Last Word on Pro Football is ranking each team’s easiest and hardest games of the 2017 schedule. Games will be ranked in order of difficulty, with one being the most difficult. This series will be split up into the eight most difficult games (1-8) and the eight easiest games (9-16). In this article, the Baltimore Ravens most difficult games will be discussed.
Baltimore Ravens Most Difficult Games in 2017
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Week 14: at Pittsburgh Steelers
Any game against the Pittsburgh Steelers is a tough one, but especially when the game is played in Pittsburgh. Last season’s game at Heinz Field ended on a dramatic note as Antonio Brown stretched the ball over the goal line to give the Steelers the victory. Once again, the game in Pittsburgh is late in the season, meaning that there will likely be playoff implications. The Steelers have brought back their entire offense except for Markus Wheaton and Ladarius Green, who were injured for most of the 2016 season anyways, plus they’ve added rookie wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and brought back Martavis Bryant. Expect an extremely hard-fought game between these two bitter rivals.
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Week 11: at Green Bay Packers
Playing at Lambeau Field is always a tough challenge. The Packers always play well at home and with the game being in November, it’s likely to be a cold one. Both teams will likely be fighting for the top spot in their respective divisions, so the Packers won’t be willing to lay down for the visiting Ravens easily.
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Week 5: at Oakland Raiders
The Raiders were perhaps the biggest surprise of 2016, and if not for Derek Carr getting injured late in the year, they may have made it all the way to the Super Bowl. The Raiders won’t have their typical loyal fans this year since they announced their plans to move to Las Vegas, but playing on the road against a team with the amount of skill that the Raiders have will most certainly be difficult.
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Week 1: at Cincinnati Bengals
The Ravens begin their 2017 season with a divisional matchup against the Bengals. The Ravens will have a difficult time defending the triple threat of A.J. Green, Tyler Eifert and rookie speedster, John Ross. Both teams will be looking to start their seasons off on the right foot, so expect a hard-fought rivalry in week one.
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Week 4: vs Pittsburgh Steelers
Possibly the best rivalry in football, the Ravens will have a chance to get an early leg up on the Steelers when they play them in Baltimore in week four. This game could very well be for the early divisional lead in the AFC North, so both teams will be desperate for a victory.
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Week 17: vs Cincinnati Bengals
The Ravens will end their 2017 regular season the same way they will begin, by squaring off against the Cincinnati Bengals. This game has playoff implications written all over it, and even if one team is out of the playoffs, these rival opponents won’t take this game lightly. Expect a hard-hitting, brutal end to Ravens final game of the regular season.
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Week 8: vs Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins, like the Raiders, surprised a lot of people last year when they made it to the playoffs. Even though they were eliminated in the first round by the Steelers, the Dolphins showed a lot of promise last season. Losing Ryan Tannehill late in the season was a heart-breaker for Dolphins fans, but they’ve got a lot to look forward to with running back Jay Ajayi. This game will most likely be determined by whether Ajayi is able to have success running the ball against the Ravens stingy defense.
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Week 16: vs Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have a lot of weapons on offense for Andrew Luck to use and they also showed improvements on defense last season. The fact that this game is in Baltimore will help the Ravens, but defeating Luck is never an easy task.
With four divisional games listed as the Ravens most difficult games in 2017, the Ravens will probably need to finish above .500 in the division in order to have a chance to make the playoffs.
Be sure to check out the eight easiest games on the 2017 Baltimore Ravens schedule.
