The Ravens sit atop the AFC with arguably the most complete roster in the league, yet one pundit doesn't have them in the top five in his power rankings.
CBS Sports' Pete Prisco has the Ravens (9-3) at No. 6, up two spots from last week.
In the other nine sets of power rankings we looked at, Baltimore is ranked in the top four, including at No. 2 by NFL.com, The Athletic, and Fox Sports.
| Source | Ranking | Last Week's Ranking | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFL.com | No. 2 | No. 2 | “The Ravens have led at the start of every fourth quarter this season. They’ve hit the bye in the No. 1 slot in the AFC and own a 1.5-game lead in a division where two other teams have lost their starting quarterbacks and the third isn’t exactly blown away by its QB1. But for whatever reason, Baltimore has a nasty habit of leaving the door open late, sometimes against inferior teams. Sunday night ended with a win, but the Ravens gave the Chargers all kinds of chances to steal the game. This has happened in victories over the Bengals and Cardinals, and it certainly was a problem in losses to the Colts, Steelers and Browns. Yet the Ravens stomped the Lions and Seahawks. Perhaps this won’t be a problem, but it’s currently one of the few fissures in the fortress, as the Ravens are clearly in the hunt for their first Super Bowl in more than a decade.” — Eric Edholm |
| Bleacher Report | No. 4 | No. 4 | “The Ravens might not have put forth their best effort of the season in Week 12. But as of right now, they are the AFC's No. 1 seed and my top-ranked team in the conference. The loss of star tight end Mark Andrews was a blow, but Odell Beckham Jr. appears to be rounding into form. The Ravens run the ball better than any team in the league. And Baltimore's defense is as good as any in the NFL. The Chiefs may have Patrick Mahomes. But the Ravens have a better team 1 to 53.” — Gary Davenport |
| ESPN | No. 3 | No. 5 | “The Ravens are the only team to rank in the top 10 in all three phases, which explains why this could be the most complete team in the NFL. Baltimore is averaging 27.6 points per game, which are the most for this franchise through 12 weeks since Lamar Jackson's 2019 NFL MVP season. The Ravens' defense has been even more dominant, holding teams to an NFL-best 15.5 points per game. That's the fewest through 12 games for Baltimore since 2006, which was the first season that the Ravens finished No. 1 in defense.” — Jamison Hensley |
| Sports Illustrated | No. 4 | No. 7 | “The Ravens uncorking the perfect fourth down blitz on Sunday night against the Chargers is why you’re hearing so much buzz about Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald. Before the season, I was told the Ravens were expecting to lose him at some point in the near future. Once again, you’re seeing why.” — Conor Orr |
| CBS Sports | No. 6 | No. 8 | “The offense was a little off against the Chargers, but the defense came up big. They are clearly in the race for the top seed in the AFC as they head to their bye.” — Pete Prisco |
| The Athletic | No. 2 | No. 4 | “The Ravens are the most balanced team in the AFC. They are second in scoring defense (15.6) and defensive success rate (62.9 percent). Offensively, they lead the league in rushing (158.6 per game) and are seventh in yards overall (366.1 ypg). Linebackers Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen each have more than 100 tackles, and Jadeveon Clowney has 7.5 sacks. Baltimore hasn’t advanced past the divisional round since its 2012 Super Bowl win. That looks like it’ll change.” — Josh Kendall |
| The Ringer | No. 4 | No. 4 | “The Ravens head into their bye week atop the AFC standings — a pretty nice place to be after a couple of uneven offensive performances in recent weeks. The Ravens scored just one touchdown in the first 58 minutes of Sunday’s win against the Chargers (Zay Flowers iced the game with a touchdown after the two-minute warning), but with a dominant and opportunistic defense, they didn’t need to do any more than that. Baltimore’s defense forced four turnovers and overwhelmed the Chargers’ line with pressure at just the right moments, none bigger than when they forced a turnover on downs across midfield in the final two minutes of a three-score game.” — Lindsay Jones |
| Sporting News | No. 4 | No. 5 | “The Ravens took down the Chargers by their usual dose of pressure, good coverage and forcing turnovers. They proved they can still dominate rushing offensively while still maintaining ace situational passing with Lamar Jackson.” — Vinnie Iyer |
| Fox Sports | No. 2 | No. 3 | “Rather than harp on the ugly aspects of that win in L.A., I’ll simply say this for the Ravens: they finally found a way to win a close one. And as grueling as it must have been to play 12 straight games, they now get to enjoy the benefit of taking a week off just before the home stretch.” — David Helman |
| Yahoo! Sports | No. 4 | No. 5 | “Ravens Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald will have to get some head-coaching interviews. He is leading a top-five defense that doesn't have a dominant pass rusher. He is one of the NFL's best at scheming up a defense.” — Frank Schwab |
