Baltimore Beatdown
According to recent Ravens Reacts surveys, fans’ confidence in the Ravens dropped to a season-low 2% after their Week 16 loss to the Patriots.
After a win in Week 17 (plus a Steelers loss), confidence jumped to 33% heading into a win-or-go-home game in Pittsburgh. The Ravens lost that game in heartbreaking fashion, and yet, a few days later, fan confidence was all the way up to 62%, the highest mark since Week 12.
The explanation is obvious: the Ravens fired John Harbaugh. More than anything else – the offensive line, red zone play-calling, defensive collapses – fans viewed Harbaugh as the core problem of this team. The Ravens’ decision to move on from him clearly inspired more confidence that the team could turn things around.
As for the new head coach, Ravens fans have opinions on that, too. Almost half of respondents believe that the Ravens should go after a defensive-minded head coach, presumably with the belief that Lamar Jackson and a new offensive coordinator can take care of things on their side of the ball.
29% of fans want an offensive-minded head coach to follow other teams around the league who have hired offensive gurus for the top job in the last few years. Teams like the Lions have seen their offensive coordinators leave, which has resulted in significant regression. Hiring, say, Klint Kubiak as head coach would prevent another team from poaching him. The same is true of defensive coaches, but offensive minds seem more likely to be poached quickly.
And 22% said that it doesn’t matter which side of the ball the Ravens focus on as long as they nail the hire. It seems, based on fans’ overall confidence, that they believe in the team’s ability to do that.
