The Baltimore Ravens lost to the New England Patriots in Week 10, falling to 6-3 on the season. After being heavy favorites in that game, the loss was unexpected. And with a handful of new injuries, including the season-ending knee injury to tight end Nick Boyle, there are some increasingly louder alarms ringing about Baltimore’s chances this year.
Touchdown Wire’s Mark Schofield has the Ravens dropping two more spots to No. 9 in his latest power rankings list. However, it could have been a lot worse, with Schofield using the weather as an excuse to not make it a more steep dropoff.
“On an even playing field Baltimore probably wins that game going away, but on this Sunday night in Foxborough this loss was due more to the conditions and the cut on the snapping hand of center Matt Skura than anything else.”
Schofield also pointed to the growing list of injuries the Ravens are dealing with. In addition to Boyle’s season-ending injury, Baltimore has Calais Campbell, Jimmy Smith, Brandon Williams, and Terrell Bonds all dealing with injuries of varying severity. While injuries can only be an excuse for so long, it’s difficult to play up to expectations when a team is missing several starters.
The one major concern for the Ravens has been on offense, as Schofield also noted. Regardless of the reasoning, Baltimore has struggled a lot with quarterback Lamar Jackson and offensive coordinator Greg Roman when they trail in a game. The team tends to abandon the run far too quickly, instead, asking Jackson to throw the types of passes he’s just not as good at doing right now. Until the offense proves it can overcome that problem consistently, people should rightfully be skeptical about how far Baltimore can go.
With games against the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers over the next two weeks, the Ravens will show what they’re really about in 2020. Two big wins would not only put them right back on track but could catapult them back up the power rankings.
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