The Baltimore Ravens have 12 wins and 12 Pro Bowl players. Here are three big things to think about:
Respect for the Ravens run game:
The Baltimore Ravens have their entire starting backfield represented on the Pro Bowl roster. Lamar Jackson, Mark Ingram II and Pat Ricard all earned their spots on the AFC team. Jackson is a quarterback who may be the most exciting play-maker the NFL has ever seen. Ingram is closing in on the 1,000 yard mark for the season on the ground and has scored 14 total touchdowns this season. Ricard has been an old school fullback that has allowed Jackson and Ingram to produce some big plays. It’s fitting that a team that averages 202.1 yards on the ground per game has three Pro Bowlers who line up behind the offensive line.
Speaking of the offensive line it is also fitting that Marshal Yanda and Ronnie Stanley are also in the Pro Bowl. Orlando Brown Jr. is a Pro Bowl alternate. The Ravens success starts with the offensive line. Jackson, Ingram and Gus Edwards all have over 100 rushing attempts and all of them average at least five yards per carry. The offensive line and the stars in the backfield are the main ingredients to the Ravens’ success. Stanley and Yanda lead the way and you have to wonder if Matt Skura would have made the Pro Bowl if he didn’t get injured.
The Ravens have the most exciting offense in the NFL and it’s also the offense that is the most unique. Most teams use their passing attack as their main way of moving the chains. There are teams who use the run game to set up the rest of their offense, but no team leans on the ground game more than Baltimore. The Ravens two leading rushers and their lead blocker made it to the Pro Bowl and that is a very fitting result from this incredible season.
2. Pro Bowl results show you how balanced this team is:
The Baltimore Ravens have Pro Bowl players in all three phases of the game. The Ravens have six offensive Pro Bowl players. They have four players who made it on defense. Justin Tucker and Morgan Cox represent the special teams. The Ravens have never had more Pro Bowl representation and they’ve never had more balance on their roster. Along with the entire starting backfield, the Ravens have 75 percent of their starting secondary on the Pro Bowl roster. Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters and Earl Thomas are all Pro Bowl players.
The Ravens have a super team. No team has this much elite talent spread out throughout their roster. The Ravens have a quarterback, a fullback, a running back, a tight end, two offensive linemen, an outside linebacker and three players in the secondary getting Pro Bowl nods. That’s almost unfair. When Eric DeCosta traded for Marcus Peters, he gave the defense what it needed to be a complete unit. DeCosta and Ozzie Newsome need to be credited with putting together this team. The Ravens have an incredibly cost-effective depth chart and it shows you the power of drafting.
If you count undrafted free agents, nine of these Pro Bowl players came through the NFL Draft process. Good drafting allows for a few solid moves to complete the puzzle. That’s what happened here. Bringing in Thomas and Ingram was genius. Trading for Peters was brilliant. Those moves helped solidify the Ravens as a power in the AFC and their takeover of the Pro Bowl roster shows that.
3. Pro Bowl Voting shows how excited the Ravens Flock is:
Lamar Jackson received the most Pro Bowl votes according to reports. The Ravens have 12 representatives from their team and fan voting made that happen. The Ravens have always gotten great support from their fans, but this shows a whole new level of excitement. It was clear that Ravens fans on Twitter were in full force. I don’t know about you, but every day my Twitter feed was full of #ProBowlVote tweets tagging plenty of Ravens. The fans are clearly on board with their Ravens. The Pro Bowl voting results and the fact that M&T Bank Stadium is rocking, indicates a real buzz around Baltimore football. This has the feel of Super Bowl magic.
It also shows you how much respect and attention the Ravens have gotten from the average NFL fan. The purple and black have turned heads this season. The Ravens are doing things they never have done before, and the audience is getting bigger and bigger. The Ravens have become the most exciting team to watch on Sundays. Football fans as a whole have shown appreciation for what the Ravens are doing, especially for what Lamar Jackson is doing.
The Ravens have a huge fingerprint on the Pro Bowl roster and it is realistic that they could have zero players partaking in the all-star game. The Ravens’ goal is to win a Super Bowl. If that happens, a lot of Pro Bowl alternates are getting a spot. The Ravens who absolutely deserved Pro Bowl spots got them. When there are 12 Ravens in the Pro Bowl, it’s hard to have a serious conversation about players who got snubbed. It’s really time to sit back and appreciate what just happened. This is another historical moment for the 2019 Ravens.