Iggy’s Ravens Report – January 23, 2013

Iggy’s Ravens Report – January 23, 2012


News & Commentary


Ravens:
Unbelievable… Again! The Ravens are going to the Super Bowl. Let me say that again: The BALTIMORE RAVENS are going to the SUPER BOWL! We exorcised the ghost of Bob Irsay. Then we conquered the man, myth, and legend known as Peyton Manning (and the A-hole GM John Elway >*spit*<), and now, we defeated our own failures of years past. We earned this trip. We pulled ourselves together at the perfect time: the playoffs. By how, after 16 games, did we rise above the inconsistency that has plagued us for, oh…um… 5 years? There are many answers to that question. First, it is Caldwell. Jettisoning Cam Cameron was a long time coming. Caldwell understands quarterbacks. He understands Flacco. He understands how to use the weapons we have and build a plan around it. Next is getting healthy at the right time. Our "starting" defense didn't take the field at the same time until the playoffs, and now it shows what we can do. Thirdly, it is Bryant McKinnie. We renegotiated his contract to start the season with a bonus for snap counts and then benched him until the playoffs. He was the missing piece of the offensive line that has given Joe the time pick his receivers, and not settle for one in a panic. These are a few of the many factors that have come together at the right time, and given us a chance to become legendary, once again.

Well, now that we are here, can we finish what we started? Can we send Ray Lewis out with the biggest bang possible in this league? The answer is simple. YES WE CAN. But we need to find new motivation. There is no Irsay, Elway, Manning, Lee Evans, or Billy Cundiff to overcome now. If anyone, it is the San Francisco 49ers who have a chip on their shoulders. They lost the only previous meeting of two brotherly Head Coaches in NFL history 16-6 on Thanksgiving night just over a year ago. They have a very passionate head coach, and a 2nd year quarterback who continues to find ways to win. In our corner, is the winningest quarterback in the NFL over the last 5 years, an emotional Ray Lewis, and a 4+ point “underdog” rating to stoke our fire. We have experience, and are the only underdog team to have won this post season, and we’ve done it twice thus far. So, can we do it? We have the heart and we know what it takes. No it is only a matter of execution. Just take a few extra minutes in practice on special teams, please, or I’ll have to talk about another type of execution.

Orioles:
Fanfest was probably the biggest ever. My kids had a blast. Opening Day tickets went on sale today for season ticket holders, and the Orioles have been signing many of their arbitration cases before arbitration, which is standard practice these days.

Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes signed three veteran players on Monday, adding receiver Arland Bruce III, defensive back Byron Parker and quarterback Quinton Porter. Head Coach Marc Trestman leveraged an out on his contract in order to be hired by the Chicago Bears as their new head coach.
See http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/ for details.

Blast:
The Blast (14-4) rebounded from their 2nd 2-game losing streak of the season with back to back road wins over Syracuse last weekend, 14-12 and 27-13. They return home to face Rochester on Friday night and Missouri on Saturday night as the Arena. The Blast is presently .5 games behind Milwaukee for the league lead.

Chesapeake Bayhawks: (Home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)
The 2013 schedule has been released.

Charm:
The Charm will open the 2013 season at Jacksonville on May 25.

Capitals (See website for more details):
Caps open the shortened season with consecutive losses to Tampa and Winnipeg.

Wizards (See website for more details):
The Wizards enter tonights game having won 5 of their last 7, to improve to 9-30 on the season to match Charlotte (10-31) and Cleveland (11-32) at 21 games below .500. There is still hope!

Mystics (See website for more details):
Nothing to report.

D.C.United (See website for more details):
The 2013 Schedule has been released.


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 W 44-13
Sunday, September 16, 2012 @Philadelphia Eagles 1-1-1 Overall, 1-0-1 Away 1:00 PM L 24-23
Sunday, September 23, 2012 New England Patriots 1-7 Overall, 0-2 Home 8:20 PM W 31-30
Thursday, September 27, 2012 Cleveland Browns 19-7 Overall, 10-3 Home 8:20 PM W 23-16
Sunday, October 7, 2012 @Kansas City Chiefs 3-3 Overall, 2-0 Away 1:00 PM W 9-6
Sunday, October 14, 2012 Dallas Cowboys 3-0 Overall, 2-0 Home 1:00 PM W 31-29
Sunday, October 21, 2012 @Houston Texans 6-0 Overall, 3-0 Away 1:00 PM L 43-13
Sunday, November 4, 2012 @Cleveland Browns 19-7 Overall, 9-4 Away 1:00 PM W 25-15
Sunday, November 11, 2012 Oakland Raiders 6-1 Overall, 4-0 Home 1:00 PM W 55-20
Sunday, November 18, 2012 @pittsburgh steelers 14-21 Overall, 6-12 Away 8:20 PM W 13-10
Sunday, November 25, 2012 @San Diego Chargers 4-4 Overall, 2-4 Away 4:05 PM W 16-13 OT
Sunday, December 2, 2012 pittsburgh steelers 15-21 Overall, 8-9 Home 4:25 PM L 23-20
Sunday, December 9, 2012 @Washington Redskins 3-1 Overall, 2-1 Away 1:00 PM L 31-28 OT
Sunday, December 16, 2012 Denver Broncos 6-3 Overall, 5-0 Home 1:00 PM L 34-17
Sunday, December 23, 2012 New York Giants 3-1 Overall, 1-0 Home 4:25 PM W 33-14
Sunday, January 30, 2012 @Cincinnati Bengals 18-14 Overall, 7-9 Away 1:00 PM L 23-17
2012 Post Season
Date Opponent Record Time Result
Sunday, January 6 Indianapolis Colts 3-9 Overall, 3-4 Home 1:00 PM W 24-9
Saturday, January 12 @Denver Broncos 6-4 Overall, 1-3 Away 4:30 PM W 38-35 (2 OT)
Sunday, January 20 @New England Patriots 2-7 Overall, 1-5 Away 4:30 PM W 28-13
Sunday, February 3 San Francisco 49ers
at New Orleans		 3-1 Overall 6:20 PM –

Relevant Football Links

Iggy’s Predictions

  • Conference Championships:
    • Pats over Baltimore (+9.5), but take the points. Expect Ravens to put up a grand fight, but I am just not sure we can do this thing 2 weeks in a row. Glad to be wrong again!
    • SF over Atlanta (+3.5). Even Vegas put the fading Falcons as an underdog with the game in Atlanta! Atlanta jumped up early again, but this time failed to recapture the lead late in the game.
    • This Week:: 1-1 Straight Up, and 2-0 Against the Spread
    • Season:: 173-93 Straight Up, and 137-129 Against the Spread
  • Super Bowl
    • BALTIMORE (+4.5) over San Francisco. Ravens are the hottest team in football right now, and hopefully the extra week off doesn’t cool them off.

Please send comments to Iggy at tealdragon.net