The Baltimore Ravens enter their Week 8 bye in a good spot. They’ve won most of their games and are fresh off a statement win against the Seattle Seahawks. With the league nearly at the mid-season mark, there’s plenty for Baltimore to be excited about the rest of the way.
Here are the six things Ravens fans should be pumped about during their Week 8 bye.
Lamar Jackson
Baltimore’s success begins and ends with the play of its electric quarterback.
The secret is out.
The doubters are silent.
It’s hard to not get excited when you see Jackson play, not only as a fan of the Ravens but as a lover of football itself.
Jackson is a force to be reckoned with and virtually unstoppable once he gets going on one of his patented highlight-reel runs. Just ask the Seattle Seahawks or the Cincinnati Bengals.
He’s out there doing things nobody else is even close to being capable of. When a defender seems to have him dead-to-rights, he takes a quick step and in the blink of an eye, scurries 30 yards down the field.
And he’s not just a danger with his legs, he’s a pretty darn good passer too. Whether it’s finding his favorite target Mark Andrews for an easy first-down, or hitting rookie Miles Boykin for 50 yards with a flick-of-the-wrist type-throw, Jackson has steadily been improving as a quarterback in addition to being “not bad for a running back.”
Jackson is proving game after game that no matter how he does it, he’s out there to win. Period. And the team loves that drive to improve, his willingness to put things on his own back and his leadership. Did you see how the offensive line reacted after Jackson scored the 8-yard go-ahead touchdown in Seattle? Or how he persuaded coach John Harbaugh to go for that run on fourth-down moments before? If you’re not on the Jackson bandwagon by now, allow me to extend a hand and pull you on board as it races ahead full steam.
Eric DeCosta
Was there any doubt that Ravens general managers Eric Decosta would continue the outstanding personnel management established by his predecessor, Ozzie Newsome? Certainly not from my perspective.
Alright, DeCosta may have been a little overconfident in his young linebackers entering the season, failing to find any backups in case they faltered. But after realizing they weren’t quite up to the task, he remedied the situation by plucking guys off the street with great results. The addition of L.J. Fort and the return of Josh Bynes gave the maligned defense new life, seemingly overnight.
But perhaps DeCosta’s biggest rabbit-out-of-the-hat move was the trade for Rams cornerback Marcus Peters. With the once-promising Ravens’ secondary decimated by injury, DeCosta found an answer where no one seemed to be looking and for a price that had “Ravens” written all over it.
Yes, for the cost of an inexperienced young linebacker and a fifth-round pick, Baltimore gained a playmaker with a knack for turnovers that the defense had been missing for some time. In his first game as a Raven, Peters grabbed an ill-advised toss from Seahawks QB and MVP-candidate Russell Wilson, returning it 67 yards for a touchdown. Talk about a low-risk, high-reward gamble paying dividends instantly.
What else does DeCosta have up his sleeve? Time will tell, but if these moves are any indication, the Ravens are in brilliant hands.
The defense is finally coming together
The offseason losses of veteran stalwarts like Terrell Suggs and C.J. Mosely were heartbreaking for fans, no doubt. But as we’ve seen season after season, the Ravens somehow manage to overcome losses by finding new talent and sticking to the defensive mantra that has come to represent the organization since its inception.
Not this season.
Turns out, the losses were a little steeper than anticipated and the defense appeared out of whack game after game. Luckily, DeCosta’s management has seemingly remedied the situation, as evident in Week 7 against Seattle. In a game where the high-octane Ravens’ offense was sputtering and incapable of sustaining drives, it was the defense to the rescue, scoring twice on exceptional plays from defensive backs. Heard this story before?
As if suddenly infused with ghosts of defenses past, the 2019 iteration came to life in Seattle, with virtually every competitor making statement plays against an offense that was pegged as one of the league’s best.
Time will tell if the defense can continue to come together but they have a lot of things going right for them at the right time. As we saw against the Seahawks, players finally appear to be jelling together and the results are a far more consistent defense. If they continue to improve as they have so far this season, this could be a suddenly scary defense right when other teams are cooling off.
If the Ravens continue to have this kind of success on defense going forward, they will be in the Super Bowl conversation for sure.
Health
Baltimore might be one of the most snake-bitten teams in the league and has been for the last decade. This season is no exception, seeing cornerback Jimmy Smith go down after just six defensive snaps in Week 1, losing safety Tony Jefferson and then backup DeShon Elliott to season-ending injuries. Even before the start of the season, the Ravens had cornerbacks Iman Marshal and Tavon Young head to injured reserve.
The short-term injuries have been just as bad. Wide receiver Marquise Brown and linebacker Patrick Onwuasor have missed the last two games with ankle injuries. Defensive tackle Brandon Williams missed a game. Tight end Mark Andrews has been battling injuries all season long, even though he hasn’t missed any time.
But things finally seem to be settling down and actually improving over the bye. With some rest, Harbaugh expects the team to be at full-strength for the looming tilt against the dominant Patriots in Week 9.
Perfect timing.
Smith had already started the process of getting back before the bye, hitting the practice field last week. Onwuasor and Brown should be patched up and returning as well. That means three starters will be returning right as the Ravens get to the toughest part of their schedule and make a real push for the postseason. It’ll hopefully also mean an end to the inconsistencies that have plagued Baltimore this season.
State of the AFC North
One of the easiest ways to get into the postseason is for a team to win their division. It’s an automatic playoff berth and takes the pressure off tiebreakers and hoping other teams lose. For Baltimore, they’re sitting as pretty as one could hope.
Aside from the Ravens, no team in the division has a winning record. Baltimore currently sits with a comfortable 2.5-game lead over the Browns and Steelers in the AFC North standings. The Bengals aren’t really worth even mentioning considering their 0-7 record practically wipes them from contention at this point. The weakness in the division combined with the cushion the Ravens have earned themselves makes the mid-season break even sweeter.
It also takes a little pressure off the pending match with New England, a game that would be nice to win, but wouldn’t break the Ravens’ season by any stretch if they were to lose. That thought alone might give Baltimore a “nothing to lose” attitude as they return to the field in Week 9, a dangerous prospect for a team that just showed its potential to be one of the AFC’s best.
Barring a post-bye collapse, the Ravens should run away with the division this year. When you look at the issues mounting for the Steelers and Browns, the 2.5-game separation seems all but insurmountable.
Their history of a 5-2 start
The Ravens sit at 5-2 to start the 2019 season. They’ve previously done that six times before, making the playoffs all six times. They won a Super Bowl in two of those seasons. If history is our barometer, Baltimore is likely in line for not only a playoff berth but a deep postseason run.
Sure, there’s a lot of season left to play and anything can happen in football. But when you take stock of everything the Ravens have going for them so far, it’s hard to imagine anything but good things to come. That’s not bad for a team not many expected to do well this season and one that’s still in the early process of retooling themselves for the next era.
