Ravens Have Progressed Into Legitimate Super Bowl Contenders
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Even when the Ravens were 3-3, coach John Harbaugh knew that he had a talented group that was eventually going to find its way.
Since falling to the New York Giants 24-20 on Oct. 16, Baltimore has strung together four consecutive wins and is in a prime position to make the playoffs for the fourth time in five years.
The best could still be yet to come as more players return from injuries.
“I think any coach – any teacher – would say the same thing; when you see your students or your players start to have success in ways that you kind of envisioned for them, it’s very rewarding," Harbaugh said. "Then again, it’s tempered in our league, especially by the fact that you know you’re coming up against a great opponent the very next week that’s very capable of making everything go in the other direction at any time.
"Our guys are really good; they do a great job of keeping it simple and understanding the challenge in front of them and just trying to play it one play at a time, one practice at a time and get ready for the next game. I feel really good about our guys. Lamar [Jackson] thinks that way, Calais [Campbell], Marlon [Humphrey], Marcus [Peters] … All those guys feel that way.”
The defense has helped pave the way for the most recent winning streak.
Baltimore has held opponents scoreless in the first half an NFL-high 29 times since 2008. In those games under Harbaugh, the Ravens are 28-1, including victories in 22 straight games.
The Ravens’ 7.3 points allowed per first half this season is the NFL’s best mark.
More reinforcements are on the way as rookie outside linebacker David Ojabo is poised to make his NFL debut and veteran safety Marcus Williams is expected to return to the lineup from a wrist injury.
“Defensively, I feel good about the steady progress," Harbaugh said. "I feel like we had a vision, the players understood the vision. It’s built around the talent that we have, and what we had, and we haven’t really changed course; we’ve stayed on course, and we’ve just tried to improve. So, the guys have done that. It’s starting to show up in a really good way in the last month or so, and we have to keep getting better. We have a long way to go.”
