NFL Betting News – Can The Baltimore Ravens Improve At All?

On Saturday night, I watched perhaps the most balanced version of the Baltimore Ravens I have ever seen get whipped by the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers. Their stalwart defense fell apart completely in the second half, and the offense managed just a single field-goal in the final two quarters.

The question isn’t whether or not Baltimore will be a contender in the 2011 NFL betting season, because we all know they will be. They’re a very good football team.

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The real question is whether or not they can get any better.

Let’s start at the top. Quarterback Joe Flacco is an efficient passer. He ranked 7th in quarterback rating (93.6), 10th in touchdowns (25) and 11th in total yards thrown this season (3,622). He’s always put his team in a position to win, and for the most part he comes through. He just doesn’t in the playoffs.

On Saturday, they had that game in hand. They were leading on the scoreboard and stunning the Steelers on their own home turf. Ray Rice looked unstoppable to a certain degree, and their four receivers were getting open more times than they weren’t.

And that’s the thing about this confounding mess. They have FOUR strong receivers –Anquan Boldin, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Derrick Mason and Todd Heap. They’re all Pro Bowl worthy talents. On top of that, they have Ray Rice and Willis McGahee who can both catch passes out of the backfield. That’s six productive athletes on offense for a quarterback to use.

That’s why it’s almost mind boggling that Baltimore ranked just 16th during the regular season with only 22.3 points per game. You know who they’re sandwiched in between? Detroit and Tennessee! I mean…what? Neither of those teams had competent quarterbacks! How is this possible?

As for the defense, there isn’t too many negative things I can say. They are not the grizzled, blazing fast defense of years past but they are still far and away one of the most productive in the league. Ed Reed and Ray Lewis aren’t just great football players. They’re amazing leaders and as long as those two are still around – in any capacity – this team has a shot.

(And the clock is ticking on both of their careers as far as I’m concerned…maybe two more seasons for both?)

I just don’t see any scenario where the Baltimore Ravens get any better. With Boldin arriving in town along with Houshmandzadeh – hell, let’s throw Donte Stallworth in to the equation too – you’d think that Cam Cameron and the Ravens would open up the passing game.

The conclusion is that either Joe Flacco can’t make the throws (doubtful) or that he’s hesitant (more realistic) or that he doesn’t have great field vision (very realistic). Quarterbacks need to be programmed a certain way.

I mean, you see how tough Roethlisberger is to bring down. How Manning gets rid of the ball when he’s pressured. It’s evident that Vick escaped in to open space when he was pressured.

Watch Flacco in the pocket and it’s like he doesn’t “sense” anything. If the pocket breaks down in front of him, he usually curls up for a sack. Guys screaming off the edges are hardly noticed by him. I just don’t think that he has that “quarterback instinct”. Mechanically he’s sound.

Boldin led the team in receptions, but Rice was second with 63 catches because most of the time Flacco just dumps the ball out to Rice in the flats when he’s the third or fourth option on a given play. That’s not how a cutthroat quarterback goes about business, which isn’t to say Flacco is terrible at his job.

In fact, he’s a very good quarterback.

Flacco’s just not great.

That is, unfortunately the fate of the team as well. The Ravens can only be as good as their quarterback, so when it comes to NFL betting in 2011 keep this in mind. The problem thereafter is what to do with Flacco. Do they cut him after he’s been so productive? Do they trade him for a veteran like McNabb or even Carson Palmer?

I know this all seems crazy – trust me, I’m the one writing it. But the Ravens have to do something to get better in 2011. The question I can’t answer is “how”.

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