Are the Ravens a Contender or a Pretender?

Are the Ravens a Contender or a Pretender?

Steve Smith on his way to his first TD of the day

Through 4 weeks of the NFL season, the Baltimore Ravens own a formidable 3-1 record. This includes 2 divisional victories over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns while they faltered at home to the Cincinnati Bengals. Their most recent victory over the Carolina Panthers was an impressive one in which they led from the start and coasted to a 38-10 victory.  

While still early in the season, I pin the Ravens as a playoff team with potential to be a Super Bowl contender. The Ravens do face a tough stretch coming up including games in Indianapolis, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. Escaping any of these road games with a victory would be massive for the Ravens but they are not to worry. Baltimore closes with 6 of 7 very, very winnable games. Home vs Titans, Home vs. Chargers, @ Dolphins, Home vs. Jaguars, @ Texans, Home vs. Browns. Assuming the Ravens can grab 2 or 3 more road wins and hold at home, they will most likely represent one of the two wild card spots in the AFC. Whether the Ravens finish as the 6 seed behind what appears will be San Diego or as the 5 seed, they will need to get hot in the playoffs similar to their 2012 title run. 



The Ravens fortunately have the capability to make a deep playoff run for three reasons. First being, their reining Super Bowl MVP Quarterback Joe Flacco’s playoff experience in addition to his ability to string multiple games together among those of the elite. Flacco has shown he can be a very inconsistent quarterback. Watch a Ravens game and you will see the Raven offense breeze down the field one drive only to see the next drive end up in 3 boneheaded plays by their gun slinger. The thing that Flacco has going for him is the fact that he has made a playoff appearance in 6 of his 7 years including a win in all 6 of those years. Flacco is a prime time performer and getting to the playoffs could be all it takes to spark the performance he had 2 short years ago.

Justin Forsett

Secondly, it appears that the Ravens run game has been fixed with new offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak. The Ravens lost Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce has been injured but this has not slowed down Baltimore one bit. 7 year veteran Justin Forsett has stepped up unbelievably averaging 5.8 YPC with his 2 touchdowns. Not to mention, 4th round pick Lorenzo Taliaferro has proven he is very capable of handling the rock averaging 4.5 YPC. Even with the injury to Eugene Monroe, who will be sidelined for 4 more weeks, the Ravens managed to rush for a solid 127 yards against the Panthers. 

Rookie Linebacker CJ Mosely
 tackles fellow rookie Isaiah Crowell

The third and final reason why the Ravens could contend come the cold winter months is the defense. The aforementioned offense wins games but defense wins championships. The Ravens have been a little injury prone at cornerback and still have a lot to figure out at the safety position but it’s very early. If you can recall two years ago when the Ravens won it all, many were worried that they couldn’t get it done on the defensive side of the ball. But, what we must remember is that Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata, and Ed Reed, the four stars of the defense, did not play until guess when? The Divisional Round of the Playoffs. Compare this to 2014 where Lardarius Webb will most likely battle injury until the playoffs, Will Hunt who was the number 3 ranked safety last season by PFF is suspended for two more games, and two rookies who the Ravens are looking for to make an impact, CJ Mosely and Terrance Brooks, will all be fully gelled by late in the season. A promising thought when you augment that former DPOY Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil line up opposite of each other and Haloti Ngata mans the middle. 

          Give the Ravens their due time and they will stout one of the best defenses in the league  paired with a very capable offense. And if you want some more evidence to why the Ravens can contend, return man, Jacoby Jones, owns the ability to take a kick back whenever he gets his hands on a ball. Finally, they have a pro bowl kicker Justin Tucker with multiple game winning kicks in his short career. The Ravens need to first get to the playoffs but once they get there the top tier of the AFC better not overlook the Black and Purple.