Blog

Ravens:
In the first “complete” game in almost 2 years, the Ravens demolished the Fins. It was quite clear that the scouting report on Miami indicated that the zone coverage schemes had lots of seams, and Flacco exploited them as we pushed the passing game hard, to set up the occasional run play. The hurry-up (relatively speaking) offense puts Joe in a more comfortable zone, and wore out the Miami defense throughout the game.

Bigger question, can this work Monday night against the Pats. Answer is Yes, it can, and it will have it. Running in unfamiliar territory, the Ravens will need to outpace the Patriots in a shoot out. Tom Brady (who is no Ryan Tannehill), will torch our secondary like there is no tomorrow, and they will carve out lunch chunks of real estate by dinky passes. This could be a long night, but with the extra preparation, we could make a decent game of it.

Looking at the playoff picture, the Ravens advertised “toughest remaining schedule in the NFL,” and we need to win 3 of the final 4 games to take the division, but 2 of those wins have to be against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. New England is currently a tie-breaker behind Oakland for top seed. This game means something to both teams, but hopefully it means more to us.

Ravens:
Wacky ending, but it all looks the same in the end. However, we cannot expect to play like the over the next 5 games and expect to win. The offense needs to find pay dirt (and stop kicking things around), and the secondary needs to find a way to play defense. We have a decent shot at the division title, but we need to step it up, or watch the playoffs from the couch. Cincinnati didn’t have their 2 biggest play makers and we barely won. What does that mean when we finish the season in Cincinnati? They will remember that final play of the game, and it won’t be a fond memory.

News and Personal Thoughts:
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Ravens:
Well, the better disciplined team won, but that wasn’t us. The worst stat of the game was 12 more penalties for 136 yards, but the other glaring problem was our failure to run the ball more, especially after averaging 6.3 yards per carry (101 yards on 16 carries). The Ravens failed to make a statement against the leagues best team, but the Cowboys didn’t “roll” us in their first ever victory over the Ravens, and other may have noticed that we stayed with them for most of the game. Next up is the fading Bengals who are only 1.5 games back in the worst NFL division. Keys to victory should be obvious: Discipline, run the ball, and win the turnover Battle.

News and Personal Thoughts:
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Please credit Ichniowski with any orders, and let me know if you need assistance with the pick up, which is scheduled for Saturday, 12/17.

Ravens:
Easy part of the schedule is done with an easy (relatively speaking) win over the directionless Browns, who are my new favorite team for 1 week (since they play the squealors). The game had it’s ups and downs, and in the end, the Browns lost the game, giving us the win (again), but this week’s Raven’s match-up will prove to be much more challenging. Going on the road as 7 point underdogs, the Cowboys could run all over us if they go to the air. On the ground, the Ravens look tough as ever. Offensively, we are still not giving Flacco enough time to make good decisions (and sometime when he has enough time, he still doesn’t make good decisions). As the dust is settling, the truth remains, the Ravens are in 1st place, and will remain there for another week. Go team!

Ravens:
Who wanted that game less? In a game where both teams scored 25% 3rd down efficiency and 10+ penalties for about 100 yards, the steelers gave that game to us. Not only did they give us a 3 quarter head start, they also gave us 8 MORE points to start the 4th quarter to make sure it was enough, before the worst botched on-side kick in NFL history. Were they paid to throw that game? Unbelievable. In the end, we are in first place, and still can’t get the ball into the end zone. No, I don’t count a club record 95-yard catch and sprint as an offensive TD. That’s called a failure to tackle.

Seriously, what this game was about, was improving Ben’s record in games started after an injury to 2-6 by having the steelers run the ball into the jaws of death for 3 quarters to protect his surgically repaired leg, before throwing in the hat and dissecting our secondary.

Can this tiny bit of momentum get us through the rest of the season? Doubtful. Ineptitude on offense will lead to our eventual demise. We cannot continue to play like this and win. Next up: The Cursed Browns. Can we keep them 0-fer? Remember, this is their Super Bowl each year.

Ravens:
Great news! The Ravens are 1 game out of first and play the evil pittsburgh steelers for a share of the division lead. Bad news is that if we blow this opportunity, the team will be totally demoralized, 2 games out of first, and for all intents and purposed done for the season. Rumor has it that Ben will be playing, but I still think it is a publicity stunt to keep the Ravens off balance. We shall see.

In order to win, the Ravens generally need to play better in all aspects of the game. If they can’t figure that out this week, then start counting the days until Spring Training.

Ravens:
Good news or bad news? Good news is that we won’t lose next weekend. Bad news is that we still have half a season to watch this pathetic excuse for a football team. Offensive line isn’t holding. Flacco’s 2 INT led to the difference in the game. Our only touchdown was a failed punt by their kicker. At least our penalties were down.

Despite all these challenges, we are still only 1 game out of first, with the post-bye week must win game against the steelers. Lose that, and we might as well race Cleveland for a higher draft pick, although they have a health 3 game lead on us.

Ravens:
What more can I say. O line is not give time for Flacco to throw and the secondary ain’t worth crap. And the penalties? WTF? Is this a semi-pro team? This is going to be one long season if answers aren’t found FAST. As a side note, they keep changing Offensive coordinators, but the results aren’t changing. May, just maybe, the problem is the QB, and not the coordinator? Just thinking out loud. All this, and still only 1 game out of first. Only positives I can say is in the realm of wishful thinking.

Ravens:
The players didn’t seem to understand the importance of this game. Trestman out. Will it make a difference? After all the coordinators have rotated through, what is the one thing that remains constant? Joe Flacco. Average Joe Flacco. Love him. Hate him. Accept him. Your choice. In the end, his numbers are middle of the pack, and will always be so, and it is our near future. Change the O coordinator will hopefully push forward the concept of mixing up the offense to keep the D off balance, and running the ball when running is working. Long season ahead folks, and pitchers don’t report for a while.