If all the Baltimore Ravens were dealing with was a 1-3 record, it wouldn’t be ideal but not the end of their season either.
There has been only one team to start 1-3 and win a Super Bowl, and that was the 2001 New England Patriots when Tom Brady took over as their starter early in the season. But the Ravens have obvious talent, and the early losses have been to the Bills, Lions and Chiefs. Those are all reasonable losses to good teams. They could have been a team to rebound from a 1-3 start to make a deep playoff run.
But the Ravens aren’t just dealing with a few losses to begin the season. Their injury report is even more daunting than their record.
The Ravens’ injury report looks like a list of the players they’re sending to the Pro Bowl. Here are the key players who are dealing with injuries: Marlon Humphrey, Lamar Jackson, Nnamdi Madubuike, Kyle Van Noy, Roquan Smith, Ronnie Stanley and Nate Wiggins. Madubuike is done for the season, leaving a huge hole in the middle of the Ravens’ defensive line. Jackson’s hamstring injury isn’t long term, but it doesn’t need to be explained how important his health is to the Ravens. It’s uncertain if he’ll play in Week 5.
The Ravens face the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams in the next two weeks, and it might not be an overstatement to say those two games will define the rest of their season. Both are home games, so that helps. But if the Ravens lose both, and maybe if they lose just one, the hole gets pretty difficult to get out of.
The Ravens could still rally to win the division the Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-1 but still flawed, and the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns don’t look like factors but that alone is not good enough for the Ravens. Baltimore came into this season with justifiable Super Bowl hopes. The defense is nowhere near a championship level. They’ve allowed 133 points, the most in the NFL. Even accounting for facing the explosive offenses of the Bills, Lions and Chiefs, the Ravens defense has been awful. Last season they adjusted after a slow start and had a dramatic improvement, but the injuries this season make that hard to replicate.
Last season the San Francisco 49ers came in with Super Bowl dreams, had some injuries and losses early, and both continued to pile up through the season. They finished 6-11. It’s too early to say that’s where the Ravens’ season is headed. But it’s also not too early to be very worried about them.
Panic meter: Can’t give up yet, but they’re in trouble
The Bengals’ offensive line has done something that even the best defense of the era couldn’t do: They’ve turned Chase Brown, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins into non factors.
The Bengals can’t run an offense because they can’t block. Jake Browning hasn’t played well but he also hasn’t been protected. The Bengals had just nine first downs on Monday night against the Denver Broncos. Brown had 40 yards rushing, Higgins had 32 yards receiving and that was the team high. Chase had 23 yards receiving.
The Bengals are pairing a below average defense with an offense that can’t function with a backup quarterback behind a bad offensive line. There will be more ideas that the Bengals should trade for a quarterback. Nobody who is realistically available is fixing this mess.
Panic meter: Beyond hysteria, this is a lost cause
After two games, Packers left tackle Rasheed Walker said he thought his team could go undefeated. They haven’t won since. The Packers lost to the Browns, who can’t play offense, and tied the Cowboys, who can’t play defense. Not great.
Was the Packers’ fast start a fluke? They dominated the Lions, but we see a weird Week 1 result every season. Then they beat the Commanders at home on a Thursday night, which is always tough on the road team. Since then, when the Packers had to leave Lambeau Field, the offense was awful in Week 3 and the defense was brutal in Week 4. This is still a very talented team and they should be fine. But is it a Super Bowl worthy team, which it looked like through two games? Another good but not great season wouldn’t satisfy anyone in Green Bay.
Panic meter: A little concern that the first two games were a mirage
Nothing to see here, just Brown randomly posting a Bible verse about not being wanted after he had seven yards on Sunday.
Sure, why not. For most teams, a 4-0 start is a time for quiet. Nobody is calling for anyone’s job and there aren’t many complaints. With the Philadelphia Eagles, there’s always some drama, even at 4-0. Brown isn’t getting the ball much because the Eagles offense has been very inconsistent. Maybe that’s leading to some disharmony. It will pass, like most things in Philly do when the wins keep coming. But it’s fairly funny that even an undefeated start carries some angst with it.
Panic meter: Nothing really, but it’s rarely sunny in Philadelphia