The Baltimore Ravens moved up across the board in the power rankings this week after coming up with a big victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Last week, each of the five power rankings put the Ravens at number five.
ESPN moved them up to number three this week.
The Ravens began the season looking to repeat as the AFC’s top seed, but they have failed to prove their place among the elite teams after falling to both the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs and undefeated Steelers at home. Baltimore will make the playoffs, but it will likely have to take a different route this time. Trailing the Steelers by two games in the AFC North, the Ravens will probably have to take to the road in the postseason after winning the division the previous two years. — Jamison Hensley
CBS Sports was impressed with the Ravens’ offensive turnaround in the second half against the Colts and also moved them up to number three.
That team that showed up in the second half against the Colts is the one we expected to see this season. Maybe that will get the offense cranked up.
Sports Illustrated ranked them third overall. Like ESPN and CBS Sports, the Ravens trailed only the Chiefs and Steelers.
The Ravens seem a little under the radar, with Lamar Jackson failing to post the eye-popping numbers he did a year ago, but the team has still won every game except against the two AFC teams above them here.
Yahoo moved them up to number three, while stating that the team had a “championship ceiling”.
The Ravens have won six games. Five of those six wins have come by at least 14 points. It seems like this Ravens team is having a hard time finding itself, but Baltimore still won most of its games by two touchdowns or more. Don’t be fooled, there’s a championship ceiling with this team.
NFL.com had the only power ranking with the Ravens at number four; they elected to move the Saints ahead of them after their 38-3 victory over the Buccaneers.
“I will just say the devil was busy this week for us, and we just overcame it.” That’s how Lamar Jackson summed up a hellish eight-day stretch for the Ravens, one that included a bitter defeat to the Steelers, the loss of star left tackle Ronnie Stanley to injury, Marlon Humphrey’s positive coronavirus test and the ensuing march of six Ravens to the COVID-19 list under the “close contact” designation. That’s a lot of obstacles, but Baltimore still delivered a 24-10 win over the Colts in Indianapolis. The Ravens had just 55 total yards of offense in the first half, but Jackson and Co. got hot after the intermission, while the Ravens defense gave Philip Rivers and the Colts attack no path to success. A win to build off.
The Steelers lost the top spot in Sports Illustrated’s power rankings to the Chiefs, but they were still a unanimous top-two selection this week. The Browns had an average ranking of 15 after their bye week. Meanwhile, the Bengals were ranked 25th by Sports Illustrated and NFL.com and 26th by ESPN and CBS Sports after their bye week. Yahoo was higher on them by placing them at number 18.