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Baltimore Ravens

History

There's a polite fiction that the Baltimore Ravens entered the NFL as a brand-new franchise in 1996. Actually, the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore and became known as the Ravens. However, the league and the Cleveland entered into an agreement that the team name and records would remain in the city for eventual use by another NFL franchise.

So the "new" team had to find a new name. NFL properties came up with a list of more than 100 possible nicknames. That was eventually narrowed down to three and the Baltimore Sun conducted a poll of fans to select one. Of 33,288 who phoned in, 21,108 voted for Ravens.

The name came from the famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe, who lived in Baltimore at various times and died there in 1849. So the Ravens are the only team in all of professional sports named for a poem.

The Ravens' first head coach was Ted Marchibroda, who had coached the Baltimore Colts from 1975 to 1979. They won their very first regular season game, beating the Oakland Raiders, 19-14, on Sept. 1, 1996, before a record crowd of 64,124 at Memorial Stadium.

But Marchibroda wasn't able to give them a winning season and he was replaced in 1999 by Brian Billick, who had been the Minnesota Vikings' offensive coordinator. Billick was known as a wizard of the passing game but, ironically, his teams were built primarily on defense. In 2000, the Ravens set an NFL record by allowing only 165 points in 16 regular-season games.

They kept it right up through the post season, culminating in a 34-10 win over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV. In four playoff games, the Ravens gave up a total of just 23 points.

The team slipped to 10-6 and a second-place finish in 2001 but got into the playoffs as a wild card. After beating the Dolphins, 20-3, at Miami in the first round, they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-10.

The Ravens could manage only a 7-9 record in 2002, but came back to win the division again with a 10-6 mark the following year. However, they lost to the Tennessee Titans, 20-17, in the first playoff round.

For the final four years of Billick's tenure, the Ravens alternated between winning and losing seasons. They went 13-3 in 2006, but lost 15-6 to the Indianapolis Colts in a divisional playoff fame. Then they dropped to 5-11 and Billick was replaced by John Harbaugh, who had been defensive backs coach with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Harbaugh installed rookie Joe Flacco at quarterback and the Ravens went 11-5, winning a wildcard spot. Then they won two playoff games to advance to the AFC championship, where they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers. An up-and-down season in 2009 resulted in a 9-7 record and another wildcard berth. After beating the New England Patriots in the first playoff round, the Ravens were eliminated by the Indianapolis Colts.

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Year-by-Year Record

 Regular SeasonPost 
YearWLTFinishWLCoach
199641205th AFC Central  Ted Marchibroda
19976915th AFC Central  Ted Marchibroda
199861004th AFC Central  Ted Marchibroda
19998803rd AFC Central  Brian Billick
200012402nd AFC Central40Brian Billick
200110602nd AFC Central11Brian Billick
20027903rd AFC North  Brian Billick
200310601st AFC North01Brian Billick
20049702nd AFC North00Brian Billick
200561003rd AFC North00Brian Billick
200613301st AFC North01Brian Billick
200751104th AFC North00Brian Billick
200811502nd AFC North21John Harbaugh
20099702nd AFC North11John Harbaugh
Totals1171071 85 

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Playoff History

2000

AFC Wildcard Game
W 21 - 3 Denver Broncos
AFC Divisional Playoff
W 24 - 10 at Tennessee Titans
AFC Championship Game
W 16 - 3 at Oakland Raiders
Super Bowl
W 34 - 7 at New York Giants

2001

AFC Wildcard Game
W 20 - 3 at Miami Dolphins
AFC Divisional Playoff
L 10 - 27 at Pittsburgh Steelers

2003

AFC Wildcard Game
L 17-20 at Tennessee

2006

AFC Divisional Playoff
L 6-15 Indianapolis Colts

2008

AFC Wildcard Game
W 27 - 9 at Miami Dolphins
AFC Divisional Playoff
W 13 - 10 at Tennessee Titans
AFC Championship Game
L 3-14 at Pittsburgh Steelers

2009

AFC Wildcard Game
W 33 - 14 at New England Patriots
AFC Divisional Playoff
W 3 - 20 at Indianapolis Colts

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Championships

Super Bowl XXXV (2000)

AFC North 2003, 2006

AFC 2000

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Stadium

Memorial Stadium (65,000)

M&T Bank Stadium 1998- (69,084)

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Coaching Roster

  Reg.Post
CoachTenureWLTWL
Brian Billick1999-20078064053
John Harbaugh2008- 2113032
Ted Marchibroda1996-981631100

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Team Records

Rushing

Career: 7,801 yards, Jamal Lewis, 2000, 2002-2006
Season: 2,066 yards, Jamal Lewis, 2003
Game: 295, Jamal Lewis at Cincinnati, Sept. 14, 2003
Career touchdowns: 45, Jamal Lewis, 2000, 2002-2006
Season touchdowns: 14, Jamal Lewis, 2003

Passing

Career: 7,846 yards, Kyle Boller, 2003-07
Season: 4,177 yards, Vinny Testaverde, 1996
Game: 429 yards, Vinny Testaverde vs. St. Louis, Oct. 27, 1996 (31 of 51)
Career TD passes: 51, Vinny Testaverde, 1996-97
Season TD passes: 33, Vinny Testaverde, 1996

Receiving

Career Receptions: 437, Todd Heap, 2001-09
Season receptions: 103, Derrick Mason, 2007
Career reception yards: 5,027, Derrick Mason, 2005-10
Season reception yards: 1,201, Michael Jackson, 1996
Single-game reception yards: 258, Qadry Ismail at Pittsburgh, Dec. 12, 1999 (6 receptions)
Career TD receptions: 36, Todd Heap, 2001-09
Season TD receptions: 14, Michael Jackson, 1996

Scoring

Career: 1,464 points, Matt Stover, 1996-2008
Season: 135 points, Matt Stover, 2001

Interceptions

Career: 46, Ed Reed, 2002-09

Sacks

Career: 70, Peter Boulware, 1997-2005

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Other Resources

Website

Baltimore Ravens' Official Site

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This page last updated Sunday, 26-Sep-2010 10:44:05 EDT
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