The Baltimore Ravens management has done everything it could over the last two years. General manager Eric DeCosta has extended quarterback Lamar Jackson, found several importantes pieces in the draft, and added weapons that lacked before. The team changed both coordinators under John Harbaugh, and both hired were slam dunks — Todd Monken and Mike Macdonald.

The Ravens were better than the Kansas City Chiefs by DVOA on offense, defense, and special teams. Theoretically, the roster is simply better. But in the AFC Championship Game, in Baltimore, the Chiefs won again, 17-10.

It's just a difficult reality for the Ravens. They have a good coaching staff, an almost flawless roster, and Lamar Jackson played the best football of his life this season. The Chiefs had a down year — especially on offense, where the lack of receiving weapons has caused them significant issues throughout the season. And even with all these considerations, the Ravens couldn't dethrone the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce did it again.

So how can Baltimore get better and surpass Kansas City? How can they create more margin to be better enough in the playoffs? Those are big question marks, and points that will define the Ravens future over the next half decade.

Continuity and growth

If you're not getting better, you're getting worse in the NFL. However, this is just the first year of this new structure of the Ravens. The offense took obvious steps forward under offensive coordinator Todd Monken, and Lamar Jackson improved with the help of first-year quarterbacks coach Tee Martin.

It was also Zay Flowers' first season in the league. He made classic (and costly) rookie mistakes in the Championship Game, and the Ravens hope that Flowers will learn from these experiences.

On defense, the picture is more complicated. First of all, Baltimore needs to see if Mike Macdonald will stay or if he will get a head coaching job elsewhere. If he leaves, they have intriguing internal options like associate head coach/defensive line coach Anthony Weaver or pass game coordinator and secondary coach Chris Hewitt, but it will be extremely difficult to replicate what Macdonald has been able to do.

The first step for the Ravens to get better is to give more time for a structure that has given great signs.

More young (and top) weapons

Zay Flowers was a great addition to the roster, and played much better than anyone could have anticipated as a rookie. Tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely are also important long-term pieces, but they need more young difference-makers.

The Ravens made a valuable effort to improve their pass-catching options with veterans like Odell Beckham and Nelson Agholor. And, to be fair, they were relevant throughout the season.

And while they were important signings to give the room stability after draft mistakes, Eric DeCosta has to keep trying — like he's shown willingness to do — to add young and cheap offensive talent. Besides quarterbacks, wide receivers offer the most potential of creating surplus value. And that's how you build a consistent winner when it matters most.

Add a top running back

The track record is not great when teams try to invest high capital (draft picks or money) on running backs, but there's enough evidence that they do matter. Gus Edwards is a fine player, but he's not a difference-maker.

A top running back would allow the offense to be even more explosive and consistent, especially because the offensive line is already solid enough — and Lamar Jackson's running ability helps to affect the numbers in the run game.

The idea of drafting a running back in the first round is not a great one, but the free agent market offers several interesting options — like Saquon Barkley and Austin Ekeler, players who can be efficient pass-catchers as well as runners.

An area for improvement for Lamar

Lamar Jackson is the main reason why the Ravens got here in the first place, so he absolutely deserves more credit than blame. But his performance in the AFCCG was far from ideal, and that’s related to something he struggled against the entire year: blitzes.

His DVOA in plays without blitz was 38.3% through the regular season, and 3.6% in plays with blitz. Sure, he executed well against the Houston Texans, but this is a team that doesn’t like to blitz and did as a curveball. Against the Chiefs, a natural heavy-blitz defense, Lamar struggled again — and it ended up being one of the big reasons for the loss.

It was an underwhelming finish to a brilliant season. The Baltimore Ravens are close, but they need to take some steps to make sure that they will be in position to compete with the Chiefs — and other AFC powerhouses — for years to come.

Lamar Jackson slams helmet in frustration after costly INT in AFC title game vs. Chiefs

A play that he regretted right away.