Iggy’s Baltimore Sports Report – October 27, 2015

News and Personal Thoughts:
The GoogleDoc ticket sharing status: If you really want to see this in person, seats are still available for Sea and Pit. Check it out at Ravens Roost 4 Ticket Exchange.


Ravens:
The referee admitting he was watching the cheerleaders instead of the game is not sufficient, as it set the tone for the entire game. I don’t agree with the official’s call on the fumble or the 62 yard run either. For the 7th time this season, the Ravens played in a game decided by 1 score. For this week, I have 2 reports. You decide.

Game over man, we’re all gonna die! Doom and gloom kicks in as the Ravens join the 2000 Ravens as the only 2 teams this century to start with 5 of 7 on the road, this time posting a 1-6 record. Monday nights loss just demonstrates that we don’t have any play makers besides Steve Smith, and that’s not good enough. We can’t force turnovers, and we can’t stop top QB/WR combinations. 9 penalties again this week shows lack of maturity, and the revolving door of signings and releases goes on forever. The injured list looks like General Custer’s role call. This season can’t end soon enough.

Next man up! After playing 5 out of 7 games to start the season with teams currently .500 or better, the path gets considerably easier. The next 7 games boasts no opponent with a winning record, and improvements in play on Monday had analysts bumping the Ravens up 2 spots in the weekly power rankings. With every game so far being decided by 1 score or less, mostly on the road and against better teams, the Ravens stand a chance to right this ship and build some confidence before our 2 game playoff against “them” and the Bengals ends the regular season. Now is the time to make a move, because NO ONE will expect it.

Orioles:
6 big name players are up for free agency and none of them are likely to sign before free agency opens. In the end, if the Orioles sign 2 of those players, they will have exceeded expectations. Our short lived rise to glory is likely over as we will sink into the pits of despair once again after we fail to make any significant moves to balance the team that finished .500 this year, let alone improve them.

Alouettes
Montreal (6-10) defeated Toronto 34-2 (yeah, you read that right), and actually have a snowballs chance in hell to make the playoffs as a cross-over if they can outpace BC.

Blast (MASL):
Training camp to begin soon.

Chesapeake Bayhawks: (Home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)
Tom Mariano signed as assistant head coach. Mariano has collegian head coaching experience at Sacred Heart (moving them to Division 1), Marist, and Pace University (most recently).

Capitals (See website for more details):
Caps are out to a 6-1 start to the season, and are only points back of the 2 NY teams but tied with them for wins.

Wizards (See website for more details):
Wizards finished preseason 4-3 and will start the regular season on October 28.

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

D.C.United (See website for more details):
United (15-13-6, 51 points) failed to lock up 2nd place and a first round bye with a win, losing to Columbus 5-0, dropping to 4th place. They host NE on Wednesday in a single game elimination round.


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!


Relevant Football Links


Iggy’s Predictions


“Past performance does not guarantee future success, but it sure is the way to bet!”

  • NFL, Week 7
    • Hawks over Niners (+6.5), but take the points. Both teams are struggling. Seattle found some ground. SF was found underground.
    • Bills over Jags (+5.5). Bills have the better team. Is London stilling calling for the Jags? They just might be!
    • Cleveland (+5.5) over Rams. Cleveland might have a playoff team… ok, just kidding. Rams keep Browns 1 game away from us.
    • steelers over KC (+2.5). Slaughter of the week. Steelers QB of the future… needs work.
    • Fins over Houston (+4.5). Heads Miami, tails Houston…. it’s heads. Miami got medieval on them.
    • Pats over Nyets (+9.5), but take the points. Too many points for 2 teams fighting for first, even if one of them is the Jets. Jet’s had it… then they didn’t.
    • Vikings over Detroit (+2.5). Detroit got their 1 win, they can stop trying now. Vikings rise to 4-2
    • Atlanta over Titans (+4.5), but take the points. Titans have covered twice already and Atlanta has been struggling. Falcons are really struggling. Good thing they are playing worse teams.
    • Tampa (+3.5) over Washington. Skins keep finding ways to lose. Tamp up by 24. Game over. Oh, wait. It wasn’t. They didn’t. Crap.
    • Saints (+4.5) over Colts. Colts are 0-4 as the favorite ATS. Colts looked like crap early, but hole was too big to dig out of.
    • Chargers over Oakland (+4.5), but take the points. Raiders could win this one outright too! Raiders win.
    • Giants over Dallas (+3.5). Normally, I’d take the road team, but Dallas just isn’t showing me enough without Romo. Giants win and cover.
    • Panthers over Eagles (+3.5). Panther year? Panthers stay undefeated and reassert the NFC east status as NFC least.
    • Zona over Ravens (+7.5), but take the points. Every Raven game has been by 6 points or less so far. No comment.
    • This Week: 9-5 SU (Straight Up), 9-5 ATS (Against the Spread)
    • This Season: 67-38 SU, 57-48 ATS
  • NFL, Week 8
    • Patsies over Fins (+7.5), but take the points. Division rivalry, and the Patriots aren’t all that.
    • Chefs over Lions (+4.5). KC beat the steelers, so that says something.
    • Falcons over Tamps (+7.5), but take the points. Atlanta struggling to put points on board lately.
    • Cards over Browns (+5.5), but take the points. Arizona ain’t all that.
    • Rams over Niners (+8.5), but take the points. Too many points to give up on 2 shaky teams.
    • Giants (+3.5) over Saints. Upset of the week.
    • Vikings over Bears (1.5). Vikings are 4-1 as the favorite so far this season.
    • Ravens over Chargers (+3.5), but take the points. All our games are close. I just hope we are on the winning side for a change.
    • squealors (+1.5) over Bengals. Ben is back, and the Bengals are gonna be in trouble…
    • Titans over Houston (+4.5). Titans are 4-0 as the dog.
    • Raiders (+2.5) over Jets. Jets disappear in black hole.
    • Seattle over Dallas (+6.5). Hawks been questionable. Dallas has been bad.
    • Packers over Broncos (+3.5). Denver has been living on borrowed time.
    • Panthers over Colts (+6.5). Luck has been all over the place, and the Panthers are 5-0 as the favorite.

Please send comments to Iggy at tealdragon.net