ESPN projects Baltimore Ravens’ 2018 over/under win total at 9

As Patriots and Eagles stand alone in Super Bowl 53, the Baltimore Ravens are one of the 30 NFL teams looking forward to next season. The Ravens failed to make the playoffs for the third straight season and now face their longest playoff drought since the installment of the franchise in 1996.

It is still very early in the offseason and the Ravens will be faced with the task of improving the roster via free agency and the NFL draft. But nevertheless, 2018 season projections are just getting started.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell put together an article predicting the 2018 Vegas win totals for all 32 teams. These projections are based on Barnwell’s knowledge and have no barring on what the Vegas odds will actually be next season. The Ravens’ over/under win total for the 2017 season was nine and Barnwell’s prediction is exactly that one year later.

Here’s what he had to say.

Nine wins weren’t enough to get the 2017 Ravens into the playoffs, with a 1-4 record in games decided by seven points or less keeping out the league’s seventh-best team by DVOA. Baltimore’s 10.4-win Pythagorean expectation suggests it is likely to improve in 2018, but can a defense still stocked with post-peak players force 34 takeaways again? The Ravens also caught an easy schedule in 2017 with the AFC South and an Aaron Rodgers-less NFC North; they get the AFC West and the NFC South next season.

Given the Ravens’ previous records in the past two seasons (9-7 and 8-8), it’s hard to disagree.

The Ravens underachieved this season even with a trip to the postseason served on a silver platter. They had one of the league’s easiest schedules and a cakewalk of backup quarterbacks. The conference was mediocre and this was the year to make a run. Yet, it was 4th and 12 that ultimately ended the season in heartbreaking fashion.

Barnwell’s projection makes complete sense. Until the Ravens can add offensive playmakers and prove they’re a liable threat on that side of the ball, it’s hard to see them much better than an eight or nine-win team. The defense will be strong but has aging stars in Terrell Suggs, Eric Weddle, and an even injury-prone Jimmy Smith.

The outlook can certainly change this offseason but it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time meshing free agents and developing draft picks. The Ravens are a borderline playoff team and need the star(s) that will take them over the edge.

The high from Super Bowl XLVII is long gone and the Ravens need to get back to winning ways. If that fails to happen, major changes could be coming on the horizon.