2018 Ravens: 5 reasons Baltimore is a Super Bowl contender

2. Joe Flacco:

Remember how good Joe Flacco was in the 2012 playoffs? You should. After all, Flacco threw 11 touchdowns to zero interceptions en route to a Super Bowl title and MVP. It was a historic post-season run and has been argued to be the greatest ever for a quarterback. When Flacco is behind the center in the playoffs, you should feel good about winning games.

Flacco has the most road playoff wins of any NFL quarterback in league history (seven – tied with Eli Manning) and has 25 touchdowns to 10 interceptions in 15 playoff games. Six of those interceptions came within his first two years in the league, with just a single touchdown pass. Since then, Flacco has man electric in January.

While the completion percentage could be better (56.6%), the fact of the matter is he’s a proven winner and has stepped up when asked to. People forget how close he’s been to three total Super Bowl appearances, as the Ravens reached the AFC Championship Game during his rookie season (2008) and barely missed the Super Bowl during the 2011 season.

Combine Flacco’s previous post-season success with the remarkable season he’s had thus far in 2018, and “Joe Cool” provides plenty of optimism moving forward. The AFC North is very winnable, and 10-11 wins seems extremely reasonable for Baltimore. Flacco, of course, would be a big reason for this kind of achievement. As we all know by now, once the Ravens get into the post-season, anything is possible; especially if your quarterback’s name is Joe Flacco.

1. A dominant defense:

2011 was the best team Baltimore has had in the Joe Flacco/John Harbaugh era that never won a Super Bowl. The team was a dropped touchdown away from a game against the New York Giants, whom the Ravens likely would’ve crushed. But what made that team so dangerous was not only Joe Flacco’s remarkable post-season play, but mainly owed its success to the defense.

It seems easy to forget because of how much hype we’ve given the Ravens defense over the last few seasons, but the 2011 squad was an absolute juggernaut. The defense was outstanding across the board and was in the top five in statistics such as PPG (16.6), passing YPG (196.2), and rushing YPG (92.6). Terrell Suggs also won Defensive Player of the Year in 2011 and led a defense that still had Ray Lewis and Ed Reed on it.

Flash forward to 2018 and it’s more of the same. Suggs is still on the roster, but he is joined with savvy veterans like Eric Weddle and Brandon Williams and youngsters like C.J. Mosley and Marlon Humphrey. This 2018 squad is top ten in the same categories as the above team (1st in PPG – 14.4, 2nd in passing YPG – 190.4, and 7th in rushing YPG – 90.1) and has the same swagger that the 2011 team carried. If we’ve learned anything in the past few years, it that dominant defense seems to be the recipe for success in the post-season.

Combining all the previous mentioned factors are extremely strong indicators of a team built to go far in the playoffs. Baltimore has all of these and has a great track record to back up their claim. So long as this team can finally get it done in the regular season, the sky is the limit for how far they can get in the upcoming 2018 playoffs, and a Super Bowl appearance and possible win shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone.