Unfortunate injuries are creating a path to the postseason

While the have suffered a great deal of injury news this season, they still have their franchise quarterback, Joe Flacco, on the field. Unfortunately, few teams playing the Ravens can say the same.

Yesterday, Texans’ rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson tore his ACL at practice. This loss could be the final straw on Houston’s season, as they’ve already lost J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus. Their young quarterback was one of their few exciting parts to this season, after all the injuries.

Watson wasn’t the only quarterback news yesterday, as the Indianapolis Colts placed QB Andrew Luck on injured reserve. His shoulder injury hasn’t progressed well, and he will not be playing in 2017.

This season, the Ravens have faced:

Andy Dalton
DeShone Kizer / Kevin Hogan
Ben Roethlisberger
Blake Bortles
Mitchell Trubisky
E.J. Manuel
Case Keenum
Matt Moore

Through these eight quarterbacks, and teams, the Baltimore Ravens are 4-4. Some great games, some terrible, but in the end, the record is 4-4. The back half of this schedule now, though, is rather easy.

@ Titans: Marcus Mariota — A talented quarterback with mobile capabilities. One of the few starting quarterbacks left, that the Ravens will face this season.

@ Packers: Brett Hundley — The Ravens must take care of business in Green Bay. Before, they were expected to play Rodgers at home, but now they have an opportunity to seize a game once most believed was a loss from the beginning.

vs. Texans: Tom Savage / Texans QB — Whomever it is, they won’t be nearly as skilled in comparison to the star rookie. The primetime contest between the Texans just became a whole lot less interesting.

vs. Lions: Matthew Stafford — The Ravens won’t be enjoying this game. The Lions are a great team, and Stafford can hurl the football. But Stafford is mistake prone and the Ravens secondary is dominant right now. Maybe they will enjoy this one. . .

@ Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger — The best on the list, and it will be at Heinz Field. After the 26-9 wallop, I expect the Ravens to come out angry and ready for vengeance.

@ Browns: Browns QB — I don’t care who it is, bring it.

vs. Colts: Jacoby Brissett — Nowhere near the talent of Andrew Luck, though he’s done his best to become a starting player.

Andy Dalton — One game he can throw four touchdowns, the next he turns the ball over five times. This will be a completely different contest from Week 1. Sixteen weeks later, let’s hope the Ravens are already in the postseason, rather than fighting with Cincy for a Wildcard.

The Ravens have a chance in every single one of these games. They can compete with the best of them, and I’m confident this season now favors the Ravens chances of postseason play. With only eight games left, the Ravens can feasibly finish 6-2 or 5-3, leaving them as a 10-6 or 9-7 club. With the weak quarterbacks left on their schedule, they’ll have a breeze, but the starters left are the games to take the most notice of. If they bully Brissett, Kizer and Savage, but take a beating to Stafford, Roethlisberger and Mariota, don’t be surprised if this team crawls into the playoffs and are booted out in the wildcard.