Insider: Tougher Ravens ‘More Equipped’ for Playoff Run This Season

Lamar Jackson

Getty Lamar Jackson celebrates a touchdown.

The Baltimore Ravens are 6-2, but they remain one of the more unimpressive teams with a great record to some based on how they have won.

2020 hasn’t brought the blowouts, or Lamar Jackson doing superhuman things on the field week in and week out. Baltimore doesn’t have the big wins against the most elite teams to fall back on. Even such, when looking closer, the Ravens have been impressive this season in their ability to win games in a variety of ways. They’ve been winning close games most of the year. Sunday, they did something they rarely have done lately.

Baltimore fought back from a halftime deficit to top the Indianapolis Colts 24-10, and if it was one thing the team didn’t do in 2019, it was that. The win caught the attention of plenty folks, but perhaps most notably Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.

As Breer contends, Baltimore is already looking like a much tougher outfit this season already thanks to wins like Sunday’s piling up.

“The Ravens, to be sure, are a pretty tough 6–2 team. And more equipped for what’s in front of them than last year’s group was, even if this edition isn’t winning quite as pretty as that one was,” Breer wrote in this week’s MMQB piece.

It’s tough to argue with Breer’s contention. The Ravens have been hit with more adversity this regular season than in past ones which could only make their push to and through the playoffs a bit easier. Last season, Baltimore got punched in the mouth and didn’t know how to react. This season, they’ve already shown an innate ability to get up.

Ravens Might End Status as Front Runners

Speaking on the NFL Network, Michael Silver talked about what Baltimore has done so far this year and agreed that it was significant that Lamar Jackson was able to lead a halftime comeback after trailing, and once the offense rounds into form, the team is going to be one to contend with in the AFC moving forward.

Silver said:

“Let’s face it, the Ravens’ biggest flaw these last couple years during this Lamar Jackson era is that they’ve been front runners. They get up on teams, they control the game and then we’ve seen glaring examples including in the playoffs against Tennessee where that blueprint goes out the window and they can’t come from behind. Even though the offense wasn’t great against Indy, that’s a very good defense and it’s significant to me and to them that Lamar Jackson was able to bring them back from a halftime deficit. I talked to Marcus Peters, the playmaking cornerback after that game. He said the offense isn’t there yet but we’re fighting for each other and when it does kick in, we’re going to be really scary. He thinks Dez Bryant can give them some juice up the field. I think the Ravens have a tremendous amount of upside.”

The Steelers are a more flashy 8-0 so far, but the Ravens are dangerous simply due to the type of season they’ve been having to this point. No longer are they the hunted, but they can lie back and pursue teams like Pittsburgh and the Chiefs as well as others who have been soaking up the headlines in recent weeks for their play.

It’s also significant that the Ravens have learned to come back and have won in a variety of ways. That could serve them well down the stretch.

Ravens Within AFC Playoffs Standings

At 6-2, the focus will be on finishing the season strong for the Ravens as it relates to their standing within the AFC playoff race. The Ravens do not lead their division, so inner conference battles like Sunday night’s against New England will not only help them stay in the race there but potentially keep them strong in the AFC wild card hunt if they were to continue to find a way to win but lag behind in the AFC North standings in the next few weeks.

Getting on track with more wins down the stretch this week would be very significant for the Ravens to do. As long as they can stay tough, they might be in much better shape moving forward

READ NEXT: Ravens Add Super Bowl Winning Cornerback to Defense