My Annual 2015 Predictions and Final AFC North Standings

[Gordo52]

Some love from a respected Twitter guy:

@Andy_Benoit: #Ravens are my pick to win SB this yr. Their preview up on @theMMQB today, tweets on the way

@Andy_Benoit: #Ravens Notes: Trestman one of smartest+humblest coaches in NFL. He’ll maintain much of Kubiak’s highly successful zone ground concepts.

@Andy_Benoit: #Ravens Notes: Flacco a full-fledged superstar. All the physical traits, dissects coverages (especially zone), can play in or out of pocket.

[berad]

Some love from a respected Twitter guy:

@Andy_Benoit: #Ravens are my pick to win SB this yr. Their preview up on @theMMQB today, tweets on the way

@Andy_Benoit: #Ravens Notes: Trestman one of smartest+humblest coaches in NFL. He’ll maintain much of Kubiak’s highly successful zone ground concepts.

@Andy_Benoit: #Ravens Notes: Flacco a full-fledged superstar. All the physical traits, dissects coverages (especially zone), can play in or out of pocket.

And a story from him about Flacco

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/09/02/nfl-joe-flacco-baltimore-ravens

[wizard1]

If there is writing on the wall, its not etched in stone.

 

Have developed concerns. You don't let a perennial all pro depart from your defensive line without some effect.

 

Our WRs cause some concern.  Actually quite a bit of concern.

 

And the secondary is still a worry, though Will Hill has looked like he understands what hes doing.

 

I think we do have a tough schedule though, but 5-11 seems unrealistic. 

 

I don't think we'll go 0-2 to the Bengals again and I do believe we'll beat the 49ers and Chargers. That's 8-8 right there and I do believe 10-6 will win our division.

 

We're doing well with our starters in the preseason games. (And many have been shelved due to injuries). It's our seconds that have been the problem for the most part.  Those scores are not indicative of where we are.

 

Good insights Danny D but 8 and 8 would be realistic if we had some talented back-ups which we most assuridly do not. However there is some good news. We have some salary cap room to try and plug a few gaps but like I said we only have so many fingers. Fred Jackson would have been a nice addition because Buck Allen is just plain awful, and landing Reggie Wayne would helped a bit etc. etc etc.

 

Let's go hypothetical for a moment. Can you imagine what our offense would look like if Forsette got an injury.

[redrum52]

Bump this in February.

Good idea. I think I'm about to bookmark this page...

[redrum52]

And a story from him about Flacco

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/09/02/nfl-joe-flacco-baltimore-ravens

Doubt many care, but Matt Miller, I think, picked us to win it all as well.

[Gordo52]

Doubt many care, but Matt Miller, I think, picked us to win it all as well.

Don't like that.....Hopefully Berman picks against us and offsets it

[wizard1]

Some love from a respected Twitter guy:

@Andy_Benoit: #Ravens are my pick to win SB this yr. Their preview up on @theMMQB today, tweets on the way

@Andy_Benoit: #Ravens Notes: Trestman one of smartest+humblest coaches in NFL. He’ll maintain much of Kubiak’s highly successful zone ground concepts.

@Andy_Benoit: #Ravens Notes: Flacco a full-fledged superstar. All the physical traits, dissects coverages (especially zone), can play in or out of pocket.

 Actually this has nothing to do with Flacco. Joe has proven himself time and time again that debate is over. However I disagree about Trestman. If he is as Andy Benoit says then why did they run him out of Chicago. Obviously they felt Jay Cutler was more important. Trestman had all world Brandon Marshall, Forte and Cutler and this offensive genius couldn't produce a winning season in Chicago?

[Sami84]

 Actually this has nothing to do with Flacco. Joe has proven himself time and time again that debate is over. However I disagree about Trestman. If he is as Andy Benoit says then why did they run him out of Chicago. Obviously they felt Jay Cutler was more important. Trestman had all world Brandon Marshall, Forte and Cutler and this offensive genius couldn't produce a winning season in Chicago?

 

I've never been a fan of marshall..honestly..

and their D was non existent.

[berad]

Actually this has nothing to do with Flacco. Joe has proven himself time and time again that debate is over. However I disagree about Trestman. If he is as Andy Benoit says then why did they run him out of Chicago. Obviously they felt Jay Cutler was more important. Trestman had all world Brandon Marshall, Forte and Cutler and this offensive genius couldn't produce a winning season in Chicago?

More to being a head coach than coaxing an offense into points. Don't think he had control of that locker room with those veterans or his staff. His OC was trashing Cutler in the newspapers, fessed up to it, and Trestman let him stick around.

[redrum52]

Actually this has nothing to do with Flacco. Joe has proven himself time and time again that debate is over. However I disagree about Trestman. If he is as Andy Benoit says then why did they run him out of Chicago. Obviously they felt Jay Cutler was more important. Trestman had all world Brandon Marshall, Forte and Cutler and this offensive genius couldn't produce a winning season in Chicago?

Some guys just aren't great HC. Kubiak was trending downwards as a HC, came here and revitalized the offense. Same goes for Norv and the Vikings. He brought success to the Browns offense before that as well. I'd also like to point out that only the Browns could ruin a coaching staff of Norv Turner and Ray Horton in one season.

Back on topic, I think the offense doesn't skip a beat, at least not because of Trestman.

[salamander]

Our record this year will be contingent on 1 unpredictable factor....injuries to our starters. That's stating the obvious but it is the difference between dominance and a Super bowl run or a total a collapse. "Mission Impossible" to make a reliable prediction unless I could foresee this 1 unforeseeable factor.

Edited September 2, 2015 by salamander

[Purple_City39]

 Actually this has nothing to do with Flacco. Joe has proven himself time and time again that debate is over. However I disagree about Trestman. If he is as Andy Benoit says then why did they run him out of Chicago. Obviously they felt Jay Cutler was more important. Trestman had all world Brandon Marshall, Forte and Cutler and this offensive genius couldn't produce a winning season in Chicago?

1. Some guys are better coordinators than head coaches

2. Why would the team's record be put solely on the offense?  Defense is a thing and Chicago didn't have one

3. Cutler had a contract that prevents him from being cut until 2017 I think.  Maybe 2016

4. Marshall was a distraction since preseason

5. Cutler sucked seriously.  They did better in 2013 with Josh McCowen

6.  Having certain players doesn't mean a team should/will be dominant.  O-lines play a factor, defenses play a factor, special teams is a thing, etc.  The Steelers #1 ranked passing game couldn't do much against our depleted secondary, for example

[ellicottraven]

Week 1 at Denver will be a loss.

Week 2 at Oakland will be a win.

Week 3 Home Opener with Cincinnati will be a win

Week 4 At Pittsburgh will be a win

Week 5 Cleveland at home will be a win.

Week 6 At Niners will be a win

Week 7 at Phoenix will be a loss

Week 8 San Diego at home will be a win

Week 9 Bye

Week 10 Jacksonville at home will be a win.

Week 11 St. Louis at home will be a win.

Week 12 at Cleveland will be a loss

Week 13 at Miami will be a loss

Week 14 Seattle at home will be a win

Week 15 Kansas City at home will be a loss

Week 16 Pittsburgh at home will be a win.

Week 17 at Cincinnati will be a win

 

This is where I think it ends up - 11-5

[Tru11]

 Actually this has nothing to do with Flacco. Joe has proven himself time and time again that debate is over. However I disagree about Trestman. If he is as Andy Benoit says then why did they run him out of Chicago. Obviously they felt Jay Cutler was more important. Trestman had all world Brandon Marshall, Forte and Cutler and this offensive genius couldn't produce a winning season in Chicago?

 

he does not know a thing about coaching defense is my guess.

 

their issues where defense related.

 

the safety duo they had made elam and stewart look like all pro lol.

 

tillman and jennings struggled with injuries and same goes for briggs.

urlarcher got old and retired.

peppers basically gave up and left.

 

basically they had to rely on cutler to carry team while he is at best a good game manager with a big arm.

[sflegend89]

1. Ravens (11-5)

2. Steelers (9-7)

3. Bengals (8-8)

4. Browns (5-11)

Edited September 2, 2015 by sflegend89

[rmcjacket23]

Good insights Danny D but 8 and 8 would be realistic if we had some talented back-ups which we most assuridly do not. However there is some good news. We have some salary cap room to try and plug a few gaps but like I said we only have so many fingers. Fred Jackson would have been a nice addition because Buck Allen is just plain awful, and landing Reggie Wayne would helped a bit etc. etc etc.

 

Let's go hypothetical for a moment. Can you imagine what our offense would look like if Forsette got an injury.

It would look the exact same as what people said it WOULDN'T look like when we lost Ray Rice.

 

Remember, just a season ago, we were on the Bernard Pierce bandwagon and Forsett was the poor "depth" we had.

 

If the Oline plays well, any RB will play well in this system. They might not play as well as the guy who got hurt, but that's not what you are looking for out of depth.

[January J]

Joe will not go down without a fight but Joe can't wage war if he has no long range missles. Every great team throughout history has had at least one deep threat. Believe me Breshard Perriman is not that guy!

all we need is perrimans speed. That alone will create succuss for Forsett , campanaro, etc.

with all due respect your predictions are a joke. I share a few of your concerns but at this point my worst case scenario is probably better than your best case which tells me your are just way off base and oblivious to reality.

[ellicottraven]

I don't know how many games we win this year. It is the most difficult season to handicap given the injury situation and the ridiculous schedule to start off the season.

 

My best guess or better still 'hope' is we win 11 games this year. Again, difficult to handicap given the unknowns.

Edited September 2, 2015 by ellicottraven

[MiamiRaven55]

After careful research based on certain scientfic priciples and known facts, I have formulated my somewhat famous and usually amazing predictions for the AFC North and the 2015 season and they are as follows, The Ravens are in a sharp decline, Flacco has no real deep threat. I believe Perriman will end up being an injury-prone washout. Our secondary is weak and good back-up personnel is non-exsistent. Our defensive line is pourous without Nagta and we don't have enough good healthy defensive line players for the shuffle in and out theory to be affective. We remain with excellent linebackers and a strong offensive line if they can stay healthy. Based on this the Ravens will finish 3rd in the AFC North behind the dreaded Bengals and Steelers with the Bengals winning the division. Here is how I believe our schedule will play out.

 

Week 1 at Denver will be a loss

Week 2 at Oakland will be a win.

Week 3 Home Opener with Cincinnati will be a loss.

Week 4 At Pittsburgh will be a loss.

Week 5 Cleveland at home will be a win.

Week 6 At Niners will be a loss.

Week 7 at Phoenix will be a loss.

Week 8 San Diego at home will be a loss.

Week 9 Bye

Week 10 Jacksonville at home will be a win.

Week 11 St. Louis at home will be a win.

Week 12 at Cleveland will be a loss.

Week 13 at Miami will be a loss.

Week 14 Seattle at home will be a loss.

Week 15 Kansas City at home will be a loss.

Week 16 Pittsburgh at home will be a win.

Week 17  at Cincinnati will be a loss.

 

There you have it sports fans We have a down year and finish at 5 and 11. Cincinatti wins the division at 12 and 4. Pittsburgh finishes at 10 and 6 and does not get a wild card. Cleveland is only able to go 3 and 13.

 

The sleeper team in the AFC will be the Buffalo Bills who will go to the Super Bowl on the strength of the amazing transformation of Tyrod Taylor.

 

 Call me a clairvoyant or genius if you like but most people just call me Wizard!

This coming from someone that doesn't even know that we play Arizona week 7, not Phoenix......... yeah tons of knowledge in this post. SMH

[Purple_City39]

This coming from someone that doesn't even know that we play Arizona week 7, not Phoenix......... yeah tons of knowledge in this post. SMH

Whereas I don't agree with his projections, I hope this is just sarcasm or something.

[MiamiRaven55]

Whereas I don't agree with his projections, I hope this is just sarcasm or something.

yep

[Purple_City39]

yep

Sorry, can't always tell online

[usmccharles]

Honestly still can't decide if this is real. I am a Homer and all, but I always try to think realistically. We went 8-8 after our superbowl with a huge turnover of stars leaving. I think that's our worst case scenario, but anyone could be right. But I'll stick with our history as we always give a good fight...just gotta make it to the dance.

[Halden52]

I don't really see how we could end up low in our division. The Steelers defense is going to be aweful this year, I mean they really didn't address any of the issues that they had going into the season. I'm not sold on the Bengals. They might be decent (at best) during the season, but what have they done in the post-season? The Browns...well there's nothing to say haha

[Gordo52]

And a story from him about Flacco

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/09/02/nfl-joe-flacco-baltimore-ravens

Excellent article!

Somehow I'm still always amazed by the comments I read on Flacco articles. It doesn't bother me as much as it used to, but he's still always getting disrespected by at least one person. Don't exactly know why, but it's made Joe's legacy extraordinary IMO. Anyway, It's refreshing to see him get some love.

I truly & sadly believe people still discredit him due to his persona. Lately he's been "coming out of his shell" more so we'll see if a rise in likability eventually factors into people's ridiculous arguments against him. It shouldn't but that's the society we live in.

Not saying Beniot is doing this at all, but I envision a lot of 'experts' who used to consistently bash him, hopping on the bandwagon this season........And I love knowing Joe doesn't give two bleeps about it!

Also Andy Beniot been tweeting gems all day. People should check out his timeline.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Gordo52

[BmoreBird22]

1. Some guys are better coordinators than head coaches

2. Why would the team's record be put solely on the offense?  Defense is a thing and Chicago didn't have one

3. Cutler had a contract that prevents him from being cut until 2017 I think.  Maybe 2016

4. Marshall was a distraction since preseason

5. Cutler sucked seriously.  They did better in 2013 with Josh McCowen

6.  Having certain players doesn't mean a team should/will be dominant.  O-lines play a factor, defenses play a factor, special teams is a thing, etc.  The Steelers #1 ranked passing game couldn't do much against our depleted secondary, for example

Special teams is highly underrated. San Diego had the number one defense and offense in 2010, I believe, but lost out on the playoffs at 8-8 due to poor special teams

[Gordo52]

I believe we're in the 10-11-12 wins range.

Would be nice to get a home playoff game but as a Ravens fan, I'm not worried about that. I believe we have Super-potential. I really don't see why any Raven fan wouldn't be optimistic....

Stop and appreciate this for a moment....It might have went over some heads but we've been one of the most successful franchises in all of sports the last 7 seasons... 7 seasons. Plenty envy us... Enjoy and expect great things out of this team.

[JoeyFlex5]

the only chance we have of going 5-11 is flacco getting hurt. i honestly dont know if flacco will ever see a losing record as a 16 game starter. the way this team is managed, the chances are that our worst record will be around 8-8 or 7-9 range as long as we have a good qb playing for us.

Edited September 2, 2015 by JoeyFlex5

[52liveforever]

Absolute worst case scenario 4-11. Best case scenario 14-2. my prediction, 10-6

 

Week 1 at Denver will be a win. Kubiak showed us his hand. I think we have an advantage here.

Week 2 at Oakland will be a win. I think Oakland is on the rise, but they wont come on until late

Week 3 Home Opener with Cincinnati will be a loss. Dalton always plays well early on.

Week 4 At Pittsburgh will be a loss. Leveon will be back and they are going to put a lot of points on the board and I don't think our O will be firing enough to keep up at this point in the season.

Week 5 Cleveland at home will be a win. it's probably going to be closer than it should be, but we will win.

Week 6 At Niners will be a win niners are still a mess from the jim break up

Week 7 at Phoenix will be a loss. Coming to Arizona after san fran, the cards are going to light a tired ravens up

Week 8 San Diego at home will be a loss. I think Rivers decides to play his best football against us.

Week 9 Bye

Week 10 Jacksonville at home will be a win. Its the jags and we are at home after the bye

Week 11 St. Louis at home will be a win. fresh off a win and bye and we are back at home starting to click on offense and defense

Week 12 at Cleveland will be a win I see this as a slaughter as we are clicking and they are crumbling as they do in the second half of the season

Week 13 at Miami will be a loss our classic lose to a team we should beat after hitting our stride.

Week 14 Seattle at home will be a win. I think our rough neck football style will shock the legion of boom

Week 15 Kansas City at home will be a loss. Monroe gets dominated by Houston and Hali and Joe has a terrible game

Week 16 Pittsburgh at home will be a win. with our offense clicking and their defense suffering we keep up with their offense and pull it out.

Week 17  at Cincinnati will be a win looking for pay back and a playoff spot. Everyone rallies behind steve smith for his last hoorah

Edited September 3, 2015 by 52liveforever

[PurpleCity5]

The team I'm really scared of Is honestly the Chiefs....They look reallyyy good right now.

Stout Defense, secondary could be much improved, Defensive Line is rediculously dangerous and offensively, they have weapons. Travis Kelce is breaking into the mold of a top 10 TE, could be top 5 soon and Jeremy Maclin fits in so well with them. And you can't forget about Jamaal Charles. I actually think they make the playoffs. I'm pretty scared of that matchup.

I don't see us losing to San Diego and honestly Im not impressed by them. Their defense doesn't look threatning and Philip Rivers won't be able to carve up this secondary like he did to last years. I'm confident we take that one. I feel that its more likely to drop against K.C than San Diego.

Edited September 3, 2015 by PurpleCity5