SVP’s One Big Thing: The Ravens are in a class by themselves
More Teams. More Games.
Scott Van Pelt goes in depth on what has made the Ravens so impressive these past few games and how it can lead to a Super Bowl. (2:04)
There truly is one big thing this Sunday in the NFL — and it’s the Baltimore Ravens. There are many questions that remain as the NFL regular season heads into its final weekend, but there are a couple of things that have become crystal clear: Lamar Jackson is going to win another MVP, and Baltimore has emerged as the AFC’s favorite to get to the Super Bowl.
When San Francisco smoked Philadelphia in the Linc in Week 13, it was the team who seemed to be the bully on the block. Since then, the wheels have gotten very wobbly on the Eagles’ wagon. But far more eye-opening was the bully getting bullied on its home field by Baltimore. That was what the Ravens did last week — and they followed it up by obliterating Miami this week.
This two-week stretch is as loud a statement as anyone has made in the NFL this season. It is just the second time in the Super Bowl era a team won back-to-back games by at least 14 points over teams that entered with at least 10 wins. Tack on what they did the week before at Jacksonville and you have three consecutive wins by an aggregate 112-45 — each over teams who might all be division winners.
Over that stretch, Lamar has thrown eight TDs against one pick for 744 yards, and he’s run for 177 more yards. For the season, the Ravens are 7-1 against teams with a winning record and are plus-170 on the scoreboard in those games.
The MVP-to-be was paid this offseason at an elite level, and his performance has been commensurate with his paystub. Ultimately, Steve Bisciotti is paying all that money for a third Lombardi, not Jackson’s second MVP. They could get both, though, because the QB isn’t doing it alone. Baltimore’s defense leads the NFL in sacks, takeaways and scoring — no team since the AFL-NFL merger more than 50 years ago has done that.
The playoff stumbles undoubtedly will be brought up as the Ravens wait to join the playoff party through the bye. But it’s a wait they’ve earned with brilliant play, and it creates belief that they could roll right to Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII.