The Baltimore Ravens are giving purple pride an entirely new meaning this season. The Lamar Jackson-led flock—which has been undefeated since October and subsequently inspired a heightened sense of hometown pride—is heading into its first playoff game against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, January 11. Of course, there will be plenty of “Big Truss”-themed watch parties and food-and-drink deals on game night. But if you’re looking to get into the spirit well ahead of time, the team is hosting a number of community rallies leading up the first AFC divisional round. So throw on a jersey, crack open a beer, and celebrate the Ravens’ stellar season at these community events and purple parties this week.

FLOCK FESTIVITIES

1/8: Car Stenciling in Canton
Pull up to the Safeway on Boston Street from 6-7 p.m. to have your car decorated with an official Ravens decal. Former players Adalius Thomas and Cary Williams will also be on hand to sign autographs and hype up the crowd.

1/9: Flock Party at White Marsh Mall
Beginning at 4 p.m., the section of White Marsh Mall near the Macy’s Home Court will transform into a full-blown Ravens headquarters—complete with spirited cheerleaders, former players, marching band performances, and a visit from Poe himself. Snap selfies with all of the attendees while entering into contests and giveaways.

1/9: Ravens “Pup” Rally at Checkerspot Brewing Company
In what we’re sure will be one of the most adorable Ravens events ever, Checkerspot Brewing—located just a stone’s throw away from M&T Bank Stadium—is hosting this “pup” rally for dogs to come decked out in their purple bandanas, bowties, and jerseys. From 5-8 p.m., pups will enjoy dog treats from Sweet Paws Dog Bakery while running around on their own mini football field. Plus, humans can take advantage of $5 pints of Checkerspot beer and shop signature Dogs of Charm City merch. A portion of all proceeds will be donated to The Humane Way Animal Rescue and its work for dogs in need.

1/9: Bud Light Rallies in Federal Hill
Former Raven Jarret Johnson will be bouncing around bars on South Charles Street in Federal Hill on Thursday night from 6-8 p.m. Head to spots including Ropewalk Tavern, Wayward Smokehouse, The Charles, Mother’s Grille, Bandito’s Bar + Kitchen, and Don’t Know Tavern on Light Street to catch the legendary linebacker and enter to win tickets to Saturday’s playoff game. There will also be bar bingo, autographed merchandise, and, of course, discounted Bud Lights.

1/10: Purple Friday Fuel Up
Start your Purple Friday off right with this morning tailgate in Lot D at M&T Bank Stadium. From 6-10 a.m., enjoy car stenciling, food, and a live broadcast with 98 Rock’s morning show. Former players Edwin Mulitalo and Chris McAlister will be on site to give away a pair of tickets to the divisional round.

PLAYOFF PARTIES

Alexander’s Tavern: Starting at 7:15 p.m., one hour before kickoff, this Fells Point staple will be backing the birds with tons of drink specials. Watch the game on one of the many big screens while taking advantage of $3 Bud Light drafts, $15 hard seltzer and microbrew beer buckets, $5 wings, and half-priced orders of Alexanders’ famous tots.

Purple Postgame at The Admiral’s Cup: Depending on the final score, prepare to celebrate a victory or dance away your sorrows at this post-game party in Fells Point. Local cover band In Too Deep will take the stage following the game at 11:15 p.m. to perform its roster of early-aughts hits by the likes of Weezer and Blink 182.

Cardinal Tavern: What’s a Ravens watch party without flowing pints of Natty Boh? Gather with fellow fans at this Canton corner bar to enjoy $4 Boh drafts, as well as $4 rail drinks, $6 appetizers, and $6 craft drafts during all-night happy hour. There will also $3 Narragansett and Bud Light beers and $10 Bud Light buckets if you’re drinking with a crew.

Charles Village Pub Towson: Grab a spot at this popular Towson haunt to share discounted beer buckets while digging in to an array of tailgate-themed food specials. Among them are $5 buckets of fries or tots, $8 boneless Buffalo bites, and $10 crab pretzels, chicken tender baskets, and all-American burgers.

The Charmery: It should come as no surprise that this fan-favorite ice cream shop has dreamed up a whimsical flavor to celebrate the team. Stop by one of the locations in Hampden or Towson to sample the “Lamarshmallow Twirl,” a tribute to our MVP featuring Nutella, graham crackers, and cereal marshmallows.

Playoff Purple Patio at Mother’s Grille: Mother’s in Federal Hill is starting game day with brunch service at 9 a.m. before opening its famed Purple Patio at 12 p.m. Show up early to grab a grape-flavored “Ravens Crush” and claim your spot in front of the massive outdoor projector. The bar’s popular all-you-can-drink package starts at 4 p.m.

Nacho Mama’s: Both the Canton and Towson locations of this Elvis-themed cantina will be offering cleverly named specials in honor of the playoff run. Chow down on nachos and quesadillas while sipping $5 “Lamar-garitas,” “Gus ‘The Bus’ Crushes,” and “Judon Juices.” To make the evening even more fun, bartenders will also be pouring free shots for every Ravens touchdown.

Ottobar: If you’re planning to cheer on the birds from Remington, head upstairs at the Ottobar to sip discounted drinks while watching the game on a giant HD screen. In true tailgate style, there will also be a potluck—so come equipped with your favorite game-day dish.

Papi’s Hampden: Belly up to the bar at this Falls Road hangout to enjoy a combo of three crunchy-shell tacos and a draft beer for $8 during the game. Other specials will include $1.50 Naturdays cans, $3.50 Loose Cannon IPAs, and $5 Ravens bombs that mix Deep Eddy’s lemon vodka with blueberry Red Bull.

The Sporty Dog Pop-Up Party at Safari: Hot dogs are essential at any tailgate, and local pop-up The Sporty Dog will be slinging its signature franks with outside-of-the-box toppings at this game-day takeover in Canton. Stop by to dance to live DJ music and get in the spirit with the “Ravens Dog,” which is topped with sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions, and red cabbage curry slaw to give it a festive purple color. Other party highlights will include raffles, open bar access, and “Lamar-velous” swag by This Sporting Life.

Boog Powell had the best view of anyone at a packed Shea Stadium. The O’s slugger had just singled Frank Robinson to third and stood at first base as the potential go-ahead run in the top of the ninth. Only two teams in modern Major League history had posted more regular-season wins than this ’69 Orioles club—the legendary ’54 Indians and ’27 Yankees. But at this confounding moment, Powell and his teammates trailed the New York Mets 1-0 in pivotal Game 4 of the 1969 World Series. More disconcerting: They also trailed the previously laughingstock Mets, who had never finished better than ninth place in the National League, 2-1 in the series.

With two runners on base and one out, Brooks Robinson, who had more All-Star appearances (10) than the Mets had seasons (7) under his belt, stepped to home plate to restore order to the universe. New York manager Gil Hodges slow-walked to the mound to buy time for his fading young starter, but to no avail. On cue, Brooks ripped Tom Seaver’s next delivery into the vast green ocean in right center field. With the ball whizzing by in front of him, Powell took off for second.

Watching clips of the game on YouTube a half-century later, it’s still hard to believe Robinson’s line drive does not hit the turf, skip off the warning track, and bounce to the fence. But out of nowhere, diving headlong into NBC’s shot, comes Ron Swoboda, an outfielder nicknamed “Rocky” because of his less-than-smooth reputation with the glove, who proceeds to make what is possibly the greatest catch in World Series history. Certainly it is the catch of his life—a full-speed, belly-up, lose-your-cap plunge across the Shea grass. As Swoboda staggers to his feet—the 396-feet sign visible on the outfield wall behind him—and improbably finds the ball in his mitt’s leather webbing, Frank Robinson tags and scores from the third. The O’s rally, however, has been thwarted.

“I’ve seen the replay dozens of times,” Swoboda recalls with a laugh. “You know who isn’t in the picture? [Center fielder] Tommie Agee, who was playing Brooks to pull. It was ‘do or die,’ and 99 percent of the way there I didn’t think I was going to make it.”

“Oh, I remember the catch,” Powell says. “I can see it like it happened yesterday. What I don’t remember is how I reacted. I don’t know if I stopped dead halfway between first and second or tried to get back to the bag. I was stunned. Mesmerized.” Destiny on their side, the Mets won on a controversial bunt play in the 10th. After another break from the umps in Game 5—known since as “The Shoe Polish Incident” (Google it)—Swoboda, a fun-loving, career .242 hitter, finished the Orioles with a go-ahead-to-stay double.

That it was the unlikely Swoboda who struck the mortal blow to Baltimore’s last, best hope of a championship in 1969 proved the perfect, fluky capstone to the most heartbreaking year in the annals of professional sports. He was a Sparrows Point kid who grew up going to Memorial Stadium. Brooks Robinson was his favorite baseball player.

“Listen, I worshipped the Orioles and Colts. I still have a John Unitas-autographed Colts helmet in my office,” Swoboda says. “To this day, I practically genuflect every time I walk past it. Fifty years later, it still burns me up they didn’t bring him in earlier in the Super Bowl that year.”

Yes, the 1969 Super Bowl. We’re getting to that.

Heading into the Super Bowl, NBA playoffs, and World Series in 1969, the Colts, Bullets, and Orioles had each posted the best regular-season record in their respective sports—a feat never accomplished before or since by a single city’s franchises. The Colts went 13-1 and redeemed their only loss (to Cleveland) with a 34-0 thrashing of the Browns in the NFL title game. The Colts and the O’s—who topped the Major Leagues in pitching and fielding and finished third overall in runs scored—were bandied about as possibly the greatest teams ever. Maybe they were. But when it mattered most, all three Baltimore powerhouses were soundly toppled in the postseason by underdog squads from the Big Apple.

In January, favored by 18 points, the Colts were upset by the New York Jets of the second-string American Football League. In March, Wes Unseld, Earl “the Pearl” Monroe, and the Bullets were swept in four games by the Knicks. Then, in October . . . where do you begin? For most of the season, the Cinderella Mets lineup averaged 24 years old. (“The last miracle I did was the 1969 Mets. Before that, I think you have to go back to the Red Sea,” George Burns cracked in the movie Oh, God!)

“Not a very good year for Baltimore, was it?” sighs Powell, who knew some of the Colts—the O’s shared the same workplace after all—and watched his buddies lose Super Bowl III from the sidelines in Miami.

Local scribes had a diagnosis for the city’s sports woes: “The New York Syndrome.”

The City That Never Sleeps was a darker place in the 1960s, struggling with poverty, crime, racial strife, and conflicts over the draft and the Vietnam War, like most cities, including Baltimore. But New York also remained exciting and seductive. It was still Broadway, Wall Street, Frank Sinatra, pop art, mod fashion, and Greenwich Village. (Good luck staying awake all night after a shift at Beth Steel or General Motors.) “Tug McGraw and I were naïfs when we arrived in New York,” Swoboda says. “We’d walk around during the day staring at the skyscrapers, talk our way into the audience of The Tonight Show, and then take the subway to the ballpark.”

It certainly wasn’t like that in hardscrabble Baltimore, which acclaimed New York sportswriter Pete Axthelm described as a “dreary city.” Perhaps, although at the time no one imagined a third of the city’s population would flee over the next three decades. Pockets of civic pride and hope remained in Baltimore’s neighborhoods, and it’s not a stretch to say that much of that public optimism was tied to the blue-collar city’s dominating sports teams.

“Oh, we wanted to kill Joe Namath,” recalls former Colt star Tom Matte.

“We have a tendency, and did then, to measure ourselves against New York,” says longtime former Sun columnist Michael Olesker, the author of five books about Baltimore, then a 23-year-old reporter with the Baltimore News-American. “It’s glamorous, and we’re a little insecure about our working-class roots. The Colts were Sunday religion, and 1969 was going to be ‘The Year of the Three Earls’—Earl Morrall, Earl ‘the Pearl,’ and Earl Weaver.” (For non-Baltimore sports historians: Morrall, playing in place of injured Hall-of-Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas, had won the NFL MVP award; the aforementioned Monroe averaged nearly 26 points per game for the Bullets; and the feisty, foulmouthed, diminutive Weaver, of course, managed the Orioles.)

But it didn’t turn out that way.

Ever since free agency entered pro sports in 1976, the teams have become fairly homogenized. Players move from city to city. The Baltimore Ravens are not really from “Baltimore.” They’re a professional football team who happens to play here. Not the case when Unitas, Tom Matte, the Colts’ all-purpose back who spent his entire 12-year career here, the great tight end John Mackey, and all the rest lived in Baltimore, worked at Black & Decker and Sparrows Point, and sold liquor in the off-season. They raised families here. They were part of the community fabric.

In that environment, Unitas’ crew cut, high-top black cleats, and no-nonsense demeanor meant something to a town that valued substance over style.

Conversely, “Broadway Joe” Namath wore a Fu Manchu mustache, expensive suits, mink coats, white cleats, and dated New York actresses. He was the first rock star football player. Sports Illustrated followed him around and chronicled his late-night exploits in a piece titled, “The Sweet Life of Swinging Joe.” He was cocky. Braggadocious. A hedonist anti-hero straight out of Easy Rider, which had been released in the summer of ’69. Namath, like Muhammad Ali, did not play well in Baltimore in those days, when the city was a more of conservative, Southern town.

“Oh, we wanted to kill Joe Namath,” says Tom Matte.

At a dinner given by the Miami Touchdown Club before Super Bowl III, glass of scotch in hand, Namath—18-point spread be damned—responded to a heckler with his famous boast: “We’re gonna win the game. I guarantee it.” The next morning, The Miami Herald dutifully ran “Namath Guarantees Jets Victory” on the front page of its sports section, creating a firestorm. Then Namath repeated his decree when confronted by Lou Michaels, a Colts defensive end and kicker, nearly starting a brawl. This was after Namath, who from the photos appeared to be spending the week lounging by the team hotel’s pool, told a reporter he thought five AFL quarterbacks were better than Morrall—including himself and his backup, Babe Parilli.

It is suffice to recall that Morrall blinked in the klieg lights, heaving three interceptions and failing to see wide-open Jimmy Orr waving his arms in the end zone. The Colts, cut down 16-7, were shut out until the sore-armed Unitas, who also threw an interception, was called upon in the fourth quarter. Namath, named MVP, went on to star in a biker movie with Ann-Margaret, take Raquel Welch to the Academy Awards, and shoot a shaving cream commercial with Farrah Fawcett.

The silver lining? There wasn’t one.

The Colts went 8-5-1 the following year and missed the playoffs. “We were embarrassed, we had embarrassed the whole NFL,” Matte says. “And everyone took it out on us following year.”

“To lose three times to teams from New York was a dagger to the heart. A bloodletting.”

Though it is less remembered because an equally precocious Knicks team sideswiped them in the postseason, the Bullets were the feel-good story in Baltimore in 1969. The Colts and O’s had championship track records. But the year before the Bullets won the most games in the NBA—topping the likes of the Bill Russell-led Celtics and Wilt Chamberlain-led Los Angeles Lakers—Baltimore had finished last in the Eastern Division. The year prior, they were the worst team in the entire NBA—by 10 games.

After the back-to-back basement finishes, they lost the coin flips for the first pick in the draft, too. A blessing in disguise, however. Monroe, taken with the second pick in ’67, and Wes Unseld, taken with the second pick in ’68, each earned Rookie of the Year honors (and Unseld took home the MVP trophy as well). The Bullets leapt from 20 wins to 57 in the process. “I liked to say we lost the coin flip, but won the toss,” recalls former Bullet public relations man Jim Henneman, another longtime Baltimore sportswriter.

With Monroe’s whirling dervish act and Unseld’s length-of-the-court outlet passes, the Bullets became one of the most colorful, fastest-paced, and highest-scoring teams in the league overnight. The Knicks, also an up-and-coming team, had a better bench, however. They trounced a bruised, road-weary Bullets squad by double-digits in the first two games of the opening round of the playoffs.

The much-anticipated series was over before it had started, as were the dreams of a first-ever NBA title in Baltimore. “The NBA All-Star Game had been in Baltimore that January, too,” Henneman remembers. “But it was a bittersweet end to the season.”

In a Greenmount Avenue barroom near Memorial Stadium, Mayor Tommy D’Alesandro III watched Mets left fielder Cleon Jones cradle Davey Johnson’s fly ball and put the World Series—and Baltimore’s three goose eggs—in the books. There were no signs of shock in the subdued tavern, just resignation, and the sense of a familiar tragedy being played out.

“I’m getting used to it,” D’Alesandro told a New York Times reporter on hand, as he drafted yet another good-loser telegram to New York Mayor John Lindsay. “They were making unbelievable plays. I’m going to call a legislative [conference] and see what I can do about an ordinance forbidding Baltimore teams to meet New York teams after the regular season is over.”

Olesker was born in the Bronx, but he moved to Baltimore as a child and grew up a diehard fan of all three local teams. Six years out of City College high school, he took the accumulative losses with less humor than the mayor.

“To lose three times to teams from New York, oh boy, that hurt,” Olesker says. “That was a dagger to the heart. A bloodletting.”

In hindsight, 1969 was a weird year. Strange juxtapositions made it appear the country was being yanked apart at its seams. In January, Richard Nixon was inaugurated and in March, John Lennon and Yoko Ono began their Bed-In For Peace. In July, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. The next month, Woodstock rocked Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in upstate New York. In October, massive demonstrations—the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam—coincided with the afternoon start of Game 4. Mets Fans for Peace handed out flyers with Seaver’s image, highlighting the pitcher’s recent anti-war remarks.

In the context of the sports world, Baltimore’s postseason debacles proved more of a blip than anything else.

The O’s would come back and win another staggering 108 games the following season and dismantle Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine in the 1970 World Series. “Weaver rode us like the whole way like a jockey down the stretch at Pimlico,” recalls Jim Palmer, the O’s Hall of Fame pitcher. After taking their licks following their humiliating defeat to the Jets, the Colts rebounded and won Super Bowl V.

Meanwhile, the Bullets and Knicks continued one of the fiercest rivalries in sports. In 1970, the Knicks, on their way to their first title, bested the Bullets again in the playoffs, but in seven games. The match-ups were epic: Unseld vs. Willis Reed, Gus Johnson vs. Dave DeBusschere, Jack Marin vs. Bill Bradley, Monroe against Walt Frazier, Kevin Loughery against Dick Barnett. The next year, in the Eastern Conference finals, the Bullets broke through and beat the Knicks in seven games.

Of course, nothing lasts forever. As thrilling as they were, the Bullets didn’t draw. The Civic Center wasn’t a great venue and, in the wake of the ’68 Baltimore riots, a lot of fans decided to stay home. Unseld’s uniform still read “Bullets” when they finally won an NBA title in 1978, but now he played in Landover for the Washington Bullets. In 1972, Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom traded the team to Robert Irsay, and after a flurry of division titles in the mid-’70s, well, we all know how that ended.

By the 1970s, deindustrializing Baltimore was folding under the weight of soaring unemployment, crime, interest rates, and subsidized white flight. Quickly shifting from a segregated, majority-white city to a majority-black city, the social upheaval had been acute during the previous decade.

“Those teams, the Colts and Orioles, in particular, and the Bullets bound the city together through difficult times,” says Olesker.

It was a two-way street.

When the Orioles lost in Game 5 at Shea Stadium, delirious Mets fans rushed the field. In the midst of spontaneous celebrations across New York, the O’s players still had to make their way back to Baltimore. “Shea was going crazy,” recalls Powell. “We had to pack everything up and then deal with some obnoxious fans as we got on the bus to the airport. Nobody really said a word the whole way. It was quiet. Same thing on the flight home.”

Flying into Friendship Airport (now BWI) that evening, Powell was exhausted, dispirited. The Orioles had scheduled a shuttle bus to take most of the players to Memorial Stadium to pick up their cars—the burly first baseman lived in a rowhouse five blocks away in same neighborhood with Dave Johnson and Eddie Watt. He was fond of firing up his backyard barbeque on nights the O’s won. The off-season would be long.

“So, we get off the plane and 5,000 fans are there to greet us, cheering,” Powell recalls. “No cell phones in those days. We had no idea. You can check it—I don’t know if it was 5,000—it might have been 20, but I know the way I felt, it seemed like 5,000. We went toward them, reaching through the fence to shake hands with everyone who had turned out for us. I know I shed a tear. I don’t think there was a dry eye on the team. You don’t have words for something like that.”

It was, to turn a certain phrase around, the worst of times, it was the best of times.

There was a little less than 10 minutes left in the third quarter, and the Los Angeles Chargers were already leading by 17 points and looking like they were about to score again, when Ravens coach John Harbaugh finally approached quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Joe Flacco on the sideline and broached the touchy subject that many others—like the pockets of 70,000-plus fans at a frenzied M&T Bank Stadium who had started to boo and hiss; and the television and radio announcers; and the social-media commenters—had already been discussing.

Who should be in at quarterback?

The polarizing question of the last month served as the central conflict in Sunday afternoon’s oftentimes frustrating and bizarre (how about those replay reviews?) wild-card game, the Ravens’ first playoff appearance in four years. For the first time since the electrifying and—as one Chargers player said Sunday, “ridiculously fast,”—21-year-old Jackson took over as starting quarterback from an injured Flacco in November, the Ravens looked downright bad. They struggled to create any offense, and they fell behind 23-3 in the second half before somehow rallying to have chance to tie the score with under a minute to go. By then, a lot of fans had left.

In a moment you might see this week on one of the NFL’s behind-the-scenes mic’d up segments (since five different cameramen were capturing the images and audio), the Ravens trailed 20-3 when Harbaugh crouched down in front of the Ravens’ QB duo as they sat beside each other on the bench. There they were, the former Super Bowl-winning hero who had been there, done that in the playoffs, wearing a winter hat; and Jackson, in a body-length black hooded coat, the youngest quarterback to ever start an NFL postseason game, who had -1 passing yards and was sailing the ball over and under receivers while dodging a flurry of defenders.

“I wanted to know what they thought,” Harbaugh told Baltimore. “We could have gone with Joe then.” Indeed, fans behind the Ravens bench and elsewhere in the stadium were calling for the switch. Twitter and text chats were abuzz with the topic. CBS Sports analyst Tony Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, mentioned the possibility of pulling Jackson at halftime, saying it’s hard to leave a former Super Bowl winner like Flacco on the bench in a game like this.

It was like a Greek drama and a Roman circus rolled into one three-hour, 17-minute story. The protagonist: Jackson. The dispatched, lightning-rod former starter: Flacco. The stage: a long-awaited home playoff game. But in reality, there wasn’t as much debate on the sideline as there was everywhere else.

Flacco, perhaps having already accepted his fate a long time ago or not wanting to get beat up by a ferocious defense, got out of the way, and told Harbaugh he should leave Jackson in. “Stay with what we’re doing,” he said.

“We made the decision with what was going to happen here weeks ago,” Flacco said in the locker room later. “I really wanted to see the guys turn it up a little bit and make a play.”

With that, the deed was done, and in some ways, the Ravens’ quarterback situation was made clearer than it’s ever been since the Ravens drafted Jackson out of Louisville last April. “Lamar is our quarterback going forward, no question about that,” Harbaugh said afterward.

Flacco essentially and gracefully closed the door on his own career in Baltimore. And, in what was probably the worst game of his young NFL career, Jackson’s position in the Ravens’ quarterback hierarchy was somehow solidified. “He’s the future,” Ravens safety Eric Weddle said of Jackson, who went 6-2 as a starter this year. “He’s going to be a great one.”

Maybe a weight lifted from Jackson’s shoulder pads after the sideline chat, because he threw his first touchdown pass of the day to Michael Crabtree on the Ravens’ next drive, then threw another to him to pull the Ravens’ within 23-17 with two minutes left. They got possession back with 28 seconds left. But, on the first play of a possible game-tying drive, Chargers linebacker Uchenna Nwosu slapped the ball from Jackson’s right hand and his teammate Melvin Ingram III recovered the fumble. It was a fitting ending to what was, at many times, an ugly game, lowlighted by Jackson’s three lost fumbles and even a Justin Tucker missed field goal (what?!).

“There were a lot of things we could have done, I could have done, to put us in a better situation,” Jackson said. “We have to move on now, get ready for next year.”

Ah, yes, next year. No sense in stalling the discussion about it. Now we await news regarding a possible contract extension for Harbaugh, whose job Jackson might have saved. Will Terrell Suggs be back? “I would like to be a Raven for life,” he said. There’s also the matter of the eventual whereabouts of Flacco, who is owed $25 million next year. (The bet here is Washington.)

Harbaugh spoke wistfully of his now former starting QB, with whom he arrived with in Baltimore 11 years ago, and he also talked as if Flacco was headed elsewhere. That would either be by trade, or if the Ravens simply cut the 33-year-old father of five in the offseason. “Joe can still play,” Harbaugh said. “A lot of teams are going to want Joe. . . . I’ll be in Joe’s corner, wherever he’s at, unless we play him.”

Speaking to reporters in what was very likely his last media appearance in the M&T’s home locker room, Flacco said about his future plans, “It’s not really up to me. We’ll see what happens,” and he also reflected on his time here.

“I love the people of Baltimore,” Flacco said. “I can’t imagine a better 11 years. Just how many different life changes I went through and how much we won here. I’m not from too far up the road. People around here are a lot like the people I grew up with. It’s definitely a group of fans and a community that I loved to be around.”

After fielding a final question, he closed with “See you guys.” We sure will, somewhere.

About 10 minutes later, Jackson stood near the same spot in the corner of the locker room where Flacco held court, and spoke with a pair of team staffers for a few minutes. Then, in a quiet moment soon after, when someone asked about the tough day on the field, he acknowledged that truth, but then offered a few simple words that bode well for the future that everyone is so interested in: “It’s all good.”

The first impression was just about the same as the current impression. Back in August 2018, when we watched Lamar Jackson’s post-game interview following his stellar preseason debut at M&T Bank Stadium, there was this 21-year-old kid wearing a backpack, looking like he just got out of school, while also appearing completely comfortable delivering forthright answers to reporters’ questions.

“I was kind of lost,” Jackson said, very much a rookie, while describing his feelings about leading the Ravens out of the tunnel and onto the field, as he did in his first game in Baltimore that night, even with incumbent quarterback Joe Flacco starting the game.

More than one year and a playoff run later, having unseated Flacco amid a meteoric rise to stardom as quick as one of Jackson’s sprints downfield, Jackson’s personality, honesty, and sometimes unintentionally funny one- and two-liners to the media are even more endearing.

Like, when someone asked if he felt any different about showing up to work after last year’s cathartic regular-season finale that advanced the Ravens to the playoffs, after C.J. Mosley’s late-game interception? “I changed my clothes,” Jackson said, eliciting laughter. “That’s about it. Everything else in the same.”

He’s likeable. By being himself on and off the field—fast and dynamic, fun and authentic—Jackson had won over a postseason-starved fanbase, teammates, and coaches, all before he turned 22. “That’s what you appreciate about him,” coach John Harbaugh said this last season. “He’s not trying to prove to anybody that he’s this or that or the other. He’s very comfortable with who he is. You like being around people like that.”

We’ll take it one step further. Here’s seven reasons why it’s so easy to love Jackson right now:

He’s led the Ravens to the playoffs.

Let’s just start with the obvious. We wouldn’t be having this discussion if the Ravens missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year. Jackson is the single most important factor in why fortunes turned.

Yes, you’ll hear a lot about the Ravens’ great defense, and their ball-control scheme, or other players, but all of that would not have been highlighted or given a chance to thrive had Jackson not excelled when given the chance after Flacco’s hip injury last November.

There is no more critical position in the NFL than quarterback, and Jackson’s has emerged as a bonafide game-changer—with speed, poise, improvisation and, yes, tell the world—LAMAR JACKSON CAN THROW!

He shares.

He’s quiet and private in some ways—for instance, you probably haven’t heard Jackson talk about how his father died in a car accident when Jackson was just 8 years old, and how that happened on the same day his great-grandmother died from cancer—but he’s very outgoing and public in other respects.

If you want a good look at who Jackson really is, just follow his social media accounts. He’s an open book, as authentic as they come, just like your little brother or cousin that Instagrams their daily activities. Except almost 1 million people follow new_era8.

And his social media performance of late has rivaled his play on the field. As in…

He’ll take a picture with you, take one for himself, then post them both.

I still can’t figure out the logistics of this picture. He might have asked whoever took it to send it to him, which is great. But the point is Jackson seems to have embraced his newfound celebrity in Baltimore just fine.

“I just love it here,” Jackson said. “Anywhere I go, people notice it’s me, stuff like that. Even when I first came out of college, when I first got drafted, whenever I go out, people always came up to me, this and that, ‘Lamar!’ They want to take pictures and stuff, so it’s pretty cool to have that going on. People don’t hate me here, so I love it.”

He’s a creative writer, and an appreciative neighbor.

Jackson went all “this is your captain speaking,” with beautiful and inspiring metaphors in a New Year’s social media post that made us want to start tailgating.

That came after he thanked his neighbors for the appreciation:

His mom was his agent heading into the NFL draft.

This confused and concerned some NFL teams, but didn’t put off the Ravens.

Jackson’s bond with his mom, Felicia Jones, is as strong as they come. She is his immediate family and most prominent champion. At the start of Jackson’s freshman season at the University of Louisville, the team had plenty of quarterback options on the roster, but needed a punt returner. Jackson’s athleticism made him an attractive option, and someone on the staff asked him to go return a punt one day at practice. When Jackson’s mom found out, she called the head coach, Bobby Petrino.

According to Sports Illustrated, she said, “Punt returner doesn’t look like quarterback,” and “reminded them all of the promise Petrino had made to her and her son while sitting on a couch in their South Florida home. Jackson never went back for a punt return in practice again.”

Similarly, when teams wanted her son to play wide receiver, which happened often, Jackson always said no. Be it when he was playing in high school, or being recruited to play in college, or the pros, many coaches or observers have suggested Jackson go play another position like wide receiver. His throwing accuracy was the culprit. At every step, NFL included, the coaches ultimately adjusted to him. He won the Heisman Trophy at Louisville as college football’s top player in 2016, the Ravens drafted him at the end of the first round, and he’s already about to make NFL history.

He’ll be the youngest quarterback to ever start an NFL playoff game.

At age 21 Jackson set a league record, and have the chance to for another: as the youngest starting QB to ever start in a playoff game.

Not that he’d admit that stat is a big deal. “I was 21 all year, so this is another game for me,” he said.

He’s reflective of the city.

This might be the elephant in the room. We’re not one to insert discussion about race where it might not belong, but you can’t deny a few things here. Baltimore’s population is 64-percent black, at last U.S. census count. Football is America’s most-watched sport. To have a promising, young black player at quarterback, the team’s most prominent position, is a big deal here.

Jackson’s presence as a headliner—it’s been 11 years since the Ravens last had a black starting quarterback—has to be a welcome sign for the majority of the city, especially its youth. Once asked about seeing kids wear his No. 8 jersey, Jackson said, “I love it. I might buy my own jersey and wear it. I might join them.”

You can’t make this stuff up, and it’s why we’ve quickly learned to love Lamar.

Well, it all comes down to this.

As wild a regular season as they come—complete with a changing of the guard at quarterback, a frisky head coach on the hot seat, and a turnaround from a three-game losing streak to a playoff run—comes to an end on Sunday, when the Ravens host the Cleveland Browns.

It’s the biggest game at M&T Bank Stadium since, um, this time last year when the Ravens also had a chance to make the playoffs. And while pockets of empty seats were visible that day and on many days this season, players are hoping for a packed stadium Sunday, with so much riding on the game’s result.

The idea, of course, is for the Ravens to keep playing in the playoffs, something they haven’t done in three years. With a win, they will. With a loss, things can get crazy and the Ravens could miss the playoffs altogether. With that, here are five things to know before you watch Sunday’s game.

Win and in. Lose and who knows.
There are 96 different possible playoff scenarios (yes, 96!) in play for the Ravens, including being ranked as a high as No. 2 in the AFC, getting a bye and hosting a playoff game, to sitting at home and watching the playoffs next week like you and me.

The simple one is if the Ravens win they play again, but there’s also one where the Steelers win the division instead, and keep the Ravens out of the postseason. This video about it all would make John Urschel proud.

This could be Joe Flacco’s last home game as a Raven.
With a loss, or even a win in a less-than-ideal scenario, this might be the last time to see Joe Flacco in a purple No. 5 jersey, even if it’s merely on the sideline or for a ceremonial goodbye towards the end of the game. Unless of course the Ravens think he’s worth $23 million per year to be a backup QB, or they renegotiate his contract this offseason. Otherwise, odds are Flacco plays elsewhere next season, like . . . the Redskins.

What’s the deal with Hot Seat Harbaugh?
In the middle of the season, head coach John Harbaugh was reportedly on his way out of town. (And we wrote about enjoying the testy public tone of Hot Seat Harbaugh around this time.) But then Lamar Jackson took over at quarterback, and the Ravens’ fortunes turned around. That brought us to last Friday, when the Ravens released a one-sentence statement at 7 p.m., the night before their game against the Chargers, saying that the team will work with Harbaugh to negotiate a new contract, which expires after 2019. It’s the type of end-of-week media release usually sent when someone is getting fired, not supported.

“I think it’s a non-story,” Harbaugh said this week. “We’re just trying to win football games. We’ve kept it simple, kept it about football. Everybody is on a one-year deal. You’re on a one-week deal, as far as I’m concerned, in this league, players and coaches.”

Reading between the lines, this all looks like negotiating tactics. The Ravens either want Harbaugh back, or least want it to look like they do, and want to work out a new contract with the coach before he heads into a lame-duck year next year. The question is, does Harbaugh want to do the same thing? Not many NFL head coaches survive big-time quarterback changes but to his credit, Harbaugh has fully embraced the change from Flacco to Jackson, so he’s in a great position to do whatever he wants to do.

Moral of the story: Oftentimes everyone is always looking for the “next thing,” the next coach, or the next QB, without enjoying the present. This is a week to enjoy the present.

With a win, Eric Weddle is buying us all “Victory Breakfast.”
Speaking of contracts, Eric Weddle’s is pretty great. With a playoff appearance, combined with a Pro Bowl selection, which the veteran safety has already earned, Weddle will get an extra $1 million sent to his bank account.

That’s more than enough to buy a few “Victory Breakfasts,” as he’s enjoyed the last few weeks. Extra Reese’s, please.

Anything is better than last year.
In case you forgot what happened last New Year’s Eve . . .

If you ever lose a coveted job you’ve held for 11 years to somebody just out of college, in part because of an illness or injury, then have to explain how it feels to the world, make sure to remember what Joe Flacco said on Wednesday, December 12, 2018, surrounded by reporters at the Ravens practice facility.

It was a few minutes after coach John Harbaugh announced that rookie Lamar Jackson would continue as the team’s starting quarterback, even as the franchise’s former Super Bowl-winning QB is now back healthy after dealing with a right hip injury for more than a month.

“It’s out of my hands,” Flacco said of the decision, in his first public comments since he was injured November 3 against the Steelers. “I got hurt. They drafted Lamar in the first round. At some point, something was going to happen between the two of us.

“I’ve obviously had five weeks to think about it and prepare myself for this situation and the possibility of it. Yes, I’m disappointed that I can’t be in that locker room in the same capacity that I’ve always been. But this is my situation right now, and I’m going to do my best to handle it the right way.”

That’s never an easy thing to do, to accept: “It’s part of the game, man.” To support: “[Lamar is] playing well, so we just need to keep getting some wins and see what happens.” To keep your dignity while being honest: “It’s different. I want to play football. It’s going to take some getting used to, but you have to be professional.”

The writing had been on the wall for a few weeks—indeed we recently wrote “Is the Joe Cool Era Over?”—but when Harbaugh texted Flacco on Tuesday morning to come into his office and made the change official, it had to be difficult news for Flacco to stomach, though you won’t hear him say it.

“I don’t know if it was the hardest conversation because, I think in both of our minds, we probably knew that the talk was coming at some point,” Flacco said.

Since Flacco went out with an injury, with the Ravens then on a three-game losing streak, Jackson has injected new energy into the team. The Ravens are 3-1 with him as the starter, beginning with three wins before an overtime loss to one of the league’s best teams in Kansas City last Sunday. Baltimore could make the playoffs for the first time in three years, and that’s, really, what the point of the season is.

The way Jackson plays—running, running, and running some more—is exciting and different. But it also makes him particularly susceptible to injury. Jackson hurt his ankle just last week. Plus, scenarios could present themselves when Flacco’s arm could be useful, like late in last Sunday’s game when the Ravens needed to score quickly. Instead, Flacco stood on the frigid sideline in a winter hat and jacket, consoling Jackson after his end-of-game fumble and predicting that the Chiefs kicker was going to miss a field goal. (He did.)

So, this might not be a no-going-back, changing-of-the-starting-QB guard, anyway. Flacco could very well see the field sometime soon, maybe even on Sunday against Tampa Bay. We’ll save the potential goodbye for the final regular season home game of the season at the end of this month.

Beyond that? The sticking point really is, the $25 million that Flacco is owed next year is an exorbitant amount for a team to pay for a backup quarterback—even a Super Bowl winning one that’s handling things professionally.

If Jackson continues to prove his mettle the last three games of the season and helps the Ravens to the postseason, and it’s clear that Flacco would not start next season, in a perfect world, he and the Ravens would negotiate a new lower-paying contract and the team would continue to have one of the better quarterback situations in the league. A promising young QB and a seasoned elder statesman closing out his career as a backup is a valuable combination in the injury-riddled world of professional football.

If that doesn’t happen, though, the Ravens could simply cut Joe Cool, or try to trade him. Does he end up in Washington? Or New York? Those are teams who could use a quarterback, even for a year or two. Or maybe Flacco, at age 33 with a wife and five kids, and having endured debilitating injuries the last two years, will just retire.

It’s hard to imagine Flacco in different-colored uniform, or that he’d want to stray very far from Baltimore. He’s lived in relative close proximity his entire life, from growing up in southern New Jersey, heading to college in Pittsburgh, transferring to Delaware, then being drafted by the Ravens and marrying and raising a family here. Heck, his brother is now the quarterback at Towson.

Uprooting from all of that isn’t easy, even for someone with a multi-million dollar net worth. Which, let’s not fool ourselves, cushions the blow of a job loss, too. But that still doesn’t mean it’s easy to step aside with grace.

“The season goes on,” he said. “Just because I’m not playing doesn’t mean the season comes to a halt and ends. There are times that I may feel like that, but everything keeps going. It may move on in a little bit of a different way, but it moves on without you. At some point, you realize that.”

Whether you’ve been loyal to the Caps since before Ovi was drafted or you’re just jumping on the bandwagon, now is the time to find a place to settle in and watch some history unfold. Will the Capitals’ first Final appearance in 20 years be the one that finally earns them their chance to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup? Or will the newly minted Vegas Golden Knights overcome their preseason 500-1 odds in true Sin City style? Either way, you’ll want to be watching. Here are some local spots to settle into for at least the next four games.

Hudson Street Stackhouse
If you can’t wear your Caps jersey to the office, be sure to bring it along for a quick change at quitting time. Happy hour prices on Hudson Street’s dozens of drafts extend through all three periods (and into overtime, when you’ll really need it) for those rocking team gear. 2626 Hudson St., 410-342-0592

Swallow at the Hollow
This North Baltimore dive offers red, white, and blue domestic bottles (Budweiser, Miller Lite, and Bud Light for those who haven’t studied up on their beer branding) for $2.50 during all Caps games. Use the brews to wash down some Guy Fieri-approved Honey Ghost Chicken Wings while you cheer. 5921 York Rd., 410-532-7542

Hair of the Dog
Grab a spot near one of 20 big-screen TVs, including a 110-inch HD projection screen, at this South Baltimore sports bar. Bring some friends along to share $10 Natty Light pitchers or a pitcher plus a half pound of peel ‘n’ eat shrimp for $14. 1649 S. Hanover St., 410-814-0342

Slainte
This soccer bar also knows how to cater to the crowds that prefer ice. Head to the Thames Street pub for $25 Budweiser towers, $3 Bud Light/Labatt Blue/Labatt Blue Light, and $7 apps every game night. Head upstairs for easier views of some of Slainte’s 18 HDTVs. 1700 Thames St., 410-563-6600

DogWatch Tavern
Come early to nab a seat near one of the 12 TVs in this Fells Point tavern with plenty of couch seats and arcade games to keep the fun going during intermission. Happy hour specials from 4-8 p.m. include $2 domestic bottles, $2 Jello shots, $4 rails and wine, $5 Stoli flavored cocktails, and $5 appetizers. 709 S. Broadway, 410-276-6030

City Limits Sports Bar
In addition to regular nightly specials during each game, Caps fans can get $5 Jameson drinks and $5 wings, half-size nachos, mezze platters, and mozzarella sticks while they watch one of the 19 TVs at this Locust Point gathering place. 1700 E. Fort Ave., 410-244-8084

Jimmy’s Famous Seafood
When it comes to hockey, Jimmy’s doesn’t mess around. In addition to an away game happy hour (two for one drinks, half-priced burgers, half-priced flatbreads, $1 oysters, $3 tacos, $4 steamed crabs), the seafood spot is planning its ninth “Famous Bus Trip” of the season for Game 4 in Washington, D.C. on June 4. More details are still to come, but for now super fans can plan on a $50 package that includes a ride to and from the arena, drinks on the bus before and after the game, happy hour pricing before the game, a koozie, and a Caps T-shirt. 6526 Holabird Ave., 410-633-4040

There are certain playoff moments that will live on forever: A hobbled Kirk Gibson hitting a pinch hit home run to win the 1988 World Series, Michael Jordan’s buzzer beater in game one of the 1997 NBA finals, the Blue Jay’s Joe Carter’s walk-off homer in the 1993 World Series. You can now add Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs’ improbable, amazing, mind-blowing touchdown catch against the Saints with 10 seconds on the clock to that list.

Of course, Terps fans, who were lucky enough to watch Diggs for three seasons at College Park, already knew how great he was. There was a sense that, as long as Diggs was on your side, you were never completely out of the game. Last night, he proved that. 

The game, in total, was bananas. The Vikings were up 17-0 at halftime and looked poised to go on to a comfortable win. Then, Drew Brees and the Saints came storming back. With 25 seconds on the clock, the Saints’ Will Lutz nailed a 43 yard field goal and the Saints went up 24-23. The Vikings had just one time out remaining. Game over, right?

Not so fast. 

With ten seconds—ten!—left in the game, Vikings QB Case Keenum (yes, I just had to look up the spelling of his name), hurled a corner route pass to Diggs. The idea was that if Diggs caught the ball, he’d run out of bounds, thus stopping the clock, and the Vikings would get their own chance for a game winning field goal. Except that’s not how it went down. Diggs leapt high in the air, caught the ball over a Saints defender, somehow managed to regain his balance, and found himself with a clear path to the end zone. Touchdown. Game (really) over now.

Here’s the catch, made all the more dramatic with the Titanic theme song:

And here’s Diggs’ perfect celebration (not counting the lame-o ref who threw a flag after Diggs excitedly tossed his helmet).

It’s always tough when the Ravens miss the playoffs, especially in the very bad, horrible, no good way with which they were ousted, but it’s nice to know that we can happily root for Diggs and the Vikings. Or, maybe you want to root for former Raven and Terp Torrey Smith, who’s still alive for the Philadelphia Eagles. For what it’s worth, Smith seemed as excited about Diggs’ catch as we were:

No matter what happens, Diggs has already cemented his status as a legend.

Justin Tucker is typically trotting on to the field and preparing to kick the extra point when his teammates celebrate a touchdown, but last Sunday even he felt compelled to sneak a peek, on replay, of one end-zone party in particular. 

That’s the tug-of-war between running back Alex Collins and the Ravens’ offensive line. It’s got be in the running for best touchdown celebration in the NFL this season. (And aren’t we happy NFL commissioner Roger Goodell finally gave players the leeway to do these sorts of skits, after years of penalizing them for it.) 

“I did like the tug-of-war,” Tucker told Baltimore after the Ravens’ 44-20 win over Detroit that boosted their postseason hopes ahead of Sunday night’s rivalry game at Pittsburgh. “This is coming from a guy who loves and appreciates a good celebration, but I usually have no idea what happens between the time a touchdown is scored and the time we kick. It’s tough to even take notice. But I did see that one played back on the Jumbotron.”

If you want to know more about how it came to be, BaltimoreRavens.com has the details, but just know it was decided upon a few minutes earlier and the celebration even made an NFL official smile. And the Ravens, too. Collins tacked on an Irish step dance for good measure (he’s into that) in the end zone after another touchdown late in the fourth quarter. 

The win improved the Ravens’ record to 7-5 and, with four regular season games left, they have an 83-percent chance of making the playoffs, according to at least one website that tracks the probabilities. The defense, though it lost cornerback Jimmy Smith to a ruptured left Achilles’ tendon on Sunday, has played great all year, with three shutouts and an NFL-leading 18 interceptions and 26 forced turnovers. The offense, which hasn’t been great, came alive Sunday with its best performance of the season and Joe Flacco’s back is as healthy as it’s been all year.

“This team can be really, really special,” Tucker said. “We’re peaking at the right time. It’s exciting. The attitude around here has been the same. Whether we’re talking about week one, two, or three or 11, 12, and 13, this is a team that’s had confidence and knows we have good players. We can do some great things.”

For his part, Tucker has his own pre- and post-kick rituals. Watch closely, or even from afar, on game day and you’ll see him handshaking a seemingly endless line of teammates before kickoffs and after field goals, like a (Tucker routine) 51-yarder he made Sunday. He capped that off with hand-slapping with defensive back Anthony Levine and a gentlemanly formal handshake with backup quarterback Ryan Mallett. 

“I have a variety of handshakes with different guys on the team,” said the All-Pro kicker, who has converted 26 field goals this year, tied for fourth-most in the league and is the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history. “I went through the handshake gauntlet before the kickoff. It’s great that we have opportunities to celebrate like we did today. Everybody is playing well.” 

Said linebacker Terrell Suggs: “We have four more [games] left.” And hopefully at least one more—with some additional creative celebrations—after that.

October 6, 1979
The Orioles took the American League Championship from the California Angels in four straight games in October of 1979. The final win, at Anaheim Stadium, was a doozy with the Orioles shutting out the Angels 8-0. The only home run of the entire game came from O’s outfielder Pat Kelly, who got quite the champagne shower back in the locker room. But absolutely no one else was spared, as Frank Robinson famously drenched manager Earl Weaver in celebration, too.

October 16, 1983
After defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1983 championship series, otherwise known as the I-95 Series, the Orioles celebrated at The Vet in Philly. Victims of the champagne deluge included owner Edward Bennett Williams, in his trench coat no less, who has famously said he had the wrong temperament for a sport where pennant winners still lost 60 times a year. Another memorable moment came when Rick Dempsey accepted congratulations over the phone with President Ronald Reagan. “You tell the Russians,” Dempsey said to Reagan, “that we’re having an awful good time over here playing baseball.”

Particularly excited was first baseman and DH Eddie Murray, who had two home runs that game and enjoyed sipping champagne with his teammate Cal Ripken Jr. Ripken has continually said that catching the last out of that game was the “best baseball moment” of his life.

September 24, 1997
The Orioles clinched the AL East after the team rattled off a 9-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Stars of the game included outfielders B.J. Surhoff and Brady Anderson and second baseman Roberto Alomar. But the real hero was Rafael Palmeiro, who capped off the night with a seventh inning home run, led the team with 38 homers that season, and was accordingly bathed in bubbly in the clubhouse of Toronto’s SkyDome.

October 5, 2012
In 2012, it looked like the Orioles might not get that celebratory moment they had been waiting 15 very dry seasons for. The team was on a plane from Baltimore to Tampa Bay when their playoff berth was clinched, however they really got to celebrate after their play-in game against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas. After the first inning, both starters pitched a shutout until the sixth when Adam Jones knocked in a run via a sac fly. And it surely, too, was Jones who led the celebrations following the 5-1 victory. This go-round, it was GM Dan Duquette who got the brunt of the champagne spray.

September 16, 2014
Otherwise known as Clichmas, the Orioles won their first AL East crown since 1997 against the Toronto Blue Jays before an ecstatic crowd of 35,297 fans at Camden Yards. After the game there were fireworks, selfies, streamers, and a Jones lap around the field. The party continued in the clubhouse with the requisite beer and champagne—and this epic picture of Showalter, who was celebrating his 1254th career victory, really says it all.

All season long, we’ll be counting down the Ravens top moments in franchise history to celebrate the team’s 20th season in Baltimore. Take a look back at what moments we’ve chronicled so far.

#20: Naming the Team

#19: Testaverde Throws for 429 Yards

#18: First Ring of Honor

#17: Terrell Suggs Becomes Thigh Master

#16: The Insane Final Minutes of the Vikings Snow Game

#15: Torrey Smith’s Emotional Win Over Patriots

#14: Peter Boulware Gets Four Sacks in a Single Game

#13: Justin Tucker Nails a 61-Yard Field Goal to Beat Detroit

#12: Flacco Connects With Ray Rice on Fourth and 29

#11: Ray Lewis Strips Eddie George in 2000 Playoffs

#10: Ed Reed’s 106-yard Interception Return Against the Browns

#9: Jamal Lewis Rushes For 295 Yards Against the Browns

#8: First Game in (New) Franchise History

#7: Ray Lewis’s Last Dance