While I was in Las Vegas in July, I made an in-studio appearance with Mitch Moss and Pauly Howard on VSiN’s “Follow the Money,” a show I’ve been a regular on for a few years. I knew they would ask the question because it’s the question everyone asks about the Ravens. It’s the question I ask myself about the Ravens. It can be asked in one of two ways. The way the guys asked it was:
“Why does it keep happening?”
Another way to ask it would be,
“How can it be different?”
This is the reality of the Ravens. Barring disaster, they’ll be very good again this year and will be right back in the mix to try to make a Super Bowl run. But they’ve been there before. And in the Lamar Jackson era, they don’t have even as much as one Super Bowl appearance to show for it.
So my answer usually starts with “I wish I knew” and then I stumble through how they get away from themselves. But this year, my answer then veers down a different path.
“Mike Green could make it different.”
Jackson has played in eight playoff games during his career. While he hasn’t necessarily been perfect, he’s been good enough to deserve a better rap than simple regurgitations of his 3-5 record in playoff games.
There are some other interesting notes about those eight playoff games. For example, in those eight playoff games, the Ravens have recorded a total of 12 sacks (1.5 per game). That includes four sacks in their wild-card round win against the Steelers in January, a game of course that the Ravens won fairly comfortably. For what it’s worth, in those same eight games, they’ve allowed … 30 sacks! In their five playoff losses, they’ve been on the wrong end of a 21-7 sack differential! Not great!
It’s not just sacks, however. Oftentimes, the best thing about getting after quarterbacks is that it can directly lead to a turnover. But in Jackson’s eight career playoff games, the Ravens have forced 0.25 turnovers per game! (Yes, that’s two total.) They’ve had a minus-12 turnover differential in those games. And yes, it is definitely an issue that they’ve turned the ball over 14 times in eight games, but the story could be at least a bit different if they had forced, say, one turnover per playoff game!
Mark Andrews needed to catch a football in Buffalo. Jackson may have needed to live to fight another day after a botched snap instead of trying to make a big play.
But maybe even more than any of those things, the Ravens’ defense needs to make bigger plays in the postseason to change the momentum of those games. That shouldn’t read as “the Ravens’ defense has been bad in the postseason.” It should read exactly the way I intended it. They need more big plays. They need to alter the game more.
The Ravens have done a very good job of scheming and generating pressure during the regular season. They have been in the top half of the league in sacks per game each year of the Jackson era except 2021. They’ve been top five in each of the last two seasons. But that hasn’t always translated against the best teams in the NFL.
That’s why I can’t shake the feeling that Mike Green might be the organization’s biggest X-factor this season. The second-round pick is coming off a 17-sack season at Marshall that included three forced fumbles. He slipped to No. 59 overall because of past sexual assault allegations. The talent outweighs the draft position. That doesn’t guarantee immediate success. Green might need time to develop into a high-level NFL pass rusher. It’s also possible he never becomes one at all.
But if he can translate that dominant rushing ability early in his career and make an immediate big-play impact, it might be exactly what the Ravens need to change their postseason fate.
To be clear, the entire defense needs to make bigger plays in the postseason. It’s not just Green. First-round pick Malaki Starks will be expected to contribute in this department. Everyone on that side of the ball needs to help turn the tide.
It’s just that the Ravens have been looking for a truly dominant, game-wrecking edge rusher since Terrell Suggs departed. If Green can become that guy, he might very well be the piece to prevent these questions from having to be asked again next year.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox
Issue 294: August / September 2025
Originally published Aug. 13, 2025