The Baltimore Ravens had a truly great season filled with amazing highlights, a franchise-best 14-2 record and the AFC’s No. 1 seed for the first time in team history. But it ended all too soon, and as the Kansas City Chiefs reveled in their confetti shower and hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, it left a bad taste in my mouth.
The Ravens are set up to be serious contenders next season as well, though. They have the second-best odds to win Super Bowl LV and a ton of reasons why they’ll be in the mix for a Super Bowl berth. However, there are a few things that are too perfect to be mere coincidences and have me believing Baltimore is absolutely destined to win Super Bowl LV.
Following in Patrick Mahomes’ footsteps
If we go off what Mahomes did, it’ll be Jackson’s time next season.
Mahomes won the NFL’s MVP award last season, but Kansas City ultimately fell short in the AFC Championship Game. This season, Mahomes lost out on the award to Jackson but got a Super Bowl MVP trophy instead.
Mahomes has faced tons of criticism for how he plays, from being a more mobile quarterback to his at-times unorthodox delivery of the ball. Before the 2018 season, many thought Mahomes wasn’t capable of leading a team, much less to a Super Bowl victory. Jackson faced eerily similar backlash, because of accuracy issues in his rookie season and his tendency to run.
It seems almost like destiny for Jackson and Baltimore to follow in the footsteps of Mahomes and Kansas City to a Super Bowl victory.
20th anniversary of Super Bowl XXXV
When Super Bowl LV kicks off on Feb. 7, 2021, it will have been 20 years since the Ravens’ first Super Bowl win. A 20-year anniversary is a perfect time to not only acknowledge the franchise’s first Super Bowl win but to also nab their third Lombardi Trophy.
It’s in Tampa
Super Bowl LV will be held in the same location as Baltimore’s first one — Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
Now, if Aerosmith, Britney Spears, Nelly, Mary J. Blige and ‘NSYNC could all do the halftime show, it would be a nearly identical situation for the Ravens.
