No one breathes as the training grounds prepare to open at the Under Armor Performance Center and throughout the NFL this week.
That’s an exaggeration, of course, but it seems like everyone, and I mean everyone, is holding their breath when the specter from another season begins to focus.
Players are holding their breath in hopes that the league and its union come up with a satisfactory set of safety protocols, helping them not to think about putting on shoulder pads and playing.
The teams are holding their breath on their chances of organizing a relatively normal season in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is sure to produce a dramatically altered new normal.
Fans are holding their breath on the likelihood of watching NFL football throughout this fall, injecting a bit of routine familiarity into these shaky times.
Here’s the situational math, if you like: Uncertainty plus anticipation equals breathlessness across the world of professional football as the countdown to the 2020 season begins.
And that breath retention is probably worse in Baltimore than anywhere else.
In many other places, they want to watch soccer, but they wonder if their team is destined for a winning season or at least one that is interesting to watch. But few analysts are asking such questions about the Ravens because there is little doubt.
They designed the league’s best record last year, ending the regular season with a 12-game winning streak, and most of their key artists are back. Lamar Jackson, his quarterback electric force and the league’s Most Valuable Player, touches the ball with every offensive attack.
And to their already potent 2019 mix, they’ve added a handful of players who could make them even better, including Calais Campbell, one of the league’s most formidable defensive linemen. A set of young offensive weapons is also new to the scene.
Simply put, the Ravens are loaded.
When Pro Football Focus ranked on the NFL’s 32-team rosters last month, Baltimore came out on top. Not near the top. The crows were the first.
Analysts and gamblers have favored them to win all 16 games, including a Week 3 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning Super Bowl champions and the Ravens’ only true competitor in the race to be the top team. interesting and exciting NFL.
You never know how a season will play out, but the Ravens are widely regarded as top tier contenders in the Super Bowl.
If something happened on the season due to the coronavirus, there would be deep disappointment in Baltimore, as Campbell pointed out during his recent conversation with my colleagues Ryan Mink and Garrett Downing on the podcast “The Lounge.”
“I feel like it would be a bad fortune if we couldn’t finish the season because of Covid,” Campbell said. “If we can follow the rules and ensure a full and complete season, I think the team that the Baltimore Ravens have built has every chance to be Super Bowl champions and win it all. It would be a shame if that opportunity wasted.”
Strangely, the Ravens’ chances of reaching their goal depend almost as much on their opponents as on themselves, as it will require acceptance of the 32 locker room health protocols to achieve a normal season.
“There are around 2,000 players (combined) on all teams over the course of a season,” Campbell said, “and you have to count on those guys to follow the rules and separate from people and try to keep the locker room safe. That it’s the scary part because it’s really going to be the honor system. “
All the Ravens can do is keep their winger off the field, giving them a chance to do their thing on the field.
“We are going to do what we have to do. We are going to try,” Campbell said, “and hopefully we can get through a season, and when all is said and done, we can kiss that Lombardi Trophy.” Man, that’s the goal. “
It’s a great but realistic goal, so … yeah … hold your breath.
