There were many doubters, and likely still are, but there are few challenges the Baltimore Ravens haven’t passed at this point in the 2019 season.
It was either Rudyard Kipling or Nature Boy Ric Flair who once famously opined, “To be the man, you gotta beat the man.” At this point, it feels like the Baltimore Ravens have run out of “the man” to beat up on.
It was the third game of this current six-game win streak that really caught the eye of the nation’s football-watching populace, and began stirring up the fan base to the true potential of this team. Going into Seattle, one of the most challenging road venues in the NFL, to face off against the Seattle Seahawks, and their MVP candidate quarterback Russell Wilson, this one figured to be a good measuring stick of where the 2019 Ravens were, and what we might expect from them going forward.
30-16. That’s what the measuring stick read. And we saw the growth of a leader in the Ravens’ own MVP candidate quarterback, Lamar Jackson. Remember that fourth-down call to go for it, and the fantastic sideline conversation featuring coach John Harbaugh, Jackson, and all-world guard Marshal Yanda? It was like we bore witness to the anointment of Jackson as this team’s frontman. There were good vibes surrounding the Ravens following that win, and Ravens fans got to enjoy a relaxing bye week with the taste of a sweet victory in our collective caws.
We knew the then-undefeated New England Patriots would be coming to town the next week for a primetime matchup, and there was some optimism that the Ravens could take this game behind an improving defense and the magical powers of Jackson.
37-20. A pasting for the world to see. That improving defense stifled Tom Brady and company, and Jackson and the offense showed that the “historic” Patriots defense was no match for this explosive, efficient machine under the tutelage of Greg Roman. That one showed the world that the Ravens were legitimate — even though there were a few crackpots suggesting that Patriots coach Bill Belichick was holding back his super-secret-spy-anti-Lamar strategy until the playoffs. Because, you know, Belichick would gladly risk home-field advantage in the playoffs on a hunch. Then came the Bengals.
The winless, comically-bad Bengals. The Ravens put a 49-13 pasting on their division foe, and the narrative quickly reverted to, “Yeah, but it was the Bengals. Big deal.” And, somehow, half the nation forgot about Seattle and New England. It was as if someone had a giant one of those thingamabobs from Men in Black that made people forget everything that just happened.
This brought us to Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans and their — wait for it — own MVP candidate quarterback, Deshaun Watson. Let’s see what happens when there’s another exciting young quarterback on the field, the critics suggested. Watson would show Jackson what a real mobile quarterback looks like, not some running back or wide receiver playing a glorified wildcat offense.
41-7. That’s what happened. Jackson shined, the defense dominated and Watson had a rough outing. Three wins in four weeks over certifiable contenders. That’s good for any team. There’s nobody, at least not me, guaranteeing that these Ravens will never lose another game this season, and that the Super Bowl is guaranteed. But they can swing with anybody, and they can knock them out.
To be the man, you gotta beat the man. Right now, that man is the Ravens.