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Are the Ravens really as bad as their 1-6 record indicates?

By Brett Foote

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Oct 26, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) reacts after losing 26-18 to the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Disclaimer: the Baltimore Ravens are 1-6, and nothing can change that at the moment.  Obviously it doesn’t matter if you lose by three points or thirty, a loss is a loss in the NFL and every sport.  But when trying to figure out what is wrong with this squad, it helps to dive into those numbers a little.

In the case of the Ravens, it isn’t surprising that they are 1-6 if you have watched all of their games thus far.  This is a team that has lots of holes on its roster, particularly on the offensive side of things.  Their historically successful formula in free agency didn’t work this go round, to say the least.

But the fact that Monday night’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals by only 8 points was their biggest margin of loss this season is pretty amazing.  The Ravens are off to the worst start in franchise history, but are they really the worst team in franchise history, or for that matter, the NFL?

Prior to Monday night, the Ravens hadn’t lost a game by more than more than 6 points, and they were in position to win or tie in the 4th quarter of every one of them.  They are the first NFL team since the Indianapolis Colts in 1995 to achieve that feat.  Even more amazingly, three of those losses came after they had a lead in the 4th quarter.

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Among the three one win teams in the NFL (Titans, Lions, Ravens), the Ravens have the second lowest point differential (-27 vs. -20 for the Titans).  The Lions have a whopping -61 point differential after seven weeks.

So, amazingly, it seems that the Ravens might actually be one of the worst teams in the NFL this season. Granted, their schedule has been brutal (to put it nicely), but their performance has also been brutal. We have made a lot of excuses to this point, but it seems like it’s time to stop and accept the Ravens for who they really are.

No team under the current format has ever gone 1-6 and made the playoffs, but that is probably the least of the Ravens concerns at this point.  Now they must simply figure out how to win a game, one week at a time, and try to continue to improve each week.

Next: Cheers and jeers for week 7

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