Ravens are good and will make the playoffs.

They will start the year 0-2.
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I wish he was "motivated" in playoff games against New England and Pittsburgh. I don't remember him being a big factor in those games. One of the reasons I wasn't sorry to see him leave.

Anyway, the Chiefs defense needs to tackle a lot better. Lamar will get his, but I don't want to see his gimmicky ass making the entire defense look like pylons. The tackling was poor in the Cleveland game.
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Are they, though?

Can this defense operate at an extremely high level without 2 legitimate Man corners?

And if this defense can't operate at an extremely high level, can this form of offense (with backup RBs) work?

We'll see what happens when they get their WR corps back intact and if someone like Bateman can allow Jackson to just chuck and duck a few times a game. But if they think they're going to win ballgames the way they did last season, by holding teams to less than 10 points in first halves and choking the life out of them with the running game, I think they're going to be in for a rude awakening.
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Ok yea makes sense
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I have never seen a defensive line play as ineffectively as I saw our line play against NE in the AFCCG.

I don't think the entire line (yes, our boy Chris Jones included) recorded a stat apart from Ford's penalty. It was pathetic. It was bad enough that it made me wonder if I even cared if Jones came back.

I don't know what happened in that room that week, but the DL did not come to play at all. From the opening snap, they were lifeless and ineffectual. It was a complete failure across the board.
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Jones had a personal foul that game as well.

It was bullshit, but...
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According to the broadcast last night Lamar looks unstoppable. Couldn't out duel Carr Jr. and an absolute awful Raider defense but unstoppable nonetheless
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No, no but.

It was bullshit and he did absolutely nothing wrong.
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The but is that he didn’t do much else that game
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This board always cracks me up.

Is Baltimore going to clobbered by KC?

Yes.

That doesn't mean they aren't a top 7 team in the AFC.
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We'll see...I think losing Peters is the equivalent of KC losing Fisher in a ways.

Their defense is predicated on Humphry/Peters being able to man up...Since they have a average, at best, front...it gives Martindale the ability to allocate an extra defender for his blitzes.

So it's a cumulative effect...as it's kind built to be symbiotic.

It's why Mahomes eats them up..because it's a numbers game at that point...and neither Peters not Humphrey is particularly fast.

Now if they cant use his blitzes or man up...with the Chiefs speed and limited pass rush...it a schematic mismatch.

Carr had a lot of time to throw...

Lamar's style isn't very affective if they get behind....
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I think they're headed toward the cellar of their division.

The Ratbirds win one way and only one way - steamrolling their opponents early, getting a big lead and then grinding the clock away with their running game. Jackson is great when there's no pressure and he can option pass to wide open receivers. But if they NEED him to win a close game, or NEED him to come from behind, he crumples like an empty beer can. I found it interesting when one of the announcers said that Baltimore has not won an OT game during his tenure. Jackson seems like a good kid, but he is not a leader or a winner, and you can see in his eyes that he knows it, so now it's in his head. He always finds ways to lose when it matters.

Cleveland is the class of that division now. The $tealer$ somehow remain competitive, and the Bengals are rising. And all three now have much better quarterbacks.

Baltimore is a bully with a glass jaw. And with the key injuries on defense, the bully is on crutches.
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Thuney was a big part of that. He shut down CJ, and Donald in consecutive playoff games. Glad he’s on our line now.
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I think that may be a pretty apt comparison.

The loss of Peters could well be significantly more damaging than it would appear on the surface for precisely the same reasons Fisher's injury finally torpedoed our ability to operate.

For the Chiefs it was a season's worth of attrition but for the Ravens it may just be flawed design.
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How many teams in the AFC are 'good' teams?

Chiefs
Bills
Browns

Ravens?
Titans?
Chargers?
Steelers?
Dolphins?

I mean a 'top 7 team' means they're better than the Dolphins and Raiders. So? Those aren't teams that scare me at all. The Steelers?

Who strikes you as a team that can win the Super Bowl with a couple of breaks? Chiefs, Bills, Browns...uh...maybe the Chargers if Herbert is legit? Can the Ravens do that as currently constructed? I don't think they can.

So I have a hard time calling that a 'good' team. I don't think they'll win the division so you're looking at 3 WC spots for them to fight for.

Are they clearly better at this point than Miami, New England, Pittsburgh, LAC or Oakland (who has a game on them now)? Can the Colts w/ Wentz find enough footing in a soft division to get one of those WC teams (or push TN into the WC chase?).

I don't think the playoffs are a given by any stretch.
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