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00:00in game live game day here on sports grid back with Brady can and Adam Kaufman going team by team
00:25across the AFC North and that brings us to the team that is expected to do something that's never been
00:30done and that is win this division three straight years the Baltimore Ravens who not only are division
00:36favorites not only AFC favorites favorites to win the Super Bowl at least as we sit here right now
00:43in late July and you know you can see it there on the board and just to give you the most current
00:48numbers on FanDuel minus 150 to win the North plus 340 to win the conference plus 650 to win the
00:55Super Bowl minus 550 to at the very least make the playoffs that's the kind of number that Brady bet
01:01on Scheffler yesterday and plus 390 to miss if you think there actually could be regression or heaven
01:07forbid an injury to the reigning almost MVP Lamar Jackson let's bring in a man who is very familiar
01:15with this squad Bull Smoka who covers this team for press box out there in the Baltimore areas on
01:21Twitter at B Smoka Bo how are you I'm good thank you how are you doing great and excited for another
01:30year you know a lot of coaching longevity obviously in this division it's not just you know Stefanski
01:35year six Taylor year seven obviously Tomlin year 18 another guy who came in that same year is the
01:41one that you've been covering for a long time and that's John Harbaugh his 18th season year we know
01:47what Harbaugh likes to do right now how he likes to coach obviously his most important players are back
01:54in terms of you know returning the likes of Lamar Jackson a guy who you know wasn't so popular
01:59toward the end of the playoffs in Mark Andrews and a lot of talent everywhere in between what are the
02:06expectations you know are they as lofty locally as the books have them meaning is basically Super Bowl
02:13or bust oh they're definitely lofty I mean they are I think the consensus is they have
02:20this team has built maybe one of if not the best roster overall but the way this has gone
02:27in Lamar Jackson's entire career there's this albatross over this organization it's like
02:34okay okay but what about the playoffs what about the playoffs this team has to advance and has to
02:43they just have to play better in the playoffs because it's been infuriating for this fan base
02:49to see this team consistently play well win the division get home games in the playoffs
02:55but then just kind of self-destruct in the biggest moments and I think that's what's been
03:02most frustrating they feel like they've lost they haven't been beaten sometimes as much as they've
03:09lost and that's frustrating and so the frustration is is evident um but but the belief is they have
03:17an extremely good roster and there's no reason that come January they shouldn't be right there in the
03:24conversation again Bo if you look at what the you know preseason setup for the Baltimore Ravens was
03:32going into last season they bring in Derek Henry and and how are defenses going to defend you know
03:38the the run pass option with you know Derek Henry and Lamar Jackson they were extremely healthy they
03:44did not suffer a lot of injury all year long they had a historically good rest advantage you know they
03:49weren't going into a lot of short weeks and stuff like that and yet they found ways to stub their toe
03:55they you know a tough luck loss in the opener to the Chiefs they lose to the Raiders they lose to the
04:01Browns and then they end up on the road at Buffalo in the playoffs and obviously we know what happened
04:06there so can is this year going to be better than that are they coming in even better you know it was
04:13so good it was it seemed like it was so set up for them last season can they possibly get even better this
04:19year I mean I think the roster's as good as it was they they return almost every starter I mean and
04:25they've added some good players and uh so the roster should be what it is you're right last year
04:31they they lose at Kansas City in the opening week when Isaiah likely catches a ball and his big toe
04:35is out of bounds and then they just laid an egg against the Raiders the next week and you said they
04:40stumbled with the Browns they had some games they're going to lose and you know and their teams are
04:44going to have a hiccup along the way over the course of a season they had beaten the Bills here and then of
04:49course they go up they have to go because of the way the rest of the other games played out they then have
04:53to go to Buffalo in the playoffs and we knew that was going to be a tough deal the schedule's really
04:58tough for them right out of the gate again this year it's probably a harder schedule out of the
05:02gate this year than last year and so I'm sure that's on their mind with the way this opening six week
05:09quarter of the schedule will be it's going to be really important for them um but the belief they
05:15start you know we're in their training camp starts Wednesday is the first practice and the belief in
05:19that locker room is they have the best team Lamar was exceptional last year again was almost the MVP
05:27and some of his numbers you know 41 almost 4,200 passing yards he went for 41 touchdowns that's
05:34throwing he had four interceptions only almost a thousand rushing yards 915 ran for another four scores
05:40but as great as he was and I took a lot of flack for this I was often saying to me the MVP you know he
05:46wasn't going to win the MVP of the league because I wasn't even sure he was the MVP of his own team
05:50that's how otherworldly Derrick Henry was across last year we went for you know the sake one like
05:56almost 2,000 rushing yards you know along with the 16 touchdowns but at a certain point especially
06:02when you're a running back that stuff is just not sustainable so unbelievable first year with
06:07Baltimore what do we see in an encore well it's just that Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry together
06:13are so hard to defend and I have to go back to a play against Pittsburgh where if I remember right
06:20they put a trick play where they put Lamar Jackson on on the almost in the slot and he came around
06:26almost like on a fake sweep and the movement of the two of them it just defenses don't know what to
06:33do and if you just if you're just a quarter of a second slow with either of them it's it's kind
06:40of over they're just so hard to defend together that when Henry came in last year there was a lot
06:45of question about he hadn't done a lot of RPO stuff in Tennessee and the question is how will that work
06:51with Lamar Jackson will he be comfortable at this mesh point exchange Jackson's famous for kind of
06:56putting that ball in the belly and then ripping it away and how will that work well it worked really
07:01really well and Jackson uh Henry rather had if I'm not mistaken it was either his first or second
07:07highest yards per carry of his career uh at his age at age 30 um that's not supposed to happen but it
07:14was just such a tough tough duo to defend in the run game and so they're they're really good for each
07:21other and the expectation they can do it again Henry's put intensely physical in terms of keeping
07:28himself together 30 year old 31 year old now I mean no one's gonna no one's going to sell him short
07:35in terms of being physically ready
07:37Eric Henry's rushing prop sitting right now 1,325 and a half big number but not remotely close to what
07:46he just did we're looking ahead to the Baltimore Ravens upcoming season the Super Bowl favorites as
07:52things stand right here in late July Bo Smolka is with us from Press Box again I'm on Twitter at
07:57B Smolka and you can see the Super Bowl odds there Baltimore narrowly in front of Buffalo and then of
08:03course you have the defending champion Eagles the defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs but
08:08Todd Munkin the offensive coordinator he presides over a dynamic explosive offense we've been talking a
08:15lot about the almost MVP Lamar Jackson and what Derrick Henry just did in his first year with
08:20Baltimore we know what you know a guy like Mark Andrews is capable of save flowers as well they
08:25added DeAndre Hopkins in the offseason who I would argue you know is is you know fairly washed I don't
08:31have high expectations for him I'd expect more personally out of Rashad Bateman than I would
08:36Hopkins but look he's a five-time pro bowler maybe I'm wrong about that Bo what is this offense
08:40independent of the two big guns the two rushers the two guys that you know you you outlined so well
08:46can be in so many different ways from a pass catching standpoint who do we look at well I
08:53think I think you start with Andrews and flowers um Andrews it's so you know Andrews everything that
09:00played out at the end of the year when he had the fumble in the playoff game and then he dropped the
09:04potential game tying two-point play it was a miserable ending of the season for him and there
09:08was a lot of talk about was he going to be traded because he's coming up on his contract year
09:12and so is Isaiah Likely a good young tight end behind him they're both really good tight ends
09:17Andrews is still here he and Jackson came in together he has always been Jackson's favorite
09:23target when the play breaks down and things have to happen those two have this telepathy Lamar Jackson
09:30once called it street ball and they just seem to know what each other's going to do so Andrews has
09:35always been his favorite target in third down situations near the goal line I think it was six
09:40straight games and Andrews ended the end of the season with a touchdown at six straight games
09:44which is a franchise record um so I think Andrews is still his number one guy say flowers is is maybe
09:52one a at this point because Andrew Jackson and flowers have really developed something there too
09:57I kind of agree with you on Hopkins I think he's a third wide receiver here who at this stage in his
10:03career is a bump up from Nelson Aguilar who they had last year but I'm not expecting a huge year from him
10:09and Bateman is a guy that can be a big play receiver they signed him again this year they've
10:15kind of kept their trust in him and he got ripped by the local fans his first couple years because he
10:21was hurt a lot but he's a big play threat he played with a lot of confidence last year his really first
10:26fully healthy year so Bateman's a guy who's going to factor like I said I mentioned Isaiah Likely
10:31a really good looking tight end and a lot of the talk here is they're both coming up on free agency
10:37Andrews and Likely they're probably not going to be able to keep both they'll probably keep one or
10:42the other after this season that's going to be fascinating to watch down the road but Andrews
10:47and Likely are a handful as a two tight end sets and Munkin will put them both on the field a lot
10:52because neither of them are really in line blocking tight ends they're more slot receiver
10:56tight ends and Likely is tenacious after the catch he's got a stiff arm that ranks almost up there
11:03with Derek Henry he's really tough to bring down after he catches the ball so they think and again
11:09this Ravens team for a long long time has really struggled to produce wide receivers they think
11:16they've got two good ones they've grown in Flowers and Bateman and they've got two really good tight
11:21ends and Andrews and Likely and I think those guys are going to be the crux of this past game and I
11:26think they're dangerous it's a it's a it's a talented dangerous group and DeAndre Hopkins at this stage in his
11:31career I think he is who he is but I think he'll contribute and he'll pick spots it might be a
11:37third down in the strength to catch the ball in traffic that's what they like so he's a good
11:42addition I think it's a it's it's one of the best wide receiver or past game groups that I can remember
11:49this team having Bo I want to ask you about head coach John Harbaugh if you look at what the Ravens
11:56have done recently last year they were five and five and one score games the year before they were
12:01four and four this has been a problem for a long time for this team also last year they were minus 35
12:07and penalty margin I've had a great deal of respect for this guy for a long time but lately in the last
12:13few years people have started to question is this guy really the next best to Belichick is he really the
12:19next best to Andy Reid is he starting to slip a little bit and and are the are the fans getting restless
12:24there in Baltimore at all well the fans get restless every time he botches like time management
12:30in the last minute of a game and that happens and they're all over him the most important thing is
12:35he's got a really supportive owner Steve Bichotti loves him and so as long as Steve Bichotti likes
12:41John Harbaugh John Harbaugh will be here he's a I think Bichotti likes him as a face of the organization
12:47they win a lot more than they lose every year I do think if they another another flame out in the
12:53postseason is going to lead to more questions but most most of all the owner likes him and I think
13:00that's and the owner values continuity and stability and they have that one more ball
13:05Mo Smolka again on Twitter and B Smolka from Pressbox in Baltimore thanks a lot Mo
13:12and I'll see you guys next week
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