Last week I asked if we can officially dismiss the Browns as a threat in the AFC north.  Steeler-nation, or at least the part that bothered to answer, seemed to have little or no doubt that we could.  Tough competition or not, it seems that  ALL the fans who responded thought that the Browns were overrated going in to the season and that their 1-3 start is a good reflection of their actual talent level and lack of team cohesion.

I am a little more skeptical that the Browns are that bad.  I still think that they have played a VERY tough schedule to start and that their record is at least partially a reflection of that. Having said that, there is no denying that the team has been less than inspiring, and that they appear to be facing a crisis of leadership that might only get worse after they play the undefeated Giants. 

I wanted to turn our attention to the other team in our conference:  the Baltimore Ravens.  The Ravens came into the season with much lower national expectations than the Browns. Their offense has been in the process of rebuilding for several years and though their defense remained potent, not much was expected of them.  It seems, at least at the outset, that Ravens are exceeding expectations.

Today, I was stunned to see that Football outsider DVOA rankings had the Ravens ranked at #2 this season.  I can’t say I totally understand how DVOA works, but the basic gist, is it explores how well teams play while factoring in the level of competition.   The system tilts heavily towards statistics and away from looking at wins and losses. But according to these ratings (an the accompanying article) the Ravens outplayed both the Steelers and the Titans. 

Now I find that a bit hard to swallow having watched our game with the Ravens. But I do think that it’s important to remember that the Ravens lost to the Steelers at Heinz Field and that it was a VERY close game. Their loss against the Titans was VERY, VERY close and the phantom roughing call on Suggs may have cost the Ravens a win. 

Overall I am quite impressed by the Ravens this year. There defense seems ferocious and disciplined (ask our number one draft pick). Their offense is still a big question mark, but I think there is no denying that Flacco has been a vast improvement at QB.

So what do you think, Nation? Are the Ravens back in a big way?  They have what will prove to be a very interesting game at Indy this week. After that they have a very soft middle of the season, with games against Miami, Oakland, Cleveland and Houston, before finishing against much tougher competition. I am curious to hear predictions for their overall record as well.