Baltimore Ravens Seating Chart

The Baltimore Ravens didn't have the luxury of a bye last year, yet still managed to reach the AFC championship game and come up just short on the road against their arch-rival. With a bye this season and a fair schedule, who knows what the Ravens can do this time around.

Joe Flacco will be in his second year under center, which should make him a lot more comfortable with the system and also what he will face throughout the NFL season.

The Ravens also hope to have several players return healthy for the upcoming season, including Kelly Gregg, Willis McGahee, Demetrius Williams and several others. A healthy McGahee and Williams could really help Flacco and that offense soar to new heights.

The Ravens start the season at home with an easy game against the rebuilding Kansas City Chiefs. Though they will have Matt Cassel under center, it still seems like a perfect setup to start the year off with a victory.

Things get tough in a hurry, though, as the Ravens will have to travel to San Diego and New England over the course of the next three weeks. Both teams should be at the top of the AFC in 2009, especially the Patriots with the return of Tom Brady.

The most difficult portion of their schedule begins with a Monday night game at Cleveland, which is then followed by two home games against the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers. They then must go on the road and face the Green Bay Packers on Monday night.

The end of their schedule isn't too bad, with the toughest part being a game in Pittsburgh followed by a cross-country flight to Oakland to end the regular season. Not many teams will envy that travel schedule, but head coach John Harbaugh has made it clear that his teams won't ever make excuses about anything.

If nothing else, the Ravens can always lean on the fact that they get to play the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals four times, although one time is that Monday night road contest.