Ravens Roll Over Texans: Batilmore Dominates in Latest “Hard Knocks” Episode
The latest edition of HBO’s Hard Knocks docuseries follows the AFC North during the 2024 regular season. Each week, Baltimore Beatdown will be breaking down the biggest moments and best quotes of every episode.
Ravens and Steelers both face short weeks
Neither the Ravens nor the Steelers had much time to dwell on their Week 16 matchup with both teams playing on Christmas just four days later.
Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward was clearly frustrated with his unit’s lackluster performance against the Ravens. He didn’t mince words when addressing his teammates during a meeting before their next game, repeatedly telling them to “attack.”
“Don’t just assume the s— is going to change,” said Heyward, “because that’s our problem: we’re not being accountable and learning from the s—. We gotta get this s— right together.”
Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken said that it’s “easy to get spoiled making the playoffs.” He made the playoffs just once in his previous eight NFL seasons; since coming to Baltimore, he’s gone back-to-back.
“My first year in Jacksonville, I thought this s— is easy,” said Monken. “We’ll just make it every year. I went and put an addition on the house, had all the extra playoff money, it was going to be great. Next year [fart noise] We went from 11-5 to 5-11. It can happen.”
Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr emphasized the importance of staying sharp mentally with such a quick turnaround to playing on Christmas.
“The team that’s going to be more locked in mentally the next three days is going to be the team that’s going to win Wednesday,” Orr said.
Mental focus is only one of the problems during a short week; physical fatigue is another.
Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy discussed how tired they were after the Steelers game.
