Five Things We Learned from the Ravens' 37-33 loss to the Oakland Raiders

Oh boy. I’m normally one to preach patience, but it gets late awfully early when you start like this in the NFL. Over the past 25 years, only about 12 percent of teams that have started 0-2 have gone on to make the playoffs. The Ravens have never started in such a hole under coach John Harbaugh. And they just lost a critical game by giving up 37 points to a Raiders team that had been dominated at home the previous week. It will go down as one of the worst defensive efforts in franchise history. After two weeks, the 2015 Ravens have no clear identity. In Week 1, they squandered a stifling defensive effort with one of the worst offensive outings of quarterback Joe Flacco’s eight-year run. They also lost their vocal leader, Terrell Suggs, for the season. In Week 2, they flipped the dispiriting script, moving the ball with ease but letting an inexperienced quarterback, Derek Carr, beat them in a shootout. If they had pulled one of these games out, they’d have some breathing room to find themselves. Instead, Harbaugh faces the most difficult challenge of his career in Baltimore. I have no doubt he and veterans such as Flacco and Steve Smith Sr. will push on as if their lofty goals are still attainable. They’re finally coming back to Baltimore, where they enjoy one of the great homefield advantages in sports. Just last year, the Indianapolis Colts did what the Ravens will try to do, overcoming an 0-2 start to make the AFC Championship Game. But make no mistake — they’ll be pushing a hefty boulder up a steep cliff. The last time the Ravens started 0-2 was 2005. That team also lost its defensive leader, Ray Lewis, in Week 6. It finished 6-10. A decade later, that kind of disappointment again seems in play. (Karl Merton Ferron / Baltimore Sun)