Coming off their long-awaited bye week, the Ravens enter the final four weeks of the season unanimously ranked within the top eight of power rankings.
Baltimore stayed put or slightly rose in all the rankings we sampled. Here's a breakdown of where the Ravens stand after Week 14:
| Source | Ranking | Last Week's Ranking | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFL.com | No. 8 | No. 8 | “The late bye week allowed the Ravens to catch their collective breaths, re-evaluate the playoff situation and take stock of what it'll take for them to catch the Steelers for the division crown. Winning the AFC North should be their only focus now, of course. They hold wild-card tiebreakers over the 8-5 Chargers and Broncos, so the Ravens don't need to sweat that now. The schedule also lays out nicely for them, with a short road trip to face the battered Giants before the crucial rematch with the Steelers in Baltimore. Win those two, and the season takes on a different tenor. We know the Ravens can beat almost anyone; their five losses have come by a total of 22 points. That said, defeats to the Raiders and Browns suggest they also are capable of losing to almost anyone, too.” — Eric Edholm |
| Bleacher Report | No. 7 | No. 8 | “The Ravens are two games behind the Pittsburgh Steelers with four to play. But some pundits, such as John Breech of CBS Sports, still believe that Baltimore has a real chance to surge past Pittsburgh as the season hits the stretch run. ‘I think [the Ravens] on paper are the more talented team. It's just a matter of they can't have any more slip-ups. There is no more margin for error," Breech said. "The Ravens have to put up or shut up now and I do think they will do that coming out of their bye, and I think they will steal this division back from the Pittsburgh Steelers and end up as the AFC North champion.’” — NFL Staff |
| ESPN | No. 8 | No. 8 | |
| Sports Illustrated | No. 7 | No. 8 | “The Ravens kick off a post-bye slate against the Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. With an all-important Steelers game lingering in the near distance, we’ll see what kind of Baltimore team is prepping to show up. Take note, via NextGenStats: only one team allows more rushing yardage after missed tackles than the New York Giants. And almost no one gains more yardage after missed tackles than Derrick Henry.” — Conor Orr |
| CBS Sports | No. 8 | No. 9 | “They come off their bye at 8-5 and two games behind the Steelers, but they play them in two weeks. They have to get the offense back on track after that pre-bye showing against the Eagles.” — Pete Prisco |
| The Athletic | No. 8 | No. 8 | |
| Sporting News | No. 8 | No. 9 | “The Ravens got a much-needed bye to reset a bit for the stretch run and playoffs, more so to get their defense resettled than to worry about Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, and the offensive upside going forward.” — Vinnie Iyer |
| The Ringer | No. 5 | No. 6 | “There isn’t much the Ravens need to fix to get better, but they’re still one of the NFL’s worst offenders when it comes to penalties and poor special teams play. Everyone on staff seems resigned to keeping kicker Justin Tucker in his job, so the least this team can do is minimize its penalties on both sides of the ball. When Baltimore doesn’t beat itself, it’s got very little to worry about.” — Diante Lee |
| Yahoo! Sports | No. 8 | No. 8 | “The Ravens aren't dead in the AFC North despite being two games behind the Steelers. They host the Steelers in Week 16. Pittsburgh has the second-toughest remaining schedule, according to Tankathon. Baltimore might need to win out, but it still has a shot.” — Frank Schwab |
