Chapter 658 Focus Showdown
In 1995, Cleveland Browns owner Art-Modell announced that he was preparing to move the team to Baltimore.
Model reached a tripartite agreement with the Cleveland city government and the league. Model must keep the team name, jerseys, team history, etc. in Cleveland. In 1999, there will be a brand new Cleveland Browns to inherit all of this; and Model Then he took the players, coaches and his own team culture to Baltimore to build a new team.
Then, the Baltimore Ravens were born.
In other words, the predecessor of the current Baltimore Ravens in the league is actually the Cleveland Browns. However, due to the three-party agreement, the record and history of the Cleveland Browns were all left to the new team. The Baltimore Ravens started from scratch and became a brand new team. Team.
Because of this, the Baltimore Ravens' history in the league must begin with the 1996 season.
but!
The Baltimore Ravens have become one of the most successful teams in the league.
From the 1996 season to the 2023 season, the Baltimore Ravens' regular season winning rate was 56.9%, ranking third in the league's historical record; their playoff winning rate was 56.7%, ranking fourth in the league's historical record.
Fifteen playoff appearances, two Super Bowl titles, seven division titles.
At the same time, as of the 2018 season, the Baltimore Ravens are the only team to have advanced to the Super Bowl more than once but still maintain a 100% Super Bowl winning rate. They advanced twice in the 2000 season and the 2012 season and reached the top twice.
While people have been talking about the New England Patriots since the turn of the millennium, the Baltimore Ravens have been one of the few teams with a comparable record and have remained competitive from start to finish.
This team values tradition and inheritance.
Ozzie Newsome has been the team manager since 1996, and even now, even though the team owner has changed hands, Newsome still remains in this position.
The same goes for the team's coaches. There have been only three coaches in more than two decades. The current coach, John Harbaugh, has never wavered since he took office in 2008.
As mentioned before, Hubble is also an important member of Coach Reid's tree. His first job after entering the league in 1998 was the special teams coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, and he has been with the Philadelphia Eagles for a full ten years.
Then, now.
Harper rose to the top and became the third head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.
Moreover, Harbaugh has lived up to his trust, withstood the pressure and continued the team's fine tradition, and has now become the mainstay of the Baltimore Ravens.
Under the leadership of Harper, the Baltimore Ravens continued the tradition of being a strong defensive team, and at the same time opened up a sky in terms of passing offense. All-round development and agility to adapt to changes on the spot have become the team's competitiveness in the NFL. The key to maintaining your edge.
However, reaching the Super Bowl in the 2012 season seemed to run out of luck for the team.
After that, Baltimore Ravens legend "Thor" Ray Lewis announced his retirement, and the team has been trying to find the next spiritual totem. Coupled with unpreventable injuries, it has held them back.
In 2015, 2016, and 2017, the Baltimore Ravens missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons; but in fact, their performance has not been bad.
In the 2016 season, eight wins and eight losses.
In the 2017 season, there were nine wins and seven losses.
For two consecutive seasons, the Baltimore Ravens were only one victory away from a playoff spot, missing the chance to advance with a very slim disadvantage.
Therefore, despite missing the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, no one can underestimate the Baltimore Ravens. They are still an opponent that any team needs to be wary of.
This year is no exception.
This season, the Baltimore Ravens' "Super Bowl Curse" appears to be at its peak—
At the beginning of the season, they started with three wins and one loss, defeating the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos by lopsided scores respectively, and performed particularly well.
But he didn't expect that injuries would strike and the team's competitive state would fluctuate. After encountering the rival Cleveland Browns in overtime in the fifth week of the regular season, they fell into a quagmire and suffered consecutive humiliations from the Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints, losing by a wide margin.
The record is only one win and three losses, and it is deeply clouded by three consecutive losses.
The record dropped to four wins and five losses.
Oops, terrible.
To make matters worse, in the ninth week of the regular season, in the game against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers, starting quarterback Joe Flacco suffered an injury and left the game.
"The Battle of the Steel Crows" has always been the most exciting, exciting and thrilling rivalry in the NFL. The point is that no matter whether the two teams are at their peak or at the bottom, as long as they encounter their opponents, they will definitely fall into a hard fight, which is not only tug-of-war, but also bloody. A true hand-to-hand fight.
The outcome must be a lose-lose situation. There are few exceptions.
This time, it's the same.
The Baltimore Ravens lost the game and their main quarterback. The season record fell into the predicament of four wins and five losses, standing on the edge of the cliff.
Everything, everything, sucks.
However, the so-called strong teams are like this. Never ignore their heritage. This is especially true for the Baltimore Ravens. Hubble has a blood and tenacity in his bones. This is also the biggest difference between him and his brother Jim Hubble. In the face of difficulties, John always had a little more persistence.
In the tenth week of the regular season, the Baltimore Ravens have a bye.
Using the offseason, Hubble made a bold and courageous decision:
Give up quarterback Robert Griffin III, who already has starting experience and has advanced to the playoffs, and instead promote rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has been declining and collapsing in this year's draft, as the starting quarterback.
In fact, everyone understands the truth.
The Baltimore Ravens selected Lamar Jackson with the 32nd pick in the first round of this year's draft, obviously hoping that he could succeed Flacco.
But the reality is that the Baltimore Ravens have missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons and are in trouble again this season. At this time, whether using a rookie quarterback to start is a blind risk or a bold one, it all depends on the opinion of the people.
Didn't you see that the New York Giants looked awkward and hesitant last season? Although it makes people laugh or cry, that is the norm.
Hubble doesn't.
Decisive, resolute, and neat, judge the situation and make a choice immediately.
And, rather than taking any chances, Harbaugh used the bye week to change the playbook.
Yes, you read that right, Hubble simply changed his offensive tactics and created a new set of tactics with Lamar Jackson as the core.
Flacco is a traditional pocket quarterback, and Jackson is a typical running quarterback. They have completely different styles. Haber needs to prepare the team.
Harbaugh is no stranger to running quarterbacks, though.
When he was with the Philadelphia Eagles, Harper watched with his own eyes as Reed coached Michael Vick, allowing this quarterback with rough passing skills to flourish and become the league's pioneering new generation running quarterback. one person.
Now, Hubble is ready to follow in the footsteps of his mentor, reinvent Jackson, and build the Baltimore Ravens into another team in just one week.
It was a big gamble, and Hubble won.
(End of chapter)