Following a chaotic, injury-ravaged 2021 campaign, John Harbaugh’s 2022 Baltimore Ravens entered the season determined to re-establish their physical, ground-and-pound supremacy. General manager Eric DeCosta got aggressive in the spring, handing ball-hawking safety Marcus Williams a massive five-year contract while reinforcing the trenches with tackle Morgan Moses and defensive tackle Michael Pierce. They also added elite draft capital, securing safety Kyle Hamilton and center Tyler Linderbaum in the first round to fortify both sides of the field. Despite a roller-coaster regular season plagued by late-game defensive collapses and offensive stagnation, Baltimore battled to a 10-7 record, finishing second in the AFC North. While they ultimately secured a wild-card berth, their ceiling was drastically capped by a familiar and devastating December obstacle: a late-season injury to their franchise centerpiece under center.

Greg Roman’s run-heavy, option-based offense was a tale of two entirely different acts. Before a knee injury sidelined him in Week 13, Lamar Jackson was a one-man army, passing for 2,242 yards and 17 touchdowns while pacing the team on the ground with 764 rushing yards and three scores. When Jackson went down, backup Tyler Huntley stepped in to keep the ship afloat, throwing for 658 yards and rushing for 137 more. Baltimore’s ground game remained highly potent, ranking second in the NFL with 2,720 rushing yards, fueled by J.K. Dobbins’s 520 yards, Gus Edwards’s 433 yards and Kenyan Drake who added 482 yards. However, the passing attack struggled mightily, ranking 28th in the league with just 3,040 yards. Tight end Mark Andrews was once again the primary target, leading the aerial attack with 73 receptions for 847 yards and five touchdowns, while rookie tight end Isaiah Likely chipped in 373 yards of his own.

While the offense fought through schematic limitations, Mike Macdonald’s defense blossomed into a championship-caliber powerhouse in his first year as coordinator. Baltimore surrendered only 315 total points (18.5 ppg) all year, finishing third in the NFL in scoring defense and ninth in total yards allowed. The unit was fundamentally transformed in November by the midseason acquisition of All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith, who instantly paired with Patrick Queen to form the league’s most intimidating second-level tandem. Smith racked up 86 tackles and two sacks in just nine games, while Queen led the team with 117 combined tackles. Up front, ageless wonder Justin Houston paced the pass rush with 9.5 sacks, while the secondary excelled in coverage behind safety Marcus Williams, who intercepted a team-high four passes despite missing significant time, and cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who snagged three picks.

Baltimore’s journey through the 17-game slate was a dizzying sequence of high-stakes drama and self-inflicted wounds. The Ravens held double-digit leads in each of their first ten games but shockingly blew four of them, highlighted by a historic Week 2 collapse where they surrendered 28 fourth-quarter points in a 42-38 loss to Miami. After a frustrating Week 12 collapse in Jacksonville left them at 7-4, the Ravens ground out narrow, low-scoring wins over Denver and Pittsburgh to steady the ship. The division race ultimately slipped away during a cold December stretch where the offense became entirely toothless without Jackson, culminating in an ugly 13-3 loss to Cleveland and a heartbreaking 16-13 defeat to Pittsburgh on New Year’s Day. They closed the regular season dropping three of their final four games, limping into the tournament as a dangerous but compromised threat.

Without their superstar signal-caller available, the Ravens’ season reached its painful climax in a gritty 24-17 Wild Card defeat against the Bengals in Cincinnati. The game was immortalized by a heartbreaking 98-yard fumble return touchdown by Sam Hubbard after Tyler Huntley was stopped short of the goal line in the fourth quarter. Despite the disappointing exit, the 2022 season highlighted the elite defensive foundation laid by Roquan Smith, who earned First-Team All-Pro honors, and safety Kyle Hamilton, who emerged as a generational hybrid defender. Center Tyler Linderbaum proved to be an immediate home-run draft choice, picking up votes for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Kicker Justin Tucker further cemented his status as the greatest to ever do it, converting 37 of 43 field goals, including nine from beyond 50 yards.