The 2011 season was the Baltimore Ravens' 16th in the National Football League (NFL), their fourth under head coach John Harbaugh and their 10th under general manager Ozzie Newsome.
The 2011 season marked one of the most successful seasons in Baltimore Ravens franchise history. The Ravens completed the season with a 12–4 record, matching their record from 2010, and winning the AFC North division title for the third time in franchise history. By earning a playoff berth in 2011, the Ravens set a franchise record by going to the postseason for four consecutive seasons. This was also the first and only season so far the Ravens went 6-0 in their division.
Over his first four years, Harbaugh compiled an overall record of 44–20 in the regular season and 5–4 in the postseason. The Ravens avenged their 2010 divisional round playoff loss against the Steelers in week 1 of the season with a big 35–7 victory at home. The 2011 campaign also marked the first time the Ravens played a Thanksgiving game: the Ravens played the San Francisco 49ers and won 16–6. (San Francisco was coached by John Harbaugh's brother Jim, and many dubbed the Thanksgiving game the "Harbaugh Bowl.") Coincidentally the Ravens and 49ers would meet next year in Super Bowl XLVII, which saw the Ravens win their 2nd title in franchise history.
After defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in week 17, the Ravens earned the first-round bye for the first time since 2006 as the second seed in the AFC. They won the Divisional Round against the Houston Texans but were defeated by the New England Patriots in the Conference Championship game, 23–20 after wide receiver Lee Evans failed to catch what likely would have been the game-winning touchdown on 2nd down and 1, and placekicker Billy Cundiff missed a game-tying 32-yard field goal attempt with 11 seconds remaining in regulation.
Linebacker Terrell Suggs was named Defensive Player of the Year.
Offseason
Signings and Re-signings On July 26, 2011 it was announced that the Ravens had agreed to terms on re-signing G/T Marshal Yanda to a 5-year contract. However, the Ravens could not officially sign him until July 29, 2011.
On July 30, 2011 the Ravens re-signed Cornerback Chris Carr.
On July 31, 2011 the Ravens signed former Texans FB Vonta Leach.
On August 8, 2011 the Ravens signed former Dolphins RB Ricky Williams.
Later on during the pre season, the Ravens added Left tackle Bryant McKinnie from the Minnesota Vikings, Wide Receiver Lee Evans from the Buffalo Bills, and Offensive Center Andre Gurode from the Dallas Cowboys.
Departures and Releases On July 26, 2011, the Ravens announced that they would release 4 former/current starters, TE Todd Heap, WR Derrick Mason, NT Kelly Gregg, and HB Willis McGahee. The Ravens also said they hope to bring back Heap, Mason, and Gregg at reduced salaries.
Signings by Team: WR Donté Stallworth, G/C Chris Chester and CB Josh Wilson signed with the Washington Redskins. NT Kelly Gregg, FB Le'Ron McClain and LT Jared Gaither signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. HB Willis McGahee signed with the Denver Broncos. SS Dawan Landry signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. TE Todd Heap signed with the Arizona Cardinals. WR Derrick Mason signed with the New York Jets.
2011 NFL draft
The Ravens traded its original fifth-round selection (#157 overall) to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for CB Josh Wilson. Compensatory selection. The Ravens acquired this sixth-round selection from the St. Louis Rams in exchange for its original seventh-round selection (#228 overall) and WR Mark Clayton. The Ravens acquired this seventh-round selection in a trade that sent DE Antwan Barnes to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Ravens held the #26 overall pick, but allowed their 10-minute window to expire before making their selection. Before the Ravens made their pick, the Kansas City Chiefs holding the following selection picked WR Jon Baldwin, making the Ravens selection #27 overall. The Ravens traded the 90th overall pick and a sixth round selection (191st overall) to the Eagles who picked CB Curtis Marsh and Guard Jason Kelce for the 85th overall pick (Jah Reid)
Undrafted free agents Name Position College Tim Barnes Center Missouri Justin Boren Guard Ohio State Josh Bynes Linebacker Auburn Damien Berry Running back Miami (FL) Ryan Mahaffey Fullback Northern Iowa Patrick Scales Long snapper Utah State Eric Vanden Heuvel Tackle Wisconsin
Personnel Staff Baltimore Ravens 2011 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 Senior personnel assistant – George Kokinis Director of player personnel – Eric DeCosta Director of pro personnel – Vince Newsome Director of college scouting – Joe Hortiz Assistant director of pro personnel – Chad Alexander
Head coaches Head coach – John Harbaugh Head coach's assistant – Matt Weiss
Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Cam Cameron Running backs – Wilbert Montgomery Wide receivers – Jim Hostler Tight ends – Wade Harman Offensive line – Andy Moeller Assistant offensive line – Todd Washington Offensive assistant/quarterbacks – Craig Ver Steeg Offensive quality control – Jason Brooks Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Chuck Pagano Defensive line – Clarence Brooks Linebackers – Dean Pees Outside linebackers – Ted Monachino Secondary – Teryl Austin Defensive assistant/secondary – Roy Anderson Defensive coaching assistant – Drew Wilkins
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 Assistant athletic trainer – Ron Medlin
Final roster
Schedule Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at Philadelphia Eagles L 6–13 0–1 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 2 Kansas City Chiefs W 31–13 1–1 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 3 Washington Redskins W 34–31 2–1 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 4 at Atlanta Falcons W 21–7 3–1 Georgia Dome Recap
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 11 Pittsburgh Steelers W 35–7 1–0 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 2 September 18 at Tennessee Titans L 13–26 1–1 LP Field Recap 3 September 25 at St. Louis Rams W 37–7 2–1 Edward Jones Dome Recap 4 October 2 New York Jets W 34–17 3–1 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 5 Bye 6 October 16 Houston Texans W 29–14 4–1 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 7 October 24 at Jacksonville Jaguars L 7–12 4–2 EverBank Field Recap 8 October 30 Arizona Cardinals W 30–27 5–2 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 9 November 6 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 23–20 6–2 Heinz Field Recap 10 November 13 at Seattle Seahawks L 17–22 6–3 CenturyLink Field Recap 11 November 20 Cincinnati Bengals W 31–24 7–3 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 12 November 24 San Francisco 49ers W 16–6 8–3 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 13 December 4 at Cleveland Browns W 24–10 9–3 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 14 December 11 Indianapolis Colts W 24–10 10–3 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 15 December 18 at San Diego Chargers L 14–34 10–4 Qualcomm Stadium Recap 16 December 24 Cleveland Browns W 20–14 11–4 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 17 January 1 at Cincinnati Bengals W 24–16 12–4 Paul Brown Stadium Recap
Game summaries Regular season Week 1: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
On the first play from scrimmage, Ray Rice scampered for 36 yards and would finish the game with 107 rushing yards, in the previous season the Steelers had given up an average of 62.8 rushing yards per game. Two plays later Joe Flacco threw a 27-yard strike to Anquan Boldin, giving the Ravens a lead they would never relinquish. Defense would be the story of this game, however, as Terrell Suggs strip-sacked Ben Roethlisberger during the Steelers second possession and Haloti Ngata recovered at the Pittsburgh 37-yard line. Suggs ended the game with 3 sacks and the Ravens forced 7 turnovers. With this win not only did the Ravens improve to 1–0, but they handed the Steelers their first opening day loss since 2002.
Week 2: at Tennessee Titans
With this loss, the Ravens fell to 1–1.
Week 3: at St. Louis Rams
Coming off a week 2 loss, the Ravens were determined to bounce back and fight hard. On their second offensive play from scrimmage, Flacco threw a 74-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith. It was the first catch of Smith's career and the longest pass of Flacco's. Before the first quarter was up, Flacco would throw two more touchdown passes to Smith for 41 and 18 yards respectively, marking the 12th time in NFL history that any receiver caught three touchdown passes in a single quarter, and the first time ever for a rookie. The Ravens would later add 16 more points on three Billy Cundiff field goals and a fumble forced by Ray Lewis and recovered by Haloti Ngata and then run into the end zone (Cundiff also missed two 51-yard field goals). This marked the first and as of 2018 only touchdown in Ngata's career. Offensively, the Ravens gained 553 yards in the entire game, a franchise record. The only score for the Rams came in the third quarter, when quarterback Sam Bradford threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Gibson.
With this win, the Ravens improved to 2–1.
Week 4: vs. New York Jets
Coming off their dominating road win over the Rams, the Ravens went home, donned their alternate uniforms, and played a Week 4 Sunday night duel with the New York Jets. Baltimore delivered the game's opening punch with safety Ed Reed forcing a sack-fumble from Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, allowing linebacker Jameel McClain to recover the fumble and go 6 yards for a touchdown. New York would respond with running back Joe McKnight returning a kickoff 107 yards for a touchdown. Afterwards, the Ravens regained the lead with a 38-yard field goal from kicker Billy Cundiff, followed by a 3-yard touchdown run from running back Ray Rice. Baltimore added onto their lead in the second quarter with another 38-yard field goal from Cundiff, followed by defensive end Haloti Ngata forcing a fumble from Sanchez, allowing linebacker Jarret Johnson to return the fumble 26 yards for a touchdown. The Jets responded with linebacker David Harris returning an interception 36 yards for a touchdown, followed by kicker Nick Folk booting a 40-yard field goal. The Ravens struck back in the third quarter with cornerback Lardarius Webb returning an interception 73 yards for a touchdown. From there, Baltimore's defense prevented any comeback attempt from the Jets.
With this win, the Ravens went into their bye week at 3–1.
Week 6: vs. Houston Texans
With stadium flags lowered to half-mast in remembrance of the passing of Pat Modell, wife of former owner Art Modell, the Ravens set the tone early with a 9-minute, 93-yard drive for a touchdown. Joe Flacco who scored on a quarterback sneak to cap the drive, also threw for 305 yards while Ray Rice ran for 101 yards. Ray Lewis became the first player in NFL history with 40 sacks and 30 interceptions when he sacked Matt Schaub in the first quarter. With this win, the Ravens improved to 4–1.
Week 7: at Jacksonville Jaguars
With this loss, the Ravens fell to 4–2.
Week 8: vs. Arizona Cardinals
With this win, the Ravens improved to 5–2.
Week 9: at Pittsburgh Steelers