The 2012Baltimore Ravensseason was the team's 17th season in the National Football League. While the Ravens failed to improve on their 12–4 record from 2011, they did still manage to clinch the AFC North division title in Week 16 and finish the regular season with a 10-6 record, sending them to their fifth straight playoffs, where they advanced to the AFC Championship game for the second consecutive season, and then to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2000. They were able to secure their second Super Bowl victory, 34–31 against the 49ers. It was the first time in franchise history that the Ravens won consecutive division titles. This marks head coachJohn Harbaugh's fifth season as the head coach of the franchise and fifth consecutive post-season appearance. The Ravens played their home games at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Ravens dedicated their season to former owner and founder Art Modell, who died on September 6, 2012.[1] On Week 1, all team members wore an "Art" decal on their helmets, and for the rest of their season, they wore an "Art" patch on the left side of their jerseys.
^[a] The team traded its first-round selection (#29) to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for the #35 overall selection in the second round, as well as the Vikings' fourth-round selection (#98 overall).
^[b] The team traded up from its original third-round selection (#91 overall) to the #84 overall selection, also giving the Atlanta Falcons their fifth-round pick (#164 overall).
For the fifth consecutive season, the Ravens won their season opener and started the season 1–0. Ed Reed returned an interception for a 34-yard touchdown, making Reed the all-time leader in career interception return yards with 1,497. The previous record of 1,483 yards was held by Rod Woodson.[citation needed]
Week 2: at Philadelphia Eagles[]
Week Two: Baltimore Ravens at Philadelphia Eagles – Game summary
Baltimore took the lead in the second quarter and held it for most of the game, but with 1:57 remaining in the fourth quarter Michael Vick ran for a one yard touchdown. With the surprising loss, the Ravens fell to 1–1.
Week 3: vs. New England Patriots[]
Week Three: New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens – Game summary
This game was played in the shadow of the death of WR Torrey Smith's brother, who had died in a motorcycle crash the night before. The Ravens entered the game hoping to be able to avenge the AFC Championship loss of the previous season, which came at the hands of the Patriots. New England started off fast as they drew to a 13–0 lead in the first quarter. However Baltimore scored 2 straight touchdowns to take the lead with 1:47 left to go in the half. Then Brady scored a touchdown right at the end of the half to retake the lead 20–14. The second half started off with a touchdown pass from Flacco to Dennis Pitta to put the Ravens on top 21–20. Then the Patriots retook the lead when Tom Brady scored a touchdown. After that the Baltimore defense began to step it up and held the Pats to a field goal. Then the momentum shifted as Baltimore scored a touchdown (Flacco to Torrey Smith). After forcing a Patriots punt, the Ravens drove down the field to score a field goal just as time expired to win the game 31–30.
The Ravens avenged the AFC Championship loss and improved to 2–1 and continued their unbeaten record at home from the previous year along with continuing their streak of winning after a loss. This was also the franchise's first-ever regular season victory against the Patriots.
Week 4: vs. Cleveland Browns[]
Week Four: Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens – Game summary
The Ravens improved to 4–1 by winning a game where five field goals were scored. With the Bengals' loss to the Dolphins the Ravens moved into first place in the AFC North.
Week 6: vs. Dallas Cowboys[]
Week Six: Dallas Cowboys at Baltimore Ravens – Game summary
With their fourth straight win, the Ravens improved to 5–1, and became 4–0 all-time against the Cowboys. This was also their 14th straight regular season home win.
However, Baltimore also lost Ray Lewis to a potentially season-ending triceps injury.[3]
Week 7: at Houston Texans[]
Week Seven: Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans – Game summary
Days before the game, the team was fined $20,000 for not adding Ed Reed to the injury report.[4]
The Ravens drew first blood as Justin Tucker nailed a 51-yard field goal as they moved head 3-0. However, the Texans in the first and second quarters combined would see a total of 29 unanswered points after Connor Barwin sacked Joe Flacco in the end zone for a safety and cut the lead to a point as the lead was now 3-2 Ravens followed by Matt Schaub finding Kevin Walter in the end zone on a 25-yard touchdown pass to take a 9-3 lead. The Texans followed up in the 2nd quarter with Johnathan Joseph returning an interception 52 yards for a touchdown, which was then followed by a 1-yard pass from Schaub to Owen Daniels, and then 2 straight field goals from Shayne Graham from 33 and 29 yards out respectively making the lead 16-3, 23-3, 26-3, and then 29-3 at halftime. The Ravens got right back to work in the 3rd quarter as Flacco connected with Tandon Doss on a 15-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 29-10 but the Texans pulled away as Arian Foster ran for a 1-yard touchdown increasing the lead to 36-10. The Ravens tried to rally a huge comeback in the 4th quarter but could only come up with Tucker's 54-yard field goal making the game score 36-13 and lastly Foster ran for a 2-yard touchdown to make the final score 43-13 seeling the game for the Texans.
It was the first loss ever to the Texans in franchise history and first loss to a Houston NFL team since 1996. The Ravens headed into their bye week 5–2 while also dropping their record to 5-1 against the Texans in the regular season and 6-1 against them overall.
Week 9: at Cleveland Browns[]
Week Nine: Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns – Game summary
The Ravens got their 15th straight home win (16 including playoffs) by defeating the Raiders. Baltimore set a franchise record for points in a game with 55 - improving on the previous record of 48 set against the Detroit Lions on December 13, 2009 - as the team improved to 7–2. Jacoby Jones returned a kickoff for a 105-yard touchdown, making him the first player in league history to have two career kickoff returns of at least 105 yards.[citation needed] Jones had returned a kickoff for 108 yards in Week 6 against the Cowboys.
Week 11: at Pittsburgh Steelers[]
Week Eleven: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers – Game summary
The Ravens got their third straight win against the Steelers while picking up their 12th-straight regular season division rival win and improved to 8–2.
Week 12: at San Diego Chargers[]
Week Twelve: Baltimore Ravens at San Diego Chargers – Game summary
The game went into overtime with a field goal by Tucker. The field goal was set up by conversion of a 4th and 29 play where Joe Flacco completed a short pass to Ray Rice and Rice raced 29 yards on the ground for the first down. With the surprising win, the Ravens move into 9–2, getting revenge for last year's loss in San Diego on Sunday Night Football.
Week 13: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers[]
Week Thirteen: Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens – Game summary
With the loss to the Redskins the Ravens fell to 9–4 and 0–2 on the road against NFC East teams. Also, it was the first consecutive loss for the Ravens since Week 6 of their 2009 season.
The Ravens fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron the next day, promoting Jim Caldwell to the position.[5]
Week 15: vs. Denver Broncos[]
Week Fifteen: Denver Broncos at Baltimore Ravens – Game summary
The Ravens lost their third straight game and fell to 9–5. However, they clinched a playoff berth following the Steelers' loss to the Cowboys later in the evening.[citation needed]
Week 16: vs. New York Giants[]
Week Sixteen: New York Giants at Baltimore Ravens – Game summary
With the win the Ravens not only improved to 10–5 but also clinched the AFC North division title (by having four wins in division games).[citation needed]
Week 17: at Cincinnati Bengals[]
Week Seventeen: Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals – Game summary
The Ravens allowed their starters to come out for a few minutes in the first quarter, then played their second-string players for the rest of the game.[citation needed] With the loss to the Bengals, the Ravens finished the season 10–6.
Postseason[]
AFC Wild Card Playoffs: vs. #5 Indianapolis Colts[]
AFC Wild Card Playoffs: #5 Indianapolis Colts at #4 Baltimore Ravens – Game summary
By winning the AFC North title, the Ravens hosted the Colts — a team that once played in Baltimore until moving to Indianapolis in 1984 — in the Wild Card round. This relocation remains a controversial issue. The Ravens had faced the Colts in the playoffs twice before, losing both times without scoring any touchdowns in divisional rounds: in 2006 and 2009.[citation needed]
The Ravens, with Ray Lewis playing in his final home game,[7] limited the Colts to three field goals while Joe Flacco managed a pair of touchdown throws.
The Colts head coach Chuck Pagano was a part of the Ravens coaching staff from 2008 to 2011, serving as defensive coordinator during the 2011 season. The Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell was the head coach of the Colts from 2009 to 2011. Before the game Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians was hospitalized with an illness.
The win also marked the first time in NFL history that a starting QB has won at least 1 playoff game in his first 5 seasons as Flacco's playoff record improved to 6-4 and the teams' overall record improved to 11-6. [8]
AFC Divisional Playoff Game: at #1 Denver Broncos[]
AFC Divisional Playoff Game: #4 Baltimore Ravens at #1 Denver Broncos – Game summary
The Ravens faced the Denver Broncos for the second time in the playoffs, having defeated them 21-3 in the 2000 Wild Card playoffs, and also faced Peyton Manning for the third time in a playoff run.
The Broncos clawed to a 35-28 lead but had to punt back to the Ravens in the final two minutes. In the signature play of the game--a deep touchdown strike by Joe Flacco to Jacoby Jones which has come to be known as the Mile-High Miracle--the Ravens tied the game after facing a 3rd-and-3, and with only :41 seconds left in the 4th quarter. After Baltimore tied the game, Manning and the Broncos took a controversial kneel down with 30-seconds left on the clock and two timeouts to take it to overtime. Later in the first overtime Manning was intercepted at his own 45-yard line, setting up the winning Ravens field goal in the opening minute of the second overtime. By improving to 1-2 against Manning in the playoffs, this was the Ravens' first victory against him since the 2001 season when he was with Indianapolis, along with their first-ever road victory against him.[citation needed] Synonymous with the biggest play of the game, this game goes down in Ravens lore as the Mile-High Miracle.
AFC Championship: at #2 New England Patriots[]
AFC Championship: #4 Baltimore Ravens at #2 New England Patriots – Game summary
This was the third time the Ravens faced the Patriots in the playoffs. The Ravens won 33–14 in the 2009 Wild Card playoffs and lost 23–20 in the 2011 AFC Championship game.
With the comeback win after trailing in the first-half, the Ravens advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in twelve years.
The Ravens advanced to the Super Bowl against the 49ers and were designated the visiting team. After leading the entire game, the Ravens held on at the end, stopping the 49ers on four plays inside their own 10 yard line, then taking an intentional safety with four seconds remaining to milk the clock. During the 3rd quarter of the game, half of the power went out in the Super Dome, leading to over a 30 minute delay in the game. They finished the season with an overall record of 14-6 with their 4-0 playoff run and improved to 2-0 in Super Bowl appearances, handing the 49ers their first Super Bowl loss as a franchise. The Ravens' win also marked the third-straight season in which a team seeded third or lower in its conference would defeat a top-seeded team from the other conference in a Super Bowl.
stats values are correct through the end of the regular season. '
League rankings[]
Total Offense (YPG): 343.2 (19th)
Passing (YPG): 241 (15th)
Rushing (YPG): 102.4 (23rd)
Total Defense (YPG): 372.3 (25th)
Passing (YPG): 247 (23rd)
Rushing (YPG): 125.8 (23rd)
Stats correct through week 14.
Super Bowl Ring[]
Team owner Steve Bisciotti stated during a press conference that the Ravens Super Bowl ring for the 2012 season was going to be white gold instead of yellow gold, at the request of players and coaches.[9] While offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was fired after a week 14 loss to the Washington Redskins, head coach John Harbaugh stated that Cameron deserves and will receive a Super Bowl ring.[10]
