The 2009 season was the Baltimore Ravens' 14th in the National Football League (NFL). The franchise entered the season off an 11–5 record in their previous season, a playoff berth, but a loss in the American Football Conference (AFC) Championship game against the eventual Super Bowl XLIII champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Ravens recorded nine victories to seven losses, although they were unable to win the AFC North division title. However, due to various playoff clinching scenarios in the AFC, the Ravens were able to clinch a wild card berth against the Oakland Raiders in Week 17. As the sixth seed in the AFC for the second straight year, they defeated the third seeded New England Patriots in Foxboro in the AFC Wild Card playoffs, handing Tom Brady's first ever playoff loss at home and New England's first home playoff loss since 1978. They, however, lost in the AFC Divisional playoffs against the top seeded and eventual AFC champion Indianapolis Colts; with this loss, the 2009 season came to an end for the Ravens. For head coach John Harbaugh, this was his second year with the franchise, compiling an overall record of 20–12 in the regular season.
Offseason Rex Ryan, a longtime fixture on the Ravens' sidelines, departed for New York to become the New York Jets head coach after the Ravens fell to the Steelers in the 2008 AFC Championship game.
Other notable offseason departures include linebacker Bart Scott and safety Jim Leonhard, both of whom left Baltimore to follow Rex Ryan to New York, and longtime placekicker Matt Stover. On March 5, 2009, Stover told reporters that the Ravens were "going in a different direction." When Stover's tenure ended with the Ravens, the team severed ties with one of its two remaining players from the Ravens' first season in 1996; the other being Ray Lewis.
2009 NFL draft The Baltimore Ravens had six selections going into the 2009 NFL draft, which was held in Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York on April 25 and April 26, 2009.
Roster
Opening training camp roster
Baltimore Ravens 2009 opening training camp roster Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams Reserve lists
Unsigned draft picks
79 active, 2 inactive, 1 unsigned
Week 1 roster
Baltimore Ravens 2009 week 1 roster Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams Reserve lists
Practice squad
53 active, 9 inactive, 8 PS
Final roster
Staff Baltimore Ravens 2009 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 player personnel – Eric DeCosta Director of pro personnel – Vincent Newsome Director of college scouting – Joe Hortiz
Head coaches Head coach – John Harbaugh Head coach's assistant – Matt Weiss
Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Cam Cameron Quarterbacks – Hue Jackson Running backs – Wilbert Montgomery Wide receivers – Jim Hostler Tight ends – Wade Harman Offensive line – John Matsko Assistant offensive line – Andy Moeller Offensive assistant – Craig Ver Steeg Offensive consultant – Al Saunders Assistant to the offense – Jason Brooks Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Greg Mattison Defensive line – Clarence Brooks Linebackers – Vic Fangio Defensive backs – Mark Carrier Secondary – Chuck Pagano Defensive assistant – Roy Anderson
Special teams coaches Associate head coach/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 Assistant athletic trainer - Kevin Domboski
Schedule Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 August 14 Washington Redskins W 23–0 1–0 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 2 August 24 New York Jets W 24–23 2–0 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 3 August 29 at Carolina Panthers W 17–13 3–0 Bank of America Stadium Recap 4 September 3 at Atlanta Falcons W 20–3 4–0 Georgia Dome Recap
Regular season The 2009 NFL schedule was released on April 14, 2009.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 13 Kansas City Chiefs W 38–24 1–0 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 2 September 20 at San Diego Chargers W 31–26 2–0 Qualcomm Stadium Recap 3 September 27 Cleveland Browns W 34–3 3–0 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 4 October 4 at New England Patriots L 21–27 3–1 Gillette Stadium Recap 5 October 11 Cincinnati Bengals L 14–17 3–2 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 6 October 18 at Minnesota Vikings L 31–33 3–3 Mall of America Field Recap 7 Bye 8 November 1 Denver Broncos W 30–7 4–3 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 9 November 8 at Cincinnati Bengals L 7–17 4–4 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 10 November 16 at Cleveland Browns W 16–0 5–4 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 11 November 22 Indianapolis Colts L 15–17 5–5 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 12 November 29 Pittsburgh Steelers W 20–17 6–5 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 13 December 7 at Green Bay Packers L 14–27 6–6 Lambeau Field Recap 14 December 13 Detroit Lions W 48–3 7–6 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 15 December 20 Chicago Bears W 31–7 8–6 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 16 December 27 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 20–23 8–7 Heinz Field Recap 17 January 3, 2010 at Oakland Raiders W 21–13 9–7 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Division standings
Game summaries
Regular season Week 1: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The Baltimore Ravens began the 2009 season at home for the second season in a row. They hosted the Kansas City Chiefs, who struggled to a franchise-worst 2–14 record in 2008. The Ravens dominated time of possession and offensive production throughout the game, but their special teams miscues made the game much closer than the score would indicate. The Ravens found the end zone halfway through the first quarter for their first touchdown of the season when Flacco found Willis McGahee for a 3-yard touchdown pass. The Ravens would later increase their advantage with a Stephen Hauschka field goal. In the second quarter, a special teams miscue led to Chiefs safety Jon McGraw blocking a Sam Koch punt into the end zone, where he recovered for a touchdown. Early in the third quarter, Derrick Johnson intercepted an errant Joe Flacco pass and returned it to the Ravens 3-yard line. Chiefs quarterback Brodie Croyle found standout receiver Dwayne Bowe for a touchdown three plays later. The Ravens would respond with an 11-play, five-minute drive capped off by a 9-yard touchdown to Todd Heap. After trading touchdowns halfway through the fourth quarter, the Ravens defense forced a turnover on downs and their offense capitalized with a 1-yard touchdown run by Le'Ron McClain. McGahee added an additional touchdown for the Ravens in the final minute of the game to open their season with a 38–24 win, their second successful home opener in a row. With the win, not only do the Ravens improve to 1–0, they are the only team in the AFC North to win their home opener on Kickoff Sunday; the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Tennessee Titans 13–10 on Kickoff Night the Thursday prior.
Week 2: at San Diego Chargers
The Chargers host the Ravens in their home debut in San Diego after a narrow escape in the second of two AFL 50th Anniversary-themed division rivalry Monday Night matchups against the Raiders in Oakland. The Chargers jumped out to an early lead when a blown coverage led to an easy 81-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to Darren Sproles. The Ravens answered with Willis McGahee on a 5-yard touchdown run, but the Chargers would increase their advantage on a Nate Kaeding field goal. The offensive display would continue in the second quarter, but the Ravens touchdowns were only answered by Chargers field goals. McGahee found the end zone a second time to take the lead 14–10, but the Chargers pulled within one on the second Kaeding field goal. Flacco then found Kelley Washington for Flacco's first touchdown pass of the day and Washington's first touchdown reception as a Raven just inside the 2-minute halftime warning. Rivers led the Chargers down the field in an attempt to answer, but the drive stalled and had to settle for the third of four Kaeding field goals. In the second half, both defenses stiffened. Todd Heap would get his second touchdown catch of the season from Flacco from 9 yards out, but the Chargers responded with a 35-yard touchdown catch from Vincent Jackson. Late in the fourth quarter, interceptions from Flacco and Rivers led to trading field goals. After a Ravens punt, Rivers led the Chargers all the way down to the Ravens 15. The Chargers went for the first down on fourth down to go for the win, but Sproles was stopped by Ray Lewis five yards in the backfield, allowing the Ravens to run the clock out. With the win, not only do the Ravens improve to 2–0, the Ravens take sole possession of first place in the AFC North with the Steelers' loss to the Bears.
Week 3: vs. Cleveland Browns
After another high scoring affair in San Diego, the Ravens returned to Baltimore with a one-game lead on the Steelers and Bengals and hosted their first AFC North Division game against the Cleveland Browns. (Coincidentally, the Bengals host the Steelers in divisional play in Week 3 as well.) Although this was the third consecutive high-scoring game for the Ravens, this was not a close contest. The Ravens struck early on the first of two touchdown runs from Willis McGahee and increased their advantage on a Hauschka field goal. In the second quarter, after another Hauschka field goal, McGahee found the end zone again. His second rushing touchdown leads the NFL with five. Although the Browns wanted to prove they were up to the challenge of contending with a quality football team, miscues thoroughly undid the Browns as quarterbacks Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn combined for four interceptions. Quinn was benched at the half in favor of Anderson, but Anderson was no better than his maligned counterpart. The third quarter only saw another touchdown for the Ravens, but was a special one for Ray Rice, as it was his first career NFL touchdown. The final minutes of the third quarter also saw the Browns' longest drive of the day, but as time expired in the third quarter, the Browns were stopped short of the end zone. The fourth quarter opened with the Browns' only points of the game on a field goal from Billy Cundiff, a free-agent signee since kicker Phil Dawson was inactive due to a leg injury. The final points of the contest came on the third Anderson interception, which was Ed Reed's first of the season. Flacco's touchdown was not only the longest of the season for him to date, but was the only passing touchdown all day. He hit a wide-open Derrick Mason after a blown coverage in the Browns secondary for a 72-yard touchdown. With the win, the Ravens improve to 3–0 and improve to 1–0 in the AFC North.
Week 4: at New England Patriots
Coming off their divisional home win over the Browns, the Ravens flew to Gillette Stadium for a Week 4 battle with the New England Patriots. After Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski got a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter, Baltimore got into the game with quarterback Joe Flacco hooking up with wide receiver Derrick Mason on a 20-yard touchdown pass. In the second quarter, New England came back with quarterback Tom Brady's 1-yard touchdown run and running back Sammy Morris' 12-yard touchdown run.