You'd think the incredibly spoiled fans of the Ravens (you know who you are!) would at least cut enough slack to their defending champion team to hold out hope for a possibility of a 5-game run of the table.
It could happen—it has happened historically for the Ravens before—a 5-game run, that is. How quickly the fair-weather fan forgets.
The Ravens are good enough to pull off a multi-game run. They have overcome so many handicaps as an organization in 2013, from injuries to personnel losses, yet they are still a good team with a great coach.
The great John Eisenberg summed up the possibilities that a true-purple fan of the Ravens should be embracing:
"Strangely, with Thanksgiving looming and the season about to enter its home stretch, the Ravens still have half of their home schedule to go. They’re going to play three straight in Baltimore starting with Sunday’s game against the New York Jets."
"None of this has caught anyone by surprise. When the schedule came out last spring, everyone could see that it was frontloaded with road games and that the Ravens would be at home a lot in late November and December, when playoff bids generally are determined. It sounded like a favorable schedule, although Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh shrugged off the notion that it mattered in any way, stating what he always does about schedules, that all teams plays eight at home and eight on the road in the end."
"But the heavy concentration of road games has been rougher on the Ravens than anyone expected. They fell to 1-5 away from home in 2013 when Robbie Gould’s game-winning field goal spun just inside the right upright Sunday evening, giving the Chicago Bears an overtime win."
"The Ravens are coming home in time to save their season, but just barely. Doing the math, there’s no doubting what they need to do. To have a reasonable shot at making the postseason for a sixth straight year, they need to sweep these three straight home games starting Sunday."
"Beat the Jets? Check. Beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thanksgiving night? Check. Beat the Minnesota Vikings on Dec. 8? Check. They’ll still need to do more after that to make the playoffs, but first things first."
"It’s certainly possible. None of those three upcoming opponents has a winning record. But of course, neither do the Ravens. And let’s face it, nothing comes easily for them this season. All but a couple of their games have been agonizing trudges across heavy emotional ground – down-to-the-wire, gut-grabbing, opera-like dramas, determined in the final minutes or seconds."
But Eisenberg makes a great point— you're still in the wild card race at 4-6. Most of your remaining games are at your home field.
10-6 punches your ticket to the AFC playoffs. Maybe 9-7 will be good enough, too.
A true fan of their home town team should see things that way. What a ridiculous time for these so-called fans to give up on the Ravens. Even if they don't make it this year, once again your Baltimore Ravens have put you in position to make the playoffs. That's 6 straight years. If you're giving up on them now, you're spoiled and unreal.
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