While it wasn’t entirely pretty, the Baltimore Ravens got the win versus the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night after the dramatic finish on Sunday night against the Patriots. You could tell that the Ravens were tired after the short week, but it will all pay off as they now get a mini bye week to prepare for Kansas City.
We all knew that the beginning of the Ravens’ 2012 season was going to be tough one and fans should be pleased to see them make it through the quarter mark with only one loss, and that loss coming to a non-conference opponent. These extra few days following the Thursday night victory are a huge break for Baltimore, who have played four games in the past 17 days. Now that the tough stretch is over, the rest of the 2012 schedule lays out nicely for the Ravens.
The benefit of playing on Thursday will be an extra three days to prepare for the trip to Kansas City next week. Kansas City does not have that luxury as they will face off with divisional rival San Diego this Sunday. After that, the Ravens will come back home against the Dallas Cowboys who will have a short week after playing the Chicago Bears on the previous Monday night. It then all culminates into a huge AFC showdown against the Houston Texans in week seven, who will have just come off of two consecutive primetime games. The Ravens then get some much needed time off during their bye week to get ready for the second half of the season.
If the Ravens are able to take advantage of their schedule’s benefits, they’ll be sitting in a very good position and be looking at the number one seed in the AFC. While the Ravens are talented enough to beat all three of their upcoming opponents, the added aid from their schedule will make things a bit easier during a tough stretch.
