Pundit Includes Ravens Among Teams Facing Most Pressure in 2025
Success breeds high expectations, and with high expectations comes pressure.
The Ravens have been perennial Super Bowl contenders during the Lamar Jackson era, but they have yet to get over the hump. For that reason, NFL.com’s Tom Blair included them on his list of teams facing the most pressure this season.
Blair ranked the 11 teams, and the Ravens and Buffalo Bills were tied for third.
"For both of these teams, life is about as good as it gets in the NFL," Blair wrote. "They have it all: superstar QBs in their primes, mostly rock-solid rosters, head coaches who generally know how to pull everything together. Franchises can go decades without checking off even one of those boxes, but Baltimore and Buffalo are set up to contend more or less indefinitely, or at least for as long as Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen are front-running the MVP race. So in one sense, they are pressure-proof, among the extremely small group of clubs that could reasonably be penciled into the 2030 playoff picture.
"Then again, the same thing can be said of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs – which is exactly why the Ravens and Bills are listed here. Because Mahomes has become the undisputed ruler of the AFC, and the longer Jackson and Allen go without supplanting him in the postseason, the more realistic it becomes, even if only incrementally, that their tenures will end without a title."
The Chiefs have represented the AFC in the Super Bowl five of the past six seasons and the last three in a row.
"But as Baltimore and Buffalo both saw, the Chiefs did look pretty human for much of last season (except for, well ... you know), and Jackson and/or Allen can prevail over Mahomes in any given January," Blair wrote. "Finally pulling it off this postseason would be monumental for the legacy of either player and franchise."
The Ravens are fully aware of the high expectations, and several players have said this offseason that they're using past playoff disappointments as fuel for this season.
The two teams ahead of the Ravens and Bills on Blair's list reside in the AFC North: the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals.
C.J. Mosley Says Ravens Were Only Team He Wanted to Play for This Season
It had been reported that linebacker C.J. Mosley and the Ravens had mutual interest in a reunion before the five-time Pro Bowler decided to retire last month due to a neck injury.
Mosley, who spent the first five seasons of his 10-year NFL career with Baltimore, confirmed that he reached out to the Ravens about playing one more year after he was released by the New York Jets.
"It was my only choice. It was the only team I talked to," Mosley said on an upcoming episode of WJZ's "Purple Playbook." "It would have obviously been a great fairytale ending."
Mosley said he spoke with Executive Vice President and former General Manager Ozzie Newsome, who selected him 17th overall in 2014.
"I just kept it honest with him," Mosley said. "I told him about my injury update, how I was feeling. So, I sent over my medical stuff, and that was kind of the end of that."
Jackson Ranked NFL's Top 'True Franchise Player'
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox identified 15 "true franchise players" and ranked them. To be eligible, players had to be 28 or younger when the season begins on Sept. 5.
Unsurprisingly, Jackson was No. 1.
"Believe it or not, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson won't turn 29 until January. Yet he's already carved out a place in NFL history," Knox wrote. "The Ravens have been perennial contenders when Jackson has been healthy because he's one of the biggest mismatches in the league and because he's been able to thrive regardless of the pieces around him. Now that Baltimore has added skill-position players like Zay Flowers, Derrick Henry and DeAndre Hopkins to help aid Jackson, its Super Bowl window should be fully open."
Kyle Hamilton Named Ravens' Most Essential Non-Quarterback
Another Ravens player who could be categorized as a franchise player is safety Kyle Hamilton.
The 33rd Team's Sam Monson and Steve Palazzolo identified the most essential non-quarterback on each team, and they both chose Hamilton for Baltimore.
"This was one of the easier ones," Monson said. "The best player in the NFL under 25. Absolute superstar in the back end. Not just that, but so important to that secondary because he can play everywhere."
Palazzolo added: "When you have injuries or you just need to make a change defensively, he just switches roles like we saw last year. He can do it all. This was a clear one for me."
Malaki Starks Is Unanimous Choice to Be AFC North's Best Rookie
ESPN’s four AFC North writers were asked who the best rookie in the division will be, and first-round safety Malaki Starks was the unanimous choice.
"Starks, who has been working with the Ravens starters since he stepped foot in Baltimore, has an opportunity to make the biggest splash of all the AFC North top selections," Jamison Hensley wrote. "Baltimore has a history of identifying playmaking defensive backs. Two of the previous three safeties drafted by the Ravens in the first round became first-team All-Pro selections: Ed Reed and Hamilton."
Cleveland Browns beat writer Daniel Oyefusi wrote: "The former Georgia standout was a perfect fit for a Ravens defense that needed to shore up the back end while also freeing Hamilton to be more versatile and work closer to the line of scrimmage. Starks should have plenty of opportunities to use his range and make plays on the ball."
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