The Ravens are currently 9-4 and look like they could still end up in the playoffs although they need to pull it together to be able to be successful. The Ravens are coming off a two-week win streak after wins against the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Ravens seem to have gotten into the habit of waiting to take advantage of opportunities early which comes back to get them in the fourth quarter. They can score early, but then they seem to drop off during the course of the second and third quarters.

English Chairman Matthew Blair is looking forward to Ravens games that are “less stressful” because he doesn’t like the fact that their games come down to the final five minutes. Mr. Blair hopes “they take advantage of opportunities early, so that doesn’t happen.”

The Ravens also have poor time management issues with the play clock. These issues lead to unnecessary delay-of-game calls that set the offense back yards that they shouldn’t be set back.

The Ravens are an NFL team, and they should be able to fix their offense calling issues so that they can take fewer penalties during the game.

Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman was a candidate for a coaching position for the Stanford football program. If he would have taken that job, that may have been the turn-around the Ravens’ offense would need to be able to be successful in the future.

Senior Ty Hensley believes that Roman is “limiting Lamar’s potential by running a very basic passing and running scheme” which isn’t taking advantage of the quarterback’s ability to make big plays across the middle of the field.

The defense is also having their share of problems. The Ravens’ secondary has the tendency to blow coverages late in the game, leading to easy points being scored and leaving the Ravens’ offense to make up for the defense’s shortcomings.

This leads to the Ravens falling back on Justin Tucker to try to kick game winning field goals that are crazy in yardage. This doesn’t always work and sends the Ravens to a loss.

Another problem the Ravens have right now is that star quarterback Lamar Jackson is out for one to three weeks with an injury to his PCL. After Jackson’s injury last season, the Ravens went on a terrible losing streak, so fans have to hope that while Jackson is out, the offense can function without him. Without Jackson playing, the playoff chances may be in jeopardy.

Regardless of the issues, there is still time for them to improve before the playoffs begin, so that, hopefully, they can be Super Bowl contenders this season.