Is It Time to Take the Baltimore Ravens Seriously?

With the Baltimore Ravens' 29-7 rout of the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, their record rises to 5-2. They are in sole possession of the top spot in the AFC North and are pulling away in what had been a close race to this point between all four teams.

The Ravens have managed to do this with an offense cobbled together by free agents such as Steve Smith Sr., Owen Daniels and Justin Forsett. They've done well even without tight end Dennis Pitta and with receiver Torrey Smith catching only 46 percent of the passes thrown his way.

This isn't a debate about whether quarterback Joe Flacco is "elite." It's not about contenders or pretenders, with only seven weeks spoken for in the NFL season. But the Ravens' latest win does make it clear they are playing at a high level on both offense and defense.

This isn't the 8-8 Ravens of 2013, who couldn't pressure quarterbacks effectively and who couldn't run the ball behind a terrible offensive line. This is a team that deserves to be taken seriously. 

On offense, Baltimore's success can be directly traced to the line being significantly better than it was a year prior. Even with left tackle Eugene Monroe having missed the last four games with a knee injury and guard Kelechi Osemele the last two, also because of a knee, Baltimore's offense has continued to be productive.

Flacco currently has a career-high completion percentage of 63.7 percent. He's thrown 14 touchdowns already—he had 19 last season—and has thrown only five interceptions. Even with undrafted rookie James Hurst filling in at left tackle, he's been sacked just eight times. He's been taken down on 3.2 percent of his dropbacks this year, compared to 7.3 percent a year ago.

Though Flacco has targeted 13 different players this year, he's primarily relying on four—Smith Sr., Daniels, Forsett and Smith. Smith Sr. is currently the Ravens' receiving leader, with 38 catches of 59 targets for 640 yards and four touchdowns. That is followed by Smith, with 18 catches on 39 targets for 308 yards and four scores.

Player	Tgts.	Rec.	Rec.%	Yds.	YPR	TD
Smith Sr.	59	38	64.4%	640	16.8	4
Daniels	36	27	75.0%	275	10.2	3
Smith	39	18	46.2%	308	17.1	4
Forsett	28	23	82.1%	118	5.1	0

Daniels, meanwhile, has taken up Pitta's role as the dependable receiving tight end, catching 27 of 36 passes thrown his way, for 275 yards and three touchdowns. And Forsett is Flacco's regular checkdown target, with 23 catches on 28 targets for 118 yards. 

Though Flacco is playing at a high level, he's not throwing a high volume of passes. His two games in which he's had more than 31 attempts both resulted in losses and completion percentages below 60; in games with no more than 31 attempts, the Ravens have won and Flacco's completion percentage was never lower than 61.3.

This is the other way the line has helped the Ravens this year. Flacco doesn't need to carry the team on his back as he did—with very mixed results—in 2013, because the Ravens are running the ball well.

Forsett is leading the way, with 503 yards and three touchdowns on 87 carries, giving him an impressive 5.8 yards-per-carry average. He's spelled by Bernard Pierce, who has 55 rushes for 196 yards and two touchdowns, and rookie Lorenzo Taliaferro, who has 44 rushes for 199 yards and two touchdowns.

Cliff McBride/Getty Images

The Ravens collectively have rushed for no fewer than 90 yards in a game this year and have surpassed 100 yards five times. Their 920 rushing yards and 131.4 average rushing yards per game ranks them eighth in the league.

The effective run game has resulted in a more efficient Flacco, and thus the Ravens offense ranks ninth in passing yards, with 1,790 on the year and an average of 255.7 per game. One hand washes the other when it comes to the Ravens' running and passing, and both have the offensive line to thank.

The offense isn't the only place the Ravens are winning in the trenches, however. The defense is also quietly coming together into one of the better units in the NFL. And it's all about the front seven.

According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), the Ravens have the best defense in the NFL, and they have their linebackers and defensive line mostly to thank. Against the Falcons on Sunday, the Ravens defense took advantage of Atlanta's porous offensive line, sacking quarterback Matt Ryan five times and hitting him nine times. The defense also notched seven tackles for a loss in the game.

Stat	Value	Rank
Yds/Game	387.1	8
Rush Yds/Game	131.4	8
Pass Yds/Game	255.7	9
Points/Game	27.6	6
Opp. Yds/Game	345.9	16
Opp. Points/Game	14.9	1
Sacks	15	T-16
INT	4	T-18
FF	8	T-8
FR	6	T-5

This has quickly become a theme for the Ravens, who have 15 sacks this season along with 41 quarterback hits and 77 hurries. Linebacker Elvis Dumervil is the team's sack leader presently, with seven; he's followed by defensive end Pernell McPhee with four and linebacker Terrell Suggs with 2.5

It's not just the veterans making an impact either. Rookie inside linebacker C.J. Mosley leads the Ravens in tackles with 63 combined. Mosely is so good that he's Pro Football Focus' third-ranked interior linebacker this year, though he has yet to record a sack and has been weak in coverage.

In fact, the Ravens' coverage has been their only defensive weakness this year, but the play of the front seven has done much to mask it. The Ravens defense ranks an average 16th in opponent yards allowed, at 345.9. However, it ranks first in points per game allowed, at 14.9. The defense has allowed 14.7 points per game in its last three contests and has allowed a stellar 11.5 points on average at home.

Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Clearly, the Ravens have their front lines on both offense and defense to thank for such a strong start to their season. But that toughness up front also indicates that this year's improvement is sustainable through the rest of the year.

Rank	Team	Record
1.	Baltimore Ravens	5-2
2.	Cincinnati Bengals	3-2-1
3.	Cleveland Browns	3-3
4.	Pittsburgh Steelers*	3-3

Even with a few injuries already suffered on the offensive line, Flacco is still well protected, and the run game is productive every week. The defense seems much more cohesive than it did a year ago, and a healthy Suggs has made Dumervil, McPhee and others better in turn. 

The Ravens haven't just won five games, they've won them all—except, maybe, their defeat of the Cleveland Browns—convincingly. Their next two games, both road stands against AFC North opponents (Bengals, then Steelers) could easily extend their lead in the division, making it theirs to lose rather than fighting it out between the other three teams who all, at present, boast similar records.

Baltimore's impressive streak of wins is not a fluke. It's a sign that this team has done a good job of addressing its problems from 2013 and improving where it mattered most. Though not flawless—and no team is—the Ravens look, after seven games, as one of the five best teams in the NFL.