To Be Honest Tuesday: 5-1 Ravens should be feared going forward

Every Tuesday from now until the end of the season and postseason, I will be writing an article on a topic that I honestly believe in or believe will come to fruition regarding the Baltimore Ravens.

This week’s topic is about how the 5-1 Ravens should be feared by their remaining opponents and the rest of the league going forward:

Heading into the 2020 season the Ravens were a popular pick stand in the way of the Kansas City Chiefs repeating as Superbowl champions and emerge from the AFC to compete in the ultimate title game.

While they are still considered one of the elite teams and top contenders in the league, ever since they suffered their first loss of the season to the Chiefs and reigning Superbowl MVP Patrick Mahomes on Monday Night Football in Week Three, some doubt their ability to go the distance.

Through the first six games of the regular season before their bye in Week Seven, the Ravens were not playing their best football and went on record saying as much.

Reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson and the offense have been inconsistent at times and as a unit, they haven’t looked anywhere near the same well oiled-machine they were at the end of the 2019 regular season.

As for the defense, they have had some convincing and at times dominant performances against lesser competition but were carved up by Mahomes in embarrassing fashion in primetime.

Despite not looking far from a finished product, the Ravens are still winning and keeping pace with the top teams in the AFC.

After having a week to rest, self-scout and reload with the trade for Pro Bowl pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue and signing of three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Dez Bryant to the practice squad, the Ravens are now preparing for perhaps their toughest test yet.

Baltimore’s arch division rival Pittsburgh Steelers are coming to town in Week Eight with a perfect 6-0 record and unlike the Ravens, have looked balanced and in sync on both sides of the ball to start the season.

Before becoming the juggernaut on both sides of the ball down the stretch last season, the Ravens were 4-2 through the first six games and weren’t looked at as top title contenders until midway through their franchise-record 12-game winning streak.

Since John Harbaugh was hired as the head coach in 2008, the Ravens have almost always finished better than they started and are an impressive 10-2 in games coming off the bye during the regular season.

The fact that they only have one loss on their ledger, are averaging nearly 30 points a game on offense, and are allowing the fewest points per game on defense despite not playing to the best of their abilities shouldn’t frighten their fans and supporters or make them want to hit the panic button.

Those realities should strike fear into the hearts of every opponent they have left on their regular-season schedule and to any team they might face in the postseason because history has proven that it only gets better from hear with Ravens.

Starting with Pittsburgh this upcoming Sunday, the rest of the league should be wary of facing a well-rested, well-equipped, well-coached, and highly motivated Baltimore team the rest of the way.

Those on the Steelers’ hype train love to point out that the last time the Steelers were undefeated at this point in the season ended with them in the Superbowl and hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy.

However, that was over four decades ago when the 1978 Steelers finished 14-2 and won Superbowl XIII (13).

A more recent and relevant statistic is that in the short 25-year history of the Ravens franchise, the two previous times the team started a season 5-1 ended with a trip to and a victory in the ultimate title game.

The 2000 Ravens were led by arguably the most dominant defense in league history and the 2012 team went on a magical ride in the postseason that year to finish what they started in 2011 with a more talented team.

This year’s team shares similarities to both championship-winning teams aside from their 5-1 start to their respective seasons. They possess arguably the best defense in the league like the 2000 squad and aren’t quite as talented as the previous year’s team at least on offense particularly at tight end and right guard as they were the year before like the 2012 group.

The moral of this piece is that the story of the 2020 Ravens is still being written and has yet to reach its climax. There is something special brewing in Baltimore even if the rest of the league and even some of the Ravens’ fans don’t quite see it yet.