page_title: History of the Baltimore Ravens
section_title: 2008: Arrival of John Harbaugh, Flacco, and Ray Rice
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Baltimore Ravens / 2001–2011 / 2008: Arrival of John Harbaugh, Flacco, and Ray Rice
caption_attribution_description: The Pittsburgh Steelers lineup against the Baltimore Ravens
context_page_description: The Ravens were formed to fill in the void left by Baltimore's previous team, the Colts, who had controversially moved to Indianapolis. Ironically, the Ravens' formation necessitated the relocation of the Cleveland Browns' players and personnel, leaving Cleveland without a team until the Browns resumed operations as an expansion team three years later. Since then the Ravens have usually featured a strong defense and have won two Super Bowl championships.
context_section_description: With rookies at head coach (John Harbaugh) and quarterback (Joe Flacco), the Ravens entered the 2008 campaign with much uncertainty. Their Week 2 contest at the Houston Texans was postponed until two months later because of Hurricane Ike, forcing the Ravens to play for what would eventually be eighteen straight weeks. With its record at 2–3 after consecutive losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts, its triumph over the Dolphins in Week 7 was redemption for what had happened against the same opponent in the previous season. Eight victories in its last ten regular season matches enabled them to clinch the sixth seed in the AFC playoffs at an 11–5 record. Possibly the biggest win during that stretch came in Week 16 with a 33–24 humbling of the Dallas Cowboys in the final game at Texas Stadium. Willis McGahee's 77-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter established a new stadium record which would last until Le'Ron McClain, on the very first offensive play of the Ravens' next possession, secured the victory with an 82-yarder.
  On the strength of four interceptions, one resulting in an Ed Reed touchdown, the Ravens began its postseason run by winning a rematch over Miami 27–9 at Dolphin Stadium on January 4, 2009 in a wild-card game. Six days later, they advanced to the AFC Championship Game by avenging a Week 5 loss to the Titans 13–10 at LP Field on a Matt Stover field goal with 53 seconds left in regulation time. The Ravens fell one victory short of Super Bowl XLIII by losing to the Steelers 23–14 at Heinz Field on January 18, 2009.
caption: Corey Ivy (35), Bart Scott (57) and Chris McAlister (21) in 2008.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2008:10:01 18:25:08", "Image Artist": "Andrew Crampton", "Image ExifOffset": "208", "Image Tag 0x882A": "[-4, -4]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "9/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "500", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:09:29 21:01:26", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:09:29 21:01:26", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "477741/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "86797/20000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "35/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "176", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "94", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "94", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "2136000/439", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "356000/73", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}