For Ravens, Starting off Strong is Crucial

By Joe Schiller

The Ravens are the fourth team since 1978 to have a 16-game regular season schedule that alternates home and away every week. Their strength of schedule ranks 20th, a favorable draw for the reigning AFC North Champions.

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But it's vitally important the Ravens start off strong.

The first two games of the season, against the Dolphins and Cardinals, provides an ideal opportunity to begin the season 2-0. Both teams struggled on both sides of the ball last season, have questions at the quarterback position and are led rookie head coaches.

Four of the next five weeks feature games against the Chiefs, Browns, Steelers, and Seahawks. The latter portion of the schedule holds another rough stretch from Week 11 to Week 14. Baltimore faces off against the Texans, Rams, 49ers, and Bills with a primetime Thursday Night Football matchup at home against the Jets to follow.

The Ravens have started at least 2-1 or better in the last three seasons. John Harbaugh has typically been very successful in the month of September and it's crucial that the trend continues.

We're just over five months until the start of the regular season with the NFL Draft and a few waves of free agency looming. Rosters construction is far from over at this point, but on paper, the Ravens are a more talented team than their first two opponents.