Football Is Coming In Baltimore - 5 Key Questions For The Ravens' Quest Back To Their Rightful Spot Atop The NFL
Rough, rough finish to last year. Seems like forever ago. They had a chance to make the playoffs in Week 17, but crumbled in the 4th quarter against the Bengals. Sunday brings a fresh slate. New season. New opportunity to compete for Baltimore’s 4th ring. This team has the talent to contend. The flaws that killed them last season have been fixed. Now it’s just time to sit back and watch them execute and bring home another AFC North title. These are the 5 questions that need to be answered to make that a reality.
1. Can Joe Flacco bounce back from a pisspoor 2013 and finally surpass the 4,000 yard mark?
Here’s the deal. Joe Flacco is a good quarterback. He’s shown it on too many occasions for anyone to deny. But his 2013 stank something fierce. Nearly twice as many picks as he’s ever thrown. This year he has no excuses. His offensive line looks adept again and his receiving corp is as good as it’s ever been. He doesn’t need to be Peyton Manning and sling the football around on every down. Just needs to keep the offense moving and manage the football game. The rest will fall into place after that. Stats, wins, playoff berths, everything. This team is going nowhere fast if we see last year’s Flacco again.
2. Will Gary Kubiak’s zone blocking scheme bring the running game back up to par?
3.1 yards per carry. That’s what Baltimore averaged on the ground last year, bad enough for last in the NFL. The Ravens used to pride themselves on running the football effectively. They were never able to establish the run, which poisoned the offense as a whole.Yet again, this failure mainly fell upon the shoulders of the offensive line in 2013. They got no push off the ball. The retirement of Matt Birk was way more costly than they anticipated, as Gino Gradkowski wasn’t up to the task. Michael “1st and 15″ Oher was a disaster. Add in a slower Ray Rice and a Kelechi Osemele injury and you’ve got the worst rushing attack in football. This year’s different. New scheme, a capable Jeremy Zuttah at center, and a healthy Osemele means good things are coming. Kubiak offenses simply don’t fail on the ground.
3. Can the defense get to the goddamn quarterback please?
Looking at you Sizzle. The fuck happened last year? Oodles of sacks in the first half, next to nothing in the second. You too Dumervil. Today’s NFL is predicated on throwing the football. The best way to defend that is to make the QB uncomfortable. That simply didn’t happen down the stretch. You can’t have your two Pro Bowl pass rushers only rack up a sack a piece in the last 7 games and expect to be a playoff team. They’ve looked much improved in the preseason, but that’s preseason. It’s time to get it done when it matters. You’ve got one of the best interior lineman in Haloti taking up bodies. Pernell McPhee is primed to have a big season. There’s no excuse. Kill the QB.
4. Can the secondary stay healthy?
I’ve felt like a broken record talking about cornerback depth this preseason. But it’s that important. Lardarius Webb is a top 10 NFL cover corner, but he’s as fragile as they come. Jimmy Smith is right there with him. Both play a physical brand of football that leave them susceptible to injury. The guys behind him just don’t have the chops nor the experience to play every down for a contending team. Chykie Brown got roasted in training camp. Asa Jackson has exactly 1 NFL tackle to his name. We haven’t seen enough of the recently signed Derek Cox, but there’s a reason he didn’t make the Vikings first round of cuts. The depth chart behind Webb and Smith is a hot pile of shit. It’s not encouraging that both were banged up in August and only played a collective 3 preseason games. We need them out there for all 16 games, or offenses are going to dice us up. Be careful fellas.
5. How Will The Ravens Come Out Of The Gate Versus AFC North Rivals?
(offsides you cheating scumbags)
I can’t emphasize enough how critical these first 3 weeks are. The AFC North is a wide open race. Even Cleveland has an outside chance at making a run at the playoffs this year. We get Cincy and Pittsburgh at home in a 4 day stretch, and then go to Cleveland in week 3. Getting a leg up on these clowns will go a long way. Lose all 3 and we can pack it in. Take all three and we’re looking prettayyy pretty good. You gotta think the chips fall our way hosting the two tougher teams. The Ravens are nearly unbeatable at home. They haven’t lost at home in September since 2005. It’ll be tough for Pittsburgh to play Sunday and play 4 days later with a travel day in the mix. I’m thinking sweep all the way. Ultimately we’ll look back at this stretch at the end of the season and know how crucial it was towards winning the division.
And that’s it. Your preview of the 2014 AFC North champion Baltimore Ravens. Tell your friends. Bengals preview coming tomorrow.