Baltimore Ravens tackle Ronnie Stanley says “winning in the trenches” is the key to winning the AFC North over the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Kara Durrette/Getty Images)
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Ronnie Stanley has seen a lot during his time with the Baltimore Ravens.
The Pro Bowl and All-Pro offensive tackle is the longest-tenured player on the team, having joined the Ravens as the sixth overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He has started in all 114 games he’s appeared in and has been the blindside protector of both Joe Flacco and Lamar Jackson.
While the Ravens have always been a winning team during Stanley’s tenure in Baltimore, they’ve had difficulty cracking the glass ceiling. The Ravens have been to the playoffs in six of Stanley’s nine full seasons in the NFL, but they’ve never been to the Super Bowl.
Despite having only one losing season in his career and blocking for Jackson’s two MVP seasons, the Ravens have had difficulty translating that regular season success into postseason success. Baltimore is 3-6 during Stanley’s tenure with the Ravens.
The 31-year-old says the key to changing that narrative is by winning in the “trenches” and “locking in” during playoff time.
“It’s winning in the trenches, taking care of the ball and being able to focus through all the noise,” says Stanley in a one-on-one interview.
After starting out this season 1-5, the Ravens have bounced back in a major way since Lamar Jackson’s return. Baltimore had a rough start to the year in part due to Jackson’s absence, but they’ve won five straight games since, including four straight with him at quarterback. Baltimore is 5-3 with Jackson in the lineup.
They’ll start a challenging stretch this week with a divisional game against the Cincinnati Bengals. In fact, four of their last six games are against divisional opponents in the AFC North in the Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Stanley once again re-iterates that winning in the “trenches” will be key to winning those divisional games since they’re extra physical.
“Winning in the trenches and taking care of the ball and executing,” says Stanley of the key for the Ravens to win those games. “There’s a lot going on, those are always very intense games. I think the team that can focus the most with the same physicality ends up doing the best.”
The Ravens are currently locked into a tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers at the top of the AFC North after trailing for the entire season. The Steelers have gone through a rough patch as of late, losing four of their last six games after starting out the season 4-1.
Baltimore will host the Steelers in Week 14 before visiting Pittsburgh to end the season, a game that may very well decide the division. The Ravens have won the AFC North in each of the past two seasons.
“Winning in the trenches,” Stanley says again of the key to walking away with the division for the third consecutive season. “That’s what it comes down to especially late in the season.”
Stanley clinched a First-team All-Pro bid during the 2019 season in Jackson’s first MVP year along with Pro Bowl bids during that same season and the 2024 campaign. He says his lone objective this season and moving forward is to win his first Super Bowl, with the individual objectives being the “cherry on top.”
“As long as I’m playing, winning the Super Bowl is always going to be my focus,” says Stanley. “Any accolades that come along with it, they come with it, I’ll be happy and appreciative. I’ll probably think about it more when I’m done playing, but as long as I’m playing, I’m willing to focus on winning the Super Bowl. Those other things are just kind of cherries on top.”
Ronnie Stanley Partners With USAA For ‘My Cause, My Cleats’ Campaign
The veteran tackle recently partnered with USAA for their “My Cause My Cleats” campaign. The campaign sees star NFL players unveil custom cleats that show off their charitable organization. This time around, Stanley wanted to bring awareness for K9’s for Warriors, an organization that pairs service dogs with veterans in the Baltimore community.
“I thought it was really cool to be able to showcase stuff that we feel strongly about, foundations that we support, and being able to team up with USAA was important to with K9’s for Warriors,” says Stanley. “Because of the work they do with veterans and service dogs are really in line with the work I do with shelter dogs and people alike in the community. I thought it was really cool synergy.”
Baltimore Ravens tackle Ronnie Stanley showing off his “My Cause, My Cleats” shoes for K9’s for Warriors.
USAA
Stanley details what the K9’s for Warriors foundation is all about, saying they provide service dogs to not only the people in Baltimore, but around the country.
“They provide service dogs to veterans, not only in Baltimore but across the country and also keeping contact with them and support them with those service dogs,” says Stanley. “These dogs are highly-trained dogs and they’re not just house trained. They’re actual service dogs and the amount of positivity and relief that they bring to some of these vets that I was able to meet. Luckily, it was very touching to be able to hear those things and hear their stories.”