When looking back at the Baltimore Ravens 2023 schedule, one would’ve pointed to their final four games as clearly the most challenging stretch on paper. However, they had already begun hitting their stride by that time and tore through some of the top contending teams in the league heading into the playoffs.
In a trio of consecutive weeks, they faced the Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers and the Miami Dolphins all of whom were leading their respective divisions at the time they squared off. Each of them got dismantled on both sides of the ball and it proved to be the defining stretch of the season that cemented the Ravens and the best team in the league far and away heading into the postseason.
When assessing which stretch of five games could prove to be the Ravens’ crucible in 2024 now that the schedule has been released, it’s hard to discern between their opening slate or the closing slate.
Weeks 1 – 5
In their first five games, the Ravens take on the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on the road in a rematch of last year’s AFC championship to christen the season. After a Week 2 home opener against the Las Vegas Raiders in which they’ll be favored to come out on top, it is back on the road for a Week 3 interconference matchup with reigning NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys in the late FOX window under a semi-national spotlight.
Upon their return home, they will host the reigning AFC East champion Buffalo Bills in primetime on Sunday Night Football in Week 4. The following week, they will be back on the road to play their first AFC North divisional game against the Cincinnati Bengals who will be itching to prove their legitimacy as contenders after a down year in 2023.
Three of their first five opponents were playoff teams last year and were a combined 51-34 with a winning percentage of .666. What makes the Ravens’ first slate of five games arguably more daunting than the last is that they’ll play a gauntlet of top 10 quarterbacks who are regularly in the MVP conversation in four of those contests including Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow.
