Ravens’ Slate

Discussing Strength of Schedule (SoS) for Next Season

As we enter the period of the offseason when teams will start to make moves in free agency and look beyond to the draft, it’s fair to say that the Ravens are a team looking to take the next step. They have been among the Super Bowl favorites the last couple of seasons, but as fans are acutely aware, they came up short when it mattered most. There’s likely to be some interesting moves in the coming weeks and months, hopefully leading to a roster that can go further in the Playoffs.

Once again, the Ravens are among the favorites in the early betting odds for Super Bowl LV. Yet, a lot will have to go right across the entire season. Every game will matter, particularly if the Ravens are to keep home advantage throughout the Playoffs, something that certainly helped the AFC No.1 seeds Kansas City Chiefs last season. As such, we wanted to have an early look at the Ravens’ strength of schedule, aka SoS for the 2025 season. The dates will be finalized soon, but we do know the opponents, and it’s interesting, to say the least.

SoS can be a useful barometer

There is often some debate about the usefulness of SoS. Of course, who plays who in the regular season always matters, and, for fans who bet, play DFS, or play Fantasy Pick’em games, it can act as a useful guide. Yet, the argument goes that the ranking of teams based on the previous season’s performances has limits. For example, if you look at the San Francisco 49ers, a team that had a brilliant 2023 campaign. The 49ers had a disastrous 2024 campaign, yet on paper, the team was marked as a tough opponent in SoS rankings. Still, it certainly has some merit.

Nonetheless, let’s get to it: The Ravens rank 9th overall on SoS for 2025. Opponents had a combined 154-135 record (0.533). The ranking is down from last season, when the Ravens ranked 2nd overall, but the actual record of the opponents was not much higher at 155-134 (0.536). It’s just a quirk of the math that despite moving down seven places, the combined quality of the teams – on paper – that they will face is much the same.

Breaking it down, the AFC North itself ranked 3rd overall in the NFL last season, with teams, including the Ravens, posting a 34-34 record. The outlier, as such, bringing the average down in the division was the Cleveland Browns, who were one of the worst teams in the league (3-14). It means the Ravens’ divisional opponents (three home, three away) have a combined record of 22-29. Games against divisional rivals are always tough, but the AFC North statistically should be beneficial to the Ravens.

Tough games with the NFC North teams

The Ravens’ conference opponents in 2025 will be the AFC East, meaning they will play the Patriots and Jets at home and the Dolphins and Bills away. The AFC East ranked 6th overall last season, with teams posting a 30-38 record. Only the Bills (13-4) posted a winning record from the division. The other AFC conference opponents based on divisional placement will be the Texans (10-7) and Chiefs (15-2), both of whom won their respective divisions last season.

Looking to the interconference games, it’s the NFC North, which is going to be tough. The NFC North ranked as the best division in the NFL last season, with teams going for a combined 54-23 record. Three of the teams – the Lions (15-2), Vikings (14-3), and Packers (11-6) – won more than 10 games, and even the Bears (5-12) looked okay earlier in the season. Finally, there is the interconference opponent based on divisional rankings, and that will be the Rams (10-7), another team that won its division. Overall, the Ravens will play 5 of the 8 divisional winners from last season.

Does any of this really matter? Yes and no. As mentioned, several teams are going to improve in the offseason, and it’s always the case that others will decline. If you look at it objectively, there are some very exciting games for fans to look forward to. The Ravens want to plot a way to get Lamar Jackson to a Super Bowl, and the hard work is going to start in September. Some tough games await, but hopefully, the team gets into a position where they fear no opponent.

The post Ravens’ Slate appeared first on Russell Street Report.