The Baltimore Ravens will get the advantage of a bye week due to being the number one seed in the AFC. This is great because it is going to give players time to get rested and come out of the gates ready to compete for a Super Bowl.
Which players started to play their best before the bye week and could come out strong in the playoffs?
3. The Baltimore Ravens are getting a career year out of Jadeveon Clowney
Jadeveon Clowney finished the year with a tie for his career-high 9.5 sacks. Clowney was playing well early in the season, but Kyle Van Noy came along a few weeks in, and Odafew Oweh was injured until the late-season stretch.
So, Clowney had to do a lot of the work himself. He was playing well, but not like he is in recent weeks with the help he has gotten. In the first nine weeks of the season, Clowney had 3.5 sacks. He also has an 11.5% pass rush win rate, per PFF.
Then, from week ten on, he has six sacks in eight games. That is with a 17.5% win rate. Beyond that, he has performed as a run defender.
Clowney finished off week 18 with a sack, and now he gets a week off to rest and get ready for the playoffs. For Clowney, he will be a free agent this year and will be playing for a lot of money if he can cap off this career-high year with a strong Super Bowl run.
With the way that he is playing in recent weeks, that could really happen.