The Ravens’ and Bills’ last best chance at a Super Bowl is here

The Ravens and Bills are the ultimate bridesmaids of the AFC. Perpetually brilliant, boasting MVP quarterbacks, and incredible defenses — only to continually see their hopes and dreams devoured by the Chiefs, who inevitably wind up representing the conference in the Super Bowl. Like Wil E. Coyote, they keep falling just short, and now it’s right to ask whether or not this is the breaking point for these franchises as we know them.

Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen are constants. They will weather whatever storm approaches no matter what. We’re still talking about two of the most dynamic, game-changing players in football — but it’s all the ancillary pieces around them that might need changing. Justified or not, it’s fair for an owner to question the leadership from the front office on down when a team is routinely picked as a preseason favorite to go to the Super Bowl, only to see them collapse in the playoffs or fail again to formulate a plan that can beat the Chiefs.

It’s for this reason that 2025 is a pivotal moment.

It’s fundamentally put up or shut up time for both John Harbaugh and Sean McDermott. Tenured for 17 years and 8 years respectively, there’s no doubt both coaches have impressive resumes — but there’s a ceiling they’ve both hit as well without even making it to the Super Bowl in the last decade.

Harbs has definitely earned more coaching capital by winning a Super Bowl, but that was in 2012. It’s fair to ask whether or not he’s maximized the potential of the Ravens in recent years. It’s right to question the quality of the weapons Lamar has had at his disposal for much of his career, it’s also worth wondering why the coaching staff hasn’t really been able to work out a passing offense that can carry them further. Since Lamar Jackson took over as franchise QB in 2019 the team has routinely looked unprepared for playoff games. They’ve lost to the Titans, Bengals, Chiefs, and Bills (twice), despite often being favored in these games.

To be honest, it’s starting to feel a little bit like Mike McCarthy in Green Bay. A brilliant coach, without the answers on how to put it all together.

On the GM side it’s difficult to find much fault with Eric DeCosta. The Ravens are renowned for having the best, most consistent executive pipelines in football with DeCosta taking over a GM from the legendary Ozzie Newsome in 2019. Since taking over the ship the Ravens have had an incredible run in the draft, but there have also been some questionable decisions in the trade market, like trading away Hollywood Brown in 2022, banking on Rashod Bateman to be the answer before he was ready.

This feels more like a breaking point for Harbaugh than DeCosta, and if the Ravens have an early exit in 2025 it really feels like the team might be finding a new coach.

As brilliant as the Bills have been there’s one fundamental element to their front office and coaching construction that’s impossible to ignore: They built themselves off the Carolina Panthers. People who are running the ship in Buffalo are the same men who consistently underachieved with Cam Newton, and it’s starting to feel a little too similar for the Bills.

Perhaps it’s unfair to judge coaches by their past failings, but it’s a little fitting here. GM Brandon Beane cut his teeth inside an organization that lacked the ability to support Newton, in the same way the Bills haven’t really found the weapons to make Josh Allen into a Super Bowl champion. There are still questions at receiver, especially with the lack of a true game-breaking WR1.

Coaching wise it’s a similar story. McDermott spent much of his time as a coordinator under Ron Rivera, a man who was known for being a coach players loved, but didn’t get the most out of them. It was often on Newton to be the vocal leader of the organization — rather than its coach.

McDermott and Beane’s seats are hot, we just don’t really talk about it. There’s only so long this organization can have one of the football’s best QBs and be satisfied playing second fiddle. Even when the Bills are favored, they end up getting bested — and sure, there aren’t many (or any) coaches as good as Andy Reid, but there’s only so long you can keep getting bested in the playoffs and accept the status quo.

The quarterbacks are locked, but elements of these two rosters are getting old at some key positions, which could lead to some major turnover if they can’t get it done this year.

Defensively the Ravens are more or less fine when it comes to the future. Outside of aging pass rusher Kyle Van Noy the roster is pretty much set thanks to solid drafting.

Offensively is where this gets a little trickier to predict in the future. As brilliant as Derrick Henry was in 2024, he’s now crossed into his 30s, where running backs can drop off at any moment. Couple this with backup Justice Hill aging too and the Ravens have an old running back group at a time where the ground game is more important than ever.

The other heavy-hitter to keep an eye on is Ronnie Stanley. The Pro Bowl offensive tackle is unquestionably brilliant when he’s on the field, but has a history of serious injuries. Starting this season at 31 there’s a real chance he starts to wear down as well, requiring retooling of the line.

Finally we have to discuss the WRs once more. DeAndre Hopkins is slowing down, and it remains unclear if either Rashod Bateman or Zay Flowers have the temperament to be the WR1 this team is looking for long term. There’s a lot of room here for things to swing wildly based on 2025, and if the passing game goes belly up because the WR grouping didn’t work out, then we could see the team rework a lot of its key pieces on offense.

Age isn’t as much of issue for the Bills, but there are several key players on defense who have taken a lot of reps in their career. Joey Bosa is a tossup this season as we wait to see how effective he’ll be, but Matt Milano is an incredibly important part of this team that worries me long-term. With back-to-back season-ending injuries, the linebacker group is very thin. This is at a time where solid, run-stopping backers are incredibly important.

Pair this with DT DaQuan Jones being the oldest player on the team and there’s a real risk this team could get let down by its veteran players this year. More alarmingly for the Bills is that their roster tends to be a little thin at many positions after you get past the starters. Buffalo has more or less plugged holes with veteran free agent signings like Shaq Thompson (another ex-Carolina guy), but the team hasn’t found a great amount of mid or late round talent in recent drafts who can step in and fill leadership roles.

All-in-all I’m less concerned about the veterans on the Bills roster, but there are some worries here.

That’s the million-dollar question here.

The Ravens keep throwing things at the wall and seeing if they’ll stick. That’s more or less been this team’s MO. Harbaugh has promoted from within to fill gaps, which is a solid way to build an organization — but it’s also made this team’s brain trust very insular. This is an organization that could benefit from some outside thinking and new approaches to the modern NFL, but instead they’ll keep chugging along.

Deep down I think the Ravens are probably safe. Harbaugh has built up so much goodwill by keeping the Ravens competitive, and DeCosta has such a solid pipeline of young talent from the draft that it would take a fairly monumental collapse for the team to look in another direction.

That’s not a recipe for complacency, however. This team has to find a way to get Lamar to a Super Bowl before they squander him. There’s a status quo the Ravens are hit, and they have to get out of it.

Jackson and Allen find themselves in the same position, but through different routes. It’s here I see the Bills being in a different spot in 2025. Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane haven’t got the same amount of rope that their counterparts in Baltimore have, and more alarmingly there doesn’t seem to be a cohesive plan for how they’ll get better other than “maybe we’ll do it this year?”

The Ravens might be trying and failing to improve, but there’s a very real element of “rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic” to Buffalo. There’s only so long Josh Allen can keep playing ludicrous football and be let down by other elements of his team. That’s even more pronounced with a new stadium under construction in Buffalo, which puts more pressure on the team to deliver.

If McDermott and Beane fail to break through in 2025 it’s honestly correct to question if they ever will. To me this is a team ready to make some big changes, and it’s probably time for them to do it.