Ravens Discover Kyle Hamilton's Irreplaceability the Hard Way

By Week 18 of the NFL's regular season, the Baltimore Ravens had long-since proven that they were nowhere near as terrifying a positional unit as they'd been talked up to be. The league lined them up for one of the toughest schedules in the league as reigning division winners, but they captured just two wins against teams with winning records over the course of a slog of an 8-9 campaign.

But fans couldn't completely quit this team. When they looked dead and buried with a 1-5 record entering the bye week, there was Kyle Hamilton, the captain of the once-vaunted secondary, exasperatedly explaining that they needed a swift mindset change to take advantage of the cushy mid-season schedule awaiting the Ravens.

It was hard not to believe in the star safety's leadership, especially when Baltimore did, indeed, ward off the dregs lining the schedule's margins to pump out a quick five-game win streak.

Baltimore Ravens Cornerback Marlon Humphrey and Safety Kyle Hamilton — Nov 23, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey (44) celebrates with Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton (14) after forcing a fumble during the fourth quarter against the New York Jets at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

As quickly as that boon had arrived, though, the Ravens reverted to a form of struggling that was only slightly improved from their slump to start the season. They went 2-3 after briefly tasting a .500 record to set up a regular season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers, with the final playoff spot in the AFC belonging to the winner of the rematch.

And Hamilton arrived in Pittsburgh ready to play; he was everywhere, recording nine tackles with nearly all of the second half remaining before he cracked helmets with fellow safety Alohi Gilman. While his longtime teammate escaped concussion protocol shortly thereafter, Hamilton wasn't quite so lucky, getting ruled out of the game and having to watch as the rest of the defense crumbled in his absence.

Kyle Hamilton is done.

He just got friendly fire from his teammate as they collided, not good 🙏 pic.twitter.com/i8nyV6wB2x
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) January 5, 2026

According to Warren Sharp, the Steelers' offense jumped from 3.9 yards per play to 6.9 after Hamilton was carted away, suddenly leaping to a 60% success rate after a middling sub-40% clip throughout the first half. The fear to attack Baltimore up the middle of the field couldn't have vanished any faster, and Aaron Rodgers never looked back in completing the 26-24 win to eliminate the Ravens.

An Indictment on the Ravens' Defense

In case fans needed any more convincing as to how valuable Hamilton is to the team's defensive operation, his departure revealed just how much they'd been counting on the jack-of-all-trades to fill each of their many holes.

When the Ravens needed help in the pass-rush, the squad made the calculated decision to scootch Hamilton closer to scrimmage in order to place additional pressure on opposing quarterbacks. They acquired Gilman midseason for such flexibility, and though the star safety ended the season with just one sack, he was a near-inescapable threat for opposing quarterbacks whenever he reverted back into the run-stopping tackler of old.

Mere days after preparing for the chance to crash the playoff picture in capping off a miracle turnaround, the Ravens are now careening towards having to make dramatic changes to fix whatever went wrong with this team. That will surely include a porous defense that never escaped the usual slow start, but if anyone's safe, it's the recently-extended man in the middle of the backfield.

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