Last season, the Ravens finished 10-7 in the regular season and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Cincinnati Bengals. But they did so without one of the NFL’s best players, quarterback Lamar Jackson, for their final six games because of a knee injury.
With Jackson re-signed to a five-year extension to pair with a remade wide receiver group that includes two-time All-Pro Odell Beckham Jr. and rookie Zay Flowers, along with one of the NFL’s top defenses, the Ravens should be better this season.
There was some good news from the schedule-makers, too, with the Ravens’ 2023 slate checking in as the 12th easiest among the 32 NFL teams with opponents having won 48.4% of their games last season.
The bad news? There are several difficult matchups, particularly late in the year, including a Christmas night blockbuster against the 49ers in San Francisco and what could be a critical Week 11 meeting against the Bengals.
Here’s how the Ravens’ schedule measures up, with opponents ranked from most to least difficult.
1. Week 16 at San Francisco 49ers
Talk about coal in the stocking. This isn’t the Christmas present the Ravens were hoping for with a Dec. 25 night game at Levi’s Stadium against a 49ers team that last season had the league’s best defense, recorded the fifth-most yards per game on offense and reached the NFC championship.
The Ravens gave up the third-fewest rushing yards per game (92.1) in 2022, but the 49ers were even stingier (77.7). Baltimore will have its hands full with running back Christian McCaffrey (1,880 yards from scrimmage, 13 touchdowns last season) and do-everything wideout Deebo Samuel, not to mention surprise quarterback sensation Brock Purdy, who should be fully recovered from elbow surgery by then.
On the bright side, when these teams last met in 2019, Jackson converted a fourth-and-1 and third-and-1 on keepers down the stretch to set up a 49-yard game-winning field goal by Justin Tucker as time expired.
2. Week 2 at Cincinnati Bengals
What could’ve been. Had the Ravens beaten the Bengals in the regular-season finale, the site of their wild-card game the next week would have been decided by a coin flip.
Instead, the Ravens lost, 27-16, traveled to Cincinnati for their playoff game and watched as Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard returned a fumble by quarterback Tyler Huntley 98 yards for the decisive score in the fourth quarter. The Ravens lost, 24-17, while Cincinnati went on to play in another AFC championship.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has a 4-2 career mark against Baltimore, which includes setting an NFL record in 2021 for the most passing yards (941) against one team in a season. Cincinnati has won its past three home games against the Ravens, though Jackson didn’t play in any of them because he was injured. Also of note: Burrow was held to 215, 217 and 209 passing yards and one touchdown in each of his past three games against Baltimore.
3. Week 11 vs. Bengals
The good news for the Ravens is that they’ve won four of their past five against the Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium. That includes last year’s dramatic 19-17 victory in which Jackson ran three times for 26 yards and had two completions to tight end Mark Andrews in the final two minutes to set up a game-winning field goal by Tucker at the buzzer.
Cincinnati’s lone win in that stretch, meanwhile, was in 2021, when Burrow torched the Ravens for 426 passing yards and three touchdowns in a 41-17 thumping. Burrow’s LSU teammate Ja’Marr Chase, who won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors that season, also had a monster game with eight catches for 201 yards, including an 82-yard touchdown after he beat cornerback Marlon Humphrey on a slant.
The bad news for the Ravens is this game comes on Thursday night four days after a showdown against the rival Cleveland Browns.
4. Week 15 at Jacksonville Jaguars
The Ravens rode into Jacksonville last season on a four-game winning streak only to leave frustrated after blowing another lead. With Baltimore leading 27-20 with 2:02 remaining, quarterback Trevor Lawrence led the Jaguars on a 10-play, 75-yard drive against a Ravens defense that allowed a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. with 18 seconds left and by a 2-point conversion pass to wide receiver Zay Jones.
After finishing 9-8 and making the playoffs last season, expectations for the once-downtrodden Jaguars are higher this year. They have a rising star at quarterback along with plenty of other young talent in running backs Travis Etienne and rookie Tank Bigsby; receivers Zay Jones, Christian Kirk and Calvin Ridley, who makes his Jaguars debut after being suspended all of last season for violating the league’s gambling policy; and tight end Evan Engram. Zay Jones torched the Ravens’ secondary with 11 catches for 145 yards last season, and the Sunday night crowd figures to be intense for this one.
5. Week 9 vs. Seattle Seahawks
Last year, the Seahawks were a surprise playoff team behind quarterback Geno Smith, who completed a league-best 69.8% of his passes on his way to 4,282 yards, 30 touchdowns and NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors. Seattle’s offense should be more potent this year with the addition of first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba alongside DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, giving Seattle maybe the best wideout trio in the NFL.
The Seahawks also strengthened their defense by bringing back six-time All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner, who spent last season with the Los Angeles Rams, signing former Steelers linebacker Devin Bush and reuniting with defensive end Jarran Reed before drafting top-rated cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
6. Week 17 vs. Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins will make their second of three straight trips to M&T Bank Stadium this year. Ravens fans would like to forget the first one.
After taking a 35-14 lead into the fourth quarter, the Ravens were outscored 28-3 in the final frame, with Jaylen Waddle catching the winning touchdown pass with 14 seconds remaining. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa finished with 469 passing yards and six touchdowns, four of which came in the fourth quarter. It’s almost easy to forget that Devin Duvernay returned the opening kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown, or that Jackson completed 21 of 29 passes for 318 yards and three scores while running for a career-long 79-yard touchdown.
The rematch should be just as intriguing, with the Ravens having added Beckham and Flowers and the Dolphins bolstering their defense with the addition of three-time All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey and veteran coordinator Vic Fangio.
7. Week 12 at Los Angeles Chargers
This is a team Ravens fans should be able to relate to. Expectations were high for the Chargers last year, and they finished 10-7 before blowing a 27-point lead against the Jaguars in a wild-card round loss.
The last time the Ravens played the Chargers was 2021 in Baltimore, and the Ravens shellacked them, 34-6. The Ravens scored the first 17 points, confused quarterback Justin Herbert with a variety of looks and pressure and dominated on special teams and defense. Herbert finished with just 195 passing yards, one touchdown and an interception.
Expectations are again high in Los Angeles and the talent is there with the Chargers having added rookie wideout Quentin Johnston, but we’ve seen this movie before. The Ravens will also have 10 days to prepare for the “Sunday Night Football” matchup.
8. Week 7 vs. Detroit Lions
Two years ago, the Lions won just three games. Last year, they finished as one of the hottest teams in the NFL, winning eight of their final 10. It wasn’t just that they were winning, but how they were doing it, averaging 28 points in that span, including five games with at least 31 points and two with 40 or more.
While they’re a popular pick to have a breakout season, whether they can pick up where they left off remains to be seen. Running backs D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams are both gone, having been replaced by rookie Jahmyr Gibbs and former Chicago Bears back David Montgomery. They also lost wide receiver Jameson Williams, though he is expected back after Week 6 following a suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy. The Lions did bring back receiver Marvin Jones Jr., however, and added to their defense by signing cornerback Cameron Sutton and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson in free agency and drafting inside linebacker Jack Campbell.
9. Week 5 at Pittsburgh Steelers
The Ravens and Steelers are at different junctions entering 2023, with Pittsburgh rebuilding behind second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett and the Ravens on the precipice of Super Bowl contention. But the Steelers have owned the rivalry in recent years, winning five of the past six.
That includes last season’s Jan. 1 game at M&T Bank Stadium, in which Pickett threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to running back Najee Harris with under a minute remaining to lift the Steelers to a 16-13 win. Not surprisingly, all but one of the past six meetings have featured a final score in the teens. The Steelers have also confounded Jackson, who has passer rating of 67.4 with 634 yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions in five career games against them. Last season, he missed both meetings because of injury.
10. Week 4 at Cleveland Browns
The Browns are just 13-35 all-time against the Ravens, but that includes wins in six of the past 10 and two straight in Cleveland. Last year, the Ravens managed just a field goal and lost, 13-3, on the road. Two years ago at FirstEnergy Stadium, Jackson suffered a season-ending ankle injury in a 24-22 loss.
Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson should also be better this year after playing just six games last season following an 11-game suspension. Cleveland also has good speed on defense and ranked fifth in passing yards allowed last season.
11. Week 18 vs. Steelers
Playing the Steelers in Baltimore hasn’t helped much in this rivalry. The Ravens are just 1-5 in their past six against Pittsburgh at M&T Bank Stadium, with their lone win in that span coming on a rainy afternoon in December 2019 to cap a 12-game winning streak to end the regular season. The irony is that it was a meaningless game for Baltimore, which had already wrapped up the top seed in the AFC and rested seven starters, including Jackson, but still rolled, 28-10, on the strength of its defense.
12. Week 10 vs. Browns
As mentioned, Watson struggled mightily last season, registering a career-worst 38.3 QBR after completing only 58.2% of his passes for 1,102 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. Last year, backup Jacoby Brissett nearly rallied the Browns to a win in Baltimore before the Ravens held on for the 23-20 win. Nick Chubb had 91 rushing yards and a touchdown for Cleveland, while Brissett completed 22 of 27 passes for 258 yards.
This one also comes four days before the Thursday night tilt with the Chargers, so it could be something of a trap game for the Ravens.
13. Week 6 at Tennessee Titans (in London)
The last — and only — time the Ravens played in London was in 2017 in what was a 44-7 blowout loss to the Jaguars at Wembley Stadium. The next day, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said, “Maybe I’ll get into trouble for saying this — don’t plan on going over there any time soon to play again. So, somebody else can have that job.”
This time around they get the Titans, who they haven’t played since a 2021 wild-card win in Tennessee sealed by an interception by Marcus Peters that led to Ravens players dancing on the Titans’ logo at midfield. In 2020, it was the Titans who came out on top, mostly shutting down Jackson en route to a 28-12 upset of the top-seeded Ravens in the divisional round. The following season, Tennessee won again, 30-24, when running back Derrick Henry broke free for a 29-yard touchdown run in overtime.
The old AFC Central rivals have plenty of other history, too, in a series tied at 13.
14. Week 14 vs. Rams
The Rams still have a few stars in quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Cooper Kupp and defensive tackle Aaron Donald, but their Super Bowl win in February 2022 is starting to fade quickly in the rear-view mirror with injuries, age and a rapidly depleting roster. Ramsey, wide receiver Allen Robinson and linebackers Wagner, Von Miller and Leonard Floyd are all gone, not to mention Beckham.
The Ravens also host Los Angeles after their bye week, and if the Rams are spiraling late in the season, they’ll have their eye on building for the future and potentially landing a top draft pick.
15. Week 3 vs. Indianapolis Colts
In theory, this one could be fun with Jackson squaring off against Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson, whom Indianapolis drafted fourth overall. But the Colts’ weak offensive line vs. one of the league’s best defensive fronts — not to mention’s Harbaugh’s track record of feasting on rookie quarterbacks — doesn’t bode well for the visitors.
The last time these teams met was two years ago in Baltimore, when Jackson and then-Colts quarterback Carson Wentz threw for over 400 yards and the Ravens rallied from a 22-3 third-quarter deficit to win, 31-25, in overtime.
16. Week 8 at Arizona Cardinals
Arizona went 4-13 last year and things could be even uglier this season, especially with quarterback Kyler Murray still recovering from a torn ACL and meniscus and his return date uncertain. The Cardinals landed Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. sixth overall and added to their defense in the draft, but they are in full rebuild mode, even with wideouts DeAndre Hopkins and former Ravens first-round pick Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.
17. Week 1 vs. Houston Texans
The Texans have a promising young first-year coach in DeMeco Ryans. They have a promising rookie quarterback in C.J. Stroud, whom they drafted second overall out of Ohio State. They have a potential future star in defensive end and No. 3 overall pick Will Anderson out of Alabama. As for their chances against an experienced Ravens team that has one of the league’s top defenses, they don’t have much of any, particularly in the first week of the season.
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