Each year, on the eve of the season, RSR staff drop their bold predictions for the upcoming year. These include, of course, predictions for your Baltimore Ravens, but also some general NFL prognostications. Let’s get to it.
Tony Lombardi
Bold Predictions are oftentimes more entertaining in retrospect. Time has a way of either telling us that such BP’s are proof of one’s clairvoyant prowess or evidence of spit-balling in the wind. If you’re a betting man or woman, assume my BP’s are the latter. But for my own self-esteem, at least until proven otherwise, consider my crystal ball flawless…
Despite Lamar Jackson’s self-imposed contractual deadline and the lack of a contract extension, the ongoing noise will not affect him. He will perform brilliantly during the 2022 season and lead the Ravens into the postseason dance. Lamar will throw for over 4,200 yards, toss 37 TD and 14 INT to go with a 67% completion percentage. He will add another 750 yards by ground leading to another 6 TD.
Rashod Bateman will put to rest all the chatter that the Ravens are still in need of a No. 1 WR. He’ll haul in 102 passes for 1,160 yards and 9 TD. Mark Andrews will capture the attention of opposing defensive coordinators, but he’ll still manage to grab 90 balls for 1,075 yards and 11 TD. Isaiah Likely won’t meet expectations set in the preseason but he’ll still have a productive rookie campaign, reeling in 50 passes for 625 yards and 3 TD.
The team’s ground game will rank second in the league but a true bell cow won’t be established until December when J.K. Dobbins gets untracked. He’ll finish the season with just over 1,000 yards thanks in large part to a push at the season’s final quarter pole.
Defensively, the Ravens will get very productive seasons from the interior line. However, Mike Macdonald’s troops will fall short of expectations in large part because of their inability to get to the quarterback on a consistent basis. Joe Burrow, while not approaching the gaudy stats he posted against the Ravens in 2021, will continue to find success against a secondary asked to cover for far too long. They’ll finish just outside the top third in the league. The inability to prevent big plays in big games will prove costly.
Add it all up and the Ravens will finish 11-6, reach the AFC Championship game but fall to the Buffalo Bills who will finally win their first Super Bowl, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rob Shields
My bold prediction is that offensive coordinator Greg Roman gets fired during the season.
In an offseason that I felt was excellent, the biggest mistake made was retaining Roman. There has been some talk that they are revamping the passing game and if that’s true and it works, this prediction will look rather silly. That said, until I see it implemented and working over the course of several games, I won’t feel good about things.
I also predict that a contract extension for Lamar doesn’t get worked out and this drags out until next offseason.
As for the record, I think the team gets into the playoffs. I think they go 11-6 and win one playoff game.
I believe the ceiling for this team is winning the Super Bowl but until I see a dynamic passing game, I won’t believe they can do it against the best teams in January.
As for the rest of the league, I’m going against the consensus of Buffalo because as of right now, I don’t trust that they have the running game I feel you need. They are the opposite of the Ravens. Just not enough balance. I’m going to go with the Chargers to finally get over the hump because I think their defense is going to be really good. Of course, special teams has always been an issue there, so we will see.
In the NFC, I’m going with San Francisco. I like Trey Lance as a sneaky MVP candidate (a la Lamar in 2019). They have a lot of pieces on both sides of the ball and very good coaching.
Chargers over San Fran in the Super Bowl.
Adam Bonaccorsi
I’ll probably fall on the lower end of the optimism spectrum… but at 11-6 that’s still pretty solid for the Ravens in 2022.
There’s no question that this team is talented and has a notably high ceiling this season; however, I think the boys in purple have a few things going against them in 2022:
- lingering Lamar Jackson contract could provide a distraction
- lack of bodies on the edge
- shortage of talent at wide receiver
- unknown developments of Stanley , Dobbins, Gus, Bowser & Peters
- left side of the offensive line currently a weak spot
- stacked AFC opponents
Again, the Ravens are otherwise a solid team, and the potential is there to be great if all goes well in the health & development department (and maybe a few midseason trades)… I just can’t really bank on the unknown at this stage. 11-6 should be good enough for a wild card spot – possibly a trip to the divisional round – but it’ll once again end there.
Leading passer: Lamar Jackson 3,400 yds, 27 TD & 13 INT
Leading rusher: Kenyan Drake 170 carries, 700yds, 7 TD (yes, this is absolutely JK & Gus fear factor)
Leading receiver: Mark Andrews 90 receptions, 1,150 yds 8 TD
Sack Leader: Odafe Oweh 11 sacks
Pick Leader: Marcus Peters 4 INT (I have less fear here)
ROTY: Tyler Linderbaum
Round 1 pick 2023: WR Jordan Addison (too soon?)
Darin McCann
This is a pivotal season for the immediate future of the Baltimore Ravens. Will they sign quarterback Lamar Jackson to a long-term deal? Will the coaching staff survive another season without a deep postseason run? Who will pick up the slack in the wake of Poe’s catastrophic injury?
Here are a few bold predictions for how things turn out:
- The Ravens will, in fact, win the AFC North, with an 11-6 record. This is largely based on the theory that the team can pick up three additional wins from last season’s disaster through better relative health, an easier schedule and their best playmaker being on the field at the end of the season.
- Their run will come to an end in the Divisional Round, but it will leave a better taste in fans’ mouths than some flops in the past, as they will be this season’s Buffalo Bills — losing an epic game against the Kansas City Chiefs. It will be the pass-rush, not the receiving crew, that ultimately does them in this season.
- Jackson will have his second best season in the NFL, throwing for 30 touchdowns, running for another seven and limiting his turnovers to the single digits.
- Odafe Oweh is that guy who makes the leap, registering 10.5 sacks and being involved in five turnovers.
- Andrews puts up more than 1,200 yards in a terrific encore performance, and Bateman crosses the century mark himself.
- I see this year’s Super Bowl coming down to the Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers, with Josh Allen securing his first championship.
- Bonus: Kyle Hamilton will pick off four balls, post 75-plus tackles and land on the All-Rookie defensive team at the end of the year, joining Tyler Linderbaum, who is selected on the offensive side.
Derek Arnold
I typically tend to optimism this time of year. If you don’t, what’s the point of being a sports fan? Hope springs eternal and all that, right?
But looking around at my colleagues’ predictions as I compile them, I seem to be the Eeyore of the group, despite expecting a 10-win campaign from our Ravens. I fear we’re in for more nail-biters that could go either way, and that take years off our lives. You know, like just about every Ravens season ever save for 2019.
Record: 10-7, wild card
Exit: Divisional round at Denver
AFC Champ: Buffalo
NFC Champ: Minnesota
Super Bowl: Buffalo 27 Minnesota 23
Ben Dackiw
Although the Ravens are still feeling the pain of last year’s injury-riddled season, the time for excuses is well past over. Lamar Jackson has one playoff win after being in the league for four years. That’s not good enough. The Ravens fortified the trenches on both sides of the ball and are getting back key contributors from their running back room and their secondary. They absolutely have the bodies to beat anybody in the AFC.
Lamar will throw for 4,000 yards for the first time in his career after signing a massive extension to remain a Raven for the next half-decade. Bateman and Andrews will both amass 1,000 receiving yards. Preseason darling Isaiah Likely will be in the running for OROY.
David Ojabo won’t play until midseason, but will rack up five sacks when he does return.
Season Prediction: 12-5, AFC North Champions, AFC Championship Game
Ron Toothe
The Ravens enter the 2022 season with some question marks, but also with a massive chip on their shoulder after an injury decimated 2021 campaign ended as horribly as it possibly could have. The players who were here still have that bitter taste in their mouths, and the players who weren’t are ready to show that they can help return the Ravens to the top of the AFC. With that said, let’s get into some quick predictions.
Record: 12-5
Final outcome: 2 playoff victories, AFC Championship loss @ Buffalo
Bold take: Odafe Oweh breaks the franchise sack record of 17 set by Elvis Dumervil
Quick notes: It will be a hot start for the Ravens, who will sweep the AFC East to begin the year before a few potential hiccups in October/early November. They right the ship around Thanksgiving and finish the regular season as champions of the north and the AFC’s 3 seed, not to mention a strong Super Bowl contender. Jackson picks up two playoff wins on his resume before a cold evening in Buffalo against a team looking for revenge from Week 4 proves to be just a bit too much. Nonetheless, a more than respectable season and one that will have fans once again thinking “Super Bowl or bust” going forward.
Chris Schisler
Prediction time is where the fun is. I see reason for a lot of hope. My bold prediction is that Lamar Jackson will win the NFL MVP award for the second time of his career.
When you look at the Ravens roster, there isn’t a ton of fire power at the wide receiver position. The running back situation remains a bit of a mystery because you don’t know what to expect from JK Dobbins and you don’t know when Gus Edwards will return. If the Ravens are going to be a playoff team, Jackson has to shine. If the Ravens are the contenders that I think they are, Jackson will be seen as a quarterback doing more with less.
Josh Allen has Stefon Diggs and an offense we already know is prolific. Patrick Mahomes still has Travis Kelce and a genius head coach in Andy Reid. The Ravens will win the AFC North crown which will put Jackson ahead of Joe Burrow. That covers most of the AFC contenders right there. Aaron Rodgers will have something to say about it out of the NFC, but let’s give it to Jackson. Every time the NFL questions how good Jackson is, he answers by putting on a show.
I’m going to be bold and say that this team wins 13 games. I think they will get better as the season progresses because they’ll get back key players like Tyus Bowser and David Ojabo. I also think there are a lot of new pieces to the puzzle that need to jell together. That sounds scary but the schedule is favorable at the start of the season. The Ravens will start 3-0. Then they will lose to the Bills because they don’t have enough pass rush to stop Allen. Their response to this prime time defeat will be rattling off another three wins.
Then the Ravens will face the Buccaneers for a Thursday Night Football showing in Florida. That didn’t go so well against the Dolphins last year. Tom Brady is hard to beat as the visiting team so I’ll mark this as a loss. That will put them at 6-2 with nine games left on the schedule. The Ravens will respond with another win streak, winning the next three games. Then the Broncos and Steelers will surprise them. This is the melodramatic slump of the season where fans will act like the sky is falling, even with a 9-4 record.
This is when Jackson and the Ravens will start their surge towards the playoffs. They will close out the season with four straight wins. The season finale against the Bengals will be for the division crown and where Jackson will put his biggest stamp on the MVP race.
The Ravens will finish 13-4 while the Bengals fall to 12-5. Baltimore will go into the playoffs red hot, and take things from there, bringing home their third Lombardi trophy a the expense of the Green Bay Packers.
Jared Pinder
I think the Baltimore Ravens will end up going 11-6 and just edging out the Bengals for the AFC North crown on the final day of the regular season. This may be a shock, but with the team getting fully healthy as the season goes on, I see a strong push to win the division in the final two weeks when they face the Steelers and Bengals. As for what happens in the playoffs, that is much harder to predict. If I had to give a prediction, I would say that the Ravens will make it to the Championship Round, but get knocked out by a better team in the conference like the Chiefs or Bills.
I have three bold predictions for this team:
The first is that Odafe Oweh will find himself as a top 15 edge rusher and even get some DPOY votes. Oweh had a phenomenal rookie season for someone who wasn’t expected to do much as a rookie, and I see another massive jump from him this year. He is already a good run defender and was the best rookie edge rusher (as far as getting pressure) last year. Oweh will have to get his sack total up this year, which was a problem under Wink, but let’s see if it changes with a better D-line and new DC Mike MacDonald.
The second is that Marcus Williams will become the most important member of the Ravens’ defense this year. The one thing this defense was missing for a while was a free safety who knows what he is doing and can take chances when possible. Williams is all of above, and I think he will have a trickle-down effect on the defense as he plays better; so will the corners, the linebackers, and the pass rushers. Good free safety play can open up so much with the defense; it has been a missing piece on this defense for years. Outside of one year with a solid Earl Thomas, the Ravens haven’t had something like this since they signed Eric Weddle. This is the bold take I believe in the most; Williams is just a player the Ravens have needed for years, and I am so ready for some good safety play for once, unlike last year.
The third take, and one that will likely land me in hot water with most of the fan base, is that if the Ravens underwhelm this year and they don’t make the playoffs, John Harbaugh should be on the hot seat. This seems crazy, but this is the team’s final chance to go deep in the playoffs while Lamar Jackson remains on his rookie deal. That also would include missing the playoffs in back-to-back years in this scenario. I love Harbaugh as much as the next guy, but this team needs to make a long playoff run with Jackson, and Harbaugh’s recent playoff record is a concerning 1-4. If this happens, Roman is out, but if the Ravens can’t make the playoffs and underwhelm for a second straight year, it might be time to look at Harbaugh and move on. For a reason, he has been here for 15 years and is the third longest-tenured coach in the league, but results have to change in the playoffs. I probably feel the least confident in this take because I have the Ravens going 11-6, but if it falls apart again, we need to look at John Harbaugh. (cue the tomatoes)
The seeding for the AFC goes like this: 1. Bills (15-1) 2. Chiefs (13-4) 3. Colts (12-5) 4. Ravens (11-6) 5. Titans (12-5) 6. Chargers (11-6) 7. Bengals (10-7).
For the NFC: 1. 49ers (15-2) 2. Packers (15-2) 3. Saints (11-5) 4. Eagles (10-7) 5. Bucs (11-6) 6. Cowboys (9-8) 7. Rams (9-8).
As for the Wild Card round, I have in the AFC, the Colts over the Chargers, the Ravens over the Titans, and the Chiefs over the Bengals. For the NFC, I have Bucs over Eagles, Saints over the Cowboys, and the Packers over the Rams.
In the Divisional Round, in the AFC, I have the Ravens over the BIlls and the Cheifs over the Colts. In the NFC, I have the Packers over the Saints and the 49ers over the Bucs.
In the Conference Championship, I have KC over the Ravens and the Packers over the 49ers.
In the Super Bowl, I have the Chiefs over the Packers, with Patrick Mahomes winning the Super Bowl MVP.
