It's time for Ravens to worry about playoff berth

Mike Preston

October 27, 2009

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After watching the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals win games Sunday, Ravens fans should be concerned about their team getting to the NFL playoffs.

We're talking fingernail-biting, feet-tapping nervous.

The magic number to get to the playoffs is always 10 wins, so that means the Ravens (3-3) have to win seven of their 10 remaining games.

At the beginning of the year, the playoffs seemed likely, but after Sunday, it leaves you scratching your head.

The Steelers (5-2) defeated the previously unbeaten Minnesota Vikings (6-1), 27-17, at home, and the Bengals (5-2), also at home, physically crushed the Chicago Bears, 45-10.

What's so disturbing about Pittsburgh is that the Steelers are winning games on the strength of Ben Roethlisberger's arm and the Ravens have one of the worst pass defenses in the league.

And the usually skin-so-soft Bengals punished Chicago with a ground game that produced 215 yards. It was the same running game that collected more than 100 yards against the Ravens a couple of weeks ago. Combine that with the arm of Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer and 10 wins seem hard.

Besides facing Pittsburgh twice and the Bengals at home, the Ravens have the unbeaten Denver Broncos at home Sunday and must face quarterbacks such as the Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning and Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers.

If you're looking for some bright spots, consider these: Rodgers' offensive line is suspect, and Denver doesn't like to throw deep often. The Oakland Raiders stink and so do the Cleveland Browns. Chicago doesn't scare anybody, and Bears quarterback Jay Cutler is not consistent.

Overall, the Ravens have a lot of work to do. The potential is there, but they need to get better because the Bengals and Steelers certainly have.

Linebacker liabilities

One major problem with the Ravens this season is that they don't have linebackers who can get good depth in pass coverage.

A year ago, that responsibility belonged to Bart Scott, and before him, Adalius Thomas usually covered tight ends and running backs downfield.

With veteran outside linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo out the remainder of the season because of an injury, the Ravens need some of these young linebackers to mature faster than expected.

Taking risks on field

It seems like coach John Harbaugh is making an excuse when he says the Ravens are giving up big plays because they aren't disciplined enough on defense, but just go back and look at some of the tapes.

You'll find that some star players like defensive end Terrell Suggs, safety Ed Reed and linebacker Ray Lewis are culprits.

There's a fine line between gambling and making a play, and gambling and losing, and the Ravens have come up on the losing end quite a few times this season.

Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Greg Mattision are in tough positions. Do you tell your best players, who have made numerous big plays in the past, to no longer take chances, or do you just tell them to execute the game plan without gambling?

Until the losing stops, I'd be more on the conservative side.

NFL surprises

What has been more surprising, the unbeaten Broncos (6-0) or the winless Tennessee Titans (0-6)?

It has to be Tennessee. Even though the Titans lost to the Ravens in the AFC semifinals last season, Tennessee still had the better team, but the Titans just committed more turnovers.