While the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles lay claim as the NFL’s best team this past season, Shannon Sharpe does not believe that they would have beaten one of his former teams, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, who captured the franchise’s first title behind an historically dominant defense.
Sharpe, in response to CBS Sports recent list ranking every Super Bowl champion since 2000, believes that the 2000 Ravens’ defense would have dominated the first 13 teams on said list.
“I guarantee you, if they let us play by the rules that they played by, not one of those offenses score on that Raven defense,” Sharpe recently said on his podcast. “They won’t get more than 14 points.”
Sharpe said that Baltimore’s defense would have success containing Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who this year became the third rushing champion to win the Super Bowl. Barkley rushed for just 57 yards in the Eagles’ Super Bowl in over the Chiefs, but he did catch six passes for 40 yards in that game that included a 22-yard catch that helped Philadelphia extend their lead to 27-0 late in the third quarter.
“He’d have 37 against (the Ravens’) defense,” Sharpe said. “You’re not running, because you’ve got Sam (Adams) and Goose (Tony Siragusa) and Ray running free. Ray’s hunting.”
Sharpe later alluded to Baltimore’s hard-hitting, opportunistic secondary that included future Hall of Fame defensive back Rod Woodson. Sharpe touched on the fact that the 2000 Ravens’ defense gave up just 165 points during the regular season, with 36 of those points being given up in the team’s Week 2 win over the Jaguars. Baltimore’s defense then allowed just 16 points in four playoff games that culminated in their 34-7 win over the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.
There’s no denying that the 2000 Ravens defense was a dominant and historic group that ranks among the best of all-time. That group would have surely made life tough for the 2024 Eagles or any of the recent Super Bowl champions. The 2000 Ravens offense, however, is the reason that team came in at No. 24 on our list of Super Bowl champs since the turn of the century.
Baltimore’s offense featured Sharpe, a future Hall of Famer and one of the best tight ends of all-time. It also included future 2,000-yard rusher Jamal Lewis, speedster Qadry Ismail and Hall of Fame offensive lineman Jonathan Ogden. But the offense (which went five weeks during the regular season without scoring a touchdown) didn’t have much else and they were especially lacking at the quarterback position.
While he went 11-1 as Baltimore’s starter that season, Trent Dilfer had 12 touchdowns against 11 interceptions during the regular season. He then completed less than 48% of his passes in the playoffs. In his last three games of the 2000 postseason, Dilfer recorded completion percentages of 31.3%, 50% and 48%.
It should be noted that Dilfer threw just one interception in the playoffs (compared to his three touchdown passes), and his 38-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley helped spearhead Baltimore’s blowout win over the Giants in the Super Bowl. Dilfer was good enough back then to help the Ravens win the Super Bowl. But when comparing the 2000 Ravens to other recent Super Bowl champions, it’s hard to overlook Dilfer and his lack of success that year from a statistical standpoint.
Could the 2000 Ravens defeat the 2024 Eagles? It’s certainly possible, especially if the game was officiated the way it was back then. But the Ravens’ lack of a consistent passing game would be a clear disadvantage against the 2024 Eagles defense that picked off Patrick Mahomes twice in the Super Bowl in addition to six sacks and a forced fumble of the two-time league MVP.
As far as Barkley is concerned, it’s safe to assume that he wouldn’t care how many yards he got against the Ravens, as long as that game played out similarly to Super Bowl LIX. One would think that it would possibly play out in a similar fashion, given the Eagles’ talent on defense and that Ravens team’s offensive shortcomings.
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