Realistically, do the Ravens have a shot at representing the AFC in the Super Bowl?

[flynismo]

Well, if we win the division, it means we won't have to worry about pittsburgh. The remaining teams are beatable, especially now that Gronk is out for the year. It could happen...all depends on what the OL does.

[redrum52]

49 minutes ago, flynismo said:

Well, if we win the division, it means we won't have to worry about pittsburgh. The remaining teams are beatable, especially now that Gronk is out for the year. It could happen...all depends on what the OL does.

Past few weeks they seem to keep improving, even if it's not showing on the score board.

[Desert]

Until we learn to play more than three quarters during a game I would have to say no way, Sorry.

 

Desert

[JoeyFlex5]

We saw a complete game today. We know this team has it.

The afc just saw the absolute last thing they wanted to see. This game was a nightmare for all the afc playoff hopefuls. The ravens slowly ramped up over the past few weeks and then exploded against one of the hottest teams in the league and demolished them. 

The swagger is there, the chemistry is there and still building. We are healthy. We are about to go on a tear here folks. 

[cobrajet]

12 minutes ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

We saw a complete game today. We know this team has it.

The afc just saw the absolute last thing they wanted to see. This game was a nightmare for all the afc playoff hopefuls. The ravens slowly ramped up over the past few weeks and then exploded against one of the hottest teams in the league and demolished them. 

The swagger is there, the chemistry is there and still building. We are healthy. We are about to go on a tear here folks. 

I know the Patriots are the last team that wanted to see the Ravens explode like this today! If we stay healthy and Joe keeps this up, yes this team can win another Festivis Maximus baby!

[PuRock]

My fear is that we continue to play great to the point where no one wants to play us in the playoffs.  But we lose close tough games to the Patriots and Steelers on the road only to see the Steelers get in. 

We have to win at least one of these.

I always think any Ravens team is dangerous in the playoffs.  Even when we are banged up and sucking.  

This squad however has the talent to crush it in the playoffs. I just want to get there. Wish we could get one of those bad losses back. 

[EdTheMythicalOne]

I think we'll get a very good answer to this question after the New England game. Win or lose if they come out and at least look a lot like the team that showed up against the Dolphins and it comes down to a last minute game winning-losing drive, then the team can legitimately go to the superbowl again provided they win the division and the roster stays healthy. One thing to note is that Alex Lewis is scheduled to be healthy at some point during the playoffs if the Ravens make it. Say what you want about him, but I think he would be an overall better RG than Vlad Ducasse and he is potentially your new RT as Wagner is probably playing his way to a big contract in his walk year.

[OUravensfan]

16 hours ago, PuRock said:

My fear is that we continue to play great to the point where no one wants to play us in the playoffs.  But we lose close tough games to the Patriots and Steelers on the road only to see the Steelers get in. 

We have to win at least one of these.

I always think any Ravens team is dangerous in the playoffs.  Even when we are banged up and sucking.  

This squad however has the talent to crush it in the playoffs. I just want to get there. Wish we could get one of those bad losses back. 

This is how I feel, it hurts, I think this team can be very dangerous if they can get in. I'll be sick watching Pittsburgh over us, I feel they're incredibly overrated, we need Cinci to beat them.

[Steve0x]

Not Yet!! They are missing a great safety. They need 2 great defensive linemen to be able to sack QB often. In other words they need a leader in Safety position and they need a leader in sacks. Once they do that then they can contend for the super bowl again. In other words we need another great free safety like Ed Reed was and we need some one like Tony Siragusa & Michael McCrary, Then they're ready to contend for the super bowl 

[OUravensfan]

10 minutes ago, Steve0x said:

Not Yet!! They are missing a great safety. They need 2 great defensive linemen to be able to sack QB often. In other words they need a leader in Safety position and they need a leader in sacks. Once they do that then they can contend for the super bowl again. In other words we need another great free safety like Ed Reed was and we need some one like Tony Siragusa & Michael McCrary, Then they're ready to contend for the super bowl 

I hope Suggs and Weddle prove you wrong this year!

Next year they'll need a solid possession WR and another CB to go alongside Smith, I also agree with a younger pass rusher and safety.

[The Mom Gene]

On ‎12‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 2:14 AM, terrynjulia03 said:

 

Had a meme, but it would've gotten deleted anyway as there's no sense of humor on here. "Could" we? Sure, if we suddenly developed a ground game. However the reality is, nope this could be Brady's last ride. He'll be 40 next season, if he plays. Yeah I know makes a lot of us feel old. Let's put that in perspective. Peyton gave his final run at 39. Favre was 41, after retiring twice. NE will be in the SB, prob against the Giants, kinda a rematch where Brady wins and rides off into the sunset. 

Trust me, there is a really deep sense of humor on here....  Ya' just gotta keep it clean.

Giants in the Super Bowl..  Now that I think is funny...  There are a few other teams that would be more apt to represent the NFC.  Did you even watch them yesterday?  They were awful.  I mean bad awful.

If we can get through the next 4 weeks...  we can represent...

[rmcjacket23]

If we're going to keep saying "we can beat anybody", it would be really, really, really helpful if we like actually did something like that.

Even in 2012, we beat two playoff teams in the regular season, which wasn't a lot, but we showed that we could beat a team like NE.

Would love to see the stats on SB winning teams and how many wins against playoff teams they had in the regular season, because my guess is they all had at least multiple of them.

If we don't beat NE, from where I'm sitting, you're probably looking at 0-3 or 0-4 against playoff teams, assuming that we still win the division and nobody else from our division gets in.

Edit: As at a least a starting point in research, I did look at the 2011 Giants team that won the SB after going 9-7 in the regular season. They did only have one win against a playoff team in the regular season.

Edited December 5, 2016 by rmcjacket23

[Steve0x]

7 hours ago, OUravensfan said:

I hope Suggs and Weddle prove you wrong this year!

Next year they'll need a solid possession WR and another CB to go alongside Smith, I also agree with a younger pass rusher and safety.

They need more than Suggs and Weddle. Maybe next year Ozzie can sign Charles Johnson and Domata Peko and just maybe they might have a chance next year. 

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

47 minutes ago, Steve0x said:

They need more than Suggs and Weddle. Maybe next year Ozzie can sign Charles Johnson and Domata Peko and just maybe they might have a chance next year. 

 

Too expensive, and Peko straight up sucks and is old and our dline is the least of our needs. I'm glad the fans don't run this team. 

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

On 12/3/2016 at 5:49 PM, Deflated Football said:

If Flacco has another Montana-esque playoff run, I'll go one step further and say we will win the Super Bowl. 

Flacco has shown up for the playoffs before on multiple occasions. Most fans wish he could play like that all the time, but the postseason is where he makes his money. Oh, and before people derail this by saying "he needs an elite oline/WR corps.", we were a Jimmy Smith away from a probable Super Bowl appearance in 2014, and he played lights out with Urschel starting at RG, Yanda at RT, oh and James  "the human turnstile" Hurst at LT. Hardly an amazing oline even if the rest of the line played well except for Hurst. Likewise, Owen Daniels, SSR, and a Torrey Smith who's stats were better than his season actually was is inferior to what we've got going on now. Our oline and running game is inferior, but we have the weapons, and the defense is not only better this go around, but a better unit. Especially if Dumervil continues to get healthy. 

 

Honestly, if we get hot right now, it's possible. We just need to make the playoffs. Anything is possible. 

[redrum52]

5 minutes ago, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

Too expensive, and Peko straight up sucks and is old and our dline is the least of our needs. I'm glad the fans don't run this team. 

He said we need a safety, NT and pass rusher.  We have Weddle, Williams and Pierce, and some young up and coming guys.  The pass rush needs help, but rush could amp in later in the season.

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

1 minute ago, redrum52 said:

He said we need a safety, NT and pass rusher.  We have Weddle, Williams and Pierce, and some young up and coming guys.  The pass rush needs help, but rush could amp in later in the season.

 

 

Especially as Dumervil continues to get healthy. We can already generate interior pressure. Pierce, Guy, and Jernigan have that covered. If Dumervil can come on, then no one is going to want to play us, as he adds another element to the game with Suggs, who has reemerged, and Judon, who's turned out to be a good player from the get go.

 

If Will Hill wasn't a total moron this would be even better with Weddle, and we could move Webb to slot CB. 

 

Edited December 6, 2016 by LosT_in_TranSlatioN

[trevorsteadman]

This team is better talent wise than 2014. The team needs to get to the playoffs first though... It will all come down to that Christmas game against the Steelers. 

Once you get in the playoffs anything can happen. It is more of a week to week matchup. I mean in the 2012 playoffs everybody thought the Ravens were going to go all the way... And they didn't. Nobody thought the 2013 Ravens had a shot because they lost 3 of their last 4... And they did win it all.

Point is they have to win 3 of their last 4 to make the playoffs. Bengals and Philidelphia should be wins but they aren't teams to sleep on. Steelers game is the key because of the tie breaker. Beating New England would be fantastic. 

[OUravensfan]

10 hours ago, Steve0x said:

They need more than Suggs and Weddle. Maybe next year Ozzie can sign Charles Johnson and Domata Peko and just maybe they might have a chance next year. 

Peko is terrible, seen him his entire career at Cinci

[usmccharles]

19 hours ago, Steve0x said:

Not Yet!! They are missing a great safety. They need 2 great defensive linemen to be able to sack QB often. In other words they need a leader in Safety position and they need a leader in sacks. Once they do that then they can contend for the super bowl again. In other words we need another great free safety like Ed Reed was and we need some one like Tony Siragusa & Michael McCrary, Then they're ready to contend for the super bowl 

What in the world are you talking about? Weddle and Webb have been playing good, both just had an INT sunday, one basically saved a TD and the other was in the RZ as well.  We have the best run defense in football and we need 2 more great lineman?  With Doom back and the rotation getting better, expect our passrush to improve.  And yea, we need a safety like Reed, ya know who else does, every single team every to play a single came considering he is considered one of if not the greatest safety of all time.  You need to stop living in the past, you will never be happy. 

 

Our real test as everyone is stating is Monday night.  This game is easily  in our reach to put everyone on notice that we found our grove and we can beat this team.  I expect BB to have some tricks for us like in 2014, This game will show us where we stand. 

[JoeyFlex5]

this dude's trippin...

[usmccharles]

4 minutes ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

this dude's trippin...

Who?

[Cawtious]

I think we have a shot.  Like everyone else, health and consistency through the final matchups in this season are going to be key.

I think the probability isn't the highest, if everything remains as it stands today (in regards to personnel and health of all the AFC teams).

I think the biggest hurdles are:

1)  We need to play on par with New England, even if we do not beat them this week. 

2)  We must win the game vs. Pittsburgh.  Cincinnati isn't a threat this year.  We don't want a matchup with the Steelers during the playoffs

3) We must finish the Bengals off decisively at their place.  This is, more than anything, a game we do not want to face as the "win or go home" by falling to beat Pittsburgh on Christmas Day.  We need a great launch into the playoffs. 

 

 

[VermontRaven]

4 minutes ago, Cawtious said:

I think we have a shot.  Like everyone else, health and consistency through the final matchups in this season are going to be key.

I think the probability isn't the highest, if everything remains as it stands today (in regards to personnel and health of all the AFC teams).

I think the biggest hurdles are:

1)  We need to play on par with New England, even if we do not beat them this week. 

2)  We must win the game vs. Pittsburgh.  Cincinnati isn't a threat this year.  We don't want a matchup with the Steelers during the playoffs

3) We must finish the Bengals off decisively at their place.  This is, more than anything, a game we do not want to face as the "win or go home" by falling to beat Pittsburgh on Christmas Day.  We need a great launch into the playoffs. 

 

 

We might not have a choice in this matter.  If the Steelers beat the Bills, Bengals, and Browns (and lose to us), they will be 10-6 and have a good shot at the wildcard berth (and most likely play us in the 1st round in that scenario as the AFC North winner is likely to be the 3 seed, and KC/Oakland will most likely be 5 seed)

[Halshayeji]

On December 3, 2016 at 11:35 PM, RaineV1 said:

Did I saw it was holding us bad? I said I don't have faith in a defense that can't get a consistent pass rush to win a title for us. Nor can I see it happening when they seem to collapse at the end of games.

Our pass rush is not elite but it's not bad at all. Compare it to the likes of NE or Pitt or Dallas and you'll realize that we have a much more consistent rush than most. Collapsing at the end of games has gotten better but well c in a few days I we can hold up for a full game.

[Steve0x]

17 hours ago, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

Too expensive, and Peko straight up sucks and is old and our dline is the least of our needs. I'm glad the fans don't run this team. 

Look how the Raiders turn things around. They spend! 

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

1 minute ago, Steve0x said:

Look how the Raiders turn things around. They spend! 

Because the majority of their good players were recently drafted, thus they are cheaper. When it comes time to pay Mack and Carr and Cooper, they'll be screwed. 

Edited December 6, 2016 by LosT_in_TranSlatioN

[ludy51]

2 hours ago, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

Because the majority of their good players were recently drafted, thus they are cheaper. When it comes time to pay Mack and Carr and Cooper, they'll be screwed. 

But but but Dream team...

[RaineV1]

5 hours ago, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

Because the majority of their good players were recently drafted, thus they are cheaper. When it comes time to pay Mack and Carr and Cooper, they'll be screwed. 

Well, if they keep drafting well to fill out the team after they pay Carr, Cooper, and Mack. If Mario Edwards comes back strong though then he might be a free agency lost when the time comes.

[Tornado700]

Realistically, I have to say no. New England is a tough game for us. If we played like last week, then I like our chances. We are tied with Pittsburg record wise. They have an easy schedule, we do not. At New England, at Pittsburgh, and at Cinci. I don't think we win the division. The Steelers will. That four game losing streak did us in, yet we could have easily won two of them.