Very little attention has been paid to the Baltimore Ravens over the the past few months, especially the improvements the club has made on offense in the offseason.
spread odds betting odds handicapping
Don't forget to check SBROdds.com as well for NFL betting odds from top sportsbooks.
When you think of the Baltimore Ravens, you think of a team that plays a vanilla offense, runs the heck out of the football, plays the shortest games known to man, has a devastating defense, will kick some tail first and ask questions later. This season though, they could have an offense that matches the intensity of the defense and is just as feared to boot.
It's all going to begin with the play of QB Joe Flacco. The former Delaware Blue Hen had a great season in 2009, throwing for 3,613 yards, 21 TDs and 12 INTs. It's fairly clear that Flacco advanced quite a bit from his rookie season from 2008 when he threw just 14 TD passes. Head coach John Harbaugh also took off the training wheels just a tad from his franchise quarterback in '09, letting him throw the ball 71 more times than he did in '08.
Sign up to win prizes in SBR Contests!
In 2008, Flacco had two stellar options to throw to in the forms of WR Derrick Mason and TE Todd Heap. Last year, RB Ray Rice emerged as a threat in the passing game, leading the team in receptions with 78. Mason is coming off of a 1,000+ yard season, and though Heap is clearly showing some signs of age, he was still good for 593 yards and six TDs in 2009.
What was always lacking was that prototypical second receiver. Not anymore.
The Ravens made their move by acquiring WR Anquan Boldin from the Arizona Cardinals. Boldin, a product of Florida State, is annually a 1,000-yard receiver. Playing second fiddle to Mason won't be an issue for Boldin, as he has taken the undercard to WR Larry Fitzgerald for the majority of his career in the desert. Depth was also added at the tight end position for the first time, as rookies Ed Dickson from Oregon and Dennis Pitta from BYU, arguably two of the best five receiving tight ends in this year's NFL Draft, were both added to an already deep squad.
Last year, the Ravens racked up 5,619 yards of offense, an average of 351.2 YPG. That was good enough to finish No. 13 in the NFL. Don't be overly shocked if that number goes up by nearly 1,000 yards this year, as Flacco should only improve, especially with his new toys to throw to. The rushing game, behind Rice and RB Willis McGahee was good for 137.5 YPG last year. It shouldn't take anything but steps in the right direction as well this year.
Before the preseason has even started, a devastating injury struck the Ravens defense. Domonique Foxworth, who was tied for the team lead in picks last year with four, suffered an ACL tear and will be lost for the season. This leaves Baltimore quite thin in the secondary, particularly at cornerback. Safeties are still in great shape though, as Ed Reed, Dawan Landry and Tom Zbikowski are amongst the best in the NFL.
Still, the front seven for this squad is as good as it gets. Starting names like Haloti Ngata, Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis and Trevor Pryce is scary. Adding LB Sergio Kindle out of Texas probably only makes the situation worse for opposing offenses. Kindle will most likely step into the middle of this 3-4 defense next to Lewis on the inside, and his ball hawking abilities should go well on a defense that loves to swarm the man with the pigskin.
The Ravens ranked in the Top 10 in all major statistical categories on defense, including coming in third in total defense (300.5 YPG) and scoring (16.3 PPG).
Needless to say, this is certainly a team that is worthy of your NFL futures betting this year. The Ravens are tabbed to win 10 games by the oddsmakers at 5Dimes. They are odds-on favorites to capture the AFC North title at minus 115 and minus 230 choices to return to the postseason once again.
On the Super Bowl XLV lines, the Ravens can be found at plus 1600, making them the seventh choice on the board overall and the fourth favorite in the AFC.