2013 NFL mid-season review: Which non-playoff team will make the post-season?

Alright now that we’ve covered the two teams who could possibly turn things around and still make the playoffs, it’s time to see who could do the same but in the opposite conference.

Call me crazy but here we go.

Oakland Raiders – I know, I know. It’s the Oakland Raiders, but this team isn’t as bad as we all thought they were going to be. The move to make Terrelle Pryor the starting quarterback was a brilliant choice for this organization even though I’m a fan of Matt Flynn. Pryor and the Raiders rank dead last in the league in passing but their rushing game is fifth best thanks to Pryor himself.

Terrelle needs to cut back on his mistakes, if this young quarterback can do that, there’s no reason why this team couldn’t reach the playoffs. Oakland has a tough second half schedule but they’ve put up some serious fights against already playoff bound teams early on this season. Oakland’s defense right now has been playing great against the rush as they’ve only allowed under 90 rushing yards per game.

Their passing defense isn’t all that terrible too as they’re currently ranked 16th in the league. Right now their key factor is of course Pryor. He’s only passed for 1,149 passing yards this season with five touchdowns and seven interceptions, but he’s also rushed for nearly 400 yards and one touchdown.

Let’s take a look at the remaining schedule for this team.

This Sunday they’ll host the Philadelphia Eagles (3-5), at New York Giants (2-6), at Houston Texans (2-5), vs Tennessee Titans (3-4), at Dallas Cowboys (4-4), at New York Jets (4-4), vs Kansas City Chiefs (8-0), at San Diego Chargers (4-3) then ending their season against the Denver Broncos (7-1) at home which will more than likely be a game where they’ll rest their starters.

Baltimore Ravens – You can’t count out the Super Bowl champions just yet. Yeah they’re currently 3-5 but they have plenty of time to turn things around. Yeah you have teams like the Miami Dolphins and the Tennessee Titans who can turn things around, but I have a feeling things have a better shot at getting better for Baltimore.

They’re coming off their bye week and will play the Cleveland Browns this Sunday. A Browns team that looked as if they were going to be a surprise team in the conference but lost Hoyer to a season ending knee injury and benched Brandon Weeden once again. Jason Campbell hasn’t performed well enough to prove that this team can keep things going so Baltimore should come out swinging and win that game even though the Browns still have a tough defense.

Baltimore does have five tough match up’s near the end of their schedule with the Cincinnati Bengals twice, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and New England Patriots. If this team wants to reach the post-season they’re going to have to at least run the table or win at least five-six games of their remaining nine.

This team isn’t that bad defensively, they’re big problem this season is they haven’t been able to balance out their offense. Yeah the Ravens ranked 12th in the league in passing offense but rank 28th with 74 yards per game.

Ray Rice has only played in six games this season and has picked up 242 rushing yards with three touchdowns on 86 carries. That needs to turn around if they have any hopes of at least picking up a Wild Card spot.

The second team didn’t necessarily come down to WHO could turn things around, it came down to who NEEDED things to turn around.

A look at their second half schedule. At Cleveland Browns (3-5),  vs Cincinnati Bengals (6-2), at Chicago Bears (4-3), vs New York Jets (4-4), vs Pittsburgh Steelers (2-5), vs Minnesota Vikings (1-6), at Detroit Lions (5-3), vs New England Patriots (6-2), at Cincinnati Bengals (6-2) which will more than likely be a game where Cincinnati rests their starters.

It was a tough choice after looking over the remaining teams in the AFC but I had to roll with the Baltimore Ravens.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Do you have two different teams in each conference who could make the playoffs?

Thank you for reading, have a great week!