Who’s next in the spotlight? Congratulations, Baltimore. It’s the Ravens! I wanted to take the opportunity to spotlight Baltimore this week because of how well the Ravens encapsulate the parity of the NFL. Baltimore is a perfect example of how similarly talented nearly all 32 NFL teams are. After watching Week 4’s Thursday Night game between the Ravens and the Steelers, most people, including myself would say, “Wow, Baltimore is lucky not to be 0-4 right now.” And in some ways, that is a fair statement. Baltimore barely squeezed out a win against a Pittsburgh team that was totally inept on offense, due to the injury to Roethlisberger. However, just as easily as I could argue for the Ravens being lucky not to be 0-4, I could argue pretty well that Baltimore is unlucky not to be 4-0 right now.
The Ravens started their season with 3 crushingly close losses. It started in Week 1 against the Broncos, when a late interception in the end zone by Darian Stewart sunk the Ravens. Next Baltimore headed to Oakland (this game was awesome), where Derek Carr threw a TD pass to Seth Roberts to win the game with 26 seconds left. Again, the Ravens were crushed in the final moments. And finally, in Week 3, Cincinnati thwarted Baltimore’s comeback hopes with a late TD in the fourth quarter, as the Bengals defeated the Ravens, 28-24.
Parity. It is synonymous with the NFL. Last season, 7 wins was all you needed to win the NFC South. This year, a perfect 4-0 start only gives you a tie for the division lead. On the macro scale, one season is often not indicative of what the next season will bring. On a micro scale, it is easy to see why. I just explained to you how Baltimore would be just as likely to be 4-0, as they they were to be 0-4 right now. And that is a bold statement! Four games is a significant portion of the season, and I am saying that all four of those games could have gone either way.
Four wins is not just the difference between making the playoffs and missing the playoffs. Four game is often the difference between missing the playoffs and earning a first round bye in the playoffs. Four losses is the difference between the first pick and the fifteenth pick in the NFL draft. Four wins can change a season completely. Four games can be decided by a coin flip (or maybe four coin flips). Four losses can sink a season. Is sixteen games really enough to determine which are the top fourteen teams in the NFL? Are the ensuing single-elimination style playoffs enough to determine the best team in the league? To both of these questions, the answer is no.
So, thank you Baltimore. Thank you for displaying the parity of this league. Thank you for your affinity to performing poorly at the end of games in 2015. But most of all, thank you for losing to the Raiders in Week 2. That meant a lot to me. There was this really annoying kid wearing a Ravens jersey next to me all game. When the Ravens were winning, he kept explaining to me how the Ravens were winning and the Raiders were losing. This was annoying. However, when Oakland took the lead with 26 seconds left, he started crying. There is no more beautiful sound than that of a child crying, especially one from Baltimore.
