Let’s not fire anyone just yet
Before we ever consider firing the Ravens offensive coordinator as suggested by our letter-writing neighbor in Arrowsic, Maine, maybe we should ask Todd Monken how many times John Harbaugh overrode his offensive calls (“Fire Ravens offensive coordinator for terrible game plan,” Jan. 29). Congratulations, Ravens, it was a great season.
— Mary Ellen Stepowany, Baltimore
I don’t like the Chiefs, but I like Trumpers even less
I’m sick of the Kansas City Chiefs and even more so after they beat our Ravens on Jan. 28. I couldn’t wait to root on the 49ers in the Super Bowl. But now we hear about conspiracy theories connecting Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift with secret plots against Donald Trump. (“Swift, Kelce and MAGA meltdown,” Feb. 2). Good heavens, Kelce is pro-vaccines! A Kansas City victory would give Trumpers one more reason for their heads to explode. Go, Chiefs!
— Herb Cromwell, Catonsville
High-priced Ravens should defer salary like Dodgers’ Ohtani
The Ravens need Shohei Ohtani (“Shohei Ohtani agrees to record $700 million, 10-year contract with Dodgers,” Dec. 9). No, not literally; the Ravens don’t need a baseball pitcher and baseball hitter on their team. What the Ravens need is his attitude.
Ohtani structured his mega contract so only $2 million will be owed next year by the Dodgers so they’ll have plenty of money to get more of the best players and win a World Series. Lamar Jackson and Roquan Smith desperately want to win a Super Bowl, so why don’t they restructure their contracts so the Ravens can keep Patrick Queen, Justin Madubuike, Gus Edwards, Kevin Zeitler and John Simpson? They can also pick up valuable needed position players as well.
Now what about Smith and Jackson? Smith will be “capping” over $15 million in 2024. Jackson will be “capping” over $33 million. Could they defer some of their coming $48 million so the Ravens could field a Super Bowl-caliber team? Smith and Jackson want to win, but do they really have the team in mind like Ohtani?
— Jim Mundy, Ellicott City
Next locker cleanout, do better than trash bags
As sad and disappointing as the Ravens’ loss was last Sunday, I found the trash bag “pack up” process totally depressing (“For Ravens, this season was supposed to be different. In the end, it wasn’t.” Jan. 30)! To have the entire amazing Ravens season reduced to a line of common, household trash bags filled with items from the players’ lockers was just too much. Some of these guys make over a million dollars; they couldn’t get a rolling suitcase somewhere? The Ravens had a great season, onward to 2024 (minus the green bags).
— Sharan Kushner, Baltimore
Jackson’s lack of confidence infected Ravens
I have often noted in my long career in a very backroom sport, pocket billiards, that the great pool players who always win have the necessary confidence and presence to make their equally talented opponents choke. That happened to Lamar Jackson when he had to encounter the ultimate big-time proven winner, Patrick Mahomes, in the big game.
Sports journalist Steven A. Smith called it a “choke job,” and he was spot on. Mahomes is less than two years older than Jackson, so he and the Ravens will have to deal with this potential matchup throughout the remainder of Jackson’s guaranteed quarter-billion-dollar-plus extension. I believe that Jackson’s inability to flow with the game caused him to revert to his old tendencies. If he hasn’t grown out of this yet, he never will.
The Vince Lombardi Trophy, which Mahomes will be trying to capture for the third time this month, was named after the winner of Super Bowls 1 and 2 ,who said, “confidence is contagious, as is lack of confidence.” Lamar Jackson played like a scared schoolboy betting his first dollar at the pool room against the men, in front of all of his supporters. The silly penalties and untimely turnovers by his teammates were, to me, indicative of the lack of confidence emanating from Jackson, which was the contagion that affected the Ravens as a whole.
I am not even a fan of the NFL, but I believe this: As long as Lamar Jackson takes snaps here, the results will not change. I believe he is a classic choke artist. I say that he will definitely be an ultra-wealthy 35-year-old. who will have never won a game of any true meaning. He’ll be just another super-talented runner-up along with the multitudes. NFL MVP? He doesn’t know how to take down the cheese! All he’ll have will be money and painful memories. True MVPs always rise to the occasion. This occasion has come and gone.
— George Hammerbacher, Baltimore
Is it my turn to armchair quarterback?
Well, everyone else seems to have had their try at summing up the Ravens’ season and the AFC title game, so I’ll give it a whirl.
Kudos to CBS for showing the most egregious non-calls, including the two on Raven Isaiah Likely in the fourth quarter and holding by the Kansas City offensive line on their second touchdown drive. That seems to have been a no-no in the past, but CBS highlighted them. Kudos also to The Baltimore Sun for publishing that photo of that non-call in the end zone. It shows Likely being pushed to the ground with the ball in the air. On the subject of that foul, I’m positive that the Kansas City defensive backs were shown Likely’s touchdown catch the previous game over and over, and told by their coaches that whatever happens, Likely is not to catch that ball. Well, it turned out that they fouled him in the end zone to prevent it. As blatant as it was, the refs didn’t call it! As to the holding by the K.C. offensive line, someone must have said something to the refs at halftime. No sooner did they call some holds on K.C. in the second half, than the Ravens’ pass rushers started getting to the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes. They made Mahomes look very ordinary in the second half!
I have a lot of respect for Qadry Ismail as a commentator. He has shown to be as reluctant as any coach or current player to criticize the officials, so when he said that he thought the refs were biased against the Ravens from the get-go, I took note. His criticism of players has always been measured and thoughtful and tempered by the fact that he was one, but he laid the loss on Jackson.
The effort of the Ravens’ defense in the second half was one for the ages. Its ferocity and intensity were beyond anything that I have seen in the past 20 years! They had every right to be wilted after having to be on the field for 20 minutes of the first half, but they came out and shut down K.C. and their other-worldly QB. They gave Jackson and the offense chance after chance.
On the subject of defenses, K.C.’s defense put up similar numbers to the Ravens’ defense for the season, but there was really no comparison. The Ravens’ D showed in that game that it was vastly superior. I’ve lived a long life and followed football since I was a toddler. In the last quarter of that game, I could see that the K.C. defense had had it, The defense line and linebackers were gassed. They had nothing left. Any coach, any player, anyone who has been around football should have been able to see that. The Ravens should have been able to run over them in that last quarter. That they didn’t is on offensive coordinator Todd Monken and Jackson — mostly Jackson.
I agree with those who wanted Jackson to run more. It seems that he missed lots of opportunities to just take off with the ball (Tony Romo made the same comment), but it should be noted that he’s not the threat that he once was. In this K.C. game we saw him caught from behind by defensive linemen and linebackers. I’m a Jackson fan. I haven’t given up on him, but in this AFC championship game, he had me longing for Trent Dilfer.
— Jim Dempsey, Edgewood
Best way to cope with loss to Chiefs: Get over it
I find it amusing how after a loss to the best team in the galaxy, Ravens fans start playing the role of team general manager, owner, and head coach (“Fire Ravens offensive coordinator for terrible game plan,” Jan. 29).
Ill-informed fans want the heads of all the above. To all this I say: Get over it, as in immediately, and await the return of the orange and black in a few weeks. Now is not the time for cynicism, and time is the only panacea to heal all wounds.
— Patrick R. Lynch, Towson
