There’s a storm brewing in the AFC and not the dramatic, fiery kind you see on analyst panels. This one’s quieter. It lives behind podiums, in locker room whispers, in the quiet frustration of rosters that are this close year after year, and still watching someone else lift the Lombardi. At the eye of this storm are the Ravens, led by Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh. The seat doesn’t have to be on fire for pressure to build. Harbaugh isn’t a failure. He has done what 90% of NFL coaches never sniff. But that doesn’t save you when the ring never comes.

During the May 30 episode of the Dan Patrick Show, analyst Ross Tucker added Josh Allen and Sean McDermott to this fray as well. He then made a sensational claim, “The interesting thing there, Dan, is if neither one of them makes it to the AFC championship game this year, you wonder if at some point either Terry Pegula, the owner of the Bills or Steve Bisciotti the owner of the Ravens says ‘we got a really good roster we have one of the three or four best quarterbacks in the NFL. Maybe we just need to change something’.”

Both of these franchises have loaded rosters. Lamar is a top-5 talent on any day. And still, they keep coming up short. Harbaugh’s Ravens have been a model of consistency, eleven playoff appearances under his watch. Still, no trip to the Big Game since 2012. And here’s the catch: Lamar Jackson is not going anywhere. The quarterback is locked in. Which means, if the postseason heartbreak continues, the pressure won’t fall on the guy throwing the passes. It’ll land on the sideline.

That ‘something’ the Ravens need to change doesn’t sound like a coordinator. That’s not subtle enough. What they’re circling around is the big one, the head coach. This season isn’t just about wins. It’s about validation. It’s about legacy. And it might be the last shot Harbaugh gets to prove they’re not just part of the process, but the ones who can finally finish it. To put it simply, the future of his head coach depends on Lamar Jackson.

At some point, patience will run thin. This isn’t hot-take TV, it is real. If Harbaugh doesn’t break through in 2025, no one’s safe.

Lamar Jackson hangs up his Super Bowl dreams

The Ravens QB is not alone. Teammates are still riding the dream, some even dressing for it. TE Isaiah Likely had real plans. He had his eyes on No. 8, Lamar Jackson’s current number, because Lamar once said he’d switch to No. 1 after finally winning a Super Bowl. That’s how locked in the belief was. “When we win,” Likely said, “8’s gonna switch to 1.”

However, Lamar Jackson shut it down with a heavy message on Instagram, “You know how ppl throw their old shoes on powerlines @isaiahlikely_4? That’s wat I want you to do with this idea. Hang it tf up.” Was it just banter, or is the exhaustion finally showing up? Lamar isn’t running out of talent. But he’s running out of time, emotionally. Because each year he walks into that tunnel in January and walks out empty-handed, the Super Bowl promise he made in 2018 starts to echo just a little louder and a little more hollow.

The charm of being the most electrifying player in the league wears thin when it doesn’t translate to confetti. Lamar Jackson’s 2024 Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) MVP run was vintage. A masterclass in decision-making, leadership, and explosiveness. He made elite defenses look slow. But when the Ravens needed one more win, one more drive, one more burst of greatness, it wasn’t there.

The Ravens’ postseason run sizzled out to the AP MVP, Josh Allen and his Bills, who also failed to make the Super Bowl, falling yet again to the Chiefs. With such high-caliber QBs running the show on the gridiron, it’s a double-edged sword for their HCs on the sideline.