Baltimore Ravens Will Not Make Playoffs, According to Harvard Study

The Baltimore Ravens will not make the playoffs this season if you want to put any merit into a recent Harvard study.

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According to a study done by Kurt Bullard, the Pittsburgh Steelers will win the division in 2015. Bullard developed a model that was published yesterday on the Harvard College Sports Analysis Collective webpage that predicts every team’s chances of making the playoffs.

There is a lot about this model that makes you scratch your head. The Miami Dolphins are a huge favorite to win the AFC East that the New England Patriots have owned for the past decade. It also has the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns as more likely candidates to make the playoffs than the Ravens.

The Browns?! Are you kidding me?

The study has the Steelers with a 51 percent chance to make the playoffs. A respectable number for a playoff team last season. The Bengals finished with 39 percent chance to make the playoffs. Once again, a respectable prediction. Now is when you wonder is this study is worth believing. The Browns have a 20 percent chance to win the division. The Ravens that make the playoffs year after year and are one of the winningest franchise in the NFL? Nine percent.

The Ravens basically got placed at the bottom of the barrel and it makes no sense at all. This is the same team that was up 14 points on the eventual champions twice in the playoffs. The team that Peter King has ranked as his top team after the offseason. A team that many oddsmakers are picking as a Super Bowl favorite. That’s why you have to laugh at some of these statistics that are published.

The Patriots are facing their toughest year yet with the AFC East getting better and Tom Brady‘s suspension looming. However, to give the Dolphins a 77 percent chance to make the playoffs, the third best in this study, makes you question the findings. Here is an excerpt from the findings:

"“To very little surprise, the Seahawks have the best odds of making the playoffs after having made the Super Bowl the past two years. The Dolphins may finally dethrone the Patriots in the AFC East, boasting the third-highest probability of playing into January, fifteen percentage points above defending-champion New England.The much-touted Bills revamping, on the other hand, may not have the desired impact. The team only has a 40% chance of making the playoffs – the lowest in the AFC East.”"

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So we are supposed to believe that every team in the AFC East is better than the Ravens? Come on now. Now let me tell you the only teams with a smaller percentage to make the playoffs than the Ravens: Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans and Oakland Raiders.

Let me repeat: ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

The model does work for certain divisions. The Seattle Seahawks, Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers should have little problem winning their division. The NFC East and AFC West are up for grabs. There is no clear cut favorite to win the NFC South and if you remember how that division turned out last season you know why. That all makes sense.

The Ravens having virtually no shot of making the playoffs does not. It’s mind-blowing to see the Ravens ranked anywhere near those teams when we are talking about one of the best teams in football. John Harbaugh might have more youth on this team than any season he has been under control, but there is enough talent to not only make the playoffs, but win the AFC North and even a Super Bowl.

It does not matter what this report says, the Baltimore Ravens definitely have a better chance at the playoffs than the Browns and will prove this study to be a fraud come January.

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