Baltimore Ravens 2019-20 NFL Postseason - Odds and Predictions

The 2019 Baltimore Ravens are under new management after their longtime general manager Ozzie Newsome finally retired, and his replacement, Eric DeCosta, wasted no time in sending veteran quarterback Joe Flacco away and rebuilding his team around youth and speedy second-year quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Jackson is fast and his threat to run must be game-planned around by opposing defenses, but the beef against the former Heisman Trophy winner is that his throwing arm is just average, so this season that weakness will definitely be exploited by defenses unless Jackson can prove he can be dangerous with both facets of the RPO attack.

Baltimore had the best defense in the league last season, but four of the key players of that roster were lost to free agency this offseason, and now their newly signed replacements will (of course) be blamed by fans if their first overall rank is in any way diminished.

Here we look at the odds and predictions of how effective the 2019 Baltimore Ravens are expected to be and briefly analyze their chances of earning themselves a spot in the playoffs this postseason.

The 2019 Baltimore Ravens are:

• Owner: Steve Bisciotti, founder of Aerotek and cofounder of Allegis Group
• General Manager: Eric DeCosta (Promoted January 2019)
• Head Coach: John Harbaugh (Hired January 2008)
• Offensive Coordinator: Greg Roman (Promoted January 2019)
• Defensive Coordinator: Don Martindale (Promoted January 2018)
• Quarterback: Lamar Jackson (2^nd NFL season, all with the Ravens)
• Offensive Stars: Running back Mark Ingram and place-kicker Justin Tucker
• Defensive Stars: Safeties Tony Jefferson and Earl Thomas

2018 Franchise Records:

• Overall 10-6-0
• Home: 6-2-0
• Road: 4-4-0
• Divisional: 3-3-0
• Conference: 8-4-0

2019-20 Schedule: T-19th toughest

Week 1 Matchup: vs. Miami Dolphins @ away

How did the Baltimore Ravens do in 2018?

With veteran quarterback Joe Flacco under center, the 2018 Baltimore Ravens started the season with a 4-5 record, a hopeless beginning until a hip injury to Flacco during the Week 9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers forced head coach Jim Harbaugh to start rookie Lamar Jackson.

With the speedy Jackson showing off his RGIII-like skills outside the pocket, he bobbed and weaved his Ravens to a 10-6 final record and their first AFC North win since 2012 and a playoff appearance in the Wild Card game, which they lost to the Los Angeles Chargers, 23-17.

The 2018 Baltimore Ravens had the number one defense and their offense was ninth, impressive rankings given how fundamentally transformative that year was for them, the team morphing mid-season from a primarily passing attack under Flacco to more of a run / pass offense (RPO) with Jackson.

What major offseason moves happened in Baltimore?

New general manager Eric DeCosta has begun a trend towards finding less expensive and youthful players to surround Jackson, so many of the veteran starters from the roster last season, especially on defense, have moved on due to free agency or trades.

The biggest losses are defensive end Terrell Suggs, who left for the Arizona Cardinals, outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith, who signed with the Green Bay Packers, middle linebacker C.J. Mosely, who’s now with the New York Jets and free safety Eric Weddle, who now plays for the Los Angels Rams.

Doing their best to fill those giant, empty shoes will be newly acquired linebackers Pernell McPhee and Shane Ray, safety Earl Thomas and defensive back Justin Bethel.

For more detailed coverage of the Baltimore Ravens’ offseason moves, check out our prior coverage: The Baltimore Ravens’ Biggest Offseason Moves 2019 – Odds and Predictions

How was the Ravens’ offense improved?

To answer the questions regarding Jackson’s arm strength and overall accuracy, he has been surrounded by new targets acquired in the offseason, like wide receiver Seth Roberts, who caught 45 passes for the Oakland Raiders last season for 494 yards and 2 touchdowns and deep threat rookie wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who for the last two seasons at Oklahoma caught 132 passes for 2,413 total yards and 17 touchdowns.

Another improvement added to their 9^th ranked offense is running back Mark Ingram, a dual threat back that last season ran 138 times for 645 yards and 6 touchdowns while catching 21 balls for 170 yards and another touchdown for the New Orleans Saints.

The big question with this Ravens offense is how quickly can new coordinator Greg Roman transform into a successful RPO attack and how effective can Jackson be through the air so that the RPO threat is a balanced one that becomes difficult to game plan against.

How was the Ravens’ defense improved?

A lot of big defensive names walked away from the Ravens this offseason.

However, the fact of the matter is the squad is still coordinated by Don “Wink” Martindale, now in his second year at that position and who will most likely find a way to plug in new linebackers McPhee and Ray and safety Thomas and DB Bethel wherever they are needed.

The defense will also be improved if the RPO offense begins to work more consistently.

The better the offense, the more it stays on the field, which gives the defense more time to rest and get rejuvenated on the sidelines, something that is difficult to do if the offense is always going three and out with the football.

When was the last time the Ravens made the playoffs?

The most recent playoff appearance for the Ravens is last season, when they got defeated by the Chargers in the Wild Card game (see above).

In 2012, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII by a score of 34-31, and over the last decade, the franchise has been head coached by John Harbaugh and to the playoffs six times.

Out of those six postseason appearances, the Ravens won a Super Bowl and lost in the Divisional round three times (2009, 2010 and 2014) and lost the AFC Championship in 2011 and in the Wild Card Game in 2018.

Since the Ravens franchise began in 1996, they have won two Lombardi Trophies, XLVII and the second one being from winning Super Bowl XXXV in 2000 against the New York Giants by a score of 34-7, the game where Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis took home the Super Bowl MVP trophy.

Why WILL the Ravens make it to the postseason in 2019?

Two words, one name – Lamar Jackson, the kid is that good, and if the doubts about his arm prove to be unfounded and the RPO attack is successful, it will be tough to defend against, just like it was at the end of last season when the Jackson-led Ravens went on a 6-1 tear.

Martindale’s defense will hold and Roman’s offense will be effective and, barring injury, this means that the Ravens will go at least 10-6 again and worst-case scenario qualify for one of the AFC Wild Card spots.

Jackson is a winner and you can’t stop him, and now that he has a solid go-to runner in his backfield and the targets to hit when the linebackers blitz, the Ravens will continue right where they left off and win their way back to the playoffs in 2019.

Why WON’T the Ravens make it to the postseason in 209?

Sure, Jackson is great – fast and dangerous as a running or passing threat – but how long will that last?

Teams have had all offseason to watch film on him and game plan around his out-of-the-pocket improvisations, so a lot of the stuff he got away with at the end of last season will not be possible in 2019.

And don’t forget what took RGIII out of the game – injuries, mostly – and as dangerous as Jackson’s spontaneous runs are to the defense, they are even more dangerous to his own body, eventually the punishment will become too much and without Jackson being willing to run and take the hits the RPO will not work.

Oh, and these new defensive players will never fill the shoes of the veterans who just left and if the defense can’t prevent scoring like they did last season then expect all those close games to go the other way for a while.

What are the current odds and predictions for the Baltimore Ravens’ 2019 NFL postseason?

According to the odds makers, the 2019-20 Baltimore Ravens are going to take at least another season to make their full transition into youth around Jackson and the RPO, and fifteen other teams currently have an equal or better chance of bringing home the Lombardi Trophy in 2019.

The Cleveland Browns (+145) and Pittsburgh Steelers (+155) have better odds than the Ravens (+300) when it comes to winning the AFC North, but that’s assuming that Jackson and friends fail to become a formidable RPO offense.

Regardless of the odds, there is a lot of excitement in Baltimore around this team and they are going to be a solid bet, but only as long as Jackson can stay healthy.

Will the Baltimore Ravens make the NFL postseason in 2019? 

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Analysis: The AFC North is now full of bad guys – a significantly transformed Cleveland Browns team and a re-worked Pittsburgh Steelers franchise still led by a financially set Super Bowl Champion and, oh yeah, the Bengals (no offense, please stay healthy and then we’ll talk).

The odds makers don’t seem to think the Ravens will see football in January – they’ll pay you $150 on a $100 bet (plus your initial investment) but they expect you to put down $186 bucks to win $100 (plus your bet).

This one depends on how good you feel about Jackson’s throwing arm, it appears.

Odds of the Ravens winning the AFC North:

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Analysis: Based on these odds, the Ravens will finish third in the AFC North, with the Steelers coming in second and the Browns the odds on favorites to win the division.

You can’t feel too good putting money down on the Ravens to take the division – there’s just too much heavy competition there nowadays.

However, hometown fans with plenty of faith in Baltimore and the booty to match should by all means crack open that bettin’ kitty and let it ride.

Number of regular season Ravens games won:

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Analysis: The Ravens have beaten the over of this bet for the last two seasons in a row, and that was with Flacco under center for most of that time, all due respect.

Now that the Jackson-led offense, fresh off their 6-1 roll, will be in place out of the gate in Week 1, expect them to at the very least go 9-7, though that won’t be good enough to see postseason play.

For this team to go .500 and post an 8-8 record would be a huge disappointment for the organization and send up giant red flags regarding the type of offense they’ve selected.

Odds of the Ravens winning the AFC Championship:

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Analysis: When six other AFC teams have better odds than the Ravens to win their Conference, probably best not to take that bet.

That doesn’t mean the team won’t do well, it just means that chances are they won’t do Super Bowl well.

Of course, these Ravens have been to the Big Game and won it twice in the last two decades, so maybe, true believers, take your extra betting coins and sneak this one in.

Odds of the Ravens winning Super Bowl LIV:

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Analysis: Almost half the teams in the NFL (15) have better odds of winning a Lombardi trophy this season, so that should tell you something here.

This team has danced in the Big Show multiple times and came out wearing rings, so you can’t rule them out completely in any season where they’re healthy.

Wouldn’t it be grand if Jackson defied the odds and found a way to make the RGIII way of playing football effective (and safe) enough to last longer than a season or two – that would be worth putting some money down on.