The Ravens will be missing a huge offensive piece as the playoffs begin

The Baltimore Ravens will be missing their Pro Bowl wide receiver during their Wild Card round matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday. Head coach John Harbaugh told reporters Thursday that Zay Flowers' knee injury will keep him sidelined for at least the first round of the playoffs.

Flowers went down in the third quarter of the Ravens game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 18 with a non contact injury. The good news for the Ravens is that it wasn't an ACL injury, always feared when a player goes down without contact, but because Flowers didn't practice this week, he won't be on the field against the Steelers.

Ravens rule out WR Zay Flowers (knee) for Wild Card game vs. Steelers on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/gXY7GtEIfd
— NFL (@NFL) January 9, 2025

Flowers was the first Raven to be selected to the Pro Bowl as a wide receiver and became their first 1,000-yard receiver since Hollywood Brown in 2021. The Ravens are fortunate that they have two great tight ends in Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely they can rely upon to get more targets in the passing game. Rashod Bateman and Nelson Agholor will be expected to contribute more with Flowers on the sideline as well.

And of course, the Ravens have their safety net in their running game. Running back Derrick Henry rushed for 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns this season, including 227 yards and a touchdown in the two games against Pittsburgh earlier this season.

While Flowers was a huge reason quarterback Lamar Jackson had another massive year, throwing for over 4,000 yards for the first time in his career, Bateman, Andrews and Likely combined for almost 2,000 yards and 26 touchdowns. Jackson will have full confidence in throwing the ball to them despite missing his favorite target.

The Ravens should be able to get by the Steelers without Flowers, but as the playoffs progress, they'll need him if they want to win the Super Bowl. They'd likely play the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round and anyone who wants to beat the Bills needs to be fully healthy.