Ravens 2019 Schedule. Initial Reaction

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Week 1, September 8: @ Miami Dolphins

Opening on the road. Do they even care about sports in Florida? Could be a lot of Ravens fans making this trip. For ten points, name the Dolphins starting quarterback. Times up. It is…wait…have to look it up myself… Ryan Fitzpatrick? No kidding. The journeyman is a cool cat and had a great start to 2018 on the gulf coast of Florida. The fun and games were short lived. Ravens beat Miami 38-6 in 2016, and 40-0 in 2017. Kind of wish this wasn’t the opener, because if there’s one game fans in Florida care about, it might be the first one, the exciting one. Don’t want to see Fitz”magic” come out hot like he did in 2018. Dolphins host the Patriots the week after. Maybe catch them looking ahead.

Week 2, September 15: vs. Arizona Cardinals

Had a letdown last year in week 2. Came out flat against the Bengals after blowing out Buffalo in week 1 of 2018. Start strong and keep the momentum going here. The big story here will be Terrell Suggs facing the team he played with for 16 years. Otherwise, nothing of note here. The worst team in 2018 holds the number one overall draft pick. Could be an exciting young quarterback according to some mock drafts. Or they will roll with last year’s first round pick, Josh Rosen. First year for coach Kliff Kingsbury who joins the NFL ranks after six seasons as head coach at Texas Tech where he coached most notably, Patrick Mahomes…who comes up in week 3

Week 3, September 22: @ Kansas City Chiefs

The Ravens defense that lost many key pieces will be put to the test when the face reigning NFL MVP, Patrick Mahomes. Last year the Ravens lost a heartbreaker in Arrowhead. A prayer on a broken play led to a deep heave to Tyreek Hill, setting the Chiefs up for a TD in the final minute to force OT, where they would go on to win. This is the Ravens first real test of the year.

Week 4, September 29: vs. Cleveland Browns

No longer considered easy wins on the schedule. Their resurgence makes the AFC North arguably the most competitive division in the NFL. Now they have to prove 2018 was no fluke. Baker Mayfield set the bar pretty high for himself. The addition of Odell Beckham only makes them look stronger. But how many games did Beckham help the Giants win? Will Beckham be able to keep his ego in check? I don’t care much about off field drama. But Mayfield and Beckham are two pretty strong egos. Wonder if they clash or dominate. Ravens split with the Browns last year, winning the most important game, week 17, to send them to the playoffs.

Week 5, October 6: @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Hey. A game in Pittsburg not in prime time. Scheduled for 1:00pm. I don’t care that they lost Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown. Unlike the Ravens, the Steelers find wide receivers like the Ravens find defensive lineman. Juju Smith Schuster is already a top talent in the NFL, I wouldn’t be surprised if they find a replacement for Antonio Brown who makes enough of an impact to be a pest for the Ravens as well. The Steelers are the Steelers. This is the game they circle twice a year, just like the Ravens do. Throw out the books, the numbers, roll out the ball, last man standing wins. Ravens split with the Steelers in 2018, winning on the road, but losing at home in what was Joe Flacco’s last game action in his Ravens career.

Week 6, October 13: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Three straight division games. Zac Taylor is the long overdue new head coach for the Bengals. He brings with him a pedigree of being the quarterback’s coach for NFC Champion Jared Goff and the Rams, and being groomed under young superstar head coach, Sean McVay. Lots of teams went the youth movement route with their coaching hires this past offseason. We’ll see if it pays off for the Bengals who needed more help on the defensive side of the ball, allowing the third most points in the league last year on their way to a 6-10 record. Ravens split with the Bengals in 2018, losing in typical week 2 let down fashion on the road. Winning at home in Lamar Jackson’s first NFL start.

Week 7, October 20: @ Seattle Seahawks

A matchup of the two teams who thumb their nose at those who say the NFL is a passing league. The Ravens and Seahawks run the ball more, and better than anyone else. Game could be over in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Seahawks ran for 160 yards per game, the Ravens 152.6 in 2018. Earl Thomas returning home to face his former squad is the storyline for this week. Leading into the bye week, this is not a game the Ravens want to sleep on. But a loss to a non-conference opponent isn’t the worst thing, when you talk about tie breakers for playoffs and such.

Week 8, October 27: BYE

Week 9, November 3: vs. New England Patriots (Sunday Night Football)

I hate them. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. They are the odds-on favorites to win the Super Bowl (6-1). Winning this game is a bonus, obviously. Easily the most anticipated home game of the season given the primetime nature. Outside of the division, the other four home games are against the three worst teams from 2018 (Cardinals, 49ers, Jets) and the Texans. Good to see the Ravens get this game coming off the bye, two weeks to prepare, well rested at home. Pats bye week is after this game. Hope to catch them looking forward to their vacation.

Week 10, November 10: @ Cincinnati Bengals

Bengals are coming off their bye week for this matchup. 

Week 11, November 17: vs. Houston Texans

Here is a team with some major star power considering it features J.J. Watt, and the Clemson connection of Deshaun Watson and Deandre Hopkins. They won 11 games and the AFC South last year. The thing the lack is depth as outside of the star players is a little alarming for Houston. When injuries ended the seasons of Watt and Watson in 2017, the below average Ravens team in 2017 scored a win on Monday Night Football against them. Since 2012 it has been give and take as the two teams alternated wins and losses in their last four meetings, the Ravens winning the last one.

Week 12, November 25: @ Los Angeles Rams (Monday Night Football)

NFC Champions. This will be a great measuring stick game for the Ravens. The Rams excel in all phases with some really talented players from Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Marcus Peters, Aquib Talib, and former Raven Eric Weddle. Don’t forget only the third player ever to win back to back defensive player of the year awards, Aaron Donald (Lawrence Taylor, J.J. Watt). This is the game where you can really see from a talent standpoint how you measure up. L.A. is the Vegas favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl once again (8-1 to win the title).

Week 13, December 1: vs. San Francisco 49ers

I got nothing. Hardly a Super Bowl XLVII rematch, that’s for sure. Niners hold the number two overall pick in the draft. We’ll see which exciting young player the Ravens have to plan for.

Week 14, December 8: @ Buffalo Bills

I wouldn’t underestimate the talent of Josh Allen. He was my favorite QB coming out of the 2018 draft, and we’ll see how they support him through the 2019 class. The Ravens upended the Bills in their home opener last year, 47-3. That was with Nathan Peterman at the helm. I’ll be interested to see how this Bills team has grown, disappointed, by the time we get this late into the season.

Week 15, December 12: vs. New York Jets (Thursday Night Football)

Homecoming for C.J. Mosley as he will get to square off against his former brethren. You know he’ll be fired up and informing his new mates about the Ravens tendencies. They also added former Raven Kelechi Osemele who spent the last few years with the Raiders, and former Ravens rival, Le’Veon Bell, makes his return to the field in 2019, allegedly. The Jets also currently hold the number three overall pick in the draft so they could have a key addition that we don’t know about yet. Despite the additions, I think the Jets go as far as Sam Darnold goes, and he’s got a way to go. Ravens lost to the Jets 24-16 in 2016, in the Ravens annual “WTF was that” game. Terrance West was the Ravens leading rusher at 10, not 9, not 11, but 10 yards.

Week 16, December 22: @ Cleveland Browns

Week 17, December 30: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Is this what the league thinks of the Steelers all of a sudden? No primetime Ravens game? Making the Ravens play them on week 17. A week that could be meaningless and the league would hate wasting this rivalry game in a meaningless spot. At least it’s now two years in a row not being @ Cincy to end the year. I think we have had enough of that to make up for a decade.

Major takeaway: Better come out of the gates hot, because week 3 through 12 looks like no picnic. Win five that you should if you are a good team (MIA, ARZ, SF, BUF, NYJ). Go 4-2 in the division to get to 9 wins. Steal two from the other five that you will likely play underdog in (KC, SEA, NE, HOU, LAR). That equals 11 wins. We’ll take that every year.