Ravens prepare for a difficult road stretch

There's a little bit of good news/bad news for the Ravens after the first quarter of the season. Fortunately, they're 3-1. Unfortunately, the Ravens have already played three games at home.

While the situation isn't ideal, I'm actually fine with it, especially given the circumstances this team faced thus far in a young season.

Here's the major challenges the Ravens have faced thus far:

• Dealt with the media circus surrounding the Ray Rice situation and the team's handling of it.
• Play all three divisional opponents within their first three games.
• Face the Steelers only four days after playing their first game.

Since many of their home games are now spent, the Ravens will play on the road four of their next five contests. Even though the situation isn't ideal, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh always finds a way to spin it in his favor as a head coach should.

"There is a rhythm to the schedule going forward," said Harbaugh. "We're going to play pretty much all of [our games] at 1 o'clock , and all on Sunday. We'll have a nice routine here, which we like in football."

"We need to get on that routine and stay with our schedule and our preparation rhythm. It's a good thing."

Winning on the road is no easy task, but historically with Harbaugh the Ravens have done what is considered status-quo for most teams throughout the league. It's ideal to win your home games and split on the road, and the Ravens have done just that under Harbaugh's leadership.

At home, the Ravens are 41-10. On the road, they're just under .500 with a 24-25 record.

Up next for the Ravens are consecutive road games against the Colts and Buccaneers and the Bengals and Steelers. In between those games, the Ravens will return home to play the Falcons (Oct. 19).

If the Ravens continue to hold true to their previous history, they'll likely split the games on the road and beat the Falcons at home. Judging by the teams they're facing, that's quite a possibility.

Given the obstetrical this team faced earlier in the season, I believe many would have been happy with a 2-2 record. Sitting at 3-1 and that only loss being to a very good Bengals team, I'm quite happy with their performance thus far. A split on the road and win at home would mean the Ravens would be 6-3 heading into a Week 10 reunion with Michael Oher and the Tennessee Titans.

Clearly a lot can happen until then but it's great to know that the Ravens have already set themselves up nicely for the second phase of a horrible first-half schedule screw-job. It's not preferred, but it could be a whole heck of a lot worse.

A lot can happen until then, but it's great to know the Ravens did about as good as you could have asked for given the circumstances surrounding them in the first quarter of the season and coming out with a 3-1 record is better than many thought - at least nationally.

For more Ravens news and notes, follow me on Twitter @RavenMania

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