Have you heard the buzz?  Baltimore Ravens Fans are pumped this year.  They are keyed up and expecting a long run in the playoffs.  They truly believe the Super Bowl is anything but out of reach. 

But if you have a chance to speak with a Baltimore Ravens fan, you will learn that there stock in their team isn’t as much in the defense as it has in the past.  It is the offense that many fans are touting…and for good reason. 

The Raven’s defense has been riding the reputation of the team that won the Super Bowl a decade ago.  In recent years the squad has aged quite a bit.  Ray Lewis, still a great linebacker, has lost a step or two in recent years (it’s only expected for a 35 year old), corner back Domonique Foxworth tore his ACL and is out for the season, old man Reed is on the PUP list and will most likely miss the first 6 weeks and their draft pick Sergio Kindle bumped his head on some steps last month.  The 2009 third rank defense looks suspect at this point; the fans have to pray that the offense is the key.

Joe Flacco has been crowned the second coming since taking the team to the AFC Championship game his rookie season.  Though he has looked unstable under pressure, fans are hopeful that a balance attack will lessen the load on him and provide an element to improve an offense that ranked 13^th last season. 

The Ravens added two receiving threats when they signed Donte’ Stallworth and the former Arizona Cardinal star Anquan Boldin.  One can run nice deep patterns while the other has great hands for any pattern he is asked to run.  Having a receiving threat like this should open up much more opportunity in the running game for tandem of Ray Rice and Willis McGahee. 

The AFC North is always a tough and competitive conference where defense reigns supreme and the online sportsbooks still believe that the Ravens still hold its thrown.  Diamond Sportsbook opened the Ravens as the favorite to win the AFC North at -210, but has since lowered the odds to -190 after the signing of Terrell Owen by the Cincinnati Bengals.