When any sports season comes to an end, there's a natural inclination for fans to try to put a positive spin on their disappointment. I mean, why would you want to fixate on discouragement when it's so easy to toss out a platitude along the lines of "brighter days ahead" or "bigger things are coming" or "next year is FINALLY gonna be the Bengals' year?"
I noticed a lot of this after the Ravens' season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in the playoffs Jan. 6. And I get it. It's much more palatable to tie a season up in a pleasant bow than to marinate in a crushing home loss that may have served to expose the scheme the franchise has used to invigorate their fan base as potentially being limited … or worse, maybe fraudulent?
Are brighter days truly ahead for the Ravens? Have they actually turned a proverbial corner that will allow them to push forward from a stretch that hasn't seen them win a single playoff game during the past four seasons? Or will this eight-game stretch merely prove to be an entertaining phenomenon that, as we've long discussed, was never sustainable enough that it should have been used as evidence for making long-term decisions?
