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*****Official Baltimore Ravens Thread***** (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Uruk-Hai
- Start date
The_Man
Footballguy
Since Week 7, Baltimore has both the No. 1 offense and the No. 1 defense in the league according to Football Outsiders' DVOA metric. While Week 7 is a bit of an arbitrary endpoint, that was the first game for the Ravens with Marcus Peters. I'd trace the real overhaul to Week 5 when LJ Fort and Josh Bynes replaced Kenny Young at ILB, and Chuck Clark took over as Safety and defensive playcaller from Tony Jefferson.
You know things are going good when one of the biggest worries is that Justin Tucker missed a kick. Though I am increasingly worried about punt returns - if they don't get that fixed, a muffed punt at a critical moment could be what costs them in the playoffs.
Also, the NFL gave Josh Allen AFC Offensive Player of the Week for beating the Dolphins, rather than give it to Lamar for a third straight week. So that's also a major problem for this team.
You know things are going good when one of the biggest worries is that Justin Tucker missed a kick. Though I am increasingly worried about punt returns - if they don't get that fixed, a muffed punt at a critical moment could be what costs them in the playoffs.
Also, the NFL gave Josh Allen AFC Offensive Player of the Week for beating the Dolphins, rather than give it to Lamar for a third straight week. So that's also a major problem for this team.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
Jeff Z had a good article over at The Athletic this morning about the Ravens' defensive turnaround. He made many of the same points you do. Chuck Clark was an eye-opener to me, because I like Jefferson and thought his injury might be the final nail in any hopes for the defense to rebound (along with picking up two street ILBs).
The_Man
Footballguy
I thought Jefferson and Weddle were both pretty bad for a couple of years. Good guys, not good players any more. It took Earl Thomas a little while to get settled in but he is now clearly the best playmaking Safety they've had since Reed. The entire secondary is playing extremely well, both as individuals and a unit, right now. Clark is playing Safety in the nickel, then becomes a hybrid S/LB in the dime with Brandon Carr coming in at Safety. It makes them extremely multiple and hard to figure out.Uruk-Hai said:
Jeff Z had a good article over at The Athletic this morning about the Ravens' defensive turnaround. He made many of the same points you do. Chuck Clark was an eye-opener to me, because I like Jefferson and thought his injury might be the final nail in any hopes for the defense to rebound (along with picking up two street ILBs).
I think the way someone begins to beat this defense is committing to the run, particularly in no huddle and/or from passing formations. The Patriots were able to do it for at least one drive. Because the Ravens are now in nickel as their base package, and playing so much dime, I could see a team committing to running on almost every play until the defense makes adjustments to stop them. That's why Williams and Pierce are so vital at D Tackle. When healthy, they can occupy enough O Lineman to enable the undersized but fast Ravens LBs and DBs to control the run game. But maybe Gurley can force them out of nickel and into 3-4?
Don't know how I'm going to make it through the whole weekend waiting for Monday Night.
Due to the bye week, I'll start Goff, but after reading about the Raven D, I considered picking up Fitzpatrik vs the Browns as he is the only available QB. Goff should have all of his WRs for the game. CBSsports has Goff at only 15.9 pts.
The_Man
Footballguy
Killing time until Monday, I started taking a look at the Ravens cap situation for the next couple of years. They are finally about to be out from under the weight of Flacco’s Super Bowl run. Right now the Ravens are projected to have $50M in cap space for next year.
Baltimore is #8 in the NFL this year with $28.8M in dead cap money ($16M for Joe, 4.7M for Crabtree, 2M from Justin Bethel, 1.8M from Weddle). They are looking at very little dead money next year - $1.3M they’re already on the hook for (mostly Kenny Young) and I bet they cut Tony Jefferson. His 2020 cap hit would be $11.2M if he stayed - it’s only $4.2M in dead money to cut him. At this point, I’d rather have that extra $7M than Tony. Brandon Carr will be a tougher call - they have a team option to keep him for $7M, or cut him for $1M in dead money. If they cut Jefferson, now they’re up to $57M in cap space.
Also in the secondary, Jimmy Smith and Marcus Peters will be unrestricted Free Agents. Here’s my guess at what they’ll do:
Safety: Earl Thomas, Chuck Clark, keep Brandon Carr in his dime Safety role at $7M
CB: Humphrey, Tavon Young returns from injury as Nickel CB, they reach a new big money deal to keep Peters, which will still be a much smaller cap hit than the combined $21.7M they’re paying Peters and Smith this year.
They would love to keep Smith around on an affordable “right player, right price” veteran deal but I bet someone else gives him too much starting CB money for him to stay. Hopefully Averett will continue to develop and be ready to contribute more as a fourth CB - but one of the reasons you keep Carr around another year is as an insurance policy in case he doesn’t.
Other than the 2 CBs, the other high-impact Unrestricted Free Agents are Judon and Michael Pierce. I think Judon is gone. As much as they’d like to keep him, someone else will give him the kind of bank-breaking deal like Green Bay gave Zadarius Smith this year. The Ravens have always done a great job of retaining their true cornerstone players - Ray, Ogden, Reed, Suggs, Ngata, Yanda, McAlister (arguably) - without killing the cap for the very good but not great guys (Bart Scott, Adalius Thomas, Grubbs and Osemele, etc). There are too many cornerstone guys with deals coming up in the next couple of years to overcommit on Judon now, as painful as it will be to let him leave. Pierce, I could see going either way. I expect the Ravens to make him a very fair offer and then the question becomes whether or not he’s valued enough to get hugely overpaid by someone else.
The other UFAs really aren’t that big a deal. Peanut, who I think has kind of played his way out of favor this year. And then Pernell McPhee - will be interesting to see if he rehabilitated himself enough to get a good offer. Skura, Ricard, and Gus Edwards will all be back on reasonable Restricted Free Agent deals.
Here’s why you keep from overcommitting following 2019 - what you’ve got following 2020 and 2021. After 2020, Ronnie Stanley and Marlon Humphrey are Unrestricted Free Agents. Stanley will be 26, Marlon will be 24. When I said the Ravens have kept franchise cornerstones, these are the kind of guys I’m talking about: proven Pro Bowl players at key positions just entering their mid-20s. I’d love to see both these guys signed before they get anywhere near the open market and I have every expectation the Ravens keep them both - even if it means they have to let a Judon go to make it happen. Chuck Clark will also be a UFA then - he’s a 6th round pick playing for $645K this year and $735K next year. I hope they offer him something like a reasonable 3-year, $15M kind of contract this offseason, one that rewards his great play, secures his financial future, and keeps him off the market for a couple of extra years. We’ll see.
Finally, after 2021, you’ve got Lamar, Orlando Brown, Mark Andrews as UFAs (along with Brandon Williams, Nick Boyle and Ingram). Obviously they’ll have to break the bank for Lamar (at the rate he’s going) and it sure would be nice to keep Zeus and Andrews as well. They’ll all only be 25 and by then we’ll know if they meet the threshold of cornerstone player.
Baltimore is #8 in the NFL this year with $28.8M in dead cap money ($16M for Joe, 4.7M for Crabtree, 2M from Justin Bethel, 1.8M from Weddle). They are looking at very little dead money next year - $1.3M they’re already on the hook for (mostly Kenny Young) and I bet they cut Tony Jefferson. His 2020 cap hit would be $11.2M if he stayed - it’s only $4.2M in dead money to cut him. At this point, I’d rather have that extra $7M than Tony. Brandon Carr will be a tougher call - they have a team option to keep him for $7M, or cut him for $1M in dead money. If they cut Jefferson, now they’re up to $57M in cap space.
Also in the secondary, Jimmy Smith and Marcus Peters will be unrestricted Free Agents. Here’s my guess at what they’ll do:
Safety: Earl Thomas, Chuck Clark, keep Brandon Carr in his dime Safety role at $7M
CB: Humphrey, Tavon Young returns from injury as Nickel CB, they reach a new big money deal to keep Peters, which will still be a much smaller cap hit than the combined $21.7M they’re paying Peters and Smith this year.
They would love to keep Smith around on an affordable “right player, right price” veteran deal but I bet someone else gives him too much starting CB money for him to stay. Hopefully Averett will continue to develop and be ready to contribute more as a fourth CB - but one of the reasons you keep Carr around another year is as an insurance policy in case he doesn’t.
Other than the 2 CBs, the other high-impact Unrestricted Free Agents are Judon and Michael Pierce. I think Judon is gone. As much as they’d like to keep him, someone else will give him the kind of bank-breaking deal like Green Bay gave Zadarius Smith this year. The Ravens have always done a great job of retaining their true cornerstone players - Ray, Ogden, Reed, Suggs, Ngata, Yanda, McAlister (arguably) - without killing the cap for the very good but not great guys (Bart Scott, Adalius Thomas, Grubbs and Osemele, etc). There are too many cornerstone guys with deals coming up in the next couple of years to overcommit on Judon now, as painful as it will be to let him leave. Pierce, I could see going either way. I expect the Ravens to make him a very fair offer and then the question becomes whether or not he’s valued enough to get hugely overpaid by someone else.
The other UFAs really aren’t that big a deal. Peanut, who I think has kind of played his way out of favor this year. And then Pernell McPhee - will be interesting to see if he rehabilitated himself enough to get a good offer. Skura, Ricard, and Gus Edwards will all be back on reasonable Restricted Free Agent deals.
Here’s why you keep from overcommitting following 2019 - what you’ve got following 2020 and 2021. After 2020, Ronnie Stanley and Marlon Humphrey are Unrestricted Free Agents. Stanley will be 26, Marlon will be 24. When I said the Ravens have kept franchise cornerstones, these are the kind of guys I’m talking about: proven Pro Bowl players at key positions just entering their mid-20s. I’d love to see both these guys signed before they get anywhere near the open market and I have every expectation the Ravens keep them both - even if it means they have to let a Judon go to make it happen. Chuck Clark will also be a UFA then - he’s a 6th round pick playing for $645K this year and $735K next year. I hope they offer him something like a reasonable 3-year, $15M kind of contract this offseason, one that rewards his great play, secures his financial future, and keeps him off the market for a couple of extra years. We’ll see.
Finally, after 2021, you’ve got Lamar, Orlando Brown, Mark Andrews as UFAs (along with Brandon Williams, Nick Boyle and Ingram). Obviously they’ll have to break the bank for Lamar (at the rate he’s going) and it sure would be nice to keep Zeus and Andrews as well. They’ll all only be 25 and by then we’ll know if they meet the threshold of cornerstone player.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
Good posting all around. Agree with you on keeping Stanley and Humphrey at all costs. Also agree that Judon is gone. Baltimore has spent a ton of draft capital on pass rushers the last few years with precious little to show for it - hopefully Bowser pans out to lessen the blow.
Don't they get an extra year option on Lamar? I was thinking they had him until 2023 (2022 before the 5th year option), but I'm pretty dumb about cap/salary issues.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
@The_Man
My top Ravens of all time, just based on what they did with the club.
1. Ed Reed
2. Big Jon Ogden
3. Ray Lewis
4. Marshall Yanda
5. Terrell Suggs
6. Justin Tucker
7. Joe Flacco
8. Sam Koch
9. Todd Heap
10. Jamal Lewis
If Lamar Jackson plays in Baltimore a few more years and produces, he'll be at or near the top of this list.
The Ravens have done really well in acquiring good veteran WRs (God knows they haven't drafted many that were worth a damn): Derrick Mason, Anquon Boldin, Steve Smith. But they all get bounced because of time-of-service and ####### Lee Evans.
Michael McCrary would have made this list if he had played longer in Charm city.
My top Ravens of all time, just based on what they did with the club.
1. Ed Reed
2. Big Jon Ogden
3. Ray Lewis
4. Marshall Yanda
5. Terrell Suggs
6. Justin Tucker
7. Joe Flacco
8. Sam Koch
9. Todd Heap
10. Jamal Lewis
If Lamar Jackson plays in Baltimore a few more years and produces, he'll be at or near the top of this list.
The Ravens have done really well in acquiring good veteran WRs (God knows they haven't drafted many that were worth a damn): Derrick Mason, Anquon Boldin, Steve Smith. But they all get bounced because of time-of-service and ####### Lee Evans.
Michael McCrary would have made this list if he had played longer in Charm city.
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Ilov80s
Footballguy
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
The_Man
Footballguy
This is a very good list though I agree that Suggs comes in at 5 for me and I need Tucker to play at his current level for about 5 more years, at which point I’d slot him in at 6. What do Reed and Ogden have to do to get statues?
You are right on with Jamal and McCrary. Jamal was the closest thing the NFL has seen to Earl Campbell when he was in his prime, a prime cut short by injury and wear, which underscores Campbell’s greatness. I think Jamal is under appreciated. And McCrary was the bridge from the bad early teams to the greatness of 2000. No one ever played harder or got more out of his ability.
My other favorite not on this list is Chris McAlister. Like Jamal, his career wasn’t defined by longevity, but his peak years compare with anybody’s. And Ngata is close to this list too
I hope we get longevity from Lamar but even if it’s only 5 or 6 years like this one, he would be legendary
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
Fixed my original ranking and placed Suggs at #5.
It hurt me to drop Boulware. I probably could have dumped Koch for him, but Sam is a freaking robot who gives the Ravens hidden yards every game (plus, he's rock-solid as a holder). Boulware basically played his entire career with one arm.
McCrary was like the Terminator. Blow off body parts and he kept coming anyway. How many sacks did he get while crawling?
McAlister, I thought about. For some reason, I've always underrated him and I don't know why.
I hated the Jamal Lewis pick when it happened, just because I wanted either Plaxico or Urlacher. THEN they turned around and took Travis "Hands Of Stone" Taylor, so I think my memory taints Jamal by association. Damned if Lewis wasn't a beast, though.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Wasn’t sure if it was an oversight or you had a personal issue with Suggs
oof....I knew I was forgetting someone
Put Suggs at #5 and drop Boulware
The_Man
Footballguy
Yeah, earlier in the week I was thinking 30-13. But now I'm a lot less confident. The Rams offense isn't very good but they seem to have recommitted to Gurley and a power running game, which lines up well for them with the Ravens' weakness in run stopping, especially with Pierce out. Also - and these are words I've never said before as a Ravens fan - I can see teams wanting to run the clock and keep Baltimore's offense off the field.
Defensively Donald is a monster. I know he tends to line up on the side of the line where the TE is. So if I'm the Ravens, I put the TE right all night and keep Donald on Yanda. But if I'm the Rams, I put Donald on top of LG Bozeman all night and let him feast. Bozeman is the weak link of this line, and Skura is adequate at Center but nothing great.
So it's going to be a lot tougher for the Ravens than it's been lately, but I still think their Offense is getting better every week. And for all the hype about Weddle this week, I don't think he can run enough to cover the Ravens TEs. So I'm picturing a slugfest, maybe with the Rams getting up early, but the Ravens making defensive adjustments to stop the run game and the Rams offense has really struggled to score. Hopefully Lamar eventually breaks off a couple of big plays though I fear he's due for a couple of turnovers. I'll go Ravens 20, Rams 13 but with low confidence.
rzrback77
Footballguy
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
The_Man
Footballguy
My 20-13 call was right on if you just double the Ravens score and halve the Rams’I'm so bad at this
I actually think Ravens match up pretty well with SF. Great pass rushers but not quite as good Vs the run. And Jimmy G is going to provide ample INT opportunities
fred_1_15301
Footballguy
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Deamon
Footballguy
Deamon
Footballguy
So Ravens went on a rough 4 game stretch where they lost to KC, got crushed by the Browns, then barely beat the Steelers and Bengals.
Since then, they have won by 14, 17, 36, 34, and 39 points in the last 5 weeks. Against mostly pretty decent teams (Seahawks, Pats, Bengals, Texans, Rams)
They seem unstoppable right now.
Since then, they have won by 14, 17, 36, 34, and 39 points in the last 5 weeks. Against mostly pretty decent teams (Seahawks, Pats, Bengals, Texans, Rams)
They seem unstoppable right now.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
Couple of reasons for that.
One, their defense was a damned mess early on. Once they solidified the ILB, got Jimmy Smith back, and traded for Marcus Peters Martindale had figured out what he wanted to do with 'em.
Two, I think they were still getting used to the new offense - what worked and didn't, OL figuring it out, etc.....
The_Man
Footballguy
Some fun facts from Elias:
The Ravens are the first team ever to beat winning teams in back-to-back games by 34 points or more. They also joined the 1920 Buffalo All-Americans as the only teams in NFL history with at least 4 34-point wins in a season.
Now some facts from me:
With a minute left in the third quarter at Seattle, the Ravens were tied with the Seahawks, 13-13. That's when Lamar told Harbaugh to go for it on 4th-and-2. Lamar scored from 8 yards out on the next play. Starting with that play, and then over the next 17 quarters, the Ravens have outscored opponents 189-49.
Lamar has gone 66 of 87 for 804 yards passing, 13 TDs and 0 INTs for a 143.4 QB rating. He's also rushed for 362 yards on 44 carries (not counting kneel downs) for a 8.25 ypc, and 4 TDs. During that same stretch, the Ravens have held opposing QBs (including Brady, Watson and Goff) to a 69.4 QB rating.
One other funny note: Lamar has now missed an aggregate total of 58:08 of game time, after being taken out early in 4 contests. Which means, in effect, that even if he doesn't sit out another snap, he'll have missed virtually an entire game of playing time.
The Ravens are the first team ever to beat winning teams in back-to-back games by 34 points or more. They also joined the 1920 Buffalo All-Americans as the only teams in NFL history with at least 4 34-point wins in a season.
Now some facts from me:
With a minute left in the third quarter at Seattle, the Ravens were tied with the Seahawks, 13-13. That's when Lamar told Harbaugh to go for it on 4th-and-2. Lamar scored from 8 yards out on the next play. Starting with that play, and then over the next 17 quarters, the Ravens have outscored opponents 189-49.
Lamar has gone 66 of 87 for 804 yards passing, 13 TDs and 0 INTs for a 143.4 QB rating. He's also rushed for 362 yards on 44 carries (not counting kneel downs) for a 8.25 ypc, and 4 TDs. During that same stretch, the Ravens have held opposing QBs (including Brady, Watson and Goff) to a 69.4 QB rating.
One other funny note: Lamar has now missed an aggregate total of 58:08 of game time, after being taken out early in 4 contests. Which means, in effect, that even if he doesn't sit out another snap, he'll have missed virtually an entire game of playing time.
The_Man
Footballguy
The biggest secret the Ravens knew that Weddle didn't share with the Rams is that he can't play anymore. Ingram trucked him, Andrews ran away from him, Hollywood and even Snead left him flat-footed. It's no coincidence this D has improved so much with him and Tony Jefferson gone. Both great guys by all accounts, but far below NFL average players at this point.
The_Man
Footballguy
The Ravens are at 2316 yards team rushing for the season, 850 from breaking the Patriots' team record that has stood since 1978. That means they need exactly 170 yards per game to get there. They're currently averaging 210.5 (and got 285 last night).
I think they get it done. And if they do break a 41-year-old record, I think it secures Yanda's spot in the HOF as one of the best Guards in the NFL since New England set records behind John Hannah. That would be pretty cool - I still think he retires after this season, especially if they were to win a title, but maybe the fun he's having brings him back.
I think they get it done. And if they do break a 41-year-old record, I think it secures Yanda's spot in the HOF as one of the best Guards in the NFL since New England set records behind John Hannah. That would be pretty cool - I still think he retires after this season, especially if they were to win a title, but maybe the fun he's having brings him back.
Wingnut
Footballguy
Skura done for the year.
Mike Garafolo via Twitter:
Just mentioned on @nflnetwork #Ravens C Matt Skura will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury suffered last night, a source said. Losing Skura, who was second in the AFC in Pro Bowl voting, is a rough one for Baltimore. He does a lot up front for their O Line.
Mike Garafolo via Twitter:
Just mentioned on @nflnetwork #Ravens C Matt Skura will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury suffered last night, a source said. Losing Skura, who was second in the AFC in Pro Bowl voting, is a rough one for Baltimore. He does a lot up front for their O Line.
The_Man
Footballguy
This current hot streak gives me an opportunity to bring up one of my favorite topics, which is how the greatness of the 2000 Ravens is much under-appreciated. So much attention is paid to the 5-game TD drought early in the season that the dominance that followed gets overlooked.
For the season, the Ravens outscored their opponents 333-165. That makes them one of the few teams in NFL history to outscore opponents by a 2:1 margin for an entire season. But where these Ravens really shine is over the 11-game winning streak that carried them through Super Bowl 35. During that stretch, they outscored opponents 288-90. That's an average 26-8 win every week from the first week of November through the Super Bowl. Another way to look at it is they outscored their opponents 3.2:1 during the 11-win streak.
By comparison, this year's Ravens have outscored their opponents 251-102 during their current 7-game win streak, a 2.46:1 ratio. That puts them over the historic 2:1 margin but not near what the 2000 Ravens did during their winning streak. If you look at just this year's team's last 5 dominant games, starting with the win in Seattle, they've outscored opponents 202-62. That's an average score of 40-12 and a 3.26:1 ratio.
In other words, if you look only at the Ravens' last 5 games, a stretch when they've been historically dominant, they're essentially matching what they 2000 Ravens did for their final 11 games, including the playoffs when the competition is supposedly toughest.
For the season, the Ravens outscored their opponents 333-165. That makes them one of the few teams in NFL history to outscore opponents by a 2:1 margin for an entire season. But where these Ravens really shine is over the 11-game winning streak that carried them through Super Bowl 35. During that stretch, they outscored opponents 288-90. That's an average 26-8 win every week from the first week of November through the Super Bowl. Another way to look at it is they outscored their opponents 3.2:1 during the 11-win streak.
By comparison, this year's Ravens have outscored their opponents 251-102 during their current 7-game win streak, a 2.46:1 ratio. That puts them over the historic 2:1 margin but not near what the 2000 Ravens did during their winning streak. If you look at just this year's team's last 5 dominant games, starting with the win in Seattle, they've outscored opponents 202-62. That's an average score of 40-12 and a 3.26:1 ratio.
In other words, if you look only at the Ravens' last 5 games, a stretch when they've been historically dominant, they're essentially matching what they 2000 Ravens did for their final 11 games, including the playoffs when the competition is supposedly toughest.
The_Man
Footballguy
Will have to look that up.
Ravens' last 24 drives with Lamar at quarterback:
TD, TD, kneeldown, TD, TD, TD, kneeldown, TD, TD, missed FG, downs, TD, TD, kneeldown, TD, FG, FG, TD, TD, TD, TD, TD, TD, TD
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
That's why I said above Koch's leg is going to wither away.
There's no way the Ravens can keep that efficiency up.
Is there?
James Daulton
Footballguy
Hey guys, I've enjoyed reading this thread during my "vacation."
I've been pretty blah on the Ravens the last two years, almost sold my PSL's in fact, but all the smart moves, incredible talent, and trust shown by the entire organization has me all revved up again. It's not just how amazing LJ has turned out to be, but it's the complete re-design of the offense, the excellent mid-late round drafting by Ozzie, DeCosta's bold moves to plug holes during the season, and Harbaugh's stewardship and aggressive coaching. All great stuff. And I just bought two more PSL's lol
Totally jacked up for Sunday's game.
I've been pretty blah on the Ravens the last two years, almost sold my PSL's in fact, but all the smart moves, incredible talent, and trust shown by the entire organization has me all revved up again. It's not just how amazing LJ has turned out to be, but it's the complete re-design of the offense, the excellent mid-late round drafting by Ozzie, DeCosta's bold moves to plug holes during the season, and Harbaugh's stewardship and aggressive coaching. All great stuff. And I just bought two more PSL's lol
Totally jacked up for Sunday's game.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
James Daulton
Footballguy
Clipped for 4 freaking months. Anyway, I'm backed and jacked up for this game.
Thoughts on how the weather will impact the game.? I think it hurts both teams equally and maybe even helps the Ravens if they can just run straight at the Niners.
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Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
If the wind doesn't blow, I don't think the rain will adversely affect one team vs the other. Their will probably be fluky plays because of it, but I don't know how to predict them. Hopefully, Andrews has learned how to catch a wet ball since Seattle.
fred_1_15301
Footballguy
Crazy impressive streak for you guys given the opponents that you've faced. This is legit best team in football right now. Hopefully you can avoid having to play in Foxboro in January.
The_Man
Footballguy
This year's Super Bowl champion would expect to host next season's opening game on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. Which happens to be right in the middle of an Orioles 10-game homestand. Nothing could possibly go wrong there, right?
Updating Current W-L streaks of Ravens’ recent opponents vs everyone except Baltimore with last night's game:
Steelers 7-1
Patriots 10-1
Texans 8-2
Seahawks 9–1
Rams 4-1
49ers 10-1
Total 48-7
Combined Record vs Ravens 0-6
If the current seeds hold up, the Ravens will have faced all 5 of the other AFC playoff teams, in a total of 6 games (2 vs Pittsburgh) and 2 of the 6 NFC playoff teams. They are currently 5-1 in those games, losing only in Week 3 at KC.
Wouldn't surprise me if the Ravens finally stumble on the road at Buffalo next week. I also expect KC to knock off New England. Really, really hoping KC moves past Houston into the #3 seed, and that the Ravens keep the 1 and avoid either the Patriots or Chiefs until the AFC Conference Championship. Chiefs starting to look like the main threat in my opinion.
Updating Current W-L streaks of Ravens’ recent opponents vs everyone except Baltimore with last night's game:
Steelers 7-1
Patriots 10-1
Texans 8-2
Seahawks 9–1
Rams 4-1
49ers 10-1
Total 48-7
Combined Record vs Ravens 0-6
If the current seeds hold up, the Ravens will have faced all 5 of the other AFC playoff teams, in a total of 6 games (2 vs Pittsburgh) and 2 of the 6 NFC playoff teams. They are currently 5-1 in those games, losing only in Week 3 at KC.
Wouldn't surprise me if the Ravens finally stumble on the road at Buffalo next week. I also expect KC to knock off New England. Really, really hoping KC moves past Houston into the #3 seed, and that the Ravens keep the 1 and avoid either the Patriots or Chiefs until the AFC Conference Championship. Chiefs starting to look like the main threat in my opinion.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
Buffalo looked nasty to me on Thursday. Baltimore has their hands full this Sunday.
Yesterday's game was a ton of fun. God bless the fans who sat out in that weather.
The_Man
Footballguy
Another 178 yards rushing vs SF. They now need 672 yards over the next 4 games, an average of 168 per game. Their average through the first 12 games of the season is 207.8. If they maintain that pace for all 16 games, they'd finish with 3325 yards on the season, breaking a record that has stood for 41 years by 5 percent.
Football Outsiders' weekly DVOA update comes out later today. They're already tweeted that their numbers show the Ravens as 8th best team ever (dating back to 1985) through 12 weeks of a season. The top 3 teams on that list are 3 teams you might expect - 07 Patriots, 85 Bears, 91 Washington. Part of the high ranking comes from the fact that DVOA has them among the NFL's Top 4 or better in all 3 phases this year: offense, defense and special teams.
I think that might overstate the case a little for the entire season, but I will put Baltimore's last 6 weeks up against any 6-week stretch a team has ever had. Seattle, New England and SF are 30-3 this year vs the rest of the NFL and 0-3 vs the Ravens. And if you take out the game Seattle and SF played vs each other, those teams are 29-2 vs everyone except Baltimore.
In looking back at the SF game, Wink finally did get the outside run figured out. SF run stats:
1ST HALF
13 rushes
119 yds
9.2 y/c
2ND HALF
16 rushes
55 yards
3.4 y/c
And most of those second half yards came on the first 3 carries of the third quarter. Mostert's last 7 carries of the game went for a total of 16 yards, including 3 straight 3-yard carries on SF's final series to set up the 4th-and-1 pass that Wormley deflected
But I am worried about Lamar throwing outside the numbers to a WR. Aside from the game-clinching throw to Hollywood down the sideline in Week 2 vs Arizona, I can't even remember the last time he threw to a WR outside the numbers. Sherman knew Lamar wasn't going to challenge him and became a monster in run support. I know the Ravens are very good at self-scouting. If they continue jumping out to big leads, I wonder if they might treat some late-game possessions in the coming week as virtual preseason games and have Lamar do some work on outside routes. I really think people are going to begin playing extremely aggressive man-to-man coverage with the WRs and bring their Safetys further down low for run support and/or to double team TEs and take away the seam throws down the middle that Lamar is so comfortable with. So it would be good to get Lamar practice on those throws and also get some film in the can that makes defenses a little less confident that he isn't ever going to take an outside shot.
The_Man
Footballguy
Ravens lock up Ricard through 2021. Smart move - gives the undrafted free agent a nice payday while keeping him on the (relative) cheap for an extra year.
Meanwhile San Francisco signed Juszczykto a massive four-year, $21 million deal prior to last season. His average annual salary of $5.25 million is $3-plus million more than any other fullback in the NFL.
Meanwhile San Francisco signed Juszczykto a massive four-year, $21 million deal prior to last season. His average annual salary of $5.25 million is $3-plus million more than any other fullback in the NFL.
