Ravens fans are nervous because of what happened in 2019. The Ravens were the top seed then too and lost in a shocking upset. This year is different. This team is more mature and balanced. I predict the score will be 31-20. The weather here will be terrible – wind chill will be around 10 degrees.
The Ravens are favored by 9.5 points and the over/under is 43.5 points.
The Ravens have had a great season. I have written about most of these before.
- They won 10 games vs teams that finished over .500, an NFL record. The prior record was 8. They tied an NFL record with 14 games vs. teams that finished over .500
- They are the first team to lead the NFL in all three of these defensive statistics: sacks, lowest points allowed, and takeaways (tied for first)
- Of the 14 playoff teams, they had the best strength of schedule and second-best strength of wins. They had the best record in the NFL this year even with a tough schedule.
- They led for 11 hours, 32 minutes and 57 seconds of game time. This is the second-best total since 2000.
- They were never behind by more than seven points until the meaningless last game. In that game, they were behind by 10 for about three minutes.
- Second-highest point differential ever against playoff teams
There is an urgency to win this year. Over 20 players are free agents after this season and there is now way the Ravens can keep them all. In addition, they will probably lose coaches and front office guys too. Both offensive and defensive coordinators have been interviewed for head coaching jobs, Three other coaches have been interviewed for coordinator jobs. Two front office members have been interviewed for jobs with other teams.
A couple examples of how special this year has been:
- Tylan Wallace is a wide receiver who had one reception this year. He had to return punts for the first time in the NFL in the Rams game. He returned one 76 yards for a game-winning touchdown in overtime.
- Some people think the 49ers could beat the Ravens in a rematch. I don’t see it. Sure, there were some tipped balls but the 49ers could have gotten them too. The Ravens scored on seven consecutive drives. That’s not luck.
- Lamar Jackson is a better QB than he was in 2019. He is making great decisions. Roquan Smith brings leadership on the defensive side that the Ravens haven’t had since Ray Lewis was here.
Sad! 