Ryan Clark Pushes Back on Ravens' Mentality

Former player-turned-analyst Ryan Clark unloaded on the under-performers shortly after their most recent blunders dropped them to 1-2 on the season, drawing their short- and long-term issues back to their resistance to embracing their stakes.

"I heard an interview that John Harbaugh did at the beginning of the season, and he said, 'People who are saying 'Super Bowl or bust' are silly,' but we're not, because that should be the sense of urgency in this locker room when you have one of the best players in the game, when you have a stacked roster," he said on ESPN's postgame show.

"You should be focused on the minute details that win you championships, and we didn't see that tonight. You know who we saw it from? The Detroit Lions."

The Ravens demand higher expectations of themselves after their illustrious offseason, where they seemed to have only built on their contending desires by adding to their wide receiver room and secondary through the NFL Draft and free agency, providing them more depth than they've ever had at several marquee positions.

Their coach's decision to shy away from the heavy expectations that follow any team touted as a contender has already followed them everywhere through their first three weeks, even emerging in the Ravens' lone win. Their bounce-back victory against the Cleveland Browns seemed like just the sort of venue to renew their lofty aspirations by finally getting on the same page against a low-stakes opponent, but now they just look like the sort of pseudo-contender that only beats up on losing operations while getting out-classed by the game's elites.