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Article Ravens go Rocky Mountain High(Colorado)

Oldfaithful

Hall of Famer
The week 2 loss against the Bengals sparked significant panic amongst Ravens fans everywhere. Our most important defensive player looked like he had suffered a serious injury, we were down in the division, and our new look defense got torched while Joe Flacco was marred with inconsistency. Yet there was a different feeling. The team that we saw lose in week 2 looked like they had a fight in them that the Ravens of 2015-2017 did not have before. It’s not hard to see why, this 2018 Baltimore Ravens is an extremely talented unit. In years past, a defense lead by Dean Pees would have simply fallen apart.

While I personally think the Broncos are an underrated team by several media pundits, I still saw us as the superior team. Their defense is no longer an elite unit, but it is still very talented across the board, especially in the front seven with good run defenders and pass rushers. That offense also has an underrated amount of fire power with three talented running backs, and two pro bowl wide receivers who would be a #1 guy on our team. The offensive line of the Broncos left a lot to be desired, and Case Keenum still has to get settled in on offense, but when you combine a top 10 defense talent wise, an offense with underrated fire power, with a quarterback that is at worst an Alex Smith-esq game manager, and 8 games a year played in a city where they have a significant altitude advantage, I see Denver as a team that could make the playoffs as a wild card team.

I expected this game to be close. Their defense matched up very well against our offense even without Adam Jones. The secondary was no longer elite, but Chris Harris is among the game’s best corners, both of the safeties are solid, and Trumaine Brock was the primary outside corner anyways. This Broncos team is underrated and a rock-solid team across the board.

It did not look like that was the case yesterday. A massively depleted defense missing some of its premier talent played very well. The offense that I was slightly concerned about took a defense that is very talented, and Joe Flacco made it his play-thing. Even the run blocking look significantly better as a whole, especially accounting for Denver having a top tier rush defense.

Flacco looks better than he ever has before, previous playoff runs included. He looks confident, poised, accurate, and for the first time in a very long time, he trusts the playmakers we have given him. He appears to have a rapport with all of our new additions, including rookie Mark Andrews who looks like what I thought he could be: a potential pro bowl caliber TE as a receiver. If Andrews continues to improve his blocking he could be a perennial pro bowler at the position. The rushing attack also looked improved. Collins performed very well against a team with a very good rush defense. The offensive line as a whole outside of the first drive looked good today in all facets of the game, holding a team with three very talented pass rushers, including one of the game’s best, to two sacks total.

The defense is a very good unit without CJ Mosley and I think Don Martindale is a budding star as a defensive coordinator. Martindale displayed an ability Pees never did in all of his six years here: Martindale is very good at second half adjustments. On the year, the Baltimore Ravens have let up 42 points total in the first half of games. In the second half of games we have given up 9 points totals. The defense is still applying pressure late in games, the defense is aggressive, and creative. A season ago, losing Jimmy, CJ Mosley, Henry, and Pierce would have been a death sentence for this team. We looked the part of a top tier defense today with the exception of 2 or 3 plays.

The scary proposition with this team is we are bleeding and still have won 2 of our first 3 in a very impressive fashion. The 2016 and 2017 ravens barely squeaked out of games that we should have won handily. We are down CJ Mosley, Willie Henry, Michael Pierce, Jimmy Smith, Hayden Hurst, and are foolishly keeping an uber talented rookie offensive lineman on the bench. Reinforcements are coming, which is a terrifying proposition for the rest of the league. Even with our loss to the Bengals, we did not look like the mediocre team we have fielded in the previous 3 seasons. We are beating teams that we should beat and have beaten them soundly. Divisional fluke games aside, the moment this roster becomes healthy again, we are arguably the most well-rounded team in the conference. The defense could be an elite unit, and the offense looks potent and much improved.


Beating the Steelers next week is a must. We don’t have an easy road ahead as we have back to back road divisional games. If we can make it to the bye week 5-3, which is certainly possible, this team will likely win the division. This team does not look like the previous mediocre Ravens.

The Broncos game is a game we would have lost badly last year, especially with the atrocious start we got off to. There’s a lot to like with this Baltimore Ravens team, let’s hope our good fortune continues.
 

DeVito52

Ravens Ring of Honor
Sanders is a good receiver but D.Thomas is as overrated as they come. He’s just not very good. Manning made him look like a pro bowler and not much since.

Also at his worst Keenum is not a game manager. At his worst he will throw 3 or 4 picks and lose the game, that’s not a game manager lol. Keenum is a gunslinger and not comparable to Alex Smith, who I think is a better QB than given credit for though.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
Sanders is a good receiver but D.Thomas is as overrated as they come. He’s just not very good. Manning made him look like a pro bowler and not much since.

Also at his worst Keenum is not a game manager. At his worst he will throw 3 or 4 picks and lose the game, that’s not a game manager lol. Keenum is a gunslinger and not comparable to Alex Smith, who I think is a better QB than given credit for though.

keenum is like ryan fitzpatrick but without the same ceiling
 
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