The Baltimore Ravens get to watch the first round of the NFL postseason on their couches. Not because they didn’t make the cut but because they’re the best team in the league and clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoff picture, granting them a first-round bye.
While we kick off our playoff fix without Baltimore, it gave us here at Ravens Wire a chance to dig into some bold predictions for Baltimore’s postseason run. Each writer thought of the craziest but still logically possible prediction for the 2019 playoffs.
Matthew Stevens:
We see Robert Griffin III and other backups in at least one fourth-quarter
Baltimore has been dominant this season, especially down the stretch against many of the teams that find themselves in the playoffs right now. Because of that dominance, we got a chance to see backups like quarterback Robert Griffin III come into the game in the fourth quarter of five different games.
I don’t think the Ravens’ dominance is quite over yet and we’ll once again see Baltimore with such a huge lead in a game that Griffin gets a chance to flex his muscles in the postseason as well.
Kevin Oestreicher:
The Ravens win every game by more than 14 points
Baltimore’s offense has been humming for the entire season, and there’s no reason to think that they’ll stop in the playoffs, even with a couple of weeks off for players such as Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram. The Ravens have shown that they can dominate great teams, and even with the high stakes of the playoffs, I don’t expect this Ravens offense to miss a beat
Vasilios Nikolaou:
The Ravens continue to average 200 rushing yards in the playoffs
After averaging 206 rushing yards per game in the regular season, the Ravens will continue to pound the rock even against heightened competition. Two out of three of their possible division round opponents have faced off against Baltimore already and will have to come to M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens will be hitting on all cylinders once they take the field on January 11th.
Alex Bente:
The Ravens finally beat the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game
Jackson has been bested by Patrick Mahomes and company twice now in the speedy quarterback’s short career. But the Ravens are now the better team overall, and Jackson cements his standing as the league’s best quarterback with a definitive win over the only opponent he’s faced and hasn’t beaten. And this victory gets Jackson to the Super Bowl.
Neil Dutton:
Lamar Jackson sets a new record for QB postseason rushing yards
Since the NFL-AFL merger, only two quarterbacks have rushed for more than 200 yards in a single postseason. Colin Kaepernick (2012 and 2013) and Steve McNair are the two. They will be joined by a third this year, as Lamar Jackson will eclipse the 264 yards Kaepernick managed in 2012 as he takes the Ravens to their third Super Bowl title.
