Ravens:
With a few late scores, the Ravens put the game away, despite a bad game by Flacco with a few INTs. I guess it’s good to get them out of the way in a game like this than during the next 2 weeks, with road games at Cincinnati and pittsburgh. Bengals are favored, but have had a rough time lately, including getting skunked by Indy last week. Hopefully, they are still demoralized, but yet over-confident from their season opening win as they bring out their 31st ranked defense for the game, while the Ravens look to return to reality after facing a few of the other worst defenses in the NFL. This time, their offense can make us pay, so no more giveaways.
Orioles:
O’s are out, so I am left cheering for another Orange and Black for the World Series. Although I sort of liked the Royals, their dink and bunk offense got on my nerves as they embarrassed the crap out of us in the 4 game sweep. Orioles start planning for next year, where they have already declined the option for Markakis and are making a qualifying offer to Cruz. All that really means is that if Cruz decides to test the market, the O’s can get back the first round draft pick they gave up to get him this year. How’s that for a 1 year rental. I’ll talk more about other free agents and arbitration in future columns.
Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes (7-8) won 20-12 over Toronto (6-9), leaving Hamilton tied with them for first place. The Als travel to play league worst Ottawa (2-13) on Friday.
Mariners
Nothing to report as the 2015 season remains in question as the battle with the Baltimore Arena remains an issue.
Blast:
Training Camp opened October 20.
Chesapeake Bayhawks: (Home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)
2015 Season tickets now on sale.
Charm:
Nothing to Report.
Capitals (See website for more details):
Caps have opened the season 3-0-2, and share the division lead with NYI and NYR.
Wizards (See website for more details):
Wizards (4-3) conclude the preseason tomorrow night. Regular season starts October 29.
Mystics (See website for more details):
Nothing to report.
D.C.United (See website for more details):
With a 2-1 win over Chicago, United (17-9-7) cliched the conference. As a side note, they have also claimed a berth in the CONCAF Champions cup.
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
| 2014 Regular Season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Opponent | Record | Time | Result |
| Su, Sep 7 | Cincinnati Bengals | 20-16 Overall 13-6 Home |
1:00 PM | L 23-16 |
| Th, Sep 11 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 16-23 Overall 9-10 Home |
8:25 PM | W 26-6 |
| Su, Sep 21 | @Cleveland Browns | 22-8 Overall 10-5 Away |
1:00 PM | W 23-21 |
| Su, Sep 28 | Carolina Panthers | 1-3 Overall 0-1 Home |
1:00 PM | W 38-10 |
| Su, Oct 5 | @Indianapolis Colts | 4-9 Overall 0-5 Away |
1:00 PM | L 20-13 |
| Su, Oct 12 | @Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2-2 Overall 1-1 Away |
1:00 PM | W 48-17 |
| Su, Oct 19 | Atlanta Falcons | 2-2 Overall 1-0 Home |
1:00 PM | W 29-7 |
| Su, Oct 26 | @Cincinnati Bengals | 20-17 Overall 7-10 Away |
1:00 PM | |
| Su, Nov 2 | @Pittsburgh Steelers | 17-23 Overall 7-13 Away |
8:30 PM | |
| Su, Nov 9 | Tennessee Titans | 10-10 Overall 5-5 Home |
1:00 PM | |
| Mo, Nov 24 | @New Orleans Saints | 4-1 Overall 1-0 Away |
8:30 PM | |
| Su, Nov 30 | San Diego Chargers | 5-4 Overall 2-0 Home |
1:00 PM | |
| Su, Dec 7 | @Miami Dolphins | 6-5 Overall 4-4 Away |
1:00 PM | |
| Mo, Dec 14 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 7-10 Overall 5-4 Home |
1:00 PM | |
| Su, Dec 21 | @Houston Texans | 7-1 Overall 3-1 Away |
1:00 PM | |
| Su, Dec 28 | Cleveland Browns | 23-8 Overall 12-3 Home |
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!”
- Week 7:
- Pats over Jets (+9.5). Jets have 3rd worst Offense in NFL. Jets stayed close enough to cover.
- Ravens over Falcons (+6.5). Atlanta has 2nd worst defense in NFL. Ravens did enough to put up a convincing score, as D came through.
- Skins over Tennessee (+5.5), but take the points. A match-up of 2 teams going no where. Last second FG wins it for potatoes.
- Seattle over Rams (+6.5). Rams won’t have far to go home. Rams got all kind of creative and gutsy in this upset.
- Browns over Jags (+4.5). Jags are 1-5 as the dog. Jags post surprising first win of year.
- Indy over Cincy (+3.5). Colts have top Offense in NFL, and are 4-1 as the favorite. Bengals skunked.
- Bills over Vikings (+4.5). Viking might be worse than Jags right now. Bills win by 1, but lose 2 RBs for game, 1 will be out longer.
- Fins (+3.5) over Bears. Bears won last week, but that was against Atlanta. Bears are heading south, fast.
- Lions over Saints (+3.5). Saint lack D. Lions score in final minute to take the lead.
- Green Bay over Carolina (+7.5), but take the points. Carolina is better than the were when they lost to the Ravens. Green crush.
- Chargers over KC (+4.5), but take the points. Chiefs are 4-0 as the underdog. KC pulls upset.
- Cardinals over Oakland (+3.5). Black hole or not, Cardinals will cover. Arizona keeps Oakland O-for-the-season.
- Cowboys over Giants (+6.5), but take the points. NFC East on the road tends to do better against division rivals. Dallas does enough to win and cover.
- Denver over SF (+6.5), but take the points. Denver has failed to cover twice so far this year. No contest.
- steelers over Houston (+3.5), but take the points. This game could go either way. Thanks to a complete collapse by Houston at the end of the first half, steelers score 24 points in less than 3 minutes, which alone was enough for the win.
- This Week: 12-3 Straight Up and 6-9 Against the Spread
- Season: 62-43-1 Straight Up and 50-56 Against the Spread
- Week 8:
- Denver over SD (+7.5), but take the points. SD is 3-0 as the underdog this season, while Denver has failed to cover twice.
- Baltimore (+1.5) over Cincy. Bengals are in a slump, while Ravens have a chip on their shoulder from the opener.
- Detroit over Atlanta (+3.5). Two teams going in opposite directions, but both in London this weekend.
- KC over Rams (+6.5), but take the points. Rams are 3-2 as the underdog.
- Houston over Tennessee (+1.5). Houston 3-1 as the favorite, and looking to erase that Monday debacle.
- Minnesota (+2.5) over Tampa. Minnesota could cash in against the worst D in the NFL.
- Seattle over Carolina (+4.5). Seattle still embarrassed from St.Louis loss last weekend.
- Miami over Jax (+5.5). Jags won a fluke game last week. Miami consistently better.
- Pats over Chicago (+6.5), but take the points. Long shot here, but NE has failed to cover twice, while Chicago is 3-2 as the underdog.
- Jets over Bills (+2.5). Bills suffering injury bug, and Jets are better than their record.
- Cards over Phils (+2.5). Arizona Desert is not a Dessert for Eagles.
- Cleveland over Oakland (+7.5), but take the points. Raiders have covered twice as the dog; Browns not used to being favored.
- Indy over pittsburgh (+3.5). Colts 5-1 as the favored.
- Packers (+1.5) over Saints. Am I missing something? 2-4 Saints over 5-2 Packers?
- Dallas over Skins (+9.5). Dallas usually wins by 10+, while skins usually lose by 10+.
- MLB: (4-4)
- ALCS: Os over KC in 6. KC has speed, but Power will win out. MLB record 8 straight wins to open playoffs for KC.
- NLCS: SF over Saint Louis in 6. SF seems to bring out their best in even year playoffs. Giants take it in 5
- World Series: SF over KC in 7. 2 hot teams that can win on the road. Flip a coin. The Odds makers did!
Please send comments to Iggy at tealdragon.net