Knee-Jerk Reactions: Patriots 28 Ravens 24

The Baltimore Ravens blew another one, 28-24 to the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football.

RSR staff react to the loss here.

Derek Arnold

In the end, the 2025 Baltimore Ravens are pretty much exactly who the Baltimore Ravens have been here in the Harbaugh-Lamar Jackson era: a team that lets one mistake snowball into another, and another, and another, and another; a team that makes mental and physical blunders galore; a team that’s regularly out-coached and manages to out-smart itself.

Tonight, the Ravens led 7-0 and were doing whatever they wanted on offense. It looked like 14-0 was incoming. But Derrick Henry‘s fumblitis returned, and then the defense started what would be a long night of giving up 3rd-and-long conversions to Drake Maye, and it was instead 7-7. Then Lamar got hurt and had to leave the game. But Snoop Huntley was up for the challenge, and helped stake the Ravens to a 24-13 lead early in the fourth quarter. It was a Henry run that capped off that drive, at which point #22 had 128 yards and two scores on 18 carries, a robust 7.1 average.

Alas…he would never see the field again!

Someone explain this, I am begging you:

Derrick Henry’s final snap of the eveninghttps://t.co/vaPIMhTzuu

— Russell St. Report (@RussellStReport) December 22, 2025

On the NBC broadcast, Cris Colinsworth was calling them out too, saying the Ravens were doing the Pats a gigantic favor by having Henry on the sideline.

Just more malpractice of the same kind to which we’ve grown disgustingly accustomed. They would do the same thing against good teams if they were to sneak into the postseason, so why even be upset that Pittsburgh’s magic number is now one?

False starts on short yardage. Zero pass rush. Soft coverage. And whatever the HELL Mark Andrews was doing. Just a bad football team.

Three home prime time embarrassments this season. Unacceptable.

After yet ANOTHER blown fourth-quarter lead, it’s hard to feel much other than numbness. I know he won’t be fired, so all we can do is hope John Harbaugh is as tired of it as we are and steps down to give himself a break.

Rob Shields

This was a likely fitting end to the season. Lamar gets hurt, which has killed us all year. Questionable coaching decisions in the fourth quarter, and, to top it all off, Henry and Zay with two key fumbles…something both players have done all year.

While the season isn’t over, it basically is. You now need a win in Green Bay and need a Pittsburgh loss in Cleveland.  While both are possible, I wouldn’t count on it.

At this point, you just want to see losses, a higher draft pick and a brand new coaching staff. It’s a bad staff.

Get healthy next year and get a new coaching staff and I think they can be right back in it next year.

Chad Racine

Well it all came crashing down. Maybe this is what the Ravens need to realize they need some changes. They came out hot after seeing Pittsburgh pulled off the win but faded out.  If Lamar is out beyond this game does it really matter? Time to plan for next season.

Jared Pinder

You truly couldn’t write a better ending for this 2025 ravens team. Have a start where you look ready to rock only for constant mistakes to get in the way. This team, this head coach and his staff are all clueless, and don’t even blame Lamar getting hurt. Zach Orr’s defense completely pooped its pants when it mattered again and Monken once again kept Derrick Henry on the sidelines.

Zay Flowers might have just saved the Ravens because they can’t go into next year with John Harbuagh as the head coach. You can’t there is no more excuses for him and he needs to go.

The 2025 ravens are dead, a year where we were supposed to go to the dang Super Bowl ends before Christmas.

I hope Steve took notice of how many Patriots fans were shouting “MVP” for Maye at M&T because get used to other fans taking over the stadium if he keeps John. Change is needed in the worst way.

Vermont Raven

Wow!  Every time this team gives us fans a little hope, it comes crashing down.  To me this spells the unofficial end of an extremely disappointing season. Even if Ravens somehow win at Green Bay Saturday, there is absolutely no way a Tomlin-led Steelers team will drop a game to a Shedeur Sanders-led Cleveland Browns team. I have been a huge supporter of Harbaugh but I think it’s time for a change.

Jason Woolbert

I’ve been a Ravens fan since 1996, and this is the single most disappointing year I’ve experienced relative to expectations.  This is one of the most talented rosters in the league, with one of the best front offices in the league, coached by a potential Hall of Fame coach and a multiple MVP winner at the most important position… but it’s not a good football team.

Your stars don’t fumble the ball in critical situations when you’re a good football team.

You don’t have procedural penalties on important drives when you’re a good football team.

Your kicker who supposedly has elite leg strength doesn’t leave a FG short when you’re a good football team.

You don’t go away from what works in lieu of load management in a must win game when you’re a good football team.

You don’t give up a 90 yard game-winning TD drive so quickly when you’re a good football team.  Or if you do, you come back and score yourself.

Something needs to change at the Castle, and I wish I could say what it is specifically, but it’s hard to identify when you’ve got top-to-bottom talent.  If they’re going to fix this situation, they need to put in a lot of work in the Spring and Summer.  It may even be better if they cut some big names and let others walk, just so they can get some young, hungry players that haven’t learned yet how to choke.

The broadcast tonight put up a stat:  over the last five years, the Ravens had lost 11 games while leading by 7 or more points in the fourth quarter, which was the most in a five-year span in NFL history.  Now they’ve beaten their own record with loss #12.

Look, in a vacuum this was a competitive game against an actual good football team, but the season-killing result was set up by an entire year of doing the same bad things.  The only playoff team the Ravens beat so far is the Bears; interestingly enough, with Tyler Huntley at QB.  They let their best choke-job of the season in Week 1 put them on tilt for weeks, and once they beat up on some bad teams, they coughed up five turnovers against the Bengals in a division loss.  It’s just how this team is.  Pittsburgh must blow their own game to the lowly Browns or the season is officially over.

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