Ravens Continue To Exorcise Demons Of Past Failures With Falcons Win

The Baltimore Ravens went in a different direction at head coach after having John Harbaugh at the helm for nearly two decades was that in recent years, in no small part because his teams kept finding ways to lose games.

Whether it was blowing double-digit or fourth-quarter leads, coming out flat in games they were favored to win or not being able to find ways to pull off and close out comebacks, they became more synonymous with choking than being clutch.

Just five games into the Jesse Minter era, as just the fourth head coach in franchise history, the Ravens have already shown that they're not letting the tendencies that led to shortcomings in the past determine future outcomes.

They held onto a double-digit lead against a talented offense on the road in Week 1, orchestrated the fastest game-winning drive in NFL history at seven seconds in Week 3 and ground out a one-score win in Week 4 despite getting shut out and losing their starting quarterback for the entire second half.

This past Sunday, they went on the road to face what had been one of the hottest teams of the previous two weeks, without their highest-paid players on both sides of the ball available, including Lamar Jackson, and still found themselves on the right side of history again.

With their 30-23 comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons in overtime in Week 5, the Ravens became the first team to win a game down by eight or more points in the final minute in four years, which, according to ESPN's Jamison Hensley per ESPN Research, snapped a 581-game losing streak for teams that found themselves in those situations.

After hauling in the game-winning interception and his first since Week 17 of the 2024 season, three-time All Pro safety Kyle Hamilton didn't mince words when talking about the significance of this win not only for him being back in his hometown of Atlanta but for the Ravens as a whole team and their revamped culture under Minter.

"That is a game that we have lost many times. Whether it is, some fluky stuff happening or whatever," Hamilton said. "That is just us getting over some sort of hump or dark cloud. I am excited for the future."

Even the Ravens' lone setback of the season thus far, when they lost to the New Oreleans Saints in their Week 2 home opener, in which they opened the fourth quarter with an eight-point lead, only to get outscored 15-0 in the final period, served a purpose in the maturation of this year's team.

"Confidence is gained by going through things and going through things together, and I do not know if we would have the results of the last three weeks if the Saints game did not happen," Minter said. "I think there are always ways you can take losses like that. You can learn from them and really try to improve, get better, look at the things that you did well and build on things. I think we did that after that game."

Despite looking like the more physical and well-prepared team out of the gate, with the offense moving the ball well with backup quarterback Tyler Huntley and the defense forcing three straight three-and-outs, the Ravens' win in Atlanta was anything but a cakewalk. They had to overcome adversity in the form of bad drops, a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown against them and the Falcons getting hot on third-and-long, starting in the second quarter.

Even when at full strength with their two-time league MVP healthy and under center, the Ravens found ways to lose the type of games rather than find a way to come out on top. The fact they're finding ways to finish late in games with quick or time-consuming drives, coupled with a few key stops on defense, is evidence that these aren't the same old Ravens whose downfall felt inevitable at times because they hadn't consistently shown an ability to be at their best when their best is required.

"[With] this particular team, to be able to do that, I think is definitely a major benefit to the psyche, the confidence and the belief that we can win games like that in the fourth quarter," Minter said.

Reinforcements are incoming at the right time

After avoiding some close calls with prominent players during training camp and preseason, the Ravens were hit extremely hard with the injury bug over the first month of the season. They had standout rookie wide receiver Ja'Kobi Lane suffer a fractured wrist that required surgery in the season opener, lost their top two centers in the same game in Week 3 and had prized free agent addition, four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, suffer a finger injury that caused him to miss the last two games while recovering from a minor procedure.

While their initial injury report on Wednesday looked a mile long with nearly two dozen names, the fact that it featured several key players with encouraging status designations is a sign good news on the horizon.

Although Jackson missed his fourth straight practice with the ankle sprain he sustained on the second-to-last play of the first half in Week 3, both Hendrickson and Lane were listed as full participants. Two-time Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens, whom they acquired via trade last week, was wearing a red non-contact jersey in his first practice as a Raven, as he remains in the final stages of the concussion protocol, but he remains on track to make his first start this upcoming Sunday.

At 4-1, the Ravens currently sit alone atop the AFC North standings, and with back-to-back games against the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, they're getting key players back and upgrades at important positions for a key juncture in their schedule. If they want to win the division, return to the playoffs after just missing out last year and establish themselves as the cream of the crop in the conference and league as a whole, they'll need to get healthy and hot at the right time.