Ex-NFL QB says Ravens can book ticket to AFC title game with Saquon Barkley trade
After flying under the radar most of the season, the Baltimore Ravens announced their candidacy as title contenders in Week 7 with a 38-6 beatdown of the Detroit Lions.
According to Dan Orlovsky of ESPN, striking a trade for New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley would further solidify their standing among the AFC elite and guarantee them a trip to the conference championship.
"You might as well book the plane from Baltimore to Kansas City for the AFC title game," the former NFL quarterback said on Thursday's airing of ESPN's "Get Up."
"If you got Saquon to the best pass-game (Baltimore has seen over Lamar Jackson's tenure) and that zone-read gets back, unstoppable," he added.
Jackson looked like a bonafide MVP candidate in the win over Detroit, accounting for 393 total yards and four touchdowns. Defensively, the Ravens did what they've done all season — shut down the opposition.
Entering the contest, the Lions had scored 30-plus points in half of their games this season. Baltimore held Detroit below seven points for the first time since October 23 of last season and now owns the NFL's No. 1 ranked scoring defense (13.9 PPG allowed) and No. 2 ranked total defense (271.7 YPG allowed).
Yet, despite their brilliance on both sides of the ball, Baltimore's play from the running back position continues to underwhelm — and could potentially hold them back come playoff time. While Jackson's dual-threat abilities (team-high 363 rushing yards) have masked the backfield's deficiencies thus far, acquiring a player with Barkley's abilities would quickly shore up the most glaring shortcoming across the Ravens offense.
Gus Edwards ranks 21st in the NFL with 346 rushing yards, while backfield mate Justice Hill is averaging just 32.7 YPG on the ground. Over Barkley's last three games, the two-time Pro Bowler has averaged 102.7 yards from scrimmage and totaled three touchdowns.
Since the start of last season, Barkley has averaged 79.8 YPG rushing. No Ravens running back has averaged over 70 YPG rushing since Justin Forsett in 2014 (79.1).
Should Barkley find his way to Baltimore at the trade deadline, the Ravens might land themselves in Super Bowl contention come February.
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