Since winning the 2000-2001 Super Bowl (only their 5th season in existence), the Ravens have made the playoffs in 9/14 seasons, including six out of the last seven years. Since 2008, the Ravens have a 72-40 regular season record, a 10-5 playoff record, and another Super Bowl victory. You'd think being a fan of such a successful team would be easy; you would be horribly wrong. If there's one word for a Ravens fan on any given Sunday, your safest bet would be: frustrated.
- Dr. Joe and Mr. Flacco.
Joe Flacco does this thing where he puts up amazing numbers one week and looks terrible the next. It's like he's bipolar. It's maddening, you never know which Joe will show up! Unless it's the postseason. Then youknowhope it'll be good Joe. - High defensive expectations.
Ravens fans are spoiled when it comes to defense. Incredible defensive players like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed defined the team's early years - they won their first Super Bowl on the back one of the greatest defenses ever! As a result, we fans expect nothing but the best, which has left us sorely disappointed the last few seasons... OH MY GOD HOW DO YOU LET HIM GET THAT WIDE OPEN... sorry, I warned you... - All NFL commentators and sports writers HATE the Ravens.
The Ravens are ALWAYS the underdogs in big games. Going into the Baltimore-Denver playoff game a couple of years ago, no one, and I mean NO ONE, gave the Ravens a chance. They said we might keep it close... It's never "The Ravens played better;" it's always "The other team didn't play as well as they were supposed to." - Mirroring the competition.
The Ravens always play up to their competition, which is why our best games come against the stiffest competition (see: Mile High Miracle, 2011 or 2012 AFC Championship, almost any Ravens/Steelers game). Unfortunately, we also play down to our competition. Our worst games always come against the truly awful teams. In 2012, we barely beat the league-worst Chiefs 9-6, and only won at all because the Chiefs turned the ball over a yard away from scoring a touchdown.
- The yearly road egg.
Year after year, without fail, the Ravens play a vastly inferior team on the road, and then lose in the most disgusting way possible. For example, in 2011, the Ravens played in Jacksonville against the Jaguars, the laughing stock of the NFL. The Jaguars won 12-7. The Ravens failed to get a first down until after halftime. Need I say more? - The yearly January heartbreak.
The one downside to being in the playoffs almost every year is watching your team lose in the playoffs almost every year. Yes, 2012-13 was a fairytale season for the Ravens, but let's remember the other years. In 2010-11, the Ravens gave up a 21-7 halftime lead to lose 31-24 to the Steelers in the Divisional Round. In 2014-15, the Ravens gave up two 14-point leads to lose 35-31 to the Patriots in the Divisional Round. And then there's the 2011-12 AFC Championship Game - the Cundiff game (*sobs*) - which is perhaps the greatest disappointment in Ravens history. - Cincinnati.
For some reason, the Ravens play terribly in Cincinnati. Since 2008, the Ravens have won two out of seven games there. Oh, and going back to how the NFL hates Baltimore, the schedule-makers have recently decided to end the Ravens' season in Cincinnati almost every year. - Pittsburgh.
The best rivalry in football comes with a price. Take it from someone who knows: playing against a perennial playoff threat twice a year really doesn't help your team. And even when the Ravens win, there's always a let down the next week when the Ravens sleepwalk through a game and struggle to win. - Any given Sunday... almost.
Especially in more recent years, the Ravens have decided to make every game as stressful and suspenseful as humanly possible. No matter how bad the other team is, the Ravens will do everything they can to shoot themselves in the foot. Oh, sure, they might pull away toward the end, but the game rarely should've been that close. Last season, when the Ravens needed to beat the Browns to get into the playoffs, The Ravens won 20-10, but trailed 10-3 for over 45 minutes of the game. WHY IS THAT NECESSARY, JUST BEAT THE INFERIOR TEAM, UGH
- Ticket prices.
When a team is really good, more people want to go to their games, which means the ticket prices go up. Starting prices can be upwards of $70, and those are just for the cheap seats! Now, maybe that's not an issue for some, but for the average fan, it can be too expensive to go to games. And really, what greater struggle is there than not being able to cheer on your team as they play frustrating football in person?
