With the Ravens enjoying their bye in Week 5, we step away from our weekly ritual of selecting our Tuesday Top 7 Ravens, instead offering our biggest surprises — good and bad — through the first five weeks of the 2011 season.
If you missed the full breakdown of our lists on The Morning Reaction, click HERE for Drew’s Top 7 bad surprises and HERE for my Top 7 good surprises of the 2011 NFL season.
Luke Jones’ Top 7 Good Surprises…
7) Cincinnati Bengals

6) Strong quarterback play (six players entered Week 5 on pace to throw for over 5,000 yards)

5) San Francisco 49ers

4) Wes Welker

3) Buffalo Bills

2) Detroit Lions

1) Cam Newton

Drew Forrester’s Top 7 Bad Surprises…
7) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

6) NFC East mediocrity

5) Miami Dolphins

4) Tony Romo

3) Philadelphia Eagles

2) Donovan McNabb

1) St. Louis Rams
Luke Jones
Luke Jones is the Ravens and Orioles beat reporter for WNST BaltimorePositive.com and is a PFWA member. His mind is consumed with useless sports knowledge, pro wrestling promos, and movie quotes, but he often forgets where he put his phone. Luke's favorite sports memories include being one of the thousands of kids who waited for Cal Ripken's autograph after Orioles games in the summer of 1995, attending the Super Bowl XXXV victory parade with his dad in the pouring rain, and watching the Terps advance to the Final Four at the Carrier Dome in 2002. Follow him on social media @BaltimoreLuke or email him at Luke@wnst.net.
Podcast Audio Vault
Right Now in Baltimore
The Ravens go on the clock with Pick 14 and then move to 'Super Bowl' time
The purple land of hopes and expectations begins on Thursday night with the NFL Draft. Luke Jones and Nestor get you ready for a myriad of draft possibilities and outcomes for Eric DeCosta and the Baltimore Ravens under rookie head coach Jesse Minter. We'll be picking and opining all weekend as spring hopes remain eternal in Owings Mills.
When will the frozen Orioles bats thaw this spring?
Sure, it's not the lineup that manager Craig Albernaz envisioned back in Sarasota in February but the Orioles need to figure out how to stop striking out and start hitting with runners in scoring position. Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Birds' struggles, including a five-game losing streak and scuffling through Kansas City waiting for the roster to get healthier and more productive.
Who can Orioles really count on to "pitch" in as innings add up?
Is there an "ace" in the starting rotation deck for the Baltimore Orioles? Sure, we all believed that Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish would make it look easy and that Shane Baz would pitch to his contract and Chris Bassitt would stabilize the staff and Zach Eflin...and then the season began. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the Birds' pitching depth and scraping by on any win possible in Kansas City.



















