The Ravens have played on Christmas Day twice, winning once. Here’s a look back at the team’s holiday history ahead of its prime-time matchup against the 49ers on Dec. 25.
2005: Ravens 30, Vikings 23 (Highlights)
The 2005 campaign was a disappointing one for the Ravens, but they saved their two most impressive performances of the season for the season’s final stretch. The Ravens beat the Packers, 48-3, in Baltimore on “Monday Night Football,” leading to a Week 16 Sunday night matchup at home against another NFC North foe in the Vikings.
Minnesota held leads of 7-0, 14-7, 17-10 and 20-17 throughout the game, but the Ravens scored 13 consecutive fourth-quarter points to take control of the game. Derrick Mason caught a touchdown pass from Kyle Boller 13 seconds into the final stanza, then Matt Stover put the game away with two field goals. The contest marked the Ravens’ sixth and final win of the season.
Boller finished the game 24 of 34 for 289 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Mark Clayton and Todd Heap caught touchdowns in addition to Mason. On the other side, Brad Johnson completed 25 of 36 passes for 248 yards and two scores. Travis Taylor, who played in Baltimore from 2000-2004, was on the receiving end of one of those touchdowns.
Boller started nine games at quarterback for the Ravens in 2005, while Anthony Wright started the other seven. The Ravens traded for veteran Steve McNair ahead of the 2006 season.
2016: Steelers 31, Ravens 27 (Highlights)
Simply put, this is one of the most gut-wrenching losses in franchise history. The Ravens came to Pittsburgh for the Week 16 matchup with an 8-6 mark, while the Steelers sat at 9-5. Since the Ravens had beaten the Steelers earlier in the season, a win would have moved Baltimore into first place in the AFC North. A loss, however, eliminated the Ravens from playoff contention entirely.
The game began to slip away from the Ravens after C.J. Mosley intercepted Ben Roethlisberger late in the third quarter. Mosley returned it all the way down to the Steelers’ 11-yard line, setting up the Ravens, already ahead 17-10, for a chance at a two-touchdown lead. A three-and-out, however, led to a Justin Tucker field goal and a 20-10 lead.
Then, the explosive Pittsburgh offense — featuring Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown — got rolling. Two touchdown drives around a Ravens punt gave the Steelers a 24-20 lead with 7:16 to play in regulation. Baltimore responded with a 14-play drive capped off by a 10-yard touchdown run by Kyle Juszczyk, taking nearly six minutes off the clock.
That left the Ravens to defend a 27-24 lead with 1:18 left. The Steelers drove down the field with ease, and Roethlisberger hit Brown for the game-winning score with nine seconds left. (Brown extended the ball across the goal line in memorable fashion.) Had Brown not scored, the clock might have run out on the Steelers because they had no timeouts left.
One year later, the Ravens suffered a similarly heartbreaking defeat to the Bengals to again miss the playoffs. That set the stage for a new direction for the franchise beginning with the 2018 NFL Draft, when the Ravens landed Lamar Jackson with the No. 32 overall pick.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers