Ravens’ latest choke vs. Bills shows they still can’t be taken seriously as Super Bowl threat

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Ravens’ latest choke vs. Bills shows they still can’t be taken seriously as Super Bowl threat

Douglas Fritz, ClutchPoints

Tue, Sep 9, 2025 ·

4 min read

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The post Ravens' latest choke vs. Bills shows they still can't be taken seriously as Super Bowl threat appeared first on ClutchPoints .

There's no way to sugarcoat the Baltimore Ravens ' collapse against the Bills. Perhaps the team needs to re-evaluate its overall approach. But the latest choke versus the Bills shows they still can't be taken seriously as a Super Bowl threat.

Don't take this the wrong way. This isn't saying the Ravens will collapse and finish the season with a losing record. Far from it. The Ravens should win 10 games on talent alone. And Lamar Jackson could lift them to as far as 13 or 14 victories.

But the team is flawed from a mental-toughness standpoint.

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson can't do it alone

Look at Jackson's numbers. He completed 14 of 19 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns. Also, he rushed six times for 70 yards with another score. While those aren't earth-shattering numbers, he led his team to 40 points. That would have been enough points to beat the Bills — an NFL elite offense — in 13 of their 17 regular-season games in 2024, and tie them once.

But the Ravens have come up small over and over again in the postseason. In the Jackson era, the Ravens are just 3-5 with him starting in the playoffs. Of those five losses, three were one-score decisions. That includes the heartbreaking two-point loss to the Bills in the 2024 playoffs, where a dropped 2-point conversion pass in the final minutes turned out to be the difference.

The Ravens have no excuses for Sunday's loss to the Bills. They became the first team in NFL history to pull off these numbers , according to a post on NFL+.

The @Ravens are the first team in NFL history to score 40+ points and rush for 235+ yards in a loss (teams were previously 277-0 including playoffs)

So what's going on?

It comes back to HC John Harbaugh

The Ravens simply do not know how to play with a lead. Need proof? How about his post on X by Benjamin Solak.

"The Ravens have now lost 8 games since the 2021 season in which they, at one point, had a win probability of at least 90%. That's three more than the next closest team."

Folks, that's coaching. That's play-calling. It's overconfidence, which belongs in the lap of the head coach as well. Harbaugh's teams have blown double-digit leads in losses 17 times. Say what you want about his 172 wins and his 2012 Super Bowl title. If you're going to hang on to those things, don't worry about the present. Just ignore the past and ignore the current problems.

The Ravens apparently think Jackson will save the day no matter how they approach things.

For example, Derrick Henry ran roughshod over the Bills all night. But when it came time to put the game away, he shrank. Maybe he thought he had already put the game away. His fumble was inexcusable considering the magnitude of this game.

Wait, it's only Week 1, you say? Remember, these are the two teams considered most likely to reach the Super Bowl. And only one can go. The Bills have now proven two games in a row that, when push comes to shove, Josh Allen will get it done and Jackson won't.

Now, this isn't a ringing endorsement of Sean McDermott. What it may is another path to the Super Bowl for the Chiefs . Andy Reid wouldn't have trouble with either of those guys.

But for now, Harbaugh has to answer the tough questions. It's almost laughable to hear Harbaugh's response to the blown-lead issue , according to NBC Sports.

"Maybe part of it is we've been ahead a lot," Harbaugh said. "We've had a lot of two-score leads. We've kept a lot of those, but I think we've lost six of them if I'm not mistaken. That's too many. I don't care how many two-score leads you have. I do believe we need to be really thoughtful of how we approach the situations going forward. Let's give it some thought. Let's give some thought to our play-calling, let's give some thought to our defensive play-calling, let's give some thought to our mindset."

There's still hope for the Ravens

Let's not write this group off, just yet. There's too much talent. A 10-plus-win season seems inevitable unless there are massive injury problems. And if the Ravens get into the playoffs, maybe this will be the year they find a way.

But maybe it's better if they try to do it by coming from behind? Getting big leads hasn't been the ticket.

When push comes to shove, the Ravens simply need to come up with more plays down the stretch. And they have to manage the clock better. Plus, they might need to adjust their aggressiveness for late-game play calling. Don't put everything on Jackson's shoulders.

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