Ravens, Steelers in top five of latest Ebony Bird power rankings
By Darin McCann
Teams are truly beginning to separate from each other in power rankings as we near the midway point of the season. Where do the Baltimore Ravens end up?
There was a slate of competitive games in the 1:00 slot this past Sunday, and a barn-burner Sunday night to wrap up that day’s action. Meanwhile, the Ravens tended to some bumps and bruises during their bye week and prepared themselves for a matchup with the last unbeaten team in the league — a familiar foe in the Pittsburgh Steelers.
By the way, the Ravens knocked off one of the last unbeaten teams in the league last year when they took down the 8-0 New England Patriots by a 37-20 score. Just saying…
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the shine is back on this tremendous rivalry, and the football world awaits that kickoff. Meanwhile, let’s take a look at how the league shakes out for now. Last week’s rankings are in parenthesis:
32. New York Jets, 0-7 (32)
They had four yards in the second half of their 18-10 loss to Buffalo. They didn’t average 4.0 yards per play or something horrendous like four yards per possession. No, they generated a total of four yards in a half. Your 2020 New York Jets.
31. Jacksonville Jaguars, 1-6 (30)
They play hard every week, which is nice and all, but they stink — and that’s not so good. This week’s offering was to the previous 1-4 Los Angeles Chargers and their rookie quarterback searching for his first win as a starter. Spoiler alert: He found it!
30. New York Giants, 1-6 (29)
They only dropped one spot this week after losing a tight game against their division rival Eagles. It appears that their defense is playing better, so let’s celebrate that, and not focus so much on their quarterback getting tripped up by a yard marker.
29. Cincinnati Bengals, 1-5-1 (28)
Joe Burrow showed up and gave the Browns all they could handle, but so did Baker Mayfield, and the Browns won a back-and-forth affair by a score of 37-34. The Bengals need some offensive line help, as well as pieces on defense, but there is a path to good here.