Yacht rock is very trendy these days, and certain songs within this genre contain lyrics of profound wisdom. As Chris Rea told us in 1978, when this easy-listening form of rock and roll was in its heyday, “Fool if you think it’s over, It’s just begun.”
This is the attitude that Ravens fans should take as they start to put the Divisional round loss at Buffalo behind them and move on to the offseason. Barring any significant unforeseen changes, the main components of the core nucleus should be back next fall to make another run at the Super Bowl.
Lamar Jackson is only 27, and Derrick Henry showed us that the cliche “wrong side of 30” doesn’t apply to him. You also have two of the NFL’s best-rising stars under 25 in center Tyler Lindebaum and safety Kyle Hamilton.
The future still looks bright, and former Ravens running back Mark Ingram believes the pieces are all in place.
“They have the team, they have the personnel, they have the coaching, they have the quarterback,” Ingram said in an exclusive with The Sports Daily. “It’s just when it comes to the games that matter the most in the postseason, you can’t beat yourself. That’s what we’ve been seeing happen with the Ravens the past two years.”
Ingram was the Ravens feature back in 2019, Jackson’s second season in the NFL. Teaming with Lamar to form an All-Heisman Trophy-winning backfield, he rushed for over 1,000 yards and 10 TDs that season.
Ingram made the Pro Bowl that season, averaging 5 yards per carry. In the same interview, the Alabama Crimson Tide legend said he reached out to his former teammate, who uncharacteristically committed two turnovers in the playoff elimination loss.
”I talked to Lamar,” Ingram revealed. “I texted him after the game. I just told him to keep his head up.
“I said, ‘You’re the greatest.’ The man is just special. He’s a special talent and despite those turnovers, they had a chance to tie the game and prolong the game in overtime if the defense would have got a stop.”
Ingram said absolutely all the right things in that situation. The reigning NFL MVP is indeed an exceptional talent, and his best football may still be ahead of him. The loss meant that Baltimore dropped 3-4 in Jackson’s playoff games.
While that looks mediocre at first glance, one must remember that winning in the NFL playoffs is extremely difficult. Very few teams and/or players have a winning record in the postseason.
