The Baltimore Ravens destroyed the Houston Texans on Sunday. In doing so, they staked their claim as the AFC’s Super Bowl favorite.
Will the New England Patriots or Kansas City Chiefs host the AFC Championship Game?
That was the question for most of September. Times have changed.
The Baltimore Ravens are the AFC’s best team at the moment. On Sunday, they took apart the Houston Texans, 41-7, in a game which told multiple stories.
Yes, Lamar Jackson is electrifying. He ran for more than 60 yards for a seventh straight game, something no other quarterback had ever accomplished before. Jackson also threw for 222 yards and four touchdowns.
Still, centering on Jackson is dismissing the larger point. The Ravens have a phenomenally complete team.
Baltimore shut out the Texans until garbage time. It sacked Deshaun Watson six times and held the MVP candidate to 169 passing yards and an interception. The secondary was stifling, led by the newly-acquired Marcus Peters, free-agent signee Earl Thomas and stalwart Marlon Humphrey. It has all come together beautifully under the coaching of defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who leads the league in blitz percentage.
Offensively, fellow coordinator Greg Roman is polishing up his head-coaching resumè. Given an unorthodox quarterback with myriad talents, Roman has schemed up a devastating attack which ranks first in points and rushing yardage per game, along with being second in total yardage. Behind Jackson’s duel abilities and running back Mark Ingram pounding away, Baltimore has proven nearly unstoppable on the ground. No receiving corps has fewer receiving yards, but the issue has been mitigated by a three-headed monster at tight end, headlined by second-year man Mark Andrews.
Then there’s head coach John Harbaugh. Harbaugh is one of the league’s best and has been for over a decade. A man with his credentials could have micromanaged. He could have bristled at not having the prototypical quarterback. Instead, he embraced and adapted.
Moving forward, six weeks is an eternity in the NFL. Come the playoffs, the Ravens might have home-field advantage and be the prohibitive favorite. They could also have injuries, or simply not be playing to their current level. Furthermore, the Patriots might have their offense figured out and/or the Chiefs could be winning at will behind Patrick Mahomes and a quietly-improved defense.
Everything remains in play for those three teams. The rest of the AFC is playing for the right to get beaten in the Divisional round.
Still, this is about the Ravens. Baltimore was expected by many — including this dope — to regress after losing Za’Darius Smith, Eric Weddle, C.J. Mosley and Terrell Suggs. It seemed too much to overcome for a quarterback who struggled to throw well on a consistent basis as a rookie.
At 8-2, Baltimore currently occupies the second seed and only trails New England by a single game — with the tiebreaker in hand — for the top spot.
Jackson has been amazing, and he deserves all the attention he’s receiving. But don’t sleep on the rest of the team, including the world-class coaching staff.
The Ravens are legitimate, and they might be hosting the AFC’s biggest game come January. Who would have thought?
Power rankings
Top 10 head coaches to never win a Super Bowl (since 1960)
1. Don Coryell (St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Chargers)
2. Marty Schottenheimer (Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs)
3. Andy Reid (Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs)
4. Bud Grant (Minnesota Vikings)
5. Sid Gillman (San Diego Chargers)
6. Dan Reeves (Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons)
7. Chuck Knox (Los Angeles Rams)
8. Marv Levy (Buffalo Bills)
9. George Allen (Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins)
10. Jim Mora (New Orleans Saints)
Quotable
“I would say he has 10. Guys dropping balls and giving them to the to other team. How many have we seen. I don’t count them.”
– Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians on Jameis Winston’s interception troubles
Winston has now thrown a league-worst 18 interceptions, continuing his trend of giving the ball away. It’s something the fifth-year quarterback has struggled with his entire career, and it’s the main reason why Tampa Bay has to strongly consider moving on after the next six games.
But will the Bucs actually do it? General manager Jason Licht drafted Winston and recently signed a five-year extension with the club. Licht is fond of Winston and believes his best football is ahead. For now, signs point to Winston coming back, even if the rest of the season is underwhelming.
Podcast
Random stat
Herman Moore is one of the forgotten stars in NFL history. The Detroit Lions’ wideout had four consecutive years of 1,000 yards receiving from 1994-97, including three All-Pro campaigns in a league featuring Jerry Rice, Andre Reed, Michael Irvin, Cris Carter and Tim Brown among others.
In those four years, Moore totaled 405 receptions, 5,448 receiving yards and 42 touchdowns, leading the league in catches twice (123 in ’95 and 104 in ’97).
His peak was brief, but Moore was dominant in the Silverdome.
Info learned this week
1. NFC playoff picture starting to crystallize after wild day
The Vikings appeared dead at halftime. Trailing 20-0, they somehow rallied against an overmatched Broncos team, winning 27-23 capped by a goal-line stand in the final moments.
By surviving Denver, Minnesota moved to 8-3. Putting aside the undecided NFC East, the other five NFC postseason seeds appear locked up. The San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and Vikings are playing in January. It’s only a matter of who slots where, and whether the Dallas Cowboys or Philadelphia Eagles join them.
Had Minnesota lost, the door would have been left open for the Los Angeles Rams, who handled the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football. However, the Rams remain 1.5 games back of the sixth-seeded Vikings with the Ravens, Seahawks and 49ers remaining on the schedule.
2. AFC South suddenly wide open going into key TNF matchup
The Texans appeared to be running away with the AFC South. Not so fast.
As mentioned above, Houston was pummeled 41-7 in Baltimore, dropping it into second place via tiebreaker. The new first-place squad? The Indianapolis Colts, who shrugged off two consecutive losses with a 33-13 rolling of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The results set up a fascinating Thursday night tilt in Houston between the two. Should Indianapolis win — likely without T.Y. Hilton and Marlon Mack — it would have a one-game lead and the tiebreaker with a season sweep over Houston.
Additionally, don’t sleep on the Tennessee Titans. With Ryan Tannehill at the helm, Tennessee is 3-1 and still has both games against Houston and a rematch in Indianapolis come Week 13. The Titans’ docket is very tough, but at 5-5, they remain in the mix with head-to-head opportunities.
3. Prescott saves Cowboys from potentially crippling loss
Everyone is talking about Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson in the MVP race. Dak Prescott deserves some love.
Prescott was brilliant against the Lions in a 35-27 win, throwing for 444 yards on 9.7 yards per attempt with three touchdowns. This, despite prized receiver Amari Cooper being limited throughout due to injury. Dallas’ defense was shaky all afternoon, but Prescott continued to bring the Cowboys into the end zone time and again.
Through 10 games, Prescott has totaled 3,221 passing yards with 21 touchdown passes. It’s a pace of 5,154 yards and 33 scores. MVP numbers.
Don’t forget, the Cowboys could have paid Prescott this offseason. Talks were had but while Carson Wentz, Jared Goff and Wilson got inked long-term, Prescott entered Week 1 without long-term security. With Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson eligible for massive deals this spring, Prescott’s number is soaring as those pacts will raise the cap for what quarterbacks can make.
4. Cam Newton’s future should be in Carolina, but for how long?
Kyle Allen is an NFL quarterback. He’s also not someone worth building a franchise around.
Allen threw four picks as the Carolina Panthers essentially watched their season end in a 29-3 loss to the Falcons. With Cam Newton on Injured Reserve, Allen will get six more starts before general manager Marty Hurney is forced into the biggest decision of his career.
Keep Newton for 2020, or release Newton and save $19.1 million.
Carolina might be wise to keep Newton on his current deal while being aggressive in the draft. There are a bevy of desirable signal-callers coming out this year, ranging from Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert to Jordan Love, Tua Tagovailoa and Jake Fromm. If the Panthers get a quarterback they see as the future, Newton can serve as a bridge.
At 5-5 in the strong NFC, the Panthers need to think about the future. In that regard, it’s all about Newton.
5. Chiefs facing a must-win on MNF vs. Chargers
If the Chiefs lose on Monday night to the Chargers, it’s time to panic.
Yes, the team many believed would usurp the Patriots as the AFC’s next dominant team has been a rollercoaster all season, resulting in an uneven 6-4 start. Now, Kansas City desperately needs victories both on Monday and then after the bye against the surging Oakland Raiders, who scraped by against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
Andy Reid’s team missing the playoffs seemed impossible before losing to the Titans. While it remains unlikely, the possibility becomes real with another defeat. Conversely, a win puts Kansas City at 7-4 and in control of the AFC West with the Raiders coming to Arrowhead in two weeks.
With a 16-game slate, season’s can turn in a night. Kansas City faces such a night on Monday.
History lesson
The New York Jets and New York Giants haven’t both hosted playoff games in the same season since 1986.
The duo has played in the same postseason six times, none since 2006. During their shared time in New York City, the two teams never earned playoff berths in the same year.
Parting shot
Tua Tagovailoa left the Alabama-Ole Miss game on Saturday in immense pain. The moment reverberated across the NFL.
Tagovailoa burst onto the scene in the 2018 National Championship Game, relieving Jalen Hurts to win a title for the Crimson Tide. Last year, another fantastic campaign. The hype train was rolling. Tagovailoa was likely going to be the top pick in this upcoming draft.
Now? HIs dreams are delayed. After dislocating his hip, Tagovailoa’s future is in jeopardy. Burrow has certainly passed him by in most rankings, but how far does he fall in a loaded quarterback class?
It’s unknown how long Tagovailoa will be sidelined. He’s done for Alabama’s season, but how many months does his recovery take? With thoughts on the topic flying around, you won’t find another here. It’s impossible to say. Everyone is different.
What can be said is a fantastic prospect and by all accounts, a good kid, has seen his world thrown into chaos. How he’ll be evaluated by interested NFL teams over the next six months will be fascinating. Here’s the hoping for the best outcome possible.