Ravens must re-discover home field form to win division

Even if the 2012 Ravens are the team that has won John Harbaugh's Super Bowl, the 2011 version of the roster that saw their hopes dashed against Billy Cundiff's foot stands as the best Ravens team since Joe Flacco's and Harbaugh's arrival.

The team spearheaded by Terrell Suggs' greatest season clinched the division with a 12-4 record that saw eight of those wins come in the familiar surrondings of M&T Bank Stadium. Since then, the Ravens home form has steadily dipped.

Since the Super Bowl season, the Ravens cumulative home record stands at 20-11. From 2008 to 2012, the Ravens home record stood at 27-5.

There has been a dip. The lack of talent in recent years is a part of it but lately, the stadium has not been filling out and the Ravens have lost home games that they would have never lost in the past. This past season's losses against the Redskins and the Raiders are the two that got away. Two home games the Ravens should have won and would have won in the past but through a combination of terrible coaching and a lack of attention to detail lost. These two games are the difference between a seven or eight win season and a chance at 10 wins entering the final week.

The Ravens need to get the talent on the roster at a level where coaching or player mistakes will not doom the team when playing inferior opponents at home. That alone will nearly guarantee six wins in the coming season. To beat the better teams, the Ravens will need to eliminate mistakes and unforced penalties like false starts entirely.

The Ravens can compete for the division. To reclaim their glory, they must commit to being excellent in situations where excellence is expected.