Ravens game-day discussion can make Baltimore seem like a team defined entirely by its latest result. Its history tells a broader story: a new franchise finding an audience, a defense winning a championship, Joe Flacco delivering under pressure, and Lamar Jackson changing the offense’s possibilities.
How we chose: These ten wins are a beginner-friendly route through those different chapters, ordered chronologically—not a statistical ranking of the greatest performances. We selected firsts, championships and contrasting ways of winning, rather than ten similar blowouts. Scores and key events come from official team histories and game reports; the reasons to revisit them are our editorial judgments. This is a selective introduction, not a complete history, and it deliberately focuses on victories.
1. Raiders, 1996: the first chapter
Result: Ravens 19–14 Oakland Raiders, September 1, 1996. Baltimore’s first regular-season game took place at Memorial Stadium. Vinny Testaverde scored the franchise’s first touchdown on a nine-yard run. Before the championship defenses and famous playoff finishes, there was the simpler significance of a new team taking the field and winning.
Why it belongs: Start here to separate the Ravens’ story from the earlier Baltimore Colts era. The uniforms, setting and personnel give the later highlights a clear starting point. Official franchise timeline.
2. Giants, 2001: defense becomes the identity
Result: Ravens 34–7 New York Giants, Super Bowl XXXV. Played on January 28, 2001, this was the championship game for the 2000 season. Ray Lewis was the game’s MVP. New York’s only touchdown came on a kickoff return, rather than against Baltimore’s defense.
Why it belongs: It shows why defensive plays occupy so much space in Ravens history. Watch possessions ending without points as closely as the scoring highlights: preventing an opponent from building anything can be the central spectacle. Official championship history.
3. Browns, 2003: a running back takes over
Result: Ravens 33–13 Cleveland Browns. Jamal Lewis rushed for 295 yards on September 14, 2003, establishing what was then the NFL single-game rushing record. That wording matters: it is a historic record-setting performance, not a claim that the record still stands.
Why it belongs: This chapter puts the running game—not a quarterback or a defensive touchdown—at the center. Follow how individual carries accumulate into control of a game, rather than treating the final yardage as the whole story. Official retrospective.
4. Steelers, 2011: the late-drive rivalry win
Result: Ravens 23–20 Pittsburgh Steelers, November 6, 2011. Flacco led a 92-yard drive that ended with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Torrey Smith with eight seconds remaining. The rookie receiver had missed an earlier opportunity on that same drive.
Why it belongs: The finish gives a newcomer an accessible entry into the Pittsburgh rivalry. Its appeal is not just the final catch: the drive shows how a failed chance can become only one step in a successful possession. Official game report.
5. Broncos, January 2013: the Mile High escape
Result: Ravens 38–35 Denver Broncos, double overtime. In the January 12 divisional playoff, Flacco’s 70-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones tied the score with 31 seconds left in regulation. Baltimore eventually won on a 47-yard field goal.
Why it belongs: The famous pass is the doorway, but the game did not end there. Separating the equalizer from the eventual winner helps explain why this is remembered as an extended survival act rather than one isolated miracle. Official playoff report.
6. 49ers, February 2013: holding on for a second title
Result: Ravens 34–31 San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl XLVII. Baltimore built a 28–6 lead, then had to withstand San Francisco’s comeback. A late defensive stand helped secure the franchise’s second championship.
Why it belongs: Compare it with the first Super Bowl entry. Both ended in a title, but the viewing experience is different: this time a large lead becomes something fragile that must be protected. It is the conclusion to the playoff journey represented by the Denver game. Official Super Bowl recap.
7. Vikings, December 2013: a finish that keeps changing
Result: Ravens 29–26 Minnesota Vikings, December 8, 2013. The snowy game produced five touchdowns in its final two minutes and five seconds. Flacco’s nine-yard pass to Marlon Brown, with four seconds remaining, supplied the last of them.
Why it belongs: This is the regular-season counterpoint to the championship selections. Keep an eye on the clock and score after every possession; the interest lies in how quickly an apparently decisive moment stops being decisive. Official game report.
8. Rams, 2019: Jackson’s offense in full flow
Result: Ravens 45–6 Los Angeles Rams, November 25, 2019. Jackson threw five touchdown passes and ran for 95 yards. Baltimore scored touchdowns on its first six drives.
Why it belongs: After several narrow escapes, this is a useful change of pace. The combination of rushing and passing is the point: the game offers a compact introduction to Jackson’s range, without reducing his performance to either running highlights or passing totals alone. Official performance report.
9. Colts, 2021: winning through the air
Result: Ravens 31–25 Indianapolis Colts, overtime. On October 11, Jackson threw for 442 yards and four touchdowns as Baltimore recovered from a 19-point deficit. Mark Andrews caught two touchdowns and the accompanying two-point conversions during the comeback.
Why it belongs: Place this beside the Rams game rather than treating it as a repeat. One demonstrates sustained dominance; the other shows the offense solving a game that had been going badly. It is particularly useful for newcomers whose picture of Jackson begins and ends with his running. Official comeback report.
10. Bills, 2024: Henry adds another dimension
Result: Ravens 35–10 Buffalo Bills, September 29, 2024. Derrick Henry opened Baltimore’s offensive night with an 87-yard touchdown run. He finished with 199 rushing yards as the Ravens won at home.
Why it belongs: Ending here connects the earlier running-game chapter to a newer personnel combination. Compare Henry’s role with Jamal Lewis’s entry, while remembering that the surrounding quarterbacks and offenses are different. Similar headline yardage does not make two eras interchangeable. Official Henry performance report.
A useful starting route: If ten games feels like too much, begin with the two Super Bowls, then compare the Rams and Colts performances. The remaining selections fill in the origins, rivalries and unexpected finishes. Official archive availability can vary by location; the linked reports provide the historical context without promising free full-game access.
For another sport’s championship turning points, explore our WNBA Finals games worth revisiting.