ExtremeRavens Posted 13 hours ago Posted 13 hours ago CLEVELAND — Now, all those doomsayers who were complaining about the Ravens playing five playoff contenders from 2024 at the beginning of season aren’t critical anymore. The Ravens have now won four straight and are only one game behind the Pittsburgh Steelers for first place in the AFC North. They didn’t get any style points by beating Cleveland, 23-16, on Sunday, but those will come later. That will come in late December or early January, but now it’s about staying in contention and within striking distance of the division leader as the schedule keeps getting weaker. The Browns used two rookie quarterbacks Sunday. The first was Dillon Gabriel, a third-round draft pick out of Oregon, and the other was Shedeur Sanders, the fifth-round selection from Colorado whose father Deion was possibly the best cornerback who ever played in the NFL. Gabriel started the first half, but Sanders played the second after Gabriel failed to clear the NFL’s concussion protocol after taking a hit near the end of the second quarter. Now, if you thought the Ravens were getting a break Sunday, it gets even easier next week when they play the New York Jets at home followed by the Cincinnati Bengals. Oh, and the Ravens still get to face the Steelers twice. Now, that’s either being exceedingly lucky or having the football gods look down and smile all over them. Earlier this season, the Ravens started off 1-5, having suffered major losses to Buffalo, Kansas City, Houston, Detroit and the Los Angeles Rams. And next week the Ravens get to face Jets quarterback Justin Fields, who has a backup named Tyrod Taylor. On Thanksgiving night, the Bengals might start 40-year old Joe Flacco or possibly return star Joe Burrow, who is attempting to rebound from a turf toe injury suffered in Week 2. Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers might have suffered a left wrist injury in the Steelers 34-12 win over the Bengals on Sunday, and will be further evaluated Monday. No one wishes bad luck or injuries on other players, but the Ravens are having good fortunes. When they were struggling at the beginning of the season, they had nine players they shuffled in and out of the starting lineups because of injuries, including to quarterback Lamar Jackson, middle linebacker Roquan Smith and left tackle Ronnie Stanley. On Sunday, the Ravens were full of glee. They faced Gabriel, who was making his fifth straight start, and then Sanders, who was playing in his first regular-season game. And the Ravens didn’t care. They never blinked. They harassed Gabriel for most of the first half, and then stepped up the different looks with an assortment of blitzes and five-man rushes on Sanders in the second. Poor Sanders. He looked frazzled, even lost at times. The Ravens finished with three sacks and hurried both Gabriel and Sanders 10 other times. The Jets won’t be much better. Fields was a first-round pick, the 11th player chosen overall in the 2021 draft who played in Chicaho and Pittsburgh before moving to the Jets this season. His backup, Taylor, has more mileage than Air Force One, having played in Baltimore, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Houston in addition to time with the Los Angeles Chargers and both the New York Giants and Jets. As for Burrow, I really don’t understand why the Bengals would rush him back. After losing to Pittsburgh, they have no shot at making the playoffs. Why now? And then there are the Steelers. They were a source of intrigue at the beginning of the season, but there were always questions about if the 41-year old Rodgers could hold up, especially with Pittsburgh’s offensive line. It all seems to be falling in line. At the beginning of the season, we all wondered what happened to the Ravens. Even though they had a lot of injuries, they didn’t seem to play as hard. But after Sunday, no one can complain anymore about the injuries and the tough schedule. It appears the Ravens can’t get enough of the inexperienced quarterbacks such as J.J. McCarthy, Gabriel and Sanders. Load them up and bring them on. Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. View the full article Quote
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