Ebony Bird
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Simple Solutions Could Give Ravens A Chance

By Chris Schisler

Sep 25, 2016; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta (88) signals a first down during the second quarter of a football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 25, 2016; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta (88) signals a first down during the second quarter of a football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
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If the Ravens can get out of their own way, they have a chance to win the AFC North. The key words there were get, out, and own way.

The Baltimore Ravens have literally had an up and down season. They won the first three games before dropping the next four. Now the purple and black have their bye week. The AFC North is a clumped division. The AFC as a whole, seems rather clumped. It’s the Patriots and the Broncos, and then there is everybody else. A four game losing streak is not good, but 3-4 doesn’t eliminate John Harbaugh’s team in any way.

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Look at the standings in the AFC North. The Steelers are in first place with a 4-3 record. The Ravens and the Bengals are both behind them at 3-4. The Cleveland Browns may not win a game at all this season.

Only three teams in the AFC have 5 wins or more. Baltimore is one of five teams that come into week eight with a 3-4 record. The Titans played on Thursday to extend their record to 4-4. If the Ravens can start playing some real football, this season is very salvageable.

Okay, It’s there for the taking… can they take it?

However, we still need to find out if the Ravens can turn things around. The uplifting thing is the Ravens have solutions to their problems. They may not see them, but the solutions are there. For starters, the bye week is a great chance to get healthy. Secondly, many of their problems are fixable problems.

The biggest problem is a predictable offense with no balance. This is a simple fix. Baltimore needs to run the football and base their offense off of the ground game. The second biggest problem is penalties and silly errors. The team has to come together and play a disciplined brand of football.

Finally, the Ravens are struggling with big plays. There aren’t enough big plays on offense and they give up too many on defense. If the Ravens lean on the running game and set up the play-action pass as an element of their attack, the Ravens will have more big plays. Terrance West has had several big runs this season and this type of offense would help out Joe Flacco. Defensively, blitzes are a really effective way of fixing the lack of a pass rush. The Ravens need to be a high risk, high reward defense. The offense can’t be leaned on for big plays. The defense needs to be aggressive.

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If the Ravens solve their problems with these common sense and straight forward ideas, the season is far from over. If they continue to go down the same old bumpy road, the season will be charred to ashes. The moral of the story is that change is needed for the purple and black. Their mistakes are fixable. Their season is still in front of them.

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