2007 Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens ruled the AFC North in 2006. What was anticipated to be a three-team race between the Ravens, Steelers, and Bengals quickly turned in to an all out Ravens rout. The Ravens did it with the NFL #1 ranked defense and an offense that looked far better than the one on the 2001 Super Bowl team. The drastic offensive improvement can’t be attributed to veteran QB Steve “Air” McNair, who proved he can still air it out. If the regular season was a breeze for the black birds, the postseason was a hurricane that blew them quickly out of the playoffs. This squad did not live up to its number two seed as a pathetic offensive performance, especially from McNair in his worst game of the year, allowed the Colts to march right over them.

Bet Our NFL Picks at Sportsbook and get FREE premium service!

What lies ahead for the Ravens in 2007? The good news is that the nucleus of the NFL’s best defense is back and ready for action. Jamal Lewis appears to be aptly replaced by running back Willis McGahee, who will bring more speed to this offense. McGahee could prove to be the missing link this offense was lacking to help them in the postseason.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the Ravens take the AFC North again in 2007, but they better do something in the playoffs this time around as the window is beginning to close for some of these veterans. Baltimore went 5-1 against their division last season. We can expect at least 4-2 this season sweeping the browns and splitting with the Bengals and Steelers, although I wouldn’t be surprised if this team was able to pull off sweeps against Pittsburgh in back-to-back seasons. I know Ravens players and personnel don’t want to hear it, but I’m beginning to think this team is built for the regular season as their offense lacks the fire power to compete with some of the more potent units in the AFC like the Colts, Pats, and Chargers. The Bears found out in last year’s Super Bowl that your offense can’t go into hibernation because even stellar defenses can only get so many stops before these great offenses make a big play.

Some of the offensive improvement in 2006 can be chalked up to head man Brian Billick calling the plays. The Ravens won’t be trying to fix what isn’t broke this season as they look to make another run so we can expect Billick to be the guy calling the shots for the offense once again. It should be to his benefit that he has more offensive talent than he’s ever had with a dynamite receiving corps and a QB who can get them the ball. It might have been to this teams benefit to have gone out and tried to get an offensive mastermind, but I’m not opposed to thinking Billick can get the job done.

Defensively the Ravens have a mainstay in coordinator Rex Ryan. The guy loves to attack and has the personnel to do so. His defensive approach resembles one normally more suited for basketball as he feels that his constant pressure dictates the pace of the game and limit’s the amount of play calls his opponents can make. This scheme, for example, could not be successful with the Browns. Only a couple teams around the league have talented enough defensive units to make such a system work. The Ravens will bring the “D” again in 2007, and it will be up to the offense to do the rest.

2007 Baltimore Ravens

Comments