Ravens' starters expecting to play all 60 minutes
The Baltimore Ravens are probably going to be the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs. Key word being probably, as they need the Steelers to lose to the Browns for a chance at a first-round bye. But even if Pittsburgh is trouncing Cleveland while the Ravens take on Bengals, head coach John Harbaugh has no plans to rest his starters. "I won't [sit starters] based on Pittsburgh's score," Harbaugh told the Baltimore Sun on Wednesday. We'll just play it like we always play it, and we'll try to win." Linebacker Ray Lewis agreed with his coach and said resting starters wouldn't be the right thing to do. "I think that would be hard to do that because you wonder if you're going to put somebody else at risk," Lewis said. "... if you take somebody out, then you're just putting more pressure on somebody else. The easiest thing to do is just go in and play the game out as a full team. Finish the game and see what happens after that."
Fantasy Analysis:
I'll trust Harbaugh's word, although you still have to be wary that the players may be somewhat limited if Pittsburgh is cruising. But overall, this is good news for Joe Flacco
, Ray Rice
, Derrick Mason
and Anquan Boldin
. Todd Heap
practiced fully Wednesday and it looks like he may play for the first time in three weeks. At the moment, plan to use your Ravens as you normally would.
Source:
Baltimore Sun