The Ravens' 2007 NFL schedule has been upgraded from a year ago with more quality opponents, but there isn't much to complain about. The hardest stretch doesn't come until late in the season, and two of those games are at home. Plus, the Ravens have four games on national television.
The Ravens open the season on Sept. 10 at the Cincinnati Bengals, which is tough, but the Ravens could go 7-0 or 6-1 heading into the bye week Oct. 28. OK, maybe that's wishful thinking or I've been drinking the purple Kool-Aid, but it's not that difficult a schedule in the first half of the season. The key for the Ravens is not losing three of the first eight games.
In the first half, the Ravens get the New York Jets, the Arizona Cardinals and the St. Louis Rams at home, with the Bengals, Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers on the road. Even before the Ravens play the Steelers on Nov. 5 in a Monday night game, they get a bye and extra time to rest and prepare.
The tough stretch comes after Thanksgiving, when the Ravens travel to San Diego and then host the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Those three games are followed by road games at the Miami Dolphins and Seattle Seahawks. Now that's a tough stretch.
But overall, the schedule isn't that bad. The AFC North is expected to be down this season, with coach Romeo Crennel fighting for his job in Cleveland, where he has already fired several assistant coaches. New coach Mike Tomlin is trying to establish himself in Pittsburgh after replacing longtime Steelers coach Bill Cowher. We can put both of those teams in the rebuilding stages.
As for those Ravens fans who believe the league has something against Baltimore, this would have been the perfect time to stick it to them with three games on the West Coast in 2007. But each of those games is being played in a different month.
Oops, there goes the conspiracy theory.
Quarterback targets
Ravens offensive coordinator-quarterback coach Rick Neuheisel has been busy this offseason putting together an offense and scouting quarterbacks. The Ravens have been to the pro days of quarterbacks Trent Edwards of Stanford, Michigan State's Drew Stanton, Houston's Kevin Kolb, Brigham Young's John Beck, Ohio State's Troy Smith and Washington's Isaiah Stanback.
