BALTIMORE RAVENS

2012 Odds:
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Odds to Win AFC North: 6/5
Odds to Win AFC Championship: 7/1
Odds to Win Super Bowl XLVII: 14/1
Regular Season Wins Over/Under: 10

2012 Preview:
Offense:
The Ravens have slowly and successfully transitioned to a zone-blocking scheme over the past couple of seasons. They’ve steadily mixed in more and more zone stretch plays for Ray Rice and have had plenty of success doing it, especially now that their line heavily utilizes cut blocking. They still use a lot of two-back sets with Rice running behind Vonta Leach. Rice will take a very heavy load again; even with Ricky Williams on the roster last season, Rice played more than 75 percent of their offensive snaps, so expect rookie Bernard Pierce to be used sparingly. Baltimore keeps it very conservative in the red zone, running it more than half the time inside the 20, and nearly 60 percent of the time in goal-to-go situations last year. Rice takes pretty much all the red zone reps.

Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron had always wanted to stretch the field but never had the receiver to do it until Torrey Smith emerged last season. Cameron has said he’ll use more two tight end sets, as they did toward the end of last season. Dennis Pitta outperformed Ed Dickson in the second half of the year and is the one receiver Joe Flacco consistently looked for over the middle. Rice will also continue to have a huge role in the passing game, not only as a safety valve, but also on screens and in the slot to create mismatches. Anquan Boldin was a popular target in the end zone last year.

Defense:
The off-season Achilles’ injury to reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Terrell Suggs could be enough to keep this from being an elite defense. Baltimore does have experience in veterans Ed Reed and Ray Lewis—neither of whom shows any significant signs of slowing down—and Haloti Ngata is one of the best interior linemen in the league. Cornerback Lardarius Webb capped his first year as a starter with three interceptions in the playoffs, and Bernard Pollard had 89 total tackles (62 solo) in 15 games (including playoffs) as a full-time player.

Key Offseason Moves:
ADDITIONS
QB Curtis Painter (from Colts)
WR Jacoby Jones (from Texans)
G Bobbie Williams (from Bengals)
DT Ryan McBean (from Broncos)
DT Ma’ake Kemoeatu (did not play in 2011)
LB Darryl Blackstock (from Raiders)
LB Ricky Brown (from Raiders)
CB Corey Graham (from Bears)
S Sean Considine (from Cardinals)

SUBTRACTIONS
RB Ricky Williams (retired)
WR Lee Evans (Jaguars)
G Ben Grubbs (Saints)
DE Cory Redding (Colts)
NT Brandon McKinney (Colts)
LB Jarret Johnson (Chargers)
CB Chris Carr (Vikings)
CB Domonique Foxworth (released)
S Tom Zbikowski (Colts)
S Haruki Nakamura (Panthers)

2012 Schedule:
2012 Schedule Strength: 20.69 (7th toughest in NFL)
Week 1 - Cincinnati
Week 2 - at Philadelphia
Week 3 - New England
Week 4 - Cleveland
Week 5 - at Kansas City
Week 6 - Dallas
Week 7 - at Houston
Week 8 - BYE WEEK
Week 9 - at Cleveland
Week 10 - Oakland
Week 11 - at Pittsburgh
Week 12 - at San Diego
Week 13 - Pittsburgh
Week 14 - at Washington
Week 15 - Denver
Week 16 - New York Giants
Week 17 - at Cincinnati

StatFox Take: The Ravens suffered some key losses in the offseason, especially the injury to Terrell Suggs. However, Baltimore remains one of the best teams in the NFL with its suffocating defense and explosive rushing attack led by Ray Rice. The schedule is difficult, but the Ravens play most of the elite non-divisional opponents at home (Patriots, Broncos, Cowboys and Giants), with the only extremely difficult road contests in Houston, Philadelphia and the annual trip to Pittsburgh. A third straight 12-win season is still very likely, and is certainly worth an even-money bet.
Prediction: OVER 10 wins (Even)

All NFL Previews

AFC North
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals - Monday, August 6
Cleveland Browns - Tuesday, August 7
Pittsburgh Steelers - Wednesday, August 8

AFC South
Houston Texans - Thursday, August 9
Indianapolis Colts - Friday, August 10
Jacksonville Jaguars - Saturday, August 11
Tennessee Titans - Sunday, August 12

AFC West
Denver Broncos - Monday, August 13
Kansas City Chiefs - Tuesday, August 14
Oakland Raiders - Wednesday, August 15
San Diego Chargers - Thursday, August 16

NFC East
Dallas Cowboys - Friday, August 17
New York Giants - Saturday, August 18
Philadelphia Eagles - Sunday, August 19
Washington Redskins - Monday, August 20

NFC North
Chicago Bears - Tuesday, August 21
Detroit Lions - Wednesday, August 22
Green Bay Packers - Thursday, August 23
Minnesota Vikings - Friday, August 24

NFC South
Atlanta Falcons - Saturday, August 25
Carolina Panthers - Sunday, August 26
New Orleans Saints - Monday, August 27
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Tuesday, August 28

NFC West
Arizona Cardinals - Wednesday, August 29
San Francisco 49ers - Thursday, August 30
Seattle Seahawks - Friday, August 31
St. Louis Rams - Saturday, September 1