Baltimore Ravens on Fire, Need to Make Most of This Season

In the NFL's American Conference North Division are four teams, three of which I tend to route against: Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, in that order of dislike.  Only the Baltimore Ravens, led by their great head coach John Harbaugh, have ever earned my following.  That Super Bowl season nearly twenty years ago with their tenacious defense, their being the only team Miami beat during the Dolphins' miserable 1-15 2007 season (and I'm grateful to them for that), and that year a little while back when they won that thrilling 35-32 Super Bowl over the San Francisco 49ers...a team I also traditionally root against, all earned my support.  It's true that in the opening game this year they pretty much humiliated "my" Miami Dolphins 59-10, but I don't hold that against the Ravens but rather upper-level Dolphins management, who openly embarked on a tanking strategy in order to accumulate high picks in the next draft. But look at how the Ravens have done in their last five games and Miami's thrashing doesn't look so bad in comparison...they handled Seattle, a regular challenger, 30-16, they handily knocked New England from the ranks of the undefeated 37-20, they routed admittedly hapless Cincinnati 49-13, they crushed a very good Houston team 41-7, and last Sunday pretty much destroyed last year's NFC champs the Los Angeles Rams 45-6.  The Ravens are a complete team on both offense and defense, but much of their success this year is being attributed to the phenomenal performance of their second-year quarterback Lamar Jackson...

Lamar Jackson, with 24 touchdown passes and only 5 interceptions this season and who is destined for a 1000+ yard rushing season, is an excellent passer, not only in his accuracy but also in reading the defense and being able to quickly adjust to it.  He also rushes a lot, and although he has borne that burden well so far, it makes me a bit squeamish whenever he tears through the line on a play and is eventually hit hard, tackled, and piled on...that's how folks get injured in the game: just ask his backup quarterback Robert Griffin III, who had a spectacular rookie season as a running/passing QB like Jackson until a late-season injury began a chain of physical problems that subsequently plagued his once-so-promising career and now has him in a second-string position.  Carolina's Cam Newton seems to be undergoing the same fate as Griffin as all those hard hits seem to have done their accumulated effect on his body...once almost invincible but now fragile.  Right now Lamar Jackson is standing high on top of the sports world...also seemingly invincible.  But somewhere down the line...and hopefully much later than sooner...I fear that the same fate will befall him that did in his colleagues Griffin and Newton.  That's why I titled this article as I did: the Baltimore Ravens are a solid first place in their division, with a current record that gets them a first-round bye in the playoffs.  They're only a game behind New England for the AFC's best record, and if they can catch up with the Patriots by year's end they'll be home until the Super Bowl since they already beat them this year.  Right now I think Baltimore and those doggone 49ers are the best teams in the NFL and my picks to make the Super Bowl...but wait, they're playing each other this Sunday!  I'm looking forward to that game, which will take place at 1 pm in Baltimore.  Go Ravens, capitalize on your present fortunes and make 2019 your year...and please, Lamar, be careful...