They're getting old on defense, have a no-name quarterback and a head coach whose name is confused with another. Still, the Baltimore Ravens continue to win.
The Baltimore Ravens seem to finish at 10-6 or 9-7 every season. And it feels like every year, some team that enters the playoffs with high expectations ends up getting sent home from the postseason prematurely after running into the boys in purple.
Last year was no exception, as Baltimore knocked off the New England Patriots in the second season before ending its own year with a loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Now, the Ravens are the fifth choice on the NFL betting board to win the AFC at +850 and are +1700 to take the Lombardi Trophy. Buy or sell?
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Stock You Absolutely Have to Buy: QB Joe Flacco
When we look at the Ravens next season, we are going to be talking about Flacco as one of the premier quarterbacks in the league without a shadow of a doubt. With the addition of WR Anquan Boldin, Flacco finally has someone that he can throw to who doesn't have the name of Derrick Mason.
The former Delaware Blue Hen had a miserable postseason, throwing three picks without a touchdown pass in two games. But during the regular season, he threw for 3,613 yards and 21 scores. Expect those numbers to only get better as the offense starts to open up more and more for him. Without a doubt, this is a 5* football stock in the making that you can still get at a reasonable price.
Stock Aging like Fine Wine: Baltimore Ravens Defense
It doesn't seem to matter who is calling the shots for the Ravens defense. The unit is year in and year out one of the best five defenses in the league. Last year was another dominant one for the blitz-happy defense, as it ranked third in the league in both scoring defense (16.3 points per game) and total defense (300.5 yards per game).
Yes, guys like S Ed Reed and LB Ray Lewis are at the end of their careers, but can you imagine what's going to happen when this team lines DTs Haloti Ngata and Terrence Cody up next to each other? Little scatbacks are going to run into these two and never be seen again. Pittsburgh Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall has got to be on the hors d'oeuvres list for these two defensive lineman. There's no reason to sell Baltimore's 'D' now.
Stock with a Little Name but Big Bite: John Harbaugh
If you're anything like me, you're still trying to digest the fact that it was John Harbaugh and not Jim Harbaugh that was signed to coach this team a few years ago. Regardless of which Harbaugh you're grabbing right now, the stock value is absolutely underrated.
John Harbaugh has done his job by letting his team's philosophy stay in place from the Super Bowl days. Run the ball, don't make mistakes and play solid defense. Sounds like a winning plan to me. Keep on buying Harbaugh until he gives us a reason to believe otherwise.
Buying or Selling the Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens are going to be facing a tough football betting number to beat this year on their season win total at a flat 10. That means that they need to win 11 games to be able to post a winner for us.
However, the game at Pittsburgh is going to come without Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback, and if the team can get through Week 6 at New England and be at .500 or better, everything opens up quite a bit. The defending champion New Orleans Saints come to town on December 19, but aside from that, there aren't too many games in the second half of the season that Baltimore won't be favored in.
"I'm bullish on the Ravens to win the AFC outright and represent the AFC in the Super Bowl," says Eric Schmidt, contributor to Rant Sports' Ravens blog. "They had a smart draft and had most likely the smartest of offseasons in the free agent market."
Though this is a team that is built on its defense, the offense is probably going surprise some people this year. As we have already discussed, Flacco has the tools to be amazing, and now he has all of the weapons at his disposal as well. If the running game can produce anywhere near the 137.5 yards per game that it did a year ago, this will be a dangerous, dangerous unit.
Quoth the Ravens: Buy us more!