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Ebony Bird Round-Table: Midseason report cards for Baltimore Ravens

By Richard Bradshaw

BALTIMORE, MD - OCTOBER 13: Marlon Humphrey #44 of the Baltimore Ravens celebrates with teammates after making an interception against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium on October 13, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - OCTOBER 13: Marlon Humphrey #44 of the Baltimore Ravens celebrates with teammates after making an interception against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium on October 13, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) /
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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – OCTOBER 20: Mark Ingram #21 of the Baltimore Ravens runs with the ball against the Seattle Seahawks in the third quarter during their game at CenturyLink Field on October 20, 2019, in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – OCTOBER 20: Mark Ingram #21 of the Baltimore Ravens runs with the ball against the Seattle Seahawks in the third quarter during their game at CenturyLink Field on October 20, 2019, in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

Garrett Ferguson:

I think we can all agree the Ravens being 5-2 heading into week nine is something we all hoped for but didn’t really expect. I, for one, didn’t expect Lamar Jackson to play at this MVP caliber level in only his “second” season. I have second in quotations because Jackson has only started 15 games in his career thus far so technically he’s still a “rookie”.

This season has sorta been a twilight zone experience for the Ravens Flock because we expected the defense to be one of the best in the league while trying to improve the offense, but so far it’s been the complete opposite.  As of right now, the Ravens offense ranks second in total offense (who saw that coming?) and 16th in total defense according to NFL.com.

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One of the reasons the offense is performing so well is because of their rushing attack which is averaging an astonishing 204.1-yards per game. That statistic is absolutely insane, but how insane you may ask? Well, according to ESPN’s Mike Golic, if the Ravens continue this 200+ rushing yards/game average they will be the first team to do so since the 1977 Walter Payton led Bears.

Although the offensive ranking is truly impressive, it’s a little inflated by the Ravens week one win against the Miami Dolphins when they totaled a whopping 643-yards on offense. That gave them some cushion as the passing offense has slowed down a bit the last few weeks, but it’s still impressive nevertheless.

As for the defense, man has it been a weird season thus far. The Ravens ended the 2018 season with the best defense in the league so many of us expected that to roll over into this season, but boy did we underestimate the impact losing vets like Terrell Suggs, Za’Darius Smith (typed with emphasis), and Eric Weddle would have.

The first few weeks of the season the defense looked completely lost and blew assignments more often than not. The defense was so bad they allowed over 500-yards of offense two weeks in a row against the Kansas City Chiefs (503) and Cleveland Browns (530). Since then, the defense has progressively improved and seemed to finally put it all together against the Seattle Seahawks in week seven when they forced two defensive touchdowns and shutdown MVP frontrunner Russell Wilson.

With the second half of the season still ahead of us, I can honestly say I’m excited for what’s in store for this team. I’ve been impressed with how the team has played and overcome adversity after a rocky start on defense. If they can keep the defense tightened up and performing on all cylinders, watch out New England, we may have a new powerhouse in the AFC.

Midseason Report Card: B+

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