00:00Week 18, the Sunday night football game
00:04between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens
00:08provided us the game of the year.
00:11That is not, to me, something that we need to debate.
00:16There were a number of great games,
00:18especially down the stretch.
00:19Rams-Seahawks, Niners against the Chicago Bears.
00:23They were fun, really fun early season games.
00:25Still, the matchup between the Ravens and the Bills
00:27in week number one held out.
00:30But the stakes, the shock of missed kick after missed kick,
00:36Boswell on the extra point, first time since 2023,
00:39and then loop on the would-be winning field goal
00:44sending Baltimore to the postseason was incredible.
00:48And it's something that you can appreciate, I think, fully
00:51unless you are someone who had a Ravens bet, money line,
00:57Ravens fan, Ravens Super Bowl futures.
00:59And I'm sure there are a lot of people who fit that final description
01:03because, as I said a number of times heading into this game,
01:06the opportunity was there.
01:08The opportunity was suggested to be likely, based on the odds,
01:12that the Super Bowl favorite from the preseason was going to crash this party.
01:16They were going to beat the in-season odds and get themselves in the dance.
01:21And they'd have been booked as round number one favorites.
01:24And instead, they didn't get it done.
01:27They defensively fell apart the second Kyle Hamilton left this game.
01:32And they just weren't buttoned up, which is how their season really played out
01:37for all 18 weeks, 17 games here, Joe.
01:41How shocked, and I kind of know the answer,
01:44were you that the Baltimore Ravens lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers
01:48to end the regular season?
01:50I wasn't.
01:51You know, we talked about it again.
01:53On the pregame, I thought the Steelers would win,
01:55and we both liked the over in the matchup.
01:57The way it actually played out was a little bit interesting.
02:00And you can't fault the stars for the Baltimore Ravens.
02:03The Ravens, Derrick Henry, what a buck 26 on the ground.
02:07Lamar did throw for over 203 touchdowns.
02:10But at the end of the day,
02:11we talked about the weakness throughout the regular season.
02:14As much as maybe you fell in love with the offense
02:17when Lamar was under center, the defense had major concerns.
02:21They were abused early and often.
02:23And I think it started early in the season
02:25when they lost at home to the Detroit Lions.
02:27And we talked about how that defense was vulnerable,
02:31not just in the regular season,
02:32but if they were able to walk into the playoffs
02:35or sneak in, they potentially were a one-and-done team.
02:39And they showcased that last night.
02:41At the end of the day, this was an offense in Pittsburgh
02:44that did stall last week against Cleveland.
02:48And Aaron Rodgers and that team made enough adjustments.
02:51They were able to run it when they had to.
02:53And they found enough mojo to put the pressure
02:56on Lamar in the end.
02:57He put him in a position.
02:58But, you know, the kicker, you can't rely on a kicker.
03:02I'll just say that.
03:02I understand it came down to a field goal
03:04and they weren't in a position.
03:05But if you're the Super Bowl favorites
03:08at the start of the year with an MVP quarterback,
03:11you take that fight to Pittsburgh on the road,
03:14and that's something the Ravens couldn't do.
03:17Well, I think for Baltimore, Joe,
03:20something that you know I struggled with figuring out
03:23is if this team got in, would they go on a run?
03:26And in-game, I finally, and I know it took me forever,
03:33got the clarity that you had felt the whole way.
03:36Even if the Ravens won this football game,
03:40they were not going to the Super Bowl.
03:43Maybe they would have beat the Texans.
03:45They wouldn't have beat, you know, round two
03:48if it was the Broncos.
03:49It was going to fall short again.
03:52And for a number of reasons,
03:54sometimes Lamar just doesn't have it.
03:56Sometimes they turn the ball over in insane ways.
03:59Sometimes their defense looks awful.
04:01Sometimes their coach looks lost.
04:02But when all of these things are on the board,
04:06it's too hard to hold off all of them.
04:09And in this game, you kind of got all of them, right?
04:13You got turnovers.
04:14You got the defense looking really, really bad.
04:18Lamar had, Lamar Jackson, in between basically touchdown passes,
04:23was non-existent in this football game.
04:25From touchdown pass one to touchdown pass two,
04:27the middle of it, there was nothing going on here.
04:30We had talked pre-show about how Pittsburgh
04:32was going to sell out to stop Henry.
04:35They were daring a multiple-time MVP to beat him.
04:37And eventually, he started to get some things going.
04:39But you saw why.
04:41And even the decision late in-game, 14 seconds left,
04:45you can get closer.
04:46And instead, they lost two yards.
04:48You had a timeout ready and available.
04:50That is a mistake.
04:52Oh, what if Derrick Henry fumbles?
04:53Okay, sure.
04:55Well, what if he misses the kick?
04:57And he missed the kick.
04:59And I think this is a Ravens group
05:01who has a long, hard look this offseason.
05:05Whether that's Lamar wanting out,
05:07Harbaugh getting fired,
05:09it feels like drastic changes are coming to the Ravens.
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