Are we the best team in the league right now?

[hawkprey]

How is it too early to say that? The 2 good teams we played we lost to.

We lost to them because they're good and they're good because we lost to them.

[baltimorefan328]

I agree we lost to both teams we played with winning records...but look what we did to those two teams. We made Luck look pedestrian and we actually came all the way back to take the (brief) lead against Cincy. Now I'm not going to crown this team until I see them beat quality opponents and that starts this week. But just because the Ravens have lost to two teams with winnings records doesn't mean they've been blown out. I'd like to see the Raven play the Benglas now with how our Offense is clicking and newly found D, and play the Colts without an undrafted rookie free agent at LT and a healthy Webb + Will Hill

[rmcjacket23]

How is it too early to say that? The 2 good teams we played we lost to.

The way its shaping up, there's really only a handful of games left on our schedule that matter (assuming we keep beating the teams we are supposed to beat). Next week in Cincinnati is probably the biggest game of our season, and our home game against San Diego is also a good barometer.

 

Reasonable fans have to understand one thing... the way its shaping up now, our schedule looks rather soft. There is no real threatening team in the NFC South, and the AFC South has one good team, one mediocre team, and two really bad teams. Those divisions alone represent half of our schedule. Add in the fact that Cleveland and Pittsburgh are the definition of mediocrity, and you've got yourself what is shaping up as a rather soft schedule.

 

So like it or not, if the Ravens lose to teams like Cincinnati, Indy and SD, and we basically beat everybody else (making us a 12-4 football team), nobody in the league is likely to respect us one bit, because frankly, we still wouldn't have given them a reason to.

 

I like the way this team is put together, and I think we are a serious contender, but the way you get credibility and attention in this league is by beating high quality football teams. Thus far this season, we can't really say that.

 

At this point, after Pittsburgh loses tonight, the teams that we have beaten have a combined record of 12-15-1. The teams that we lost to have a combined record of 8-4-1. Explain to me how any reasonable person can look at that and complain about the national media not giving you attention?

[rmcjacket23]

We lost to them because they're good and they're good because we lost to them.

So if we lose to Jacksonville... they are good?

[hawkprey]

So if we lose to Jacksonville... they are good?

They are if we're a good team, which apparently we're not. So no.

[beanfigger]

We didn't make our schedule. We have to beat who we play. If we finish 12-4, but have zero wins against team with a winning record, we will likely have a bye. Then we will have at least one home playoff game, if not two, on our way to a potential superbowl. The last time NE made the big game, they didn't beat one single team with a winning regular season record until Evans and Cundiff...you know. I'm sure no one cared about that as they celebrated a conference championship and were one game away from the title.

[JoeyFlex5]

Idk, we seem perfectly set up to beat ourselves against the Bengals next week

with everything that ive said in this thread, i have to say this is true every week. there is always that scared feeling that we will lay an egg. 

 

i dont understand why this team that is such a big time contender every single year, is always under the threat of self destructing for one random game or even one half of football every few weeks.

[stampedehero]

Everyone here is unified we are in the top ten.  Your question relates to who is number one.  As long as ESPN, FOX,CBS,NBC and especially NFL channel have their annoited elite QBs, we could not be #1    Manning was appointed god and rodgers is another Moses.   Think of this.  After the Texans shot themselves in the foot over and over again, media joes are going to promote the Steelers although they were handed a goose.   

[stampedehero]

We didn't make our schedule. We have to beat who we play. If we finish 12-4, but have zero wins against team with a winning record, we will likely have a bye. Then we will have at least one home playoff game, if not two, on our way to a potential superbowl. The last time NE made the big game, they didn't beat one single team with a winning regular season record until Evans and Cundiff...you know. I'm sure no one cared about that as they celebrated a conference championship and were one game away from the title.

You mentioned the 011 game. The Pats got 6 wins because of their own weak division.  Think of a switch in divisions between them and us with their Sleeler,Bengals and Browns games twice a year. We play in one of the toughest divisions which should be a factor for this topic question and in general. They also seem to get the lucky breaks even in this season..  

[TimeEdReed]

I'm cautiously optimistic. Like anyone I'm enjoying the wins but I want to temper my expectations too. If we win out the next three going into the bye week then I'm officially excited about this team.

I consider Cinci and really pretty much Pitts to be must-win games. The wild card race will likely be very tight again so dropping two to the Bengals would be catastrophic. Plus our road issues haven't exactly been laid to rest. These next two games will show us what this team has as much as anything so far this season.

Division games are never a sure thing either, regardless of how bad the Steelers look or what has happened to the Bengals the last two games. I don't like to gloat over injured players, but the Bengals being beat up certainly helps us on paper.

[rmcjacket23]

They are if we're a good team, which apparently we're not. So no.

No, it means they were the BETTER team on that day, not that they are a good team.

 

There is a very distinct difference between the two...

[rmcjacket23]

We didn't make our schedule. We have to beat who we play. If we finish 12-4, but have zero wins against team with a winning record, we will likely have a bye. Then we will have at least one home playoff game, if not two, on our way to a potential superbowl. The last time NE made the big game, they didn't beat one single team with a winning regular season record until Evans and Cundiff...you know. I'm sure no one cared about that as they celebrated a conference championship and were one game away from the title.

Thats great. There's also numerous playoff teams who played soft schedules, won their division, got a home game, and got beat by a road wildcard team that actually did play quality teams in the first round... and nobody was surprised by it.

 

The point in general is simple... regular season records really don't matter once you make the playoffs. You can be a 9-7 road team who's lost to 8 playoff teams, or you could be a 14-2 #1 seed who beat 2 playoff teams in their entire season. Really doesn't matter.

 

That's why I never understand why fans claim the "we get no respect or attention" card. Not the kind of thing you just hand out like some sort of charity case. People are impressed when you beat good football teams, not when you beat bad one's. If you want respect... you beat teams like Cincinnati, Indy and San Diego, because they are the level of competition that you will face in the playoffs. There are no Tampa Bay's in the playoffs. Learning how to win football games when there's actual resistance from the other team to do so is what turns playoff teams into SB teams.

[TDubbs]

We're not the best, but I do believe we're the best team not being talked about. The media is gushing over the Cowboys (go figure) but they've earned it with a hot start. However, with this hype nothing but a SB appearance will be acceptable, they're set up for failure. We're 5-2 and have the chance to start taking the division away this Sunday. We'll make them talk about us come playoff time, that is for sure. 

[TimeEdReed]

I think if we go beat Cinci it will start a discussion about us in the media. Still not to the same amount as other division leaders but a statement win would get the team more recognition.

[H8R]

I expect the Ravens offense to start off where they left off in the second half of the first Cincy game... And I look for our defense to NOT allow the game winning freak play that happened in BMORE! That was a lucky win, and we played like trash in the first half...

[callahan09]

How is it too early to say that? The 2 good teams we played we lost to.

Steelers now have a winning record.  Two other teams we beat, the Browns and the Panthers, would have winning records if he hadn't beat them.  And the Bengals would have a losing record if we had beat them.  So no matter how you slice it, you can say we aren't good due to the competition we played.  That's why it isn't a good argument at all.  The Bengals, had we beaten them, would be yet another non-winning team that we beat.  The Browns & Panthers, had we lost, would be yet more winning teams that we couldn't beat.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

The correct answer is YES! We are the best team in the NFL right now but don't tell anybody, including the team. As long as we keep flying under the radar, we will remain in contention for another title. As soon as the word gets out and it goes to our players' heads, we're doomed. We should be undefeated except for two games where we beat ourselves by scoring zero 1st half points.  

[stampedehero]

Slowly but surely we are becoming recognized as a balanced team. Sports sites are recognizing Forsetts running game contributing to Joes reduced throwing numbers and success  coupled with our lightening quick D.  Mr. Owens is the talk of the town. CJ Mosley ranks in the upper tier of linebackers and I expect Hali to become the next dancing with the stars  celebrity.  Of Course Joe Flacco deserves a stint in the next issue of GQ.  The icing on the cake would be a commanding win over the bengals.

[stampedehero]

This morning Steve Smith was on the Mike and Mike show with Chris Carter.   Man they loved him.  Steve said he would rather be in a super bowl than a pro bowl.   Could this be possible?   Yes!  How?  We have to win the next two of three and take the bye. 7-3 right?  Out of the six left  we need to acquire 4 wins in six.   I'm seeing 11-5.  That is the platform for the set up for a run to the SB.   That is phase one and two.   If Steve Smith has blood and guts attitude infused into the team, we will become supreme and have another reason to do the pub tour in Fells Point once again. You know my Fells Point T shirt has classic beer stains from that 012 season.  In fact. it may be an idea to start that tour with all of us in this forum when we acquire another SB.  Would you go??

 

[redrum52]

Steelers now have a winning record. Two other teams we beat, the Browns and the Panthers, would have winning records if he hadn't beat them. And the Bengals would have a losing record if we had beat them. So no matter how you slice it, you can say we aren't good due to the competition we played. That's why it isn't a good argument at all. The Bengals, had we beaten them, would be yet another non-winning team that we beat. The Browns & Panthers, had we lost, would be yet more winning teams that we couldn't beat.

BUT we did beat them and lost to bengals. The Steelers were also losing til they realized Ryan Fitzpatrick was playing qb and took overy basically due to a 3 minute stretch. You can look through your purple shades but we've lost to the true competition so far on our schedule.

[gabefergy]

Still #2 in DVOA according to FBO. We are behind Denver by a wide margin, and I would say they have been extremely impressive this season. I think they are the clear #1 right now, but an argument could be made that the Ravens are #2.

[Inqui]

Still #2 in DVOA according to FBO. We are behind Denver by a wide margin, and I would say they have been extremely impressive this season. I think they are the clear #1 right now, but an argument could be made that the Ravens are #2.

Honestly I'd put us at 5 or 6 for now - behind Denver, Indy, SD and Dallas off the top of my head. And the likes of Green Bay, Detroit, Philly or Arizona could make an argument.

 

I think the Cowboys and Chargers will begin to tail off within the next month or so, but I can see us being securely in that 5-10 range for the rest of the season. Maybe top 3 if we keep looking like this, and against the better teams on our remaining schedule.

 

As long as we keep rolling along I'm not too concerned about specifics of how good we are - history has shown time and again that January power rankings are what really matters.

[rmcjacket23]

Honestly I'd put us at 5 or 6 for now - behind Denver, Indy, SD and Dallas off the top of my head. And the likes of Green Bay, Detroit, Philly or Arizona could make an argument.

 

I think the Cowboys and Chargers will begin to tail off within the next month or so, but I can see us being securely in that 5-10 range for the rest of the season. Maybe top 3 if we keep looking like this, and against the better teams on our remaining schedule.

 

As long as we keep rolling along I'm not too concerned about specifics of how good we are - history has shown time and again that January power rankings are what really matters.

For me, the answer to the thread question is quite simple...

 

Objectively, nobody can really say for certain at this point that we are the best team in our division (given that we lost to that team in our building, and our records are quite similar). If you can't definitively say that you're the best team in your own division in the regular season, then you probably can't claim you're the best team in the league either.

[NewEraGordon]

All we've got to do is beat the Bengals at home.. then we can argue this! BIG GAME!!

[callahan09]

BUT we did beat them and lost to bengals. The Steelers were also losing til they realized Ryan Fitzpatrick was playing qb and took overy basically due to a 3 minute stretch. You can look through your purple shades but we've lost to the true competition so far on our schedule.

So now the Steelers, who do have a winning record, aren't tough competition for the Ravens, because they were down on the scoreboard at one point in the first half of a game that they actually went on to win?  The Ravens were down against the Browns, but won that game.  Does that mean we are weak?  Because we weren't leading the game the entire 60 minutes?  We have only lost 2 games, by the way, and anyone can tell you that the loss to Cincinnati in week 1 was a fluke.  

 

That was NOT indicative of our offense.  The receivers dropped 8 passes for over 110 yards IN THE AIR ALONE in the first half!  That's why we had such an abysmal half,  and let them stomp on to a 15 point lead or whatever it was in the first half of the game.  They have only dropped 7 passes in 6 and a half games since then.  

 

The second half of that game, the receivers got their heads in the game and we actually put up 16 points.  You realize that 16 points in a half is a 32-point pace for a full game?  That's nothing to sneeze at.  They got us the lead, and then another flukey play gave up an 80 yard TD to give the lead back to the Bengals, and then the O line fell apart on our final drive and we couldn't get it done.  It was just a flukey game all around, we haven't played *anything like that* since that game.  It was week 1 jitters, a new offense, a lot of new blood on the team getting acclimated, etc.  

 

Since then, we've been playing great.  We lost 1 game to Indianapolis, who are lately playing pretty much by far the best offense AND defense in the NFL, and we still had a chance to win THAT game too, while the Bengals got shut out.  I think we are performing at a high level and performing well against the competition that we are facing, week 1 aside.

[rmcjacket23]

So now the Steelers, who do have a winning record, aren't tough competition for the Ravens, because they were down on the scoreboard at one point in the first half of a game that they actually went on to win?  The Ravens were down against the Browns, but won that game.  Does that mean we are weak?  Because we weren't leading the game the entire 60 minutes?  We have only lost 2 games, by the way, and anyone can tell you that the loss to Cincinnati in week 1 was a fluke.  

 

That was NOT indicative of our offense.  The receivers dropped 8 passes for over 110 yards IN THE AIR ALONE in the first half!  That's why we had such an abysmal half,  and let them stomp on to a 15 point lead or whatever it was in the first half of the game.  They have only dropped 7 passes in 6 and a half games since then.  

 

The second half of that game, the receivers got their heads in the game and we actually put up 16 points.  You realize that 16 points in a half is a 32-point pace for a full game?  That's nothing to sneeze at.  They got us the lead, and then another flukey play gave up an 80 yard TD to give the lead back to the Bengals, and then the O line fell apart on our final drive and we couldn't get it done.  It was just a flukey game all around, we haven't played *anything like that* since that game.  It was week 1 jitters, a new offense, a lot of new blood on the team getting acclimated, etc.  

 

Since then, we've been playing great.  We lost 1 game to Indianapolis, who are lately playing pretty much by far the best offense AND defense in the NFL, and we still had a chance to win THAT game too, while the Bengals got shut out.  I think we are performing at a high level and performing well against the competition that we are facing, week 1 aside.

1. What is even remotely impressive about Pittsburgh's resume? If we are going to knock our own resume thus far as "not having beat anybody" (which I think is true), then you have to knock Pittsburgh's as the same... and they have the bad losses on their resume that we don't.

 

2. Our offense was probably worse in the Indy game than it was against Cincinnati, and if I had to choose between the two defenses, I'd take Cincinnati in a heartbeat.

 

In the grand scheme of things, nobody even remotely cares about the "well but we played well in the second half" or the "if you translate that over 60 minutes" type of stuff... that's simply just window dressing.

 

The window is that Indianapolis and Cincinnati beat us. That's the window. You can put whatever you want around the window to make the window look better. When you beat good teams, you get respect. When you don't, you don't. Its that simple.

 

Nobody, and I mean nobody (myself included) had ANY respect for Dallas as a football team when they started 4-1, including winning four straight. They beat Tennessee and St. Louis (two bad football teams) and they beat Houston and NO (two seemingly mediocre football games). They lost to SF (a seemingly good football team), and thats all that mattered.

 

The EXACT moment when they garnered national recognition and respect was the moment they beat Seattle in Seattle. One win completely and utterly outweighed what they had done the previous month. That's all it takes.

[FerrariFan87]

Best team in the Division right now? Probably. We'll see after the next two weeks! We are definitely in the Top 10 overall though.

[redrum52]

1. What is even remotely impressive about Pittsburgh's resume? If we are going to knock our own resume thus far as "not having beat anybody" (which I think is true), then you have to knock Pittsburgh's as the same... and they have the bad losses on their resume that we don't.

2. Our offense was probably worse in the Indy game than it was against Cincinnati, and if I had to choose between the two defenses, I'd take Cincinnati in a heartbeat.

In the grand scheme of things, nobody even remotely cares about the "well but we played well in the second half" or the "if you translate that over 60 minutes" type of stuff... that's simply just window dressing.

The window is that Indianapolis and Cincinnati beat us. That's the window. You can put whatever you want around the window to make the window look better. When you beat good teams, you get respect. When you don't, you don't. Its that simple.

Nobody, and I mean nobody (myself included) had ANY respect for Dallas as a football team when they started 4-1, including winning four straight. They beat Tennessee and St. Louis (two bad football teams) and they beat Houston and NO (two seemingly mediocre football games). They lost to SF (a seemingly good football team), and thats all that mattered.

The EXACT moment when they garnered national recognition and respect was the moment they beat Seattle in Seattle. One win completely and utterly outweighed what they had done the previous month. That's all it takes.

Exactly. The 2 games we've lost hspp3n3d to be the games where the offense is shut down by good teams. Until we beat someone good, or show consistency on offense against real teams I can't put us as the best team. A win this week against an injured Bengals team won't mean much to me either, though I will enjoy the victory. I expect us to win and if we do lose that only proves my point.

[gabefergy]

Honestly I'd put us at 5 or 6 for now - behind Denver, Indy, SD and Dallas off the top of my head. And the likes of Green Bay, Detroit, Philly or Arizona could make an argument.

 

I think the Cowboys and Chargers will begin to tail off within the next month or so, but I can see us being securely in that 5-10 range for the rest of the season. Maybe top 3 if we keep looking like this, and against the better teams on our remaining schedule.

 

As long as we keep rolling along I'm not too concerned about specifics of how good we are - history has shown time and again that January power rankings are what really matters.

Yeah, it doesn't really matter, but it's still fun to talk about. I don't think the Charges or Cowboys are as good as the Ravens right now. Neither team has a very good defense. They aren't terrible, but they aren't great either. SD has a pretty bad OL and even though Rivers is playing great, I'm not sure he can carry that team all season by himself. If Murray gets hurt in Dallas like he always does, I think they will fall off in a big way. 

[ravens rule]

Top 10 right now. Top 5 if we win these next 2 division games.