Ravens Thoughts Heading into San Francisco

The 49ers are the NFL’s best.  It’s a daunting challenge to beat San Francisco on the road.

This is the litmus test for how good the Ravens are.  But does the game really matter, other than from the perspective of potentially playing them in the Super Bowl?  For purposes of winning the top seed in the AFC, a loss to the 49ers is meaningless if the Ravens can beat Miami and Pittsburgh.  So here’s an unusual Ravens thought: could we think the unthinkable and contemplate resting Ronnie Stanley and Marcus Williams?  I don’t believe there’s any way John Harbaugh would do it, but it might make the most sense for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

Let’s take a look back at the Jaguars game, and then a peak at San Francisco. Continue reading “Ravens Thoughts Heading into San Francisco”

Ravens Early Comments Before the Rams Game

I hope to have a subsequent post this week drawing comments from the Chargers game and towards the Rams game.  Below are a few idle thoughts coming out of the bye week.

Kyle Hamilton

Readers are aware of my view that Hamilton is really two different players.  I’ve argued that when he’s aligned in the slot or in the box (i.e., when he is at the line and coming forward) he is outstanding.  Hamilton has made a plethora of impact plays from that positioning; sacks, tackles for loss, beating blockers and disrupting plays, etc.   But when Hamilton is aligned on the back end as one of the Ravens’ two deep safeties in cover two, he’s just ordinary. Continue reading “Ravens Early Comments Before the Rams Game”