2009 Ravens Preview: Sophomore Slump

AFC NORTH
2. Baltimore Ravens
Projected Record: 8-8

Offense: C
Defense: A-
Coaching: B

What’s new: Not a whole lot was added, but a lot was lost (more on that in a moment). The two most significant additions were Dominique Foxworth (meh) and Michael Oher (a great value pick late in the first round). Oher won’t be the next Jonathan Ogden, but he doesn’t have to be.

What’s good: I’m hesitant to put Joe Flacco in this category. Flacco did what most decent Ravens quarterbacks have done in the past few seasons: not lose the game. He rarely was asked to win it. Unlike Matt Ryan, who had a much better season with Atlanta, I think we need another year to see if Flacco is legit. Other than that, the defense is still one of the NFL’s best and the young offensive line is slowly coming together.


Joe Flacco and his one eyebrow hope to avoid a dropoff in year two.

What’s bad: The personnel around Flacco. Neither Willis McGahee, Ray Rice or Leron McClain are ready to be featured backs. McGahee is too brittle, Rice and McClain are incomplete runners, suitable for only one purpose (McClain for short yards and Rice for 3rd downs). Derrick Mason, at least for this week, is still playing. But at 36, he’s the best target for Flacco…and that’s not a good thing. There’s no one else for Flacco to throw to if Mason suffers another shoulder injury. Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and several members of that Baltimore defense are all on the wrong side of 30.

What to expect: Like the Dolphins, the Ravens are due for a fall back to Earth. The league will have an entire of year of John Harbaugh’s schemes on tape, and Baltimore won’t sneak up on anyone. Also like Miami, the Ravens schedule gets drastically tougher this season. They got unlucky drawing the 2nd place schedule (New England and Indianapolis) instead of Pittsburgh’s 1st place schedule (Miami and Tennessee). More importantly, the Ravens failed last season because they were 0-3 against Pittsburgh. The Steelers certainly didn’t get worse in the off-season. The Ravens lost Rex Ryan, Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard. Finally, for the better part of the last decade, the Ravens seem to be up one year and down the next (a bad 2005 was followed by a great 2006, which was followed by a terrible 2007, which was followed by last year’s AFC Championship run). That trend, the schedule, the Steelers and Flacco’s return to the mean are all things that point to a .500 football team…if that.