltimore Sun

There are many numbers that will provide ample evidence as to why the Ravens didn’t make the NFL playoffs this year. It’s been well documented that the offense ranked 27th in yards per game and the defense collapsed in the fourth quarter of December losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals. Below are eight more statistics that speak to the Ravens’ 2017 struggles and will need to be fixed heading into next season:

Three positive developments for the Ravens heading into the 2018 season — Baltimore Beatdown

The Baltimore Ravens, for the second-straight season, were eliminated from post-season contention in heartbreaking fashion. It was another fourth quarter meltdown that led to Baltimore’s playoff hopes being crushed. This team, under head coach John Harbaugh, has missed the post-season four of the last five seasons. Next season may be the make-or-break year for this entire coaching staff. However, it is not all doom and gloom. Below are three positive developments for the Ravens as the offseason is kicking into gear.

4 things that went right for the Ravens in 2017 — Ravens Wire

It’s easy to get doom and gloom when you look over the 2017 season for the Baltimore Ravens. Given that they went 9-7 and missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons, despite having nearly a full lock on getting in, I’d be more concerned of fans that aren’t peeved at the team.

But for all the bad things that went wrong this season, there were a number of serious positives that should bring a little light to the offseason and 2018.