Watching the Jaguars' kicker nail a 53 yard field goal on an untimed down to end any lingering hopes of late-season Ravens run was almost as painful as hearing an apology from the NFL that the Ravens SHOULD have won the game because of a missed false start penalty on the play that ultimately set up the aforementioned field goal. Any lingering hopes I wrote about regarding the return of Dennis Pitta and Breshad Perriman have no been totally dashed as both players have been put on injured reserve. This season has been utter purgatory. All seven of the Ravens losses have come by no more than a single score. It didn't matter if the team they faced on any given week was one of the best in the league or one of the worst; they found ways to blow a late lead and nearly every team to get the best of them.
When deconstructing this season and getting at the root of all of the Ravens' losses, one could easily point to the wide receiver and defensive back positions as enormous reasons that every single one of the Ravens' losses wasn't a solid win. The injury to Terrell Suggs played a massive role as well, but one has to figure that if the Ravens had just one effective wide receiver beyond Steve Smith senior for most of this season, they would currently be totally entrenched in a playoff race at this moment--they are not. You won't see this Ravens team go down without a fight, but there isn't a terrific amount to fight for at this point. It wouldn't behoove the Ravens to just mail it in for the rest of the season because they need to find ways to win games or at least be effective with the guys they have remaining on the roster so as to get in a groove and generate some semblance of momentum going into the off-season. Quite simply, they need to find a winning formula so that Baltimore doesn't once again depend on totally unknown commodities to win as they did with Perriman.
One thing the Ravens must absolutely get back on track leading into next season is the running game. The Ravens just promoted Terrance West to the active roster, and we shouldn't be surprised if he soon starts to get carries given his incredible talent. West could actually be the feature running back of the future for the Ravens if he lives up to his explosive potential running behind a decent Ravens offensive line. At the very least, West and Buck Allen could form the 1-2 punch of the next 3-4 years as the Ravens attempt to re-establish their identity of a hard-nosed, power running football team capable of willing themselves to wins in harsh playoffs environments. I hope desperately to see West get carries against the Rams. If there is a defensive line I'd like to see the Ravens find success running against, it's that of St. Louis.
If the Ravens offensive line can also pass protect against a rather fierce Rams pass rush, the Ravens actually have a decent shot at winning this game. More important than winning the game, however, is seeing John Urschel have success at the center position. Jeremy Zuttah went out for the season last week with a torn pectoral, and Urschel needs to step up and fill Zuttah's shoes. If the offensive line can perform in pass protection, Joe Flacco has a chance to further develop chemistry with a receiving corps that looked, at times, electric last week. The problem was that at OTHER times, that receiving corps just GAVE the ball away to the other team. Flacco needs to get on the same page with the wideouts and tight ends he has at this point so that the front office knows exactly what it has going into next season.
There's not much else to say or hope for at this point. Yes, if the Ravens miraculously win out from this point, they have a shot to make the playoffs. That of course, will not happen. They're too depleted and no longer have the hope of major receiving weapons returning for the second half of the season to jump-start an offensive that has stayed just shy of being consistently effective enough to win games. Getting dead money from Rice, Ngata, and Pitta off the books in the off-season along with a top 10 draft position will allow the Ravens to acquire the free agents and draft picks they need to bounce back in 2016. I'll never stop watching and rooting for them each week, and I'll look forward to their rematch with the Steelers later this season, but after last week, I'm convinced this season has simply been cursed by the football gods for our beloved team. Fortunately for the true football fans out there, this season still has plenty of games left. Let's take a look at this week's picks!
WEEK 11 NFL PICKS
RAIDERS AT LIONS- At this point I don't know what to expect from the Raiders OR Lions. The Raiders have a better body of work this season, but the Lions looked strong beating the Packers recently. Have the Lions figured things out? Probably not. The Raiders still have a high-flying offense that should make trouble for the Lions. RAIDERS 30-21
COLTS AT FALCONS- Without a healthy Andrew Luck, what do the Colts even have? FALCONS 28-13
JETS AT TEXANS- The Texans have been hot as of late, but the Jets are coming off a bye week, and the Texans are one of the worst teams in the league at stopping the run. Revis will limit Hopkins, and the Jets will grind out a victory on the ground. JETS 21-17
BUCCANEERS AT EAGLES- I guess I wasn't THAT surprised that the Eagles lost to the Dolphins last week, but it's really getting hard to know what to expect with this Philly team. I still believe the Eagles can beat the Bucs at home though. EAGLES 27-24
BRONCOS AT BEARS- No healthy Peyton Manning means the Bears should do enough to exhaust an otherwise strong Broncos defense. The Broncos don't have a strong enough running game to make Brock Osweiler effective in Kubiak's system yet. BEARS 33-20
RAMS AT RAVENS- The Ravens have lost at home to worse teams this season, and the Rams have a strong enough running game to open things up for Tavon Austin and company for some big downfield plays. The Ravens have nothing to play for at this point except pride. RAMS 23-21
COWBOYS AT DOLPHINS- I'd like to think the Dolphins can build on last week's win, but the return of Romo makes this Cowboys team dangerous. COWBOYS 31-28
REDSKINS AT PANTHERS- The Redskins looked incredible at home against the Saints, but on the road against the Panthers they'll fall short. That's ok, no one has beaten the Panthers yet. PANTHERS 24-17
CHIEFS AT CHARGERS- The Chargers are simply to depleted and devoid of weapons other than Danny Woodhead and Antonio Gates at this point to be able to put away decent teams. CHIEFS 38-28
PACKERS AT VIKINGS- The Packers will continue their skid despite valiant second half efforts from Aaron Rodgers. Adrian Peterson will control the clock as needed. VIKINGS 23-20
49ERS AT SEAHAWKS- I dunno if this warrants much of an explanation. SEAHAWKS 34-17
BENGALS AT CARDINALS- This week will mark the second week of an interesting point wherein the Bengals finally run out of steam. Carson Palmer will pick apart his old team, and Chris Johnson should break free for a big run or two. The problem with the Bengals, as I've stated numerous times in the past, is that they look electric early on in regular seasons, but that is because they use basically everything they have in their playbook prematurely. By the time they hit the playoffs, the Bengals have put everything on film that another team would need to see to beat them. They're 9-1, but this year shouldn't be much different. CARDINALS 24-20
BILLS AT PATRIOTS- The Patriots will be without Julian Edelman and once again without Jamie Collins, but they're strong enough offensively to edge the Bills in this one. PATRIOTS 33-28
THERE'S NOTHING THAT COULD EVER MAKE ME STOP ROOTING FOR MY RAVENS, AND IF YOU CALL YOURSELF A RAVENS FAN AND YOU DON'T GET EXCITED TO WATCH THEM EACH WEEK REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME, YOU NEED TO FIND A NEW TEAM. THIS SQUAD WILL BE BACK IN A BIG WAY NEXT YEAR, AND IT WILL HAVE BEEN WORTH THE WAIT
NOW AND FOREVER
GO RAVENS!!!
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