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Ed Reed slammed his helmet and said he felt "embarrassed for our city".
Joe Flacco wiped the blood on the right side of the face, moments after running 80 yards to no avail, trying to prevent a return of interception for a touchdown. "We are a 9-5 football team," said the Ravens quarterback. "And we feel like we're 0-14 right now."
The date was December 16, 2012. The display board at M & T Bank Stadium read as follows: Denver Broncos 34, Baltimore Ravens 17.
The Ravens would qualify for playoffs later in the day, due to a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. But they had just suffered their most resounding defeat in a series of three defeats. Their defense was ravaged by the wounds. John Harbaugh had fired cam cam coordinator the previous week. The fans gave up the stage early to quench their thirst.
The crows were lost. Or so it seemed.
We all know how the story unfolded from there: the miraculous playoff race that included a sweet revenge against the same Broncos and culminated in the Super Bowl's second franchise win.
Maybe the remaining Ravens of that time – Flacco, Harbaugh, linebacker Terrell Suggs and a few others – thought about it this week as they tried to bounce back after a 36-21 breakout by the Carolina Panthers who had left disappointing 4-4 for the 2018 season.
Even the most satisfying 11 years of Harbaugh in Baltimore have rarely given pride to fame. Instead, his teams were defined by the way they responded to their most difficult moments.
Now this version of the Ravens is facing such a test with the arrival of the Pittsburgh Steelers in town on Sunday.
"We have our season ahead of us," said Harbaugh, when asked what wisdom he had gleaned from past setbacks. "We'd all like to have a better album than we do now. We should probably have a better record, but the record is what it is. This is our starting point. That's what we fight. The bottom line is the process and where we are and where we have to go as a football team. "
The players and coaches said there was no magic recipe to recover from a complete failure, such as defeat on the road at the Panthers. Honest, sometimes brutal, self-reflection and willingness to go ahead, that's all.
"You just keep it in house and you do your best to go ahead," Flacco said. "You take care of the problems and you solve them; you take them off the road early in the week, then you go out, work hard and play another football game. That's all we know how to do. "
In six games, the 2018 Ravens acquired the identity of the best football defense team, a highly adaptable bag machine that stifled opponents in stretching. But that self-image disappeared in five frustrating quarters, during which New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Panthers quarterback Cam Newton did what they liked.
The Ravens felt a similar sense of disorientation on the night of November 2, 2014, when Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger earned them six touchdowns in a 43-23 assist.
The loss was the second time in a row for the Ravens and brought them back to 5-4 of the season, last in the AFC North.
"We just have to be better," Suggs said afterwards. "We can not make fun of ourselves anymore."
The 2014 team rallied to win their next two games and four of their next five, before thwarting the Steelers at Heinz Field at the AFC Wild Cards.
The current defensive coordinator, Don "Wink" Martindale, was the coach of the linebackers of this team. Faced with a similar situation after the defeat of the Panthers, he knew exactly how he wanted to operate.
"We had an excellent meeting Tuesday as a defense with all of us – the coaching staff and the players – and the forum was opened as it always was," he said. "Because we keep the reality between us there. There is no ego or anything else.
In 12 seasons, safety Eric Weddle has lost his share of decisive defeats. And he said that the last point of Martindale, about the ego, is essential.
"When you play such a match, it's everyone," Weddle said. "You look at the tape and you want to be trained. You do not want to be moved about things or sensitive people. We all want to play well, and sometimes we do not do it. But what are you going to do about it? Sulk. Are you going to be a pansy about this? Or are you going back to work your art and have a great match the following week?
He expressed his confidence that the Ravens will take the most difficult and productive route.
"Honestly, we have to go back to the team defense," he said, lowering his voice for more emphasis. "Do your job, do your responsibility, do not press to try to play, the pieces will come when everyone is doing their job."
When you study the history of the team under Harbaugh, it's striking how this defeat and rebound pattern has been defined.
In its first season in 2008, the Ravens lost 30 to 10 against the New York Giants, who stomped on their number one defense. The defeat brought them back to 6-4 and with a head coach for the first time and a rookie quarterback at Flacco, the road ahead seemed far from certain.
"It was a shock," says Trevor Pryce. "It's the biggest beating I've been in for a long time."
The Ravens won their next three games with a combined score of 94-20, won a two-card qualifier and won two playoff games on the road to the CFA championship game, where they lost against the Steelers.
The following season, they lost 27-14 against the Green Bay Packers and have now fallen to 6-6 on the first weekend of December. The Harbaugh team won the next two by a combined score of 79-10 and three of the next four to earn a blank card slot. They defeated the New England Patriots on the road during the AFC wild card round.
There is therefore a model of resilience in the best Raven seasons with Harbaugh and Flacco.
Lest these past experiences reduce the urgency of the present moment, consider what happened last season when the Ravens do not have immediately rebound from their worst defeats.
They arrived at weeks 3 and 4, when they lost 70-16 against the Jaguars and the Jacksonville Steelers. The Ravens defeated the Oakland Raiders in the fifth week, but lost three of their next four players to their 4-5 break. If they had won only one of those games, they would have played in the playoffs.
If the Ravens lose to the Steelers on Sunday, they would be 4-5 in their remaining week.
This is not a road they would like to travel again.
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