Pundits Believe Ravens Are ‘Super Bowl Ready’

The Ravens are the No. 3 seed in the AFC, but they’ve been so dominant on both sides of the ball during their five-game winning streak that a growing number of pundits believe they are poised for a Super Bowl run.

“The AFC may be loaded, but the Baltimore Ravens are uniquely positioned to make a Super Bowl run, even with a gauntlet of a path to get there,” The 33rd Team’s Tyler Brooke wrote. “Baltimore made a statement in the AFC Wild Card, dominating its division rival with a 28-14 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Ravens set a franchise record with 299 rushing yards on 50 carries, averaging 6.0 yards per attempt.

“That kind of dominant performance has the Ravens feeling good about where they’re at heading into a divisional-round matchup against the Buffalo Bills. The confidence helps, but it’s an elite level of complementary football on both sides of the ball that has the Ravens looking like the league’s most dangerous team.”

A Ravens win over the Bills could set up an AFC Championship rematch with the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in Kansas City.

“The Ravens look like a team that matches up well against both of those opponents on paper,” Brooke wrote. “The Ravens already faced both teams, blowing out Buffalo in a 35-10 win back in September and losing to the Kansas City Chiefs by Isaiah Likely’s toe being out of bounds at the end of their season opener.

“Those games were at the beginning of the year when Baltimore was still trying to figure out its identity. Now, the Ravens are carrying a five-game win streak into the AFC divisional round with a surprisingly healthy roster, pending the status of Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers.”

ESPN’s Mike Greenberg and Paul Hembo came away from Baltimore’s convincing victory over the Steelers believing the Ravens are going to win the Super Bowl.

“If they can get Derrick Henry running like that and Lamar Jackson gets the running game going, I don’t think anybody beats them,” Greenberg said. “If I had to pick right now, betting an amount of money that mattered to me on the one team that’s going to win the Super Bowl, I would put it on Baltimore.”

Hembo said: “So would I. They’re the best team, at least when they play their best. … When they’re playing at their best, they’re totally unstoppable offensively. It’s also the best defense in the NFL over the last two months.”