Ravens:
You saw the game. You felt the pain. Everything turned on the failure of Harbaugh to throw the red challenge flag on what he was being told on the field to flag, but was too slow being relayed from the booth. What should have been 4th down and a punt turned into a long gain… and a long
game. The problem was exacerbated by our inability to catch the ball, and “own injuries” (Like the soccer term “Own Goal,” I am coining this phrase for Ravens players injuring Ravens players). We killed ourselves. The Broncos were just there to administer the sentence.
Next up is the Browns. A favorite rebound game, but the same questions remain. Can we get a running game going, can our receivers catch the ball, and can our inexperienced secondary avoid getting torched by one of the historically worst teams in the league?
Orioles:
As the Orioles fight to get back in the race, they fail themselves by not doing what they did best last year. Win close games, and keep the other teams in check with a stellar bullpen. Orioles should finish above .500, but don’t make playoff plans. Orioles will find themselves short of the promised land… 2014 schedule has been released.
| If the Playoffs started today… | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | American | National |
| 1 | Boston | Atlanta |
| 2 | Oakland | Los Angeles |
| 3 | Detroit | St. Louis |
| WC1 | Texas | Pittsburgh |
| WC2 | Tampa Bay | Cincinnati |
Alouettes
The Als (4-6, 3rd, 2GB) unable to hold a 15 point lead, allowed Toronto (6-4, 1st) to score with just over a minute left for their only lead of the game, when it counted the most. Toronto 37, Montreal 30. Als play at BC (6-4) next Sunday.
Blast:
Blast to open season at home on Friday, November 15, against Milwaukee. Remaining schedule to be release soon..
Chesapeake Bayhawks: (Home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)
Major League Lacrosse announced that it will hold the 2014 All-Star Game at Harvard Stadium in Boston on Thursday, June 26
Charm:
Nothing to Report.
Capitals (See website for more details):
Additional tickets for the pre-season game in Baltimore have been released.
Wizards (See website for more details):
Wizards to host Knicks in Baltimore on October 17 for a preseason game. Individual game tickets now on sale.
Mystics (See website for more details):
With 2 games left, the Mystics have clinched a playoff berth, and will face first place Chicago in the first round.
D.C.United (See website for more details):
DC has lost 2 in a row, and are 0-4-1 in their last 5. At 3-19-5, they have the worst record in the league, by far.
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
| 2013 Preseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Opponent | Time | Result | |
| Th, Aug 8 | @Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 7:30 PM | W 44-16 | |
| Th, Aug 15 | Atlanta Falcons | 7:30 PM | W 27-23 | |
| Th, Aug 22 | Carolina Panthers | 8:00 PM | L 34-27 | |
| Th, Aug 29 | @Saint Louis Rams | 8:00 PM | L 24-21 | |
| 2013 Regular Season | ||||
| Date | Opponent | Record | Time | Result |
| Th, Sep 5 | @Denver Broncos | 7-4 Overall 2-3 Away |
8:30 PM | L 49-27 |
| Su, Sep 15 | Cleveland Browns | 21-7 Overall 11-3 Home |
1:00 PM | |
| Su, Sep 22 | Houston Texans | 6-1 Overall 3-0 Home |
1:00 PM | |
| Su, Sep 29 | @Buffalo Bills | 3-2 Overall 0-1 Away |
1:00 PM | |
| Su, Oct 6 | @Miami Dolphins | 5-5 Overall 3-4 Away |
1:00 PM | |
| Su, Oct 13 | Green Bay Packers | 1-3 Overall 1-0 Home |
1:00 PM | |
| Su, Oct 20 | @pittsburgh steelers | 15-22 Overall 7-12 Away |
4:25 PM | |
| Su, Nov 3 | @Cleveland Browns | 21-7 Overall 10-4 Away |
4:25 PM | |
| Su, Nov 10 | Cincinnati Bengals | 19-15 Overall 12-5 Home |
1:00 PM | |
| Su, Nov 17 | @Chicago Bears | 2-2 Overall 0-2 Away |
1:00 PM | |
| Su, Nov 24 | New York Jets | 7-1 Overall 5-0 Home |
1:00 PM | |
| Th, Nov 28 | pittsburgh steelers | 15-22 Overall 8-10 Home |
8:30 PM | |
| Su, Dec 8 | Minnesota Vikings | 2-2 Overall 2-1 Home |
1:00 PM | |
| M, Dec 16 | @Detroit Lions | 2-1 Overall 0-1 Away |
8:40 PM | |
| Su, Dec 22 | New England Patriots | 3-7 Overall 1-2 Home |
8:30 PM | |
| Su, Dec 29 | @Cincinnati Bengals | 19-15 Overall 7-10 Away |
1:00 PM | |
Relevant Football Links
- NFL: Tie Breaking Procedures
- Johnny Road Trip NFL Schedules 2010-2017
- PrintYourBrackets.com Good source of printable team schedules
- NFL Rule Book
- Spotrac.com Awesome source of player contracts and impact on salary cap
Iggy’s Predictions
“Past performance does not guarantee future success, but it sure is the way to bet!”
- NFL Week 1:
- RAVENS (+8.5) over Denver. Overall, we have improved since last year on Defense. Offensive improvements remain to be seen. %()&)#*&q!%*
- Patriots over Buffalo (+10.5). Over/Under says that the Patriots will have those points covered by the end of the first quarter. Either the Pats started slow, or Buffalo might be good.
- Bears over Bengals (+3.5), but take the points. Bengals don’t know how to win, but the Bears are sporting a new Head Coach, fresh out of the CFL! Bengals lead late, but then lost.
- Miami (+.5) over Cleveland. Miami has cornered the market on over-rated players, but this is against Cleveland! Mike Wallace is the most overpaid decoy in the league.
- Saints over Falcons (+3.5). Points were tempting, but not tempting enough. Saints won by 2 FGs, not just the one.
- Tampa over Jets (+2.5). Only 2.5 points? That made it a no brainer for me. It took a late surge by the Jets to nip the Bucs by 1.
- stealers over Tennessee (+6.5), but take the points. stealers always start slow, but expect the Titans to be slower. I was hoping it was be a final at 16-2. It would have given us more ammo the morning after to get even for what we had to endure on Friday morning
- Detroit over Minnesota (+4.5), but take the points. Can Detroit get it together this? Lions roared past Vikings.
- Indy over Oakland (+9.5). Black hole swallows itself!? …and they did, but they saved some face by covering the spread.
- Seattle over Carolina (+3.5). Seattle could have one of the better Defenses this year. Notice I didn’t discuss the offense.
- KC over Jacksonville (+3.5). KC now has Alex Smith, and Jacksonville still should have a team. Jax could be worse in the league this year.
- Arizona (+4.5) over Rams. Not sure what why the Rams are favored… may be I’ll find out the hard way, like usual. Rams came back for the win, but Cards covered
- Niners over Packers (+4.5). Niners have improved on Offense, but Defense might need some help. Niners win, and covered the spread with a late FG.
- Giants (+3.5) over Dallas. Like usual, the NFC East is all messed up. Giant didn’t start very big.
- skins over Philly (+3.5). RG-Knee is back and should handle the feeble Eagles. Skins were more an enemy to themselves then the Ravens were to themselves.
- Houston over San Diego (+3.5). Houston is among top runners for this years AFC crown. Houston spotted them a big lead to show their comeback skills.
- Last Week:: 9-7 Straight Up, and 8-8 Against the Spread
- NFL Week 2:
- Pats over Jets (+12.5), but take the points. Although Tom Brady is poised to run up the score on someone, 12.5 points is hard to give up this early in the season.
- Ravens over Browns (+6.5). Prediction assumes that WR and TE will catch more passes then they drop.
- Falcons over Rams (+6.5). Who honestly will take the Rams in this mismatch?
- Carolina over Buffalo (+2.5). I expect a close game.
- Bears over Vikings (+6.5), but take the points. Two division rivals are closely matches.
- Packers pver skins (+7.5), but take the points. I would expect better of the skins than what they delivered last week, (although it was enjoyable to watch)
- Houston over Tennessee (+8.5), but take the points. Houston should but up better numbers this week, but Tennessee did hold the squealers to one mercy score.
- Colts over Fins (+2.5). Fins won last week, but that was against Cleveland.
- Chefs over Dallas (+2.5) KC could be a threat this year, but Jax was probably not much of a challenge in week 1.
- Eagles over SD (+7.5), but take the points. Skins made the Eagles look good last week. Chargers made themselves look bad.
- Detroit over AZ (+1.5). Lions could be a force in the North this season.
- Saints over TB (+3.5). Winning should be a Brees. Tampa couldn’t even beat the Jets.
- Broncos over Giants (+4.5). Manning was impressive last week. (Yeah, I did that on purpose)
- Raiders over Jax (+5.5). Battle of the have nots.
- Niners (+2.5) over Hawks. Seattle has a good D, but can they stop Boldin?
- Cincinnati over pittsburgh (+6.5), but take the points. squealers aren’t as bad as everyone is saying. I am hoping for worse, but history tells me they will find a way to bounce back.
Please send comments to Iggy at tealdragon.net