Ready for Round 3

Well we may be limping in but the Ravens are in while the Steelers have just been playing excellent football for the past two months. At least we are in the tournament! Of course I think this played out perfectly for the NFL to have arguably the league's greatest rivalry lined up for the Saturday night game. There is just something different about playing in primetime on a Saturday. It means more,

It is like a heavyweight title fight. We have our undercard light featherweight bout in Arizona versus Carolina (which you know ESPN is going to spin as the greatest game ever played leading up to it) that most people aren't going to be into because of what they know is coming up in the final bout of the night.

Before I get the, "well each game was decided by 20 points," crap let me just point out that yes both games were completely one sided. The mere fact is that the teams are truly tied. Splitting the season series with the total points being an equal amount of 49. The problem with that is that 43 of Pittsburgh's 49 came in the last game (you know, where Big Ben went off for six TDs) which left a sour taste in Baltimore's mouth.

The Steelers tend to do that a lot to the Ravens. The Ravens have redeemed all of their playoff losses except to one team. Pittsburgh is 3-0 against the Ravens in the postseason and have created some horrible moments for Ravens fans. Ryan Clark's devastating hit on Willis McGahee in the AFC title game back in 2009. They last played in a divisional game back in 2010 where the Steelers came back after we had owned them for the entire first half. We lost 31-24.

The biggest issue for both teams (the Steelers seem to have put a band aid on theirs) is the secondary. Both teams can easily get beat in the passing game but seem to still be stout against the rushing attack. In both games this year Bell (who may not be playing at all) was not a major factor in either game totaling 58 yards in their last meeting. Antonio Brown is the difference maker for the Steelers. He ate our souls for a total of 26 catches for 234 yards and three TDs. Dominant. The Ravens best hope to compete with Brown is to double him and possibly put Webb on Bryant. Without Bell, his touches will have to go to someone and I would guess we will see more of Bryant and Heath Miller. Ben's safety blanket will be active. On the flip side, we have a revolving door of receivers that should be well rested. More than likely the Steelers will find a way to eliminate Torrey Smith from the game plan. Leaving more opportunities for young guys like Marlon Brown and Mike Camponero to emerge out of the slot. Can Flacco keep pace with the likes of Big Ben in each of their best statistical seasons?

If we are all being honest here I am not sure. Of course I think we can pull out the victory but it will be tough against a hot Steeler team after we have been proving for a few weeks now that we are slow starters and can't seem to get anything going until late in the game. Hopefully we pull it out and head on to another tough test in New England. More good news, I would have bragging rights in the house instead of the wife!

So go restock the fridge for Saturday night! You know you drank all your beer on New Year's. Throw some wings in the sauce, make sure the blue cheese is on ice, stock up on chips and get your fellow Raven buddies over to the house! Or in my case, talk smack to your spouse all day until the game is over and either excitedly or disappointingly say, "good game."

A New Career Opportunity

Hey there gents. Do you have an interest in football? Tired of whiny diva receivers talking smack during Raven games? Want to have a season ending injury after you only get two games under your belt? Perhaps being in the Ravens secondary is for you!

Don't worry, you don't have to actually be decent. I mean it would be awesome if you could even cover Miles Austin. Screw it, just cover the guy for four to six seconds. It is all we need for Terrell Suggs and/or Elvis Dumervil to reak havoc in the backfield. The pass rush has saved our depleted secondary for most of the season.

It seems crazy to have to recap all of the fallen. Lardarius Webb was first on the list with his back issues, he returns only to have Jimmy Smith suffer a season ending foot injury a mere two weeks after Webb's return. Asa Jackson on two separate occasions has been injured (his latest knee injury has shut down his season) but in his short time he was far better than released players like Chykie Brown or Dominique Franks. Not to mention rookie safety Terrance Brooks also leaving Sunday's game with a season ending knee injury. We need to find a different adjective to describe this secondary other than depleted, it is far worse than that. All the injuries put recently acquired vet Antoine Cason and Rashaan Melvin (who?) into starting roles.

I'm Case Keenum, who the hell are you?

The good news is that Denver or New England aren't on the schedule (yet) so they get a couple weeks to hopefully gel together (and not die or get injured in the process) against some unproven QBs. Anyone curious what had happened to Case Keenum? No? His mom didn't even know he was still playing in the NFL. Keenum is sounding like the sacrificial lamb to the Ravens powerful defensive front this week mostly due to his familiarity with coach Bill O'Brien's system in Houston. Our biggest concern lies in the backfield with Arian Foster. Against strong rush defenses(which he hasn't faced many especially playing in the AFC South) though Foster has struggled. He is still their best weapon on offense totaling  nearly five yards per rush (1,127 yds total) with eight TDs, not to mention his 8.1 yards per reception with four TDs.

Credit: NFLMemes

Oh Watts that? DidJJa say something? Watts this about weapons on the Texans? Honestly if we can control J.J. Watt we should be fine on offense. The Texans aren't scaring anyone with their mediocre defense so allowing Watt to get sacks but not strip fumblerooski ones(you know, the fumbles that turn into defensive TDs) would be fine. I mean, the guy is a straight up beast. He's going to get his, hopefully "his" are limited. Who the hell knows who will be in our backfield to assist in blocking that behemoth. Forsett claims this is the best he has felt on a Wednesday in weeks (per Jerry Coleman's report) and Taliaferro is now done for the season.

The good news out of Ravens camp is that Bernard Pierce(along with our other backs) is showing up lately, mostly toward the end of games. So come crunch time when we need to lock it down the backs are getting it done. A few games against crappy (unproven I guess is more PC) QBs should help this secondary get it together for a playoff run. Once their in the tourney, it's anyone's game.

Only Just a Dream

If you are reading this now than good for you! You weren't one of the thousands who were arrested during Sunday night's riot after the Dolphins beatdown the Ravens on Sunday. Ryan Tannehill looked like Tom Brady out there throwing for nearly 400 yards and five TDs. Mike Wallace had a career day, it was like the old days when he torched us in Pittsburgh.

Lamar Miller totaled 175 yards with a TD along with the defense taking two more to the house in what was a beatdown of epic proportions. Losing 59-15, only mustering field goals from unfortunately injured Justin Tucker, now out for the year. The radio waves(and Central Booking) have been filled with nothing but negativity and pissed off Ravens fans.

Not buying it? Me either. This town has been just losing it lately when it comes to Orioles baseball and the Ravens. Luckily they won this past Sunday. After a slow start they turned it around to easily win on the road. Something that hasn't been easy for them this season. After a three game road losing streak the Ravens have now won two in a row. One more and that's a winning streak, it has happened before. Everyone got involved in the offense with clearly two of our recent stars, Justin Forsett and Torrey Smith, hampered by injuries. We had a Lorenzo Taliaferro sighting and Kamar Aiken filled in quite nicely for Torrey. Both players had career days and look to continue to do that this week against the less than subpar 2-11 London, er I mean, Jacksonville Jaguars.

The schedule has been a focus of my past few posts for the simple fact that the only team in the last three for the Ravens that scares me is the Texans. A road game and J. J. Watt never spells success to me. The good news is that Pittsburgh also has a rough go heading to Atlanta this week (they just don't play well against the NFC South) while San Diego welcomes Pey Pey and the Broncos. By Monday we could be in a playoff position with our eyes on the division should Cincinnati falter.

The phone lines at radio stations will be going nuts, all the liquor stores will be sold out of Natty Boh (BLASPHEMY!), fireworks will be shot off (Katy Perry's "Firework" will be overplayed), people will be missing work(hangovers), Skins fans will slowly creep away from Landover to appreciate a quality franchise, for every ecstatic Ravens fan there will be 25 pissed off Steeler fans when/if they miss the postseason, my editor might get more creative blogs from me, THE LIST IS ENDLESS! THIS IS MADNESS! NO! THIS IS SPAR...BALTIMORE!

That being said, we handle business against a scrappy Jacksonville team while resting a few beat up players (Torrey and Forsett) and we are setting ourselves up for a nice little playoff run. Even in our Super Bowl year we didn't have that. We had the division locked up with a couple games to play. The suspense is a killer but a nice one that would want to cuddle first. 

It's Not Over

Whoa everyone! Calm down! Yes, we just lost to that guy. Philip Rivers stuck it to our 31st ranked pass defense in the fourth quarter which led his team to 21 points. Snatching victory from what we all thought were the jaws of defeat. Yes, winning would have put us into the driver's seat when it comes to our playoff seeding. Yes, we are now the ninth seeded team in the AFC. Yes, Philip Rivers makes weird faces when he is excited.

The city of Baltimore has had a rough week so far. First, Maryland loses a heartbreaker on senior day to Rutgers. Second, Rivers (and his stupid bolo ties) makes a miraculous comeback. Third, Nelson Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz will not be an Oriole next season. Now long tenured Oriole right fielder Nick Markakis is heading to Atlanta. If that wasn't the worst news yet, now reports emerge that Haloti Ngata has been suspended the remainder of the season for using adderall. Thank God he didn't use some bogus excuse that his Royal Farms chicken was laced with it. All this bad news in town has left Baltimore sports fans speed dialing their local suicide hotline.

All that aside, we are given yet another opportunity this week against a team that would make the playoffs instead of us due to tie breakers. The Dolphins are currently the sixth seeded team in the AFC and would be marching into a division winners house more than likely to lose, unless it's Cincy (prove me wrong Dalton, oh wait you can't!). The same Dolphins team that barely eeked out a win to a "professional" football team, the New Jersey, er I mean New York Jets. Let's think about that for a second. Geno Smith and a barrage of running backs nearly beat them. They, the Jets, had 210 rushing yards not in the game, in the first half! I think even Rex Ryan was averaging six yards a carry.

That being said, I would expect a heavy dose of Justin Forsett against the 21st ranked rushing defense in the league. Miami is very tough against the pass and have a decent rush headed by Cameron Wake. I'm predicting Forsett will be going off for a tune of 155 yards and two TDs. Expect even Taliaferro to get some work in. If Flacco passes more than 25 times something is seriously wrong. Not that their D is that good (seriously are we not doing phrasing?) but clearly the run is very effective. I mean the Dolphins do rank second in the league against the pass. I would expect them to use a decent amount of play action passes where I think Joe will be a hell of a lot better than Geno Smith. Who knows, maybe a Jacoby Jones siting in the backfield could happen. Nah, Kubiak will probably stick to the three headed monster in Forsett, Pierce and Taliaferro. Each could total over 50 yards.

That three headed monster will get a lot of use due to us hopefully protecting a lead. Miami isn't a deep pass happy team. They are 22nd in the league in pass offense while ranking 28th in yards per attempt. To put that in perspective sports fans, even Tampa Bay has a better passing offense. That isn't to say that Miami is without weapons. Mike Wallace is still a speedster (with alligator arms) and Jarvis Landry has been coming on as of late. The linebackers and safeties also need to keep an eye out for tight end Charles Clay (you know, if he actually plays). Our defense has made world beaters out of worse QBs (but they kept Brees mostly under wraps, by Brees standards that is).

So step back off the ledge friends. Remember our recent successes and hope for more in this season and hopefully postseason. If you are one of those poor souls who just hates everyone right now I get it but you got to believe! This season isn't over! Don't be such a pessimist!