The 2008 season was the Baltimore Ravens' 13th in the National Football League (NFL), their 1st under head coach John Harbaugh, and their 12th season under general manager Ozzie Newsome.
The Ravens completed a major turnaround from the 2007 season, finishing the season with an 11–5 record and a playoff berth. They defeated the Miami Dolphins in the wild-card round of the playoffs, and then in the divisional round they defeated the Tennessee Titans, who had compiled the best record in the NFL over the regular season. However, in the AFC championship game, the Ravens' season came to an end as they were defeated by their division rival and eventual Super Bowl XLIII champion Pittsburgh Steelers 23–14, denying what would have been a bird-themed Super Bowl, with the other finalists being the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles.
Quarterback Joe Flacco, drafted 18th overall in the 2008 draft, became the first quarterback in NFL history to win multiple playoff games in his rookie season. Flacco would be joined by Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets the following year. That team would be led by Rex Ryan, formerly the Ravens' defensive coordinator.
Offseason
Coaching staff
Head coach On December 31, 2007, Brian Billick was fired after coaching the team to a 5–11 record, finishing last overall in the AFC North Division. Three weeks later, on January 18, 2008, John Harbaugh was hired to replace Brian Billick as the third head coach in the franchise's young history. Harbaugh was the defensive secondary coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, coaching such players as Pro Bowl cornerback Lito Sheppard and free safety Brian Dawkins.Go.com, John Harbaugh becomes third Head Coach in Ravens history
Coordinators After not having a true offensive coordinator during the 2007 season (Billick had assumed those duties early in the 2006 season after firing Jim Fassel, although Rick Neuheisel had been listed on the coaching staff in that capacity), addressing this position was as much of a priority for new head coach John Harbaugh as it was for owner Steve Bisciotti to find a new head coach for his team, at the time. Recently dismissed as head coach from the Miami Dolphins, Malcolm 'Cam' Cameron was highly sought after for his offensive expertise from his time in San Diego with the Chargers. After some deliberation amongst offers he received from around the league, Cameron chose to come to the Ravens, and John Harbaugh announced him as the offensive coordinator on January 23, 2008.
Rex Ryan was 'released from duty' as the team's defensive coordinator, but was still under contract to the Ravens as a defensive coordinator in name for one more year, should new head coach John Harbaugh decide to hire him onto his staff, thus making him ineligible to accept the same position with any other NFL football team. Ryan, at the time was applying for a head coaching position himself, but got no offers for any of the four head coaching vacancies in Atlanta, his own team in Baltimore, Miami, or in Washington. On January 28, 2008, Ryan was re-hired as the Ravens' defensive coordinator and was subsequently promoted to assistant head coach and defensive coordinator after rumors of potential Redskins head coach Jim Zorn circulated that he wanted Ryan to coach the Redskins as its defensive coordinator.
Personnel
Offseason / Free agency During the 2008 free agency period, the Ravens acquired linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo from the Chicago Bears and cornerback Frank Walker from the Green Bay Packers. Both were added to the Ravens roster primarily for their special teams ability, but also to fulfill a pressing need for depth at two positions which were diminished by injuries as the 2007 season wore on. On February 28, 2008, center Mike Flynn was released after failing his annual physical. Flynn was one of the few players remaining from the team's Super Bowl championship season in 2000. After suffering multiple injuries and having to be placed on injured reserve during the 2007 season, veteran quarterback Steve McNair announced his retirement on April 17, 2008, from the NFL. McNair had played a combined 13 seasons with the Ravens and Titans. After being voted to 11 Pro Bowls in 12 seasons, (but only playing in 10 due to a hyperextended big toe) veteran left tackle and the first ever draft selection by the newly created Baltimore Ravens franchise in 1996, Jonathan Ogden announced his retirement on June 12, 2008.
2008 NFL draft The Baltimore Ravens had nine selections going into the 2008 NFL draft, including four compensatory selections. The Ravens traded the eighth overall pick to the Jaguars for Jacksonville's first-round choice (26th overall) as well as two third-round selections (71st and 89th) and a fourth-round (125th) pick. The Ravens then traded the 26th overall pick as well as their third-round (89th) and sixth-round (173) picks to Houston for its first-round (18th) pick. The Ravens traded their 38th overall pick to the Seattle Seahawks for their second-round pick and gained another selection in the third-round, which were at 55 and 86, respectively. The Ravens then traded their second fourth-round pick (125th overall) to the Oakland Raiders for cornerback Fabian Washington.
Personnel Staff / Coaches Baltimore Ravens 2008 staff Front office Owner – Steve Bisciotti Minority owner – Art Modell President – Dick Cass General manager/Executive Vice President – Ozzie Newsome Vice president of football administration – Pat Moriarty Director of pro personnel – George Kokinis Assistant director of pro personnel – Vincent Newsome Director of college scouting – Eric DeCosta
Head coaches Head coach – John Harbaugh Special assistant to the head coach – Vic Fangio
Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Cam Cameron Quarterbacks – Hue Jackson Running backs – Wilbert Montgomery Wide receivers – Jim Hostler Tight ends/assistant offensive line – Wade Harman Offensive line – John Matsko Assistant offensive line – Andy Moeller Offensive assistant – Craig Ver Steeg Defensive coaches Assistant head coach/defensive coordinator – Rex Ryan Defensive line – Clarence Brooks Linebackers – Greg Mattison Outside linebackers – Mike Pettine Defensive backs – Mark Carrier Secondary – Chuck Pagano Coaching assistant – Roy Anderson
Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Jerry Rosburg Assistant special teams – Marwan Maalouf Kicking consultant – Randy Brown
Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Bob Rogucki Assistant strength and conditioning – John Dunn
Final roster Baltimore Ravens 2008 final roster Quarterbacks Todd Bouman Joe Flacco Troy Smith
Running backs Le'Ron McClain FB Willis McGahee Lorenzo Neal FB Jalen Parmele Ray Rice KR
Wide receivers Mark Clayton Terrance Copper Yamon Figurs KR/PR Derrick Mason Marcus Maxwell Marcus Smith
Tight ends Todd Heap Edgar Jones Daniel Wilcox Offensive linemen Willie Anderson T Jason Brown C Chris Chester G Oniel Cousins G/T Jared Gaither T Ben Grubbs G David Hale C/G Chad Slaughter T Adam Terry T
Defensive linemen Justin Bannan DE Marques Douglas DE Brandon McKinney NT Haloti Ngata NT Trevor Pryce DE Linebackers Brendon Ayanbadejo ILB Antwan Barnes OLB Nick Greisen ILB Jarret Johnson OLB Ray Lewis ILB Jameel McClain OLB Bart Scott ILB Terrell Suggs OLB
Defensive backs Corey Ivy CB Jim Leonhard SS/KR/PR Haruki Nakamura FS Evan Oglesby CB Ed Reed FS Samari Rolle CB Daren Stone FS Frank Walker CB Fabian Washington CB Tom Zbikowski SS
Special teams Stephen Hauschka K Matt Katula LS Sam Koch P Matt Stover K Reserve lists Kyle Boller QB (IR) Prescott Burgess LB (IR) P. J. Daniels RB (IR) Lamar Divens NT (IR) Dwan Edwards DE (IR) Tavares Gooden LB (IR) Kelly Gregg NT (IR) Scott Kuhn TE (IR) Dawan Landry S (IR) Derrick Martin CB (IR) Chris McAlister CB (IR) Quinn Sypniewski TE (IR) Kelly Talavou NT (IR) Demetrius Williams WR (IR) Marshal Yanda G (IR)
Practice squad Sean Conover DE Justin Harper WR (IR) Brian Johnson G Matt Lawrence RB Bryan Mattison DE (IR) Anwar Phillips CB Joe Reitz T (IR) Isaac Smolko TE Salomón Solano NT Int'l Tre' Stallings G Ernie Wheelwright WR Edward Williams WR rookies in italics
53 active, 18 inactive, 9 practice squad
Schedule Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at New England Patriots W 16–15 1–0 Gillette Stadium Recap 2 Minnesota VikingsL 15–23 1–1 M&T Bank StadiumRecap 3 at St. Louis Rams L 10–24 1–2 Edward Jones Dome Recap 4 Atlanta Falcons L 9–10 1–3 M&T Bank Stadium Recap
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1September 7 Cincinnati BengalsW 17–101–0M&T Bank StadiumRecap 2Bye 3 September 21 Cleveland BrownsW 28–102–0 M&T Bank StadiumRecap 4at Pittsburgh SteelersL 20–23 2–1Heinz FieldRecap 5 October 5 Tennessee Titans L 10–13 2–2 M&T Bank StadiumRecap 6 October 12 at Indianapolis Colts L 3–31 2–3 Lucas Oil Stadium Recap 7 October 19 at Miami Dolphins W 27–13 3–3 Dolphin Stadium Recap 8October 26 Oakland RaidersW 29–104–3 M&T Bank StadiumRecap 9 November 2 at Cleveland Browns W 37–27 5–3 Cleveland Browns StadiumRecap 10 November 9at Houston TexansW 41–136–3Reliant StadiumRecap 11 November 16at New York GiantsL 10–306–4Giants StadiumRecap 12 November 23 Philadelphia Eagles W 36–7 7–4 M&T Bank StadiumRecap 13November 30at Cincinnati BengalsW 34–38–4Paul Brown StadiumRecap 14 December 7 Washington Redskins W 24–10 9–4 M&T Bank StadiumRecap 15December 14 Pittsburgh SteelersL 9–139–5 M&T Bank StadiumRecap 16December 20at Dallas CowboysW 33–2410–5Texas StadiumRecap 17December 28Jacksonville JaguarsW 27–711–5 M&T Bank StadiumRecapNote: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.
Division standings
Game summaries Regular season Week 1: vs. Cincinnati Bengals Week One: Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens — Summary Game time: 1:00 PM EDT Game weather: Sunny, Referee: Scott Green First quarter BAL – Clayton 42-yard run (Stover kick) 2:27 Second quarter BAL – Stover 21-yard field goal 1:46 CIN – Graham 43 yd field goal 0:09 Third quarter BAL – Flacco 38-yard run (Stover kick) 0:27 Fourth quarter CIN – Joseph 65-yard fumble recovery (Graham PAT) 10:29
Game attendance: 70,978 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland TV announcers: (CBS) Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon Game coverage: NFL Game summary, NFL Films highlights Top passers BAL – Joe Flacco – 15/29, 129 yards CIN – Carson Palmer – 10/25, 99 yards, INT Top rushers BAL – Le'Ron McClain – 19 rushes, 86 yards CIN – Chris Perry – 18 rushes, 37 yards Top receivers BAL – Derrick Mason – 4 receptions, 44 yards CIN – T. J. Houshmandzadeh – 3 receptions, 44 yards
The Ravens began their 2008 campaign at home against their toughest AFC North foe, the Cincinnati Bengals. In the first quarter, Baltimore opened the scoring with WR Mark Clayton scoring on a 42-yard TD run from a double-reverse play. In the second quarter, the Ravens increased their advantage with Matt Stover kicking a 21-yard field goal. The Bengals responded with Shayne Graham kicking a 43-yard field goal to end the first half. In the third quarter, Baltimore responded with rookie quarterback Joe Flacco scoring on a 38-yard TD run. In the fourth quarter, Cincinnati tried to rally as CB Johnathan Joseph returned a fumble 65 yards for a touchdown. Ultimately, the Ravens defense stopped a potential Bengals scoring drive on fourth down late in the fourth quarter and won the game.
With the win, the Ravens began their season at 1–0.
Joe Flacco in his rookie debut, completed 15 of 29 passes for 129 yards (along with a touchdown run).
Week 2: Bye week
The Ravens' Week 2 game against the Houston Texans was postponed from September 14 to November 9, the Ravens' original bye week, due to structural damage to Houston's Reliant Stadium caused by Hurricane Ike.
Week 3: vs. Cleveland Browns