After a few days of the 2024 NFL schedule being public, it’s time for record projection—every fan’s favorite or least favorite exercise, depending on which team they support. This time, it’s for the Baltimore Ravens, who are among the AFC’s and the league’s best contenders.
The Ravens won the AFC North, had the best record in the NFL at the end of the season, were guaranteed a top seed, and hosted a conference championship for the first time in more than 50 years in 2023. They ultimately failed to make it back to the Super Bowl, but the challenge of their 2024 slate may ultimately help them become the winners they want to be.
Without picking every game, here is a forecast for the Ravens’ final record in 2024.
The Ravens’ final four games of the previous season, which included the Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, and Pittsburgh Steelers—three teams that made the playoffs the year before or a rival team they had lost to—were the hardest opponent group on paper. In response, they eliminated all of the leading candidates before resting important starters in their division rivalry regular season finale.
Even while their final five games are daunting—four of them are 2023 playoff clubs, including two rivals from the AFC North—their hardest tests will come early in the season. They will be up against four elite to upper-echelon quarterbacks with one or fewer losses on their record in the first five games of the season. If they can overcome this challenge and win one of those games—especially against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1—it will solidify their place among the league’s top contenders for the Super Bowl.
After a demanding opening schedule, the Ravens will enter an easier schedule with a lot of momentum and an opportunity to defeat teams they will be favored to defeat in both conference and nonconference play. In their upcoming schedule, they will play two consecutive divisional games as well as a primetime game against the Los Angeles Chargers, who are led by head coach John Harbaugh’s younger brother Jim and have a number of former players on their squad.If the Ravens can defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans on Christmas, and Cleveland Browns in a row to end the season on a positive note, they will have an excellent opportunity to start the postseason on a high note for the second year in a row.
