Iggy’s Ravens Report – September 3, 2012

Iggy’s Raven’s Report – September 3, 2012

 

News & Commentary

 

News and Personal Thoughts:
Congratulations to the Bayhawks – Four time MLL champions!

Ravens:
Okay, preseason is over, and not soon enough. The last game is not much of a gauge on how things might be since they played virtually NO starters. The Ravens have signed a few additional veterans after the trade deadline to try and plug some holes, but the bottom line remains that the season starts Monday night, whether we are ready or not. Cincinnati will be a good test for this team, as some critics have pegged them as the pre-season favorites to win the division. Andy Dalton has shaped up to be a very good quarterback, and will exploit our weak pass rush, and holey secondary. On offense, the Ravens will unveil their hurry-up West Coast style offense, which can leads to lots of points… or lots of punts! GO RAVENS!

Orioles:
In 1989, the Orioles unveiled the “Why Not?” slogan. In a recent interview, Buck Showalter was asked some pretty stupid questions about our proximity to first place and the playoffs, and his response was, “Really?” Well, I think we have our 2012 slogan: “Really!” The O’s are continually underestimated in our unprecedented run for the playoffs, taking 2 of 3 from the Yankees in the Bronx, giving the O’s a season series sweep in the Bronx for the first time since 1976. The O’s continue to press history as another stat was released over the weekend: The last time the Yankees held first place in September and did not win the division was in 1974. Spending most of the season waiting for the wheels to fall off, I now have had a change in thinking starting with the O’s regaining 2nd place in the division last week: Why Not? Really?! Blieve, Hon!

Alouettes
The Als (6-3) held on for a 30-25 win over Winnipeg (6-3) on Friday, to match the Lions for the best record in the CFL, and open up a 2 game lead over Toronto for the East Division lead. The same two teams meet again in BC on Saturday.

Blast:
The Baltimore Blast will hold open tryouts in September at the team’s training facility Du Burns Arena. The Blast will open training camp in mid-October and start the 2012-13 MISL season in early November.

Chesapeake Bayhawks: (Home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)
The 2 seeded Bayhawks (12-4) dominated the Denver outlaws (12-4) for their 4th championship win in 11 years, 16-6.

Charm:
Nothing to report.

Capitals (See website for more details):
Caps to host Columbus at Baltimore on Wednesday, September 26 for their 2nd of 7 preseason games… The NHL has released the National Television Broadcast schedule.

Wizards (See website for more details):
The Washington Wizards announced their preseason schedule… Wizards signed free agent Guard/Forward Martell Webster.

Mystics (See website for more details):
The Mystics (5-21) have now lost 5 in a row and sunk to the rank of worst record in the WNBA, a full 1 game behind Tulsa to escape the ultimate basement. There are 8 games left, with the regular season ending (not soon enough!) on September 22.

D.C.United (See website for more details):
Since last report, the United (12-10-5) have lost to Montreal and Real Salt like, with a tie to the New York Red Bulls in
between, dropping them (41 points) in to 6th place and 1 point out of a playoff spot (Houston and Columbus both have 42 points). 7 games remain, with the next on September 15th against New England (6-14-7, 9th place Eastern Conference).

What do you want to see in the Ravens report? What should be scrapped? Actually, never mind. No one is reading this anyway so you probably won’t know the difference. Send an email to iggy at tealdragon.net. Thanks!

Schedule

2012 Preseason
Date Opponent Time Result Thursday, August 9, 2012 @Atlanta Falcons 7:30 PM W 31-17 Friday, August 17, 2012 Detroit Lions 8:00 PM L 27-12 Thursday, August 23, 2012 Jacksonville Jaguars 7:30 PM W 48-17 Thursday, August 30, 2012 @Saint Louis Rams 8:00 PM L 31-17 2012 Regular Season Date Opponent Record Time Result Monday, September 10, 2012 Cincinnati Bengals 18-14 Overall, 11-6 Home 7:00 PM Sunday, September 16, 2012 @Philadelphia Eagles 1-1-1 Overall, 1-0-1 Away 1:00 PM Sunday, September 23, 2012 New England Patriots 1-7 Overall, 0-2 Home 8:20 PM Thursday, September 27, 2012 Cleveland Browns 19-7 Overall, 10-3 Home 8:20 PM Sunday, October 7, 2012 @Kansas City Chiefs 3-3 Overall, 2-0 Away 1:00 PM Monday, October 14, 2012 Dallas Cowboys 3-0 Overall, 2-0 Home 1:00 PM Sunday, October 21, 2012 @Houston Texans 6-0 Overall, 3-0 Away 1:00 PM Sunday, November 4, 2012 @Cleveland Browns 19-7 Overall, 9-4 Away 1:00 PM Sunday, November 11, 2012 Oakland Raiders 6-1 Overall, 4-0 Home 1:00 PM Sunday, November 18, 2012 @pittsburgh steelers 14-21 Overall, 6-12 Away 8:20 PM Sunday, November 25, 2012 @San Diego Chargers 4-4 Overall, 2-4 Away 4:05 PM Sunday, December 2, 2012 pittsburgh steelers 14-21 Overall, 8-9 Home 4:25 PM Sunday, December 9, 2012 @Washington Redskins 3-1 Overall, 2-1 Away 1:00 PM Sunday, December 16, 2012 Denver Broncos 6-3 Overall, 5-0 Home 1:00 PM Sunday, December 23, 2012 New York Giants 3-1 Overall, 1-0 Home 1:00 PM Sunday, January 30, 2012 @Cincinnati Bengals 18-14 Overall, 7-9 Away 1:00 PM

Relevant Football Links

Iggy’s Predictions

  • Week 1
    • Giants over Dallas (+3.5). Eli looking for more.
    • Bears over Indy (+9.5). Colts need more than Luck to cover that spread.
    • Philly over Cleveland (+8.5), but take the points. Philadelphia will be their own vicktim this season.
    • Pats over Titans (+6.5). Pats saying they have upgraded their offense… Titans have downgraded theirs.
    • Falcons over KC (+2.5). So many of the Falcons offense players are rated extremely high in the FFLs… all except Ryan. Explain that?
    • Minnesota over Jacksonville (+4.5). Both teams look like bombs for 2012 (and not the scoring kind). I picked the home team.
    • Saints over skins (+9.5), but take the points. Saints took a lot of hits in the offseason and have a lot to prove, but RG3 might be the answer for Washington. What was the question again?
    • Jets over Bills (+3.5), but take the points. Jets are in complete disarray… but they are playing the Bills…
    • Lions over Rams (+8.5), but take the points. Taking points is a gutsy call here, but Bradford is in a make or break season. I think they will still be asking that question, come January.
    • Houston over Miami (+10.5). I was tempted by those points, but then I read that the fins are starting a rookie QB, with only Davonne Bess to receive, and the oft-injured Reggie Bush at RB. Houston made the playoffs last season and are looking to build off of that.
    • Packers over SF (+5.5), but take the points. Both teams are well matched, but the difference is Rodgers. Packers win in OT (or at the buzzer) by a field goal.
    • Seattle over Arizona (+2.5). Will anyone notice that these two teams played this weekend? Didn’t think so.
    • Carolina over Tampa (+2.5). Tampa has restocked, but Cam Newton is still emerging as a premier quarterback (a process that usually never finishes, but he has a pretty good shot)
    • Denver over pittsburgh (+1.5). Manning is not done yet.
    • Ravens over Cincy (+6.5), but take the points. Can the Ravens actually blow people out this season with the new offense? That, or Sam Koch has a probowl season!
    • Chargers over Raiders (+1.5). Chargers have a lot of injuries, but the road team seems to rule this matchup.
    • 2011 Record: 178-89 (67%) Straight Up, and 144-123 (54%) Against the Spread.

Please send comments to Iggy at tealdragon.net