25 replies to this topic

[TwentyThirtyFive]

We had a thread and poll on how far you thought we would get but never a final record prediction. So now, 3 weeks in you have a little lay of the land. Where do you have us??


I said in the game thread 7-10 wins during a particularly frustrating moment. I still see the flaws. Not sure how much we can improve them. Im gonna keep the floor at 7 but go one step higher on the ceiling at 11. Hope Im wrong and its 12+. Sweet spot feels like 9 or 10 wins. Im gonna offically go with 10-7 which wins the AFC North.

[Slidemaster]

10-7, Wild Card, 1st round playoff exit.

[Mackus]

10 or 11 is my guess. I have hope that they'll figure out a lot of the defensive stuff as guys get healthy, pass rush being the one challenging exception. I think Lamar will cover up for a lot of the other offensive issues.

Probably would've said an extra win before the season began. The defensive issues look real bad now, and if they can't straighten them out fast they could lose some more games that they probably shouldn't.

[Biggsy]

Barring another set of catastrophic injuries. I'm saying 10-7 or 11-6. Depends on if they split with Cincy, or get swept again. Get to the playoffs, and hopefully Lamar can take his game to the next level.

Defense is a worry. There is hope. If we get Peters to shake some rust. Hamilton finds his footing. Bowser comes back and gives some stability on the edge. Ojabo makes a surprising appearance and offers some pass rush off the edge. JPP shows he has a little left in the tank. Travis Jones gets up to speed. And Macdonald proves he's not completely in over his head as an NFL DC.

That's a lot of hope to depend on. But it's not impossible.

If Edwards comes back, and Hill, Dobbins and Edwards can get the running game back on track, the offense should be a great overall unit.

[Bmore Irish]

As it stands today, 11-6. Their schedule isn't exactly a gauntlet after the last place finish in 2021. If players like Stanley, Bowser and Ojabo end up contributing meaningfully, and they aren't decimated by injuries, then obviously their ceiling is higher than 11.

[cprenegade]

I'm going to stick with my original 11-6.  So far the questions I had before the season are still pretty much there, and the strengths are pretty much what I thought.  Maybe two things I'm a little surprised at.

 

On the good side, I had serious questions about the WR group, but they haven't been a problem.  Duvernay is making me eat my words about not being a true quality starting receiver and Bateman (not surprising) has been solid.  This group isn't an issue so far.  

 

The other surprise on the bad side is how poorly the defensive secondary has been.  Part of if is because of the poor pass rush, but I just thought with the return of Peters and what else was invested on that end they should be better.  Still seeing terrible communication problems and receivers who are way too open.  Not getting a return on the investment there.

 

The other two questions I had still remain questions.  I just mentioned the pass rush.  Before he self destructed, the Ravens were making Mac Jones look like a top tier QB.  22/32 for 321 yards?  This is Mac Jones, not Aaron Rogers.  Not to mention the guy never runs and today when he did he actually looked fairly good.  

 

And the last is the offensive line.  I've questioned it since Yanda retired.  Losing Stanley for years was not forseen, but now I'm at the point of whether guy can ever play effectively again.  It's amazing how the line seems to be a little better at pass blocking this year, but now they can't seem to get any push at all in the run game.  Even Dobbins back didn't significantly improve the run game.  It's hard for anyone to run when there are no holes opened up.  Going into today, the Ravens backfield, excluding Lamar Jackson, was the worst performing rushing backfield in the entire league.  I don't think anything today changed that.

 

I'm still staying at 11-6 though.  I think the schedule is favorable enough that even with the defensive problems that Ravens should be able to pull out 11 wins.  The Ravens are actually getting to the point where they can be considered in the same conversation with teams like KC where defense is an afterthought because they can simply go toe to toe offensively with any team.  

[Mike B]

The Ravens have issues, so does every team in the NFL.

The Ravens have Lamar and we saw signs that the run game will get going.  If that happens 11-6.

 

If JPP, Bowser,, Ojabo get on the fierld the pass rush will get better.  That will be the key to to a better defense and better record.

[bmore_ken]

12-7 with guys coming back later in the season. I don't want to jinx them, but even with the Miami game, it feels like a SB year to me.

[BSLChrisStoner]

12-7 with guys coming back later in the season. I don't want to jinx them, but even with the Miami game, it feels like a SB year to me.

17 games, not 19.

[CantonJester]

10-7 at best. If Agholor hadn't forgotten to protect the football, there's a very real chance the Ravens would be sitting 1-2. This thread wouldn't even exist. 

[Bmore Irish]

14-7

[Mike B]

14-7

Can one of those 14 be the last game??

[Bmore Irish]

Can one of those 14 be the last game??

I'm counting on it.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

10-7 at best. If Agholor hadn't forgotten to protect the football, there's a very real chance the Ravens would be sitting 1-2. This thread wouldn't even exist. 

Oh it would exist. Just without as many double digit win predictions

[TwentyThirtyFive]

10-7 at best. If Agholor hadn't forgotten to protect the football, there's a very real chance the Ravens would be sitting 1-2. This thread wouldn't even exist. 

BTW IM not sure how real the chance would have been. Jones seemed determined to self destruct

[hallas]

F it, 15-2. The AFC north looks horrible this year and I'm feeling like a homer.

[cprenegade]

F it, 15-2. The AFC north looks horrible this year and I'm feeling like a homer.

 

Yeah, maybe feeling the homer.  If they lose to Buffalo next week, they need to run the table. 

[CantonJester]

BTW IM not sure how real the chance would have been. Jones seemed determined to self destruct

 

Maybe, but I think we all saw the moment unfurl in real time. 

[bmore_ken]

17 games, not 19.

12 wins. The 17 game schedule I'm still getting used to.

[hallas]

Yeah, maybe feeling the homer. If they lose to Buffalo next week, they need to run the table.

The Bills and Bucs matchups are the only ones that are scary. We can split those and run the table vs the rest of the schedule.

This is the ultimate optimistic homer take btw.