Baltimore Ravens: 5 interesting variables of the 2018 season

The Baltimore Ravens figured out a lot this offseason. The roster looks more talented and deeper than it did when the team fell short on New Year’s Eve. The Season will ultimately be decided by how John Harbaugh and the Ravens manage the variables that pop up along the way:

The Baltimore Ravens are a better team today then they were at the end of the season. Michael Crabtree was a huge addition to the roster. Willie Snead and John Brown have a legitimate chance to get their careers back on track and it’s hard to imagine them being worse than Jeremy Maclin and Breshad Perriman were in 2017. Hayden Hurst and Mark Andrews are going to be great additions to the offense.

The 2017 Ravens had no answers on offense. The 2018 Ravens have talent to work with on the offense. Baltimore may still be short of legitimate superstars however they actually have pieces to work with. The purple and black may have made the playoffs if their offense wasn’t so dysfunctional. The defense didn’t get any worse in the offseason and there could be real improvement under Don Martindale. The talent is there for the Ravens to be a winning football team.

One thing that Ravens fans should know quite well is that once the season starts anything can happen. Things don’t go exactly as planned every step along the way. Harbaugh is going to get to a point in the season where a season changing decision is going to fall on his shoulders. The Ravens are going to have at least a couple of crossroad moments where their fate can go one way or another. Let’s talk about five variables, five wild cards in the Ravens season that could have a significant impact.