Thursday, September 6, 2012

50 Shades of Ray: Baltimore Ravens Season Preview



2011 Record: 12-4

2011 Ranks
Total Offense: 15
Rush Offense: 10
Pass Offense: 19
Scoring Offense: 12
Total Defense: 3
Run Defense: 2
Pass Defense: 4
Scoring Defense: 3


Offense

The Ravens have a ton of talent at the top of the roster with Ray Rice, Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin and...I suppose I'll say Joe Flacco. When Flacco is good, he's great, but when he's off, he's terrible. The Ravens lost some pieces from an offensive line that was already suspect. It will be interesting to see if their running game suffers and if Flacco takes some more shots. While they are extremely talented at the top, they lack depth across the board with the retirement of RB Ricky Williams and the lack of a receiving tight end or #3 WR.

Defense

The Death Eaters defense will have a bit of a different look this year without T-Sizzle. Suggs tore his Achilles playing hoops this offseason and that's a big loss for this defense as he was really the only one capable of pressuring the quarterback. Haloti Ngata is a beast up front and Ed Reed is still Ed Reed at the back. Ray Lewis has obviously lost a step but is still going to try to stretch his career out another year in the hopes of finding his way to another Super Bowl. They also signed CB Ledarius Webb to a long-term deal, which was a good move. He's turned into a decent corner.

Intangibles

Even without Suggs, this will still be a pretty good defense and they have the skill on offense to put up some big numbers. They'll be right in the thick of things in the AFC North race.

Prediction

10-6.

No comments: