Vision Board: Seahawks-Ravens
Will it be Pete Carroll or John Harbaugh proving his team is "back"? Seaside Joe 1707
At the beginning of the season, I wrote that I believed in the Baltimore Ravens because of all the strong teams in the AFC North, they were the one that seemed to have the most consistency across 3 important areas: Head coach, Quarterback, Defense. The other 3 teams all had a question mark in one of those areas, whether it be Kevin Stefanski on the Browns, Kenny Pickett on the Steelers, or the Bengals defense.
Midway through the season, the Ravens lead the North with a 6-2 record, the number one scoring defense, and calls for Lamar Jackson to win MVP.
That being said, how good are the Ravens really?
Good enough to win the Super Bowl. And capable of missing the playoffs or having another quick exit.
There is a lot of hype on Baltimore right now, deservedly so because of all the reasons I’ve mentioned and more, but we know that NFL power rankings and media narratives are always based on what have you done for me lately-ism. Remember the Dolphins after scoring 70 points? Remember the Bills after beating the Dolphins? Remember the Cowboys or 49ers?
There’s a new team du jour every du week and the Ravens are still riding the high of beating the Lions 38-6, which was followed up by a far less convincing win over the Arizona Cardinals. Baltimore seems to be a great team and like most great teams, the Ravens have their occasional downfalls like losing to Gardner Minshew’s Colts and doing all in their power to give away a game to Pickett’s Steelers.
If the Seahawks win this Sunday, I would call it the best feather in Pete Carroll’s collection for a post-September win since beating the 49ers, Eagles, and Vikings in three straight games in 2019. Yes, I do believe it has been that long.
Every other decent win since then has had some extenuating circumstance, like a backup quarterback or a team that was down on its luck. But the Ravens have the AFC’s number one seed in sight for the first time in four years and both coaches need signature wins to prove that they’re back on track for a Super Bowl.
These are my 3 visions for how the Seattle Seahawks can be that team in Week 9.
In the last edition of the Seaside Joe Vision Board for Seahawks-Browns, I envisioned:
Ken Walker 80 yards, 1 TD, 2 15-yard runs, career-high for Zach Charbonnet
Browns score 0 offensive touchdowns
Boye Mafe continues sack streak
The Browns scored two offensive touchdowns, but it’s not all bad: Ken Walker had 70 total yards with a long of 45, Charbonnet did set a career-high (53), and Mafe did extend his streak to five games.
For this effort, Joe’s visions get 1.5 points for a season total of:
10.50/21
Now for this week’s 3 visions/predictions against the 6-2 Baltimore Ravens: