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#3 Baltimore Ravens
This is the only playoff team on the list and the Ravens didn’t just sneak into the postseason, they won ten games and finished at the top of the AFC North. With all the drama surrounding Pittsburgh, a young Cleveland squad that was still finding their groove and Cincinnati completely falling off as the season went along, Baltimore took full advantage once they inserted rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson into the starting lineup.
The former Heisman trophy winner immediately turned them into one of the top rushing offenses in the league and they had the type of complimentary defense and special teams to win six of their final games. However, when they hosted the Chargers in the Wildcard Round, it felt like the visitors exposed Lamar by putting extra defensive backs on the field to secure the edges and shut down a run game that was falsely labelled as an option offense.
Not only was the play-calling predictable, but their QB failed to make easy reads and connect in the passing game. Soon after that the top-ranked Ravens defense saw major changes with stalwarts Terrell Suggs, Eric Weddle and C.J. Mosley all gone. In the meantime the Browns acquired one of the most dynamic offensive players in the NFL when they made a blockbuster deal for Odell Beckham Jr. in addition to some other key moves for a team that already looked like the favorite in that division.
When free agency arrived, the Ravens made up for some of those losses when signing Earl Thomas and Mark Ingram to go with a draft that had a clear focus of helping out their 22-year old signal-caller. I like some of the signings in the later phases of free agency with Shane Ray and Pernell McPhee hungry to help out the pass rush and right now this looks like the top secondary in football.
So defensively I think they could be dominant once again and it call comes back to Lamar’s development as a passer. Newly promoted offensive coordinator Greg Roman is implementing a new offensive system, which could once again feature multiple tight-end sets, rotate their backs and now has a true deep threat in first-round pick Marquise Brown.
If Mr. Jackson becomes a true threat from the pocket, we could be looking at a real contender in the AFC, but if his passing remains a little wobbly, they will not be able to compete with Cleveland for the division and could even land behind a refocused Steelers team.
