Ravens enjoy week off after winning six of last seven games

Could the Ravens be sitting atop the NFL (not just the AFC Nort, not just the AFC, but the actual whole National Football League) sporting an impeccable 12-0 record? Yes, they could.

Can the Ravens complain about their real 9-3 record after 12 weeks of play and entering their bye week, not having to play football until Dec. 10? No, they can't at all.

We are all a bit mad at Baltimore because they really had a chance to have a perfect record entering December, or at least one as good as the one of the league-leading Philadelphia Eagles (10-1), but alas.

Head coach John Harbaugh knows what he and his staff and his pupils have done to date is more than enough to give the Flock a puncher's chance at finishing the season as the best team in the AFC and thus earning home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

"The bye weeks have gotten shorter, I think, compared to what they used to be. It used to be the whole week until Friday, and you have the opportunity to come back possibly Monday, Tuesday, even Wednesday if you wanted to. We haven't done that for a while, but it just seemed like the right thing [to give the players the week off]. We're 12 weeks into the season – I don't think we would've gained as much from practicing as we would from resting, basically. [So, I decided to] let the guys get away and regroup physically, even spiritually, and just heal up and get ready for what's ahead."

- John Harbaugh, Ravens Head Coach

That's why Harbaugh said on Monday that the team would have the whole week off leading up to next Monday when they will be back on their usual schedule and getting ready for the Week 14 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams.

"[I decided to] let the guys get away and regroup physically, even spiritually, and just heal up and get ready for what's ahead," Harbaugh explained at the start of the week.

The Ravens will be looking at the rest of the NFL fight against each other on Sunday as they try to get closer to them in the standings... while drinking a piña colada at home and sitting comfortably in their sofas with the rest of their families enjoying a nice start to the last month of the year.

Baltimore will host the Rams in Week 14 followed by games at Jacksonville and San Francisco, and finally back home against the Dolphins and Steelers, the last one already into the 2024 calendar year.

More Baltimore Ravens content