History of the Baltimore Ravens

The controversial creation of the Baltimore Ravens – what began with the Baltimore Colts slinking out of the town in the middle of the night to move to Indianapolis. Then ending with the Cleveland Browns breaking the hearts of their fans by moving to Baltimore. This team has been one of the more successful in the league.

Baltimore has won two Super Bowls, six division championships, and they’ve been in the playoffs in 13 of 26 seasons. It’s one of the highest success rates of any team in the league. It’s especially impressive when you consider that they missed the playoffs in each of their first four seasons.

The Comeback

The five straight playoff appearances, with their win in Super Bowl XLVII made up for those early season failures.

Only two teams in NFL history have won multiple Super Bowls without suffering a loss, and the Ravens are one of them (along with Tampa Bay).

For such a young franchise they have turned out some of the best players in the history of the NFL.

Jonathan Oden was a four-time First-team All-Pro at left tackle and an 11-time Pro Bowler. He was a member of the Super Bowl XXXV winning team, and he is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis is a two-time Super Bowl champion, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, a 13-time Pro Bowler, and one of the most beloved Ravens in history.

Safety Ed Reed is the newest Raven Hall of Famer, a Super Bowl champion, a former Defensive Player of the Year, and a five-time First-team All-Pro.

Ozzie Newsome, who was in the front office as a VP of player personnel and general manager when all three of those Hall of Famers were drafted, is himself in the Hall of Fame.

NFL Big Changes from Last Season – Baltimore Ravens

The biggest change for the Ravens from 2021 to 2022 is good health (fingers crossed). An unbelievable wave of injuries hammered the Ravens last season. Their starters were out of action for a combined 125 games – second most in the NFL.

Before the season even began they lost most of their running back room to season-ending injuries, and All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters also missed every single game in 2021.

Just being on the field this season will be a huge improvement from last year, and that includes former unanimous MVP Lamar Jackson, who also missed five games last year.

Changes in Players

There are some big changes in the wide receiver room that are not injury related. Last season’s No. 1 wide receiver, Marquise Hollywood Brown, was traded to the Arizona Cardinals on draft day. He totals 91 catches and 1,008 yards from a year ago. Also gone in Sammy Watkins and his 394 yards.

Baltimore did not do much to replace the missing pieces in the wide receiver room. He instead opted to use their two first round draft picks on safety Kyle Hamilton and center Tyler Linderbaum.

Linderbaum is a great addition, and for a team that loves to run the ball, he will give them solid center play for the next decade. At safety Hamilton is a future star. Hamilton is huge at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, he has incredible closing speed. He is equally good in man coverage or stopping the run at the line of scrimmage. 

Hamilton’s addition, along with free agent safety signing Marcus Williams, reflects the new Ravens defensive philosophy. They are going from four years of Wink Martindale at defensive coordinator, to new DC Mike Macdonald, who comes back to Baltimore after a year at Michigan.

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* All odds provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.