09-01-2024 NFL Preview - Flipbook - Page 4
NFL ’24
Sunday, September 1, 2024 4
RAVENS COMMENTARY
A broken slate
With ‘crazy’ Ravens
schedule, NFL
clearly puts money
above player safety
A
fter having the NFL’s best
regular-season record and
coming within a game of
playing in the Super Bowl,
the Ravens don’t catch any breaks.
Based on opponents’ winning percentage, Baltimore has
the second-toughest schedule in the
league this year.
Its 14 foes posted a
Mike Preston combined record of
155-134 last season
(.536), and eight made the playoffs.
According to projected win totals from
Vegas oddsmakers compiled by Sharp
Football Analysis, the Ravens’ 2024
schedule is the league’s fourth-hardest.
On top of that, there are some disturbing stretches in the second half of the
season, including three games in 14 days
and another three in 10.
When the schedule first came out,
it appeared as though the NFL had a
vendetta against the Ravens or coach
John Harbaugh. Plus, whatever
happened about this league having so
much concern for player safety?
“I think the league is going to continue
to add more games because of the media
contracts that they have, especially now
with streaming,” said John Lopez, 79,
a former trainer with the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers, Baltimore Colts and Canadian Football League’s Baltimore Stallions as well as co-founder of Towson
Sports Medicine. “Everybody wants a
piece of the pie, so you’re going to probably have a game every night of the week
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson practices handoffs with running back Derrick Henry during training camp. The Ravens can’t afford
injuries to their stars, but the demands of the schedule do not favor player safety, Mike Preston writes. KENNETH K. LAM/STAFF
or every day of the week in the future.”
It’s inevitable, and it’s all about the
money while player safety has been put
on the back shelf. Unfortunately, the
Ravens might not survive this season
unless they start out going 6-2 or 5-3 in
the first eight games.
Afterward, it’s a gamble. The Ravens
play the Denver Broncos in Baltimore on
Nov. 3, host the Cincinnati Bengals four
days later and then travel to Pittsburgh on
Nov. 17.
Later in December, they travel to New
York for a game with the Giants on Dec.
15 before hosting the Steelers six days
later and then flying into Houston for an
afternoon game on Christmas Day, the
Ravens’ second straight on the holiday
that has traditionally been dominated by
the NBA. Until now.
“If it’s something that’s not good
for the players, why aren’t the players
speaking up?” Lopez asked. “None of the
stars within the league have spoken up
about it. I don’t see the NFLPA and their
union head talking about it, so it’s big,
big money and they’re just going to keep
adding more games.
Turn to Preston, Page 6
