John Harbaugh voices frustration over lack of home prime time games

With dazzling quarterback Lamar Jackson leading the way, the Ravens were one of the best teams in the NFL last season. They fell just short of the Super Bowl. Yet when the league released its schedule for 2024, there were few prime-time games set for The Bank.

Every team loves the big games at their place. Ravens coach John Harbaugh is one of them. The pre-game shows go on for hours. Darkness falls and the stadium lights go bright, whether it’s Thursday, Sunday or Monday nights. It’s a big, football party as the country checks the action from your stadium.

This coming season, the Ravens are on primetime five times. Three of the five are away games, with only the Ravens against the Bills then the Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium. So the national audience rarely gets to see scenes like this one.

“My only complaint that I have, and it’s not even a complaint, but just for the fans, you want to see prime-time games in Baltimore,” Harbaugh told reporters.

“We are always on the short end of those for some crazy reason, especially Monday night. And the Christmas games, for instance, those have gone on the road. Maybe it’s because our guys go play so well and they know they’re going to get a good game. Maybe that’s why. But I do feel like our fans deserve as many of those games as we can get.”

The Ravens do kick off the season on primetime. They’ll travel to Kansas City to meet Patrick Mahomes and the two-time defending Super Bowl Champions at Arrowhead Stadium. That game is set for Thursday night, Sept. 5.

The first home prime-time game is on Sept. 29, when NFL fans will get the treat of watching Jackson battle it out with Bills quarterback Josh Allen. It’s a Sunday night game. The second home game is Nov. 10 against the Bengals. It’s a Thursday Night affair featuring Jackson against Joe Burrow. We’re hoping it won’t be a repeat of last season, when Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury.

Other than the Chiefs, the Ravens will play on the road in primetime against the Bucs and the Chargers. The game at Sofi Stadium will feature John Harbaugh facing off against brother Jim, the new coach of the Chargers. It’s set for Nov. 25 for Monday Night Football.

“That will definitely be the storyline, I’m sure,” the Ravens Harbaugh said. “But it’s such an emotional thing. It runs so much deeper than that in real life, to be honest. It’s so meaningful. We both root for each other. We both have each other’s back all the time and yet we’re competing against each other. And yeah, there is a pride part of it. You do want to win, but not just for you, but for your guys, for the organization, for the standings. There’s so much at stake.

“These things live on. These are real life moments that, there’s a winner and a loser in some of these games like that, and you kind of never forget these things. It’s not so much who’s going to have bragging rights. That kind of understates how it really works.”

The Ravens are involved in a special Christmas Day game on the road against CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans. It’s the second straight Christmas away from home.