Getty Lamar Jackson following a loss in the playoffs.
The Baltimore Ravens have seen their 2020 schedule revealed, and folks are starting to break down how the season might look for a team that needs to take the next step forward after a frustrating 2019.
Most expect the Ravens to be a great team this coming season, but just how good could they be? Many think the team could set records and win plenty of games, but others are pushing pause on that notion a bit. Pro Football Focus took a deep dive in examining Baltimore’s expected 2020 over-under win total of 11.5 games.
Instead of smashing the over as a lot of people have, some analysts on a podcast admitted they are thinking more in terms of the under on the Ravens total for this season.
Will the Ravens win 12+ games in 2020?
“They were a great team last year. They could be very good again this year. That very good Ravens team can win less than 12 games. To me that says everything you need to know about why you would bet the Ravens under 11.5 wins,” the first analyst says.
The rebuttal is just as interesting.
“The Ravens are good because of collective things. Collective things can go wrong in seasons like this one where there will be a lot of uncertainty. I think they’re great, I think they’re one of the NFL’s best franchises especially moving forward. But if I’m going to get 11.5 as a win total, I think the only way you can go is under,” the analyst responds.
The Ravens have what most agree to be an easier schedule for this season, so many might see it as a failure for the team to win less that 12 games. In spite of that, the biggest litmus test for the Ravens will come in the playoffs. Can they get over the hump then?
If they are able to do so, it won’t matter what the regular season looked like whatsoever, even as many predict the team won’t quite be elite this year.
Ravens Predicted For Tough 2020 Finish
This drama could make for big ratings, especially if the Ravens struggle to the finish. Recently, USA Today writer Nate Davis took a look at making some predictions for next season, and while he had the Ravens doing some big winning, he didn’t have the title coming home to Baltimore.
According to Davis, the Ravens are going to win the AFC North, go 13-3 and win the AFC Championship while advancing all the way to the Super Bowl. There, they will lose to the New Orleans Saints.
“The top seed in last year’s AFC playoff bracket has a golden opportunity to make amends given it will travel a league-low 6,310 miles while playing this year’s easiest schedule (.438 opponent winning percentage in 2019) – one that wraps with non-playoff teams from last year over the final six weeks. Factor in the addition of veteran DL Calais Campbell and potential impact rookies in LB Patrick Queen and RB J.K. Dobbins … and this doesn’t seem like a fair fight.”
Fair fight or not, losing in the Super Bowl would be a huge frustration for the Ravens, who have spent the offseason improving in a ton of ways in order to take steps forward. Technically, it would be a step forward for the team, but it would still represent another disappointment a year after the team was booted from the playoffs early on.
Ravens Motivated Heading Into 2020 Season
Recently, NFL.com writer Marc Sessler put together a list of teams which will come into the season with a chip on their shoulder. According to Sessler, the Ravens are high on the list thanks to how last season ended.
Sessler wrote:
“Those same Titans operated as a chaos-inducing, third-party candidate by marching into Baltimore and thrashing the Ravens. To the naked eye, Baltimore appeared lost in the latter stages of a belladonna voyage as Derrick Henry flung dazed defenders into the terrible Maryland night. In a flash, the mighty Ravens — their 14-2 record, their MVP quarterback and all their boasts — were reduced to salt. Few teams burn more brightly for a chance to make things right.”
The way the Ravens lost in 2019 should have them very motivated into 2020, and could drive them forward most of the year. It’s safe to say of all the pain that was endured last season in the playoffs, nobody sustained as much as Baltimore.
How they deal with it will tell how they are able to push forward this season, but it’s a good bet they will take things personally. Perhaps that’s true as it relates to some of these expected win totals surfacing as well.
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