Ben Roethlisberger Is Right About Baltimore, But He's Missing The Bigger Picture On Why The Ravens Are Actually Done

Ben Roethlisberger said what everyone in Pittsburgh has been thinking but nobody wants to say out loud: the Baltimore Ravens are falling apart. The former Steelers quarterback looked at the Ravens' offseason moves and came to the conclusion that their Super Bowl window has slammed shut. He is absolutely correct on the diagnosis, but he is incomplete in his analysis of the disease that is killing the franchise. The Ravens did not just have a bad offseason. They have constructed a roster that is fundamentally broken at the quarterback position in a way that will haunt them for years.

Let's start with what Big Ben got right, because he understands this division as well as anyone alive. The Ravens made moves this offseason that are frankly baffling if you believe your team is a contender. They did not go all in. They did not make splash signings on offense. They did not address the glaring deficiencies that prevented them from being a serious playoff threat last season. Instead, they tinkered around the edges and hoped their defense would carry them. That is not the formula for a Super Bowl run in this league, and Roethlisberger knows it because he has seen what it actually takes to win in this division.

The Ravens had one of the most talented defenses in football last year, and it was not enough. Their defense ranked top five in most metrics, yet they still did not make a deep playoff run. This should have sent a clear message to ownership and the front office: the problem is not the defense. The problem is the offense. The problem is they cannot generate enough points to win championship-level football games. Yet what did they do? They essentially stood pat on offense and hope the defense got even better. This is delusional thinking, and it shows a franchise that has lost its way.

Now, Roethlisberger's criticism is sharp and it lands, but here is where I believe he is being too kind to the Ravens' situation. He suggests their window has closed as if they were close and just missed. That is generous to Baltimore. Their window did not just close. Their window was never actually open in the first place, and that is because Lamar Jackson, for all his talent, has not proven he can be a top-tier franchise quarterback when it matters most. This is not a controversial statement anymore. It is observable fact.

Jackson is an electrifying talent. He can run the football in ways no quarterback in NFL history can run it. He can make plays with his feet that defy logic and physics. He has one of the strongest arms in football when he decides to actually use it. But here is the problem that the Ravens' front office has never solved: Jackson has not won a playoff game since 2020. Since his MVP season, he has not played at MVP level. His decision-making in critical moments is inconsistent. His footwork in the pocket deteriorates when the pressure is on. His willingness to take sacks instead of throwing it away has cost his team football games. These are not things that get better with age. These are quarterback fundamentals that are either there or they are not.

The Ravens are paying Jackson like he is a franchise quarterback, which is their absolute right. But they are also building a roster around him that assumes he will eventually figure out how to win in January, and that is a bet against historical evidence. This franchise has now gone through multiple offensive coordinators trying to find the right system for Jackson. They have drafted offensive weapons. They have signed pass catchers. Nothing has worked because the fundamental issue is the quarterback play is not elevating the offense when it matters. Roethlisberger has thrown enough touchdown passes in the playoffs to know what a franchise quarterback looks like when it is all on the line, and Jackson is not that guy yet.

But let's return to Roethlisberger's actual point about this offseason because it deserves its own examination. The Ravens' offseason was genuinely perplexing. They lost valuable players and did not replace them with equivalent talent. They had holes at receiver, particularly with guys who can separate downfield and give Jackson legitimate vertical passing options. Did they aggressively pursue that? Not really. They had issues up front in terms of pass protection. Did they fix it? Not in any meaningful way. They had a need for speed at receiver to create underneath options for an offense that has never truly mastered the vertical passing game. What did they do? They shrugged and hoped last year's roster minus a few pieces would somehow be better.

This is coaching and management malpractice. This is a franchise that has decided to hope that lightning strikes twice instead of actually constructing a team built for the modern NFL playoff environment. The modern NFL playoff environment requires multiple layers of offensive firepower. It requires a quarterback who can dissect defenses through the air. It requires receivers who can win one-on-one matchups. It requires an offense that can manufacture explosive plays without relying on one man's individual talent. The Ravens have none of these things in abundance, and they did nothing this offseason to acquire any of them.

Roethlisberger's point about the window closing is correct, but he is looking at the wrong timeline. This window was never truly open once Lamar Jackson became the quarterback of the franchise. The Ravens' front office made the choice to build around a running quarterback in an era when passing dictates playoff success. They built an offense designed to win 12 games in the regular season by leaning on running the football and defense. That strategy works in September through December. It does not work in January and February.

The actual indictment of the Ravens is not that they had a bad offseason. The actual indictment is that they have spent the last three years building a team fundamentally misaligned with how championship football is played in 2024. They have invested heavily in the defensive side of the football while refusing to make the hard choice about whether their quarterback can actually win playoff games. Roethlisberger is pointing at the ship that is currently sinking, which is fair criticism. But the ship started taking on water years ago, and management has been bailing out water with a teaspoon instead of fixing the hull.

The Ravens will still win their division because the AFC North is not scary right now. The Steelers are a mess. The Browns cannot stay healthy. The Bengals are a Joe Burrow injury away from mediocrity. So Baltimore will make the playoffs, they will play at home, and then they will get eliminated by a team with a better quarterback and a more complete offensive arsenal. This will happen unless something dramatically changes, and nothing has changed this offseason to suggest it will.

Roethlisberger is right. The Ravens are falling apart. But they did not fall apart this offseason. They fell apart the moment they decided that paying a running quarterback top-tier money and then refusing to build the best possible supporting cast around him was a winning strategy. The window has not just closed. The window was a mirage all along.

VERDICT: The Ravens made a bad offseason worse by ignoring their actual problems. They are headed for consistent playoff disappointment until they face reality about what kind of team they have and what kind of team they need to be. Ben Roethlisberger's criticism is accurate, but Baltimore's dysfunction runs much deeper than just bad free agency moves.