My predictions for week 12 were solid but certainly not perfect. I went 10-6 and then correctly predicted a Falcons win last night to improve to 71-29 on the year. Week 13 doesn't have any games that will decide who leads a division, but there are still some decent rivalry games. It started last night with a sound beating of the Saints by the Falcons in Atlanta. Yeah, Atlanta is going to win that division without question, but they were still facing the only team that beat them so far this season. There will be two NFC East showdowns, but only one of them will be worth watching. The Eagles are broken in spirit and in personnel and have little chance of beating a mediocre Cowboys team. The Redskins and Giants, however, should provide each other with tough competition. The last time these two teams faced was in the Meadowlands early in the season and the game came down to an unlikely touchdown pass and run to Victor Cruz to win the game for the Giants. This time the game will be in Landover, MD and both teams are coming off of big wins. The Redskins don't have a great record, but they didn't have a great record last year and still managed to sweep the Giants. The Packers will be playing the Vikings, and the Texans will go to Tennessee to face the Titans in what could be a closer game than many people expect. New England head to Miami to face the Dolphins, and I truly hope the Fins make that game interesting. What ordinarily is touted as the biggest, most physical rivalry in the NFL, however, simply doesn't feel as critical or pivitol as in previous seasons.
The Steelers will limp into Baltimore on Sunday to face their most hated rival in a venue where the home team hasn't lost in two years. Two years ago, the Steelers beat the Ravens in Baltimore, and they were the last team to do so. The Ravens have since overtaken the Steelers as the clear-cut division leader, and appear poised to sweep the Steelers and the entire AFC North for the second year in a row. Ben Roethlisberger will not play this weekend, but even if he did, his level play likely wouldn't be up to par with that of the middle of this season. The Steelers defense is still strong and will get back a player that it once could not win games without: Troy Polamalu. Those days are over as the Steelers' secondary has actually looked vastly stronger this season without Polamalu. Troy had become a liability in pass coverage for a few years now, but he made a couple of spectacularly memorable plays at the line of scrimmage in 2010 that propelled him to a Defensive Player of the Year award. Since then, his presence has done little to scare the Ravens who outscored the Steelers 58-27 last season. Lamarr Woodley is not going to play on Sunday and that will offset any possible advantage gained by the return of Polamalu. Woodley is a fantastic pass rusher. His replacement, Jason Worilds, has performed well with two sacks in the last couple of games, but Woodley is definitely a big step up.
You would think that Ravens fans would be excited by the strong odds in favor of their team trouncing their most hated rivals. I work 3 blocks away from Camden yards, and I can tell you that there simply isn't a feeling in the city that a major battle is about to be waged. I was the only one in my office proudly wearing a Ravens jersey today, and at no point this week have I heard a single person arguing with the lone Steelers fan about the possible outcome of a game that is often decided by only 3 points. That's probably a big reason that this game doesn't feel the same--even Steelers fans aren't predicting a win for their team this time around.
Ultimately, the best part of this rivarly has been obnoxious Steelers fans. Their team has been quite successful in the last 7 years. The Steelers frustrated the Ravens to no end for the first three years of the Flacco-Harbaugh era, and Steelers fans made sure to be quite vocal about it to people such as myself. We had to hear that awful song by Wiz Khalifa ad nauseum, and almost nothing was more annoying than hear Steelers fans ask "got rings?" as though we don't hear enough of that B.S. from Yankees fans. Yes, being a Ravens fan was disappointing for the first few years of the Flacco era...but then came opening day of 2011.
The Ravens beat the Steelers down in a fashion that Pittsburgh simply didn't anticipate and simply wasn't equipped to handle. The Ravens then swept the Steelers with a thrilling last minute comeback victory in Pittsburgh that squashed the Steelers' hopes of possibly getting hopefield advantage through the playoffs. Steelers' fans still made idiotic statements such as "come see us in the playoffs", but that never happened because the Steelers were knocked out of the first round by a quarterback with the lowest competion percentage in NFL playoff history. Yes, nothing was sweeter than finally being able to proudly celebrate utter dominance over a team that had historically manhandled our beloved team. A once angry rivalry has now been reduced to just another game that the Ravens should probably win at home. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Big Ben and cocky Steelers fans...come back...I need you! Baltimore needs you!! I'll always relish in the Ravens beating the Steelers, but let's hope this game is exciting one way or another.
WEEK 13 NFL PREDICTIONS
JAGUARS AT BILLS- The Jaguars have a new look with Chad Henne as their starting QB. They also just acquired all-pro D lineman Jason Babin though he may not immediately be a factor with less than a week of practice with his new team. MY PREDICTION: JAGUARS 31-23.
SEAHAWKS AT BEARS- This should be a competitive matchup, but the Seahawks are missing starting defensive players due to suspensions and the Bears have Jay Cutler back and in good form. MY PREDICTION: BEARS 24-17.
49ERS AT RAMS- These teams tied last time they met a few weeks ago. The 49ers have since become more dynamic with Colin Kaepernick as quarterback and should have an upper hand despite this game being played in St. Louis. MY PREDICTION: 49ERS 26-20.
PATRIOTS AT DOLPHINS- I would love to watch the Patriots lose this game. That, unfortunately, will not happen. Man I hope I'm somehow wrong about this. MY PREDICTION: PATRIOTS 37-21.
CARDINALS AT JETS- The Jets will be looking to redeem themselves after an embarrassing loss. If there's one thing the Jets have done this year it's put together a solid win here and there to puntucate their otherwise impressive string of losses. MY PREDICTION: JETS 20-13.
COLTS AT LIONS- Many analysts are predicting a Lions win after watching them lose a game that they should have legitimately won on Thanksgiving Day. Their reasoning is sound as the three out of the four Colts' losses have come on the road. The Lions, however, have not exactly enjoyed an incredible homefield advantage this year, and I think the Colts are a better team overall. This should prove a nail-biter. MY PREDICTION: COLTS 33-27.
VIKINGS AT PACKERS- Packers will get a boost with Greg Jennings back and they should bounce back after a big loss last Sunday. MY PREDICTION: PACKERS 28-13.
TEXANS AT TITANS- The Texans haven't looked good in the last two games, but they'll be coming off of an extended period of rest and that should provide a much needed boost to their defense. They won't beat the Patriots next week, but the Texans should win this game. The Titans simply don't have the defense to stop the Texans' offense, but this could be a shootout. MY PREDICTION: TEXANS 34-26.
PANTHERS AT CHIEFS- The Chiefs have lost some hard fought games against very good teams. They could win this one over a disappointing Panthers squad. This is a tough pick because the Panthers appear to be a stronger team in statistical categories, but they are near the bottom in the league in rush defense and running the ball is what the Chiefs do best...besides lose. The Panthers aren't a great road team in that they only have a pair of road wins--but that's two thirds of their total wins. All of the road games the Panthers have lost have been close losses against solid or good teams. In fact, as I look over the Panthers' schedule, they appear to have just about the toughest schedule in the NFL. They lost to the Falcons, Buccanners, and Bears by a combined 10 points. MY PREDICTION: PANTHERS 28-17.
BUCCANEERS AT BRONCOS- The Bucs don't have the secondary to stop Peyton Manning. This game is just a mismatch even though the Bucs are a good team. I hope they make a game of it, but I don't expect them to do so. MY PREDICTION: BRONCOS 24-16.
BROWNS AT RAIDERS- The Browns are on the rise and Brandon Weeden plays better on the road than at home. The return of Joe Haden makes this Browns defense simply too much for a slumping Carson Palmer. MY PREDICTION: BROWNS 21-17.
BENGALS AT CHARGERS- The Bengals have certainly looked better in recent weeks, but the Chargers will be looking to bounce back after a heartbreaking (for San Diego) loss to the Ravens. Eric Weddle has practiced on a limited basis after getting a concussion from a monster block by Anquan Boldin on the famous 4 and 29 play but is questionable. The Chargers defense did look pretty good against the Ravens and limited them to 16 points in an overtime battle. When I began this paragraph, I was ready to give this one to the Bengals, but something tells me the Chargers won't let this one get away from them. I'm not too terribly confident about this one, but here goes. MY PREDICTION: CHARGERS 24-21.
STEELERS AT RAVENS- No Ben, no chance. The Steelers defense looked good against the Ravens on the road...but then again so did the Chiefs defense. Steelers defense without Lamarr Woodley will struggle against a Ravens offense at home with a healthy Dennis Pitta. This Ravens defense has also played extremely well on the road after the bye week and they should be even better in Baltimore. Believe it or not, I hope it's a closer game than this, but I don't believe it will be. MY PREDICTION: RAVENS 31-9.
EAGLES AT COWBOYS- Cowboys will beat an Eagles team that is down about half of its starters from the beginning of the season. MY PREDICTION: COWBOYS 28-10.
GIANTS AT REDSKINS- The Giants and Redskins are both coming off of big wins. The Giants looked more dominant than the Redskins and their defense appears to have regained its form from the last post-season. The Giants also seem to perform rather well on the road. I expect Eli to turn it on in this one during the final push for the playoffs. Pass-rushing RG3 won't be an easy task though. MY PREDICTION: GIANTS 24-20.
I can't stress enough how disappointed I am that Big Ben won't be playing this weekend. There is, however, a silver lining. The Steelers are making the right decision by sitting Ben as an extra week to rehab will hopefully mean he'll be able to return the following week to make a push for a wildcard spot. This means that the Steelers could potentially come to Baltimore in the playoffs where the Ravens will hopefully get a chance to finally beat their rivals in the playoffs with Ben at the helm. Either way, the Ravens should end this week 10-2 with plenty of momentum heading into their upcoming beltway battle against the Skins! As always GO RAVENS!!
No comments:
Post a Comment