Mike Preston: Time is not on the Ravens’ side with strange 2024 schedule | COMMENTARY

A year ago, the Ravens had time to develop a new offense, but they won’t have that luxury in 2024.

The Ravens have a bizarre schedule loaded with playoff teams early, then three games in 12 days from late October to early November and three games in 11 days in December after a Week 14 bye.

A year ago, coach John Harbaugh and new coordinator Todd Monken were calling the offense a work in progress. As of Wednesday, when the NFL announced the schedule, the Ravens are on the clock.

It’s a demanding season, and that was to be expected after the Ravens finished with a 13-4 record, the best of any club during the regular season.

But it’s also awkward because there are seven Sundays in which the Ravens don’t play, and that’s where the problems arise.

Coaches love routines. They like to plan everything from team meetings to weight training sessions to film study, and even an occasional movie night. You can believe that Harbaugh has already been busy plotting out everything from practice sessions to flight departure details.

This season, though, is different. The Ravens’ first five games last season were against the Houston Texans, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Ravens went 3-2 with losses to the Colts and Steelers, but there wasn’t a sense of urgency. It was only a matter of time before Monken and quarterback Lamar Jackson were going to build a strong offense, regardless if it was built around the running or the passing game. Of that group of teams, only the Bengals were expected to compete for a conference or Super Bowl title.

In 2024, the Ravens open at Kansas City, vs. Las Vegas, at Dallas, vs. Buffalo and at Cincinnati.

Let’s see. The Chiefs have won three of the past five Super Bowls, including two straight. Both Buffalo and Dallas are serious contenders and Cincinnati might be in that class as well, depending on the health of quarterback Joe Burrow.

Offensively, the Ravens don’t have a lot of time for growing pains. It will be interesting to see how fast they develop with Derrick Henry as the new star running back and three new starters on the offensive line.

At least Jackson will be familiar with wide receivers Nelson Agholor, Rashod Bateman and Zay Flowers, as well as tight ends Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews.

It will be different on defense. Mike Macdonald, the coordinator from a year ago, is now the coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Other defensive assistants such as defensive line coach Anthony Weaver (Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator) and secondary coach Dennard Wilson (Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator) have moved on as well.

It’s safe to assume that new defensive coordinator Zach Orr will keep most of Macdonald’s schemes in place, but every new coach wants to put his signature on his team.

That takes time, and that will be the case with the new assistant coaches, but can the Ravens adjust in such a short time?

The Ravens have lost a lot of familiar faces on defense, including weakside linebacker Patrick Queen, safety Geno Stone and outside linebacker-defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. That’s a lot of departing talent from a unit that was one of the best in the league last season.

The Ravens’ schedule doesn’t allow a lot of wiggle room unless adjustments are made quickly. On Nov. 17, the Ravens play at Pittsburgh followed by a road game on Nov. 25 at Los Angeles against the Chargers before hosting the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 1.

It gets worse near the end of the season when the Ravens play in New York against the Giants on Dec. 15, host Pittsburgh six days later and then fly to Houston for a Christmas Day game. The Ravens close out the regular season at home against Cleveland.

The NFL didn’t do the Ravens any favors. In fact, this might be the weirdest schedule since the team moved from Cleveland to Baltimore for the 1996 season. The 2023 campaign was strange because the Ravens traveled 25,442 miles, including a trip to London, two to California and one to Arizona.

This season isn’t as wacky based on the competition, but the Ravens are playing so many games in such a short time. Plus, they are playing on the road for the second straight year on Christmas Day.

That’s strange in itself. Merry Christmas, Ravens.