Why There's Still Ample Reason for Optimism About Ravens This Season
Flock Nation had a whole day to ruminate, agonize, and stew over the Ravens' 38-30 loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday night.
Is there cause for concern? Of course. The Ravens have issues on both sides of the ball – especially on defense – that need to be corrected.
However, there's still plenty of football to be played and ample reason for Ravens fans to be optimistic about the team's fortunes this season.
For starters, The Baltimore Banner’s Childs Walker said Monday night's defeat could actually be beneficial.
"Maybe that's what this team needs after two seasons of feeling that only the Ravens could beat the Ravens," Walker wrote. "Maybe it's healthy for them to look within and conclude, 'We're not good enough to take anything for granted.'
"The franchise's most successful seasons pivoted on such reckonings. The 2012 Ravens nearly careened off the rails, switching offensive coordinators less than two months before they celebrated amid a shower of Crescent City confetti. The 2000 team went five straight weeks without a touchdown and changed quarterbacks in the process."
Rich Eisen rattled off several reasons why he is still high on the Ravens, especially as it relates to their chances of winning the AFC North for a third consecutive year.
"Are you concerned about the Ravens still not being the best team in the division? Not me," Eisen said on "The Rich Eisen Show." "Certainly not when they've got Lamar Jackson. … He's still Lamar Jackson, man.
"The defense at some point is going to have to tighten up, I got it. They were missing [Nnamdi] Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy [Monday night], and they were taking on a team that's fully equipped to exploit it."
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer also hasn't lost faith in the Ravens.
"I wouldn't be too concerned," Breer said. "They were 1-2 last year. They've been here before. We've seen this with these types of teams that are perennial winners, where sometimes they'll use September to figure some things out. Obviously, defensively, not having Kyle Van Noy and Nnamdi Madubuike did not help [Monday] night either in stopping the run or getting after [Lions quarterback] Jared Goff. So I do think a lot of those things are going to work themselves out."
On a side note, the oddsmakers continue to view the Ravens as strong Super Bowl contenders.
"A thrilling 'Monday Night Football' clash between Super Bowl contenders ended with the game's loser… not budging at all in championship odds," The Athletic’s Hannah Vanbiber wrote. "Baltimore stayed solid at +550, good for second place behind the increasingly short-odds Buffalo Bills (+425, down from +500 last week and +750 at open). To be fair to Baltimore, they've already played two of the top contenders (Bills and Lions) and what might be one of the best defenses (Browns)."
Former Super Bowl-Winning Head Coach Shoots Down Criticism of John Harbaugh
Fans and pundits like to play the blame game when a team loses, and the head coach is often a target regardless of how much success they've had.
During the "BS or "No BS" segment of “The Pat McAfee Show,” former NFL head coach Bruce Arians, who led the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory, called "BS" on criticism of Head Coach John Harbaugh.
"That's total BS," Arians said. "John Harbaugh is a hell of a coach. There are a lot of things that go into it. That fourth-quarter defense has to get fixed, that's for sure. And I'm sure [Senior Secondary Coach] Chuck [Pagano] and the guys over there on defense are going to get it fixed. Get those guys back healthy.
"He's the same damn good coach he's always been. I think the Baltimore Ravens are fine. They'll be there in December, January."
Ravens Have Played in Two of This Season's Top Five Games
While the results weren't what the Ravens wanted, their prime-time games against the Bills and Lions are two of the best contests of the season thus far, based on rankings by a panel of NFL.com analysts.
The top five games rankings began after Week 1's results and are updated each week. The Week 1 Ravens-Bills game started at No. 1 and remains there, while the Ravens-Lions game sits at No. 4.
Regarding the latter, Gennaro Filice wrote: "A highly anticipated interconference showdown produced an extremely watchable evening of football under the bright lights of Monday night. Closing out a thrilling Week 3 slate with an inspired road victory, the Lions reminded everyone what they're capable of by outlasting a game Ravens team in a hotly contested bout featuring a playoff feel."
