This past weekend, ESPN’s Mike Clay released his annual NFL projections ahead of the upcoming 2024 season. This includes a wide array of projections including where each team will finish in the standings, team and player statistics, and position group rankings
For the former, Clay is projecting the Baltimore Ravens to regress slightly from last season but still repeat as division champions. In the projected standings, the Ravens will win just about 11 games, one more than the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns behind them. The Pittsburgh Steelers round out the AFC North projection with only eight wins.
Clay has the Ravens finishing with the No. 3 overall seed in the AFC, whereas last year they won 13 games and earned the top overall spot in the conference. Instead, ESPN’s 2024 projections sees the New York Jets earning the No. 1 seed and the Kansas City Chiefs finishing second overall.
In this hypothetical projection, the Ravens would host the Cleveland Browns in a first-round playoff matchup. The Bengals would be the No. 5 overall seed, meaning three teams from the AFC North thus make the postseason for the second consecutive year.
Furthermore, the Clay has the Ravens scoring 433 points on the season while allowing 349, good for a point differential of +84. That would give them the fourth-most points scored in the league and fourth-best point differential. For comparison, the Ravens scored 483 points in 2023 with a league-best differential of +203.
Some degree of natural regression after such a dominant regular season in 2023 is to be expected. However, with five different units ranking in the Top-7 among all teams, the Ravens are evidently still in a strong position ahead of the upcoming campaign.
Interestingly, the Ravens landed 15th in ESPN’s strength of schedule ranking for 2024, which is contrary to some projections that gave them one of the league’s hardest schedules. Clay has the Ravens favored in 15 of their 17 games on the season.
What are your thoughts on how ESPN projects the Ravens to perform next year? Share your thoughts below and join in on the conversation!