Dec 31, 2017; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs (55) enters the field prior to the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Ravens Legend Expresses Concern Over Team's Make or Break Year

Originally posted on Baltimore Ravens on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Sep 7, 2025 2:05 PM ET

The NFL season is underway, and there aren't many NFL fans or analysts who are doubting the Baltimore Ravens' ability to clean this regular season up as one of the more dominant teams in the league. They improved on an already-loaded roster in attempting to build on last year's 12-5 record, and spent all summer soaking in the compliments from football fans admiring the position they've put themselves in.

But with that excitement comes expectations, and that's where the Ravens have fallen short in previous years. In-house voices may say otherwise, but this is an all-or-nothing situation, and even those with strong ties to the team are beginning to worry about what's to come of the Ravens should they dare to let Baltimore and its front office down yet again.

Former Ravens fixture Terrell Suggs spoke on the Ravens' precarious position in an interview with The Action Network, and he was candid in providing his thoughts on what he's expecting of this iteration of his former team as well as projecting their near-future.

"You gotta win the game you're supposed to, but also when the stage is the brightest, and stakes are the highest, you gotta play your best football," Suggs said. "[The Ravens] have been falling a little short on that in the previous year. So I do think this is a make or break year. If they don’t make the Super Bowl, I fear the team may go in different directions everywhere. They're on the clock, so to say.”

Suggs, like everyone else, has gotten excited at the Ravens' championship odds year after year, only to watch as they come crashing down in the postseason. Their stars, starting with Lamar Jackson, have trophy cases full of individual season awards and accolades without the jewelry to show for it, which he can't relate to.

The 16-year Raven played all but one of his seasons in Baltimore, developing into a Defensive Player of the Year-winning linebacker on some iconic championship-caliber defensive units. He remains the all-time leader in tackles for loss with 202, and remains one of the likelier candidates to make the Hall of Fame in the coming years.

He actually won a title in Baltimore, participating in some memorable group-efforts in helping the team win their most recent title in 2013. Winning it all was the standard then, and that remains the same today.

"For us, making it to the playoffs isn't enough. Winning the division isn't enough," Suggs said. "It's gotta be the Super Bowl or bust.”

The Ravens, having sustained a gut punch for the books last winter, went all-out in attempting to come back tougher. They drafted and signed in filling out the depth chart's margins, and already look to lock down their most pivotal contributors, granting them as clean of a shot at finally asserting themselves atop the league as they can ever ask for with this core. The on-field product will determine the rest.

This article first appeared on Baltimore Ravens on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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