Baltimore Ravens: Is 16-0 a possibility in 2020 season?

The 2020 Baltimore Ravens are an absolutely stacked team ready to rebound after a disappointing end to 2019, but is this team capable of going 16-0?

The last time a team went 16- in the regular season was the 2007 New England Patriots. Those Patriots are the only team to ever go 16-0 and ultimately lost in Super Bowl XLII in heartbreaking fashion. Since then, there’s been a slew of teams to win 14 or 15 games and fall just shy of that 16-0 mark. The 2019 Baltimore Ravens join that group after going 14-2 and ending the year on a 12-game winning streak. Those Ravens ultimately went one-and-done in the playoffs and now enter 2020 with something to prove to the rest of the league.

It was undoubtedly a wasted opportunity. Quarterback Lamar Jackson had a season for the ages after setting the single-season quarterback rushing yards record (1,206-yards) and pacing the league with 36 touchdown passes en route to just the second-ever unanimous league MVP award. Baltimore also set the single-season team rushing yards record (3,296-yards) and became the only team ever to average 200-yards both rushing and passing. For this team to not only lose out on a championship but to not even win a single playoff game is downright disgraceful.

Entering 2020, the Ravens have a lot to prove. Was the 2019 squad just a flash in the pan? Or can this year’s edition right the wrongs from its predecessor.

Before we get started, let’s make a quick checklist of everything you need to be a great team in the NFL these days:

• Elite quarterback
• Explosive offensive weapons
• Above-average offensive line
• Great defense with either a ferocious pass rush or secondary (or both)
• Reliable special teams

Of the above-mentioned items, the 2020 Baltimore Ravens have all of them squared away to the point where you’d need to be very picky to identify any real weaknesses on this roster. In fact, the 2019 Ravens had most of the above criteria and found a way to be even better in 2020.

The offense didn’t need too many improvements, but it got them anyways. Second-year man and former 2019 first-round pick Marquise Brown is fully healthy entering the offseason. The run game got another star in rookie J.K. Dobbins. The offensive line may have lost Marshal Yanda to retirement, but there’s tons of good competition to help relieve the loss.

The most important improvements to the Ravens came on the defensive side of the football. After having a mere 37 team sacks in 2019, improving the pass rush was a top priority for the team. Baltimore attacked that need by trading for Calais Campbell and signing Derek Wolfe. The two combined for 13.5 sacks in 2019 for their respective teams. Pairing them with Matt Judon, who is coming off a 9.5 sack campaign, will rejuvenate and reestablish this pass rush.

The Ravens also had a pressing need to revamp their run defense. The team gave up 4.4 YPC in 2019 and they paid for it in the playoffs when Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans trounced the defense for 60  minutes. It just so happens that the aforementioned additions to the pass rush are also excellent run defenders. Baltimore also added two studs linebackers through the 2020 NFL Draft in the forms of Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison, both of whom will play massive roles in this defensive front-seven. That secondary is nothing to scoff at either, and could very well be the league’s best.

All in all, the 2020 Ravens look to be even better than their 2019 counterparts. The offense will remain explosive and perhaps even more balanced, while the defense will clamp down more and remain an opportunistic unit that’ll force plenty of turnovers. Couple those with great coaching and special teams and you have yourself a unit that won’t lose many, if any, games.

Is it improbable? Absolutely. Is it impossible? Not in the slightest. This Baltimore Ravens squad looks incredible all the way around. Few, if any, teams will find ways to beat Baltimore. Between and an offense that will light up the scoreboard and a defense that will slaughter opposing offenses, there’s a chance the Ravens may run the table in 2020. If ever there were a team to do it, it would be this edition of the Baltimore Ravens.