Ravens: What You See Is What You Get

If you expect to see a dominant Baltimore Ravens team that takes advantage of the opponents disabilities and put a beatdown on them similar to what you saw in last week's 55 point blowout of the Oakland Raiders, you will continue to be disappointed on a regular basis. At least eight times a year.

The Ravens are just not a good road team and that fact is indisputable over the past two seasons. However, it may still be good enough to get the Ravens into the playoffs and perhaps even to the Super Bowl. Despite getting beaten four times on the orad last year, everyone knows the Ravens should have been in the Super Bowl.

Baltimore is 3-2 on the road this season and take away their 25-15 win over the Cleveland Browns, their other two victories were each by a field goal. They have not scored more than those 25 points at Cleveland as visitors while averaging 31 per game at home and only scoring less than 25 points once this season. Their 17 points per game average is two touchdowns less than at M&T Bank Stadium.

Get used to it, folks. This is the rule, not the exception. The trend might be disturbing but it is consistent. Luckily, the Ravens have been good enough to win enough of these games and be so dominant at home that in the NFL nowadays, it is still good enough to compete for the post season year after year. Baltimore has three road games left in the 2012 regular season. They travel to play the San Diego Chargers next week and still have games at the Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals.

With an 8-2 record, which is currently second best in the AFC and enough for a two-game lead in the AFC North, their road woes may not be a significant issue between now and the AFC Championship Game if even then. The Ravens seem well on their way to a fifth straight playoff appearance, the only team in the NFL able to make that claim. Depending on where they finish, they will most certainly get a home playoff game and perhaps even a first-round bye.

If the possible scenario of a #2 seed and a win in their Divisional Round playoff game, they can even end up hosting the AFC Championship Game if the #1 seed, expected to be the Houston Texans, get upset along the way. Of course, the Texans destroyed the Ravens in Houston earlier this year, but if the game ends up in Houston, we can worry about that at that time.

For now, if Baltimore continues to win pretty at home and ugly on the road, so be it. What you see is what you get and any Ravens fan will gladly take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day of the week.