Because we already know who the Ravens will play and where they’ll play, the only mystery is when. Here are my predictions.
When each season ends, I enjoy trying to predict what the following year’s Ravens schedule will look like. The official schedule won’t be released until about April 16, typically one week before the draft.
In 2018, I was only one week off in predicting when the Ravens would have their bye week, when they would play home games against Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and New Orleans, and when they’d play Cleveland on the road. And I was just two weeks off on the dates of games against Oakland, Tampa Bay, and Buffalo.
Last year, I outdid myself, getting the exact week right on three games (Cleveland, Week Four, at Cleveland, Week 16, and Pittsburgh, Week 17), and missing by just one week on four other–the bye, the Cincinnati home game, the Pittsburgh trip, and the San Francisco home game.
This year, the Ravens will play 15 of 16 games inside the Eastern Time Zone, and only five games against 2019 playoff teams–three of them on the road. But those three games are in cities where the Ravens have never won a regular-season game–New England, Indianapolis, and Philadelphia.
Before we get started with the predictions, here are a few things to consider.
–Baltimore’s schedule is ranked as the league’s easiest, even though those figures will change as the 2020 records are applied.
–My guesses apply to Sunday afternoons only (indicated by the dates next to the week numbers in the sequence below). I don’t make speculative guesses regarding which games will be played Sunday, Monday, or Thursday nights, although some match-ups would seem to belong in prime time. The maximum number of prime-time games for any team is five, a number the Ravens could reach this year, given the national appeal of its MVP quarterback, Lamar Jackson.
–Predictions for the season’s first four weeks were made based on the Orioles’ already-determined schedule. Starting with Week Four, picks were made as if the Orioles will not be playing home postseason games in October (a safe assumption). But if they do, that would create a logistical nightmare because of the proximity of the two stadiums.
So, with all that in mind, what could the 2020 Ravens’ schedule sequence look like?
Week One (September 13), at New England: The Orioles will be at home that weekend–so it’s yet another Week One game on the road for the Ravens. The Ravens have never won a regular-season game in Foxborough, and this year would be an excellent time to break that string.
Week Two (September 20), Dallas: The Cowboys are still one of the most scrutinized and most discussed franchises in all of the sports. The mere sight of that star on the helmet stirs up emotions, perfect for a home opener in any town!
Week Three (September 27), Cleveland: Games against Cleveland in September are a normal rite of autumn for the Ravens–be they home or away.
Week Four (October 4), at Cincinnati:: On a crisp fall day on the banks of the Ohio River, it’s a perfect day for some famous chili and a beatdown of the hapless Bengals. With division games taking up only six of the 16 schedule spots, the league has tried to bunch them towards the beginning and end of the season.
Week Five (October 11), at Philadelphia: Just like New England, this is another locale where the Ravens have never won a regular-season game. You might also have noticed that I have guessed by this point in the season, the Ravens will have played two straight home games and two in a row on the road–something that didn’t happen at all in 2019 with its season-long away-home-away-home sequence.
Week Six (October 18), Jacksonville: The Ravens have to play the entire AFC South anyway, so why not dump this non-descript opponent into the middle of the dog days of October?
Week Seven (October 25) at Indianapolis: Of all the cities in which Baltimore has never won, this one undoubtedly stings the worst. But there is no more Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck to deal with. So just as the Ravens checked off multiple away-win boxes last year (in Buffalo, Seattle, and Los Angeles), I like their chances here as well.
Week Eight (November 1) Pittsburgh: A little late for this game, you might say? Well, there have been years where the Ravens and Steelers didn’t see each other until November. In 2019, Houston and Tennessee didn’t play each other until just before Christmas. If Pittsburgh is healthier and has improved by this point, the pent-up fan emotion will be let loose quite intensely on this day.
Week Nine (November 8) BYE: I usually place my bye guess here each year because it’s the exact midpoint of the season. The Baltimore bye has fallen right around this spot quite a bit in recent years, the near-perfect spot for a team to assess its health and state-of-play when the season resumes.
Week Ten (November 15), at Washington: Maybe I’m making it too easy on the Ravens here (easing back into the season with a short bus ride to Landover), but in 1997 (and on a cold, rainy November afternoon), Baltimore played at Washington for the first time and thoroughly dominated the Redskins, which I expect them to do again.
Week 11 (November 22), New York Giants: With the Thanksgiving travel season mere days away, maybe some of your relatives will be in town for this one. Last time the Ravens played the Giants, WR Odell Beckham, Jr. had a big day. Saquon Barkley will look to do the same here.
Week 12 (November 29), at Houston: This is the Ravens’ only game in 2020 taking place outside the Eastern time zone. And if it is placed in this portion of the schedule, then the team will be more than refreshed enough not to have any resulting jet lag. The Texans will be contenders again, but they seem to be a bit below the league’s real elite.
Week 13 (December 6), Cincinnati: Might as well wrap up the annual two-game series with the Bengals before the homestretch kicks in. The league doesn’t want to see blowouts, especially within the division, in the season’s final month.
Week 14 (December 13), at Cleveland: Last year’s visit to Cleveland took place right around this date, so why not put this game at about the same point in the schedule? The Browns, with yet another rookie head coach and the same set of combustible egos, look to be below-average again.
Week 15 (December 20), Tennessee: Merry Christmas, Charm City! I have already heard how many fans want revenge on the Titans for the Divisional playoff loss. If this game takes place on this day–in the middle of the season’s homestretch–perhaps a sense of urgency will be felt by both teams, and not just one (hint, hint).
Week 16 (December 27), Kansas City: These are two very tough back-to-back home games? Well, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. This game will bring in viewers for the marquee value alone.
Week 17 (January 3), at Pittsburgh: In this annual column I’ve been screaming for a Ravens-Steelers season-closing game. We got it last year! But, alas, the game meant nothing. I’m sure things will be different this time.
