On Tuesday, I recapped the unofficial first half of the 2010 season by handing out random awards to the Ravens. Now let's take a quick look ahead at the remaining nine games on their schedule, which includes another trip around the AFC North and games against the four NFC South teams.
The combined record of the Ravens' final nine opponents is 30-27, but that's a misleading stat. They play four teams with two losses or fewer (the Steelers, the Texans, the Falcons and the Buccaneers), and in the middle of December, they will host the defending champs, the 4-3 Saints, who will be a different team once Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas return to the lineup.
But the Ravens also have games against the two-win Bengals and Browns and the 1-5 Panthers.
The Ravens' struggling pass defense will have to deal with Drew Brees, Matt Schaub, Ben Roethlisberger and Matt Ryan in the second half.
And the Ravens face another tough task coming out of the bye week when they host the Dolphins next Sunday then travel to Atlanta to play the first-place Falcons four days later. Rough tough stuff.
Here's the full schedule: MIA, @ATL, @CAR, TB, PIT, @HOU, NO, @CLE, CIN
Considering how stacked the AFC is -- eight teams have two losses or fewer -- it might take 11 wins to get into the playoffs (as was the case in that wacky 2008 season). That means the Ravens must shoot for at least six wins in those nine games. What are your thoughts on that?
