NFL Power Rankings, Week 9: 49ers embarrass Panthers, Eagles shock Bills
By Dan Parzych
6. Baltimore Ravens (6)
To say the Baltimore Ravens earned a statement win before their bye week over the Seattle Seahawks on the road would be a huge understatement, but also this puts extra pressure on Lamar Jackson and company moving forward.
During the offseason, the Ravens felt confident enough in moving on from Joe Flacco as an insurance policy to pave the way for Jackson following a successful rookie campaign in 2018.
Like most young quarterbacks, Jackson has a few areas still in need of improvement, but watching his impact from the previous two months shows just how special of a quarterback Baltimore has under center.
The Ravens may not prefer to see Jackson run with the football, but also the team’s first seven games shows just how effective the running quarterback can be when the right space opens up on the field.
After enjoying the week off, Baltimore will face one of their most difficult challenges of 2019 with a meeting at home against the New England Patriots.
With the way New England’s defense has been playing, this will be a fun task for Jackson and the rest of the Ravens’ offense in what could easily be an early playoff preview in the AFC, depending on how the final two months go for both teams.