Ravens Week 5 Recap
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Did you hear the same thing I heard around 7:30 PM this past Sunday? It was the city of Baltimore breathing a collective sigh of relief. The Ravens barely beat the scrappy 49ers 9-7 in one of the more boring games I’ve seen since I’ve been a Ravens fan, which is really saying something considering all the clunkers that this team has won over the past 11 years. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that was a baseball score. But let’s be honest, the next time the Orioles will be playing baseball in October will be when Rosie O’Donnell says no to a Big Mac.
The good news is the Ravens sit at 3-2 and have two winnable games vs. St. Louis and at Buffalo before the bye week, which will give this team a chance to get healthy. More good news came in the form of defense. The Ravens looked to be back to their old ways yesterday as Bart Scott finally woke up and Jarrett Johnson played like we all expected. Kelly Gregg also had a great performance and Ed Reed continues to wreak havoc on opposing offenses. Reed may take a lot of risks, but most of the time those risks turn into big rewards. I can’t point to another player on the defensive side of the football on any team that affects the game quite like Ed Reed. Another All-Pro season is in the making.
Here comes the bad news: the Ravens are not as good as many people expected, myself included. Granted getting a win on the road with ten starters injured, including three offensive linemen, is a very good thing. The rookies (Jared Gaither, Ben Grubbs, and Marshal Yanda) performed wonderfully and showed tons of potential for the future. But the time is now for this franchise to win a Super Bowl, because with another salary cap purge looming, it’s almost time to start letting some of these savvy veterans go, and through the first five weeks, the Ravens do not look like a team capable of getting through the AFC playoffs. At this point, I think many Ravens fans should be happy if the team just gets to the playoffs. I predicted 11-5 prior to the season starting; I’d be elated with 10-6 at this point.
Let’s say, hypothetically, the Ravens win these next two games and enter the bye week 5-2. The team then has to face Pittsburgh twice, Cincinnati, San Diego, New England, Indianapolis and Seattle. Good news is the Steelers have to play those teams as well (except for the Colts). The division race in the AFC North will come down to the Steelers and the Ravens. As Ravens fans, let’s hope the Steelers wet the bed and the Ravens right the ship coming out of the bye week. The scary thing is the Steelers look like Super Bowl contenders, especially after shutting out the Seahawks, who were their first real playoff-ready competition. The Ravens have yet to face a playoff caliber team and sit at 3-2. They’re playing .500 ball against mediocre competition. Scary, huh?
I’ve mentioned these recurring problems in my past articles: lack of red zone efficiency, throwing short of the sticks (almost all of the time) on 3 rd down, being too conservative, etc. No need to go delving into those topics again. It’s week 5 and if it hasn’t been fixed yet, especially against some pretty lousy defenses, then it’s tough to be optimistic entering the toughest part of the schedule. As fans, all we can do is hope that these ten players get healthy and Brian Billick, Rick Neuheisel and co. can fix the red zone offense after the bye week. We also have to hope that we survive these next two games and enter the bye 5-2. If not, it could mean we’re on the outside looking in come January.
