Multiple Ravens Teams Ranked Among Greatest This Century

The Baltimore Ravens are the perfect example of an NFL franchise not needing much time to truly compete.

Sure, the Ravens had their fair share of growing pains early on, but since the turn of the millenium, they've consistently been one of the league's better franchises. They won the Super Bowl in 2000, just their fifth NFL season, and they won another over a decade later in 2012. They've also won eight division titles and made the playoffs 16 times, so they have a lot to be proud of.

In fact, some of their teams rank among the greatest this century.

ESPN's Bill Barnwell tried his hand at ranking the top 25 NFL teams since 2000, and two Ravens squads made the list. As expected, the 2000 Ravens were the highest-ranked of those squads, coming in at No. 13 behind their historic defense.

"This defense was actually in the 99.7th percentile as a unit led by Ray Lewis, Rod Woodson and Chris McAlister allowed just 10.3 points per game and 0.8 points per drive, both of which rank as the lowest marks posted by any squad over the past 25 years," Barnwell wrote. "More than simply stifling opposing teams, the Ravens also served as valuable help for their offense, generating an unbelievable 49 takeaways during the regular season, the most of any team during this 25-year window. They added 12 more across four postseason victories, including five each in the AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl, a blowout win over New York."

The Ravens' offense that year, led by quarterback Trent Dilfer, was relatively underwhelming, thus leading to the team's placement on this list. With how dominant the defense was, however, there's definitely an argument for this team to make the top 10.

The second Ravens team to make the list is surprisingly not the 2012 Super Bowl squad, but rather the 2023 squad that featured an MVP Lamar Jackson and another outstanding defense.

"If you field one of the best defenses of the past quarter century and your quarterback plays well enough to win league MVP, you probably deserve to be on this list," Barnwell wrote. "I'm well aware of how things ended for the Ravens in the playoffs, but this team outscored its opposition by nearly 12 full points per game while facing the league's seventh-toughest schedule.

"Playing in a division in which every team posted a winning record, the Ravens comfortably won the AFC North and claimed the top seed in the AFC, blowing out playoff teams such as the Texans (25-9), Browns (28-3), Lions (38-6) and 49ers (33-19) in the process. They added a second big victory against the Texans in the divisional round, overcoming a slow start to win 34-10."

The 2012 team still earned an honorable mention, however, so there's at least some recognition there.

Either way, Ravens fans should consider themselves blessed to bear witness to so many great teams over the years.