I thought that I would feel vindicated as a Ravens fan after Joe Flacco finally led my beloved team to a Super Bowl win. For years I found myself defending the Ravens as fans of other teams remarked that the boys in purple simply weren't good enough to hoist a second Lombardi trophy. I even had one less informed Raiders fan explain to me that he KNEW Joe Flacco had some sort of learning disability because he wasn't lively enough on the sidelines as a leader a few years ago. I encountered a host of Steelers fans that simply refused to believe that the Ravens could ever be a better team than Pittsburgh, and I battled Redskins fans that felt as though their head to head win over the Ravens last year meant that their team was STILL better than the Super Bowl winners because of a single regular season home victory. Forget the fact that Joe Flacco and the Ravens have more wins (63) than any other team in the league during Joe's NFL career, and forget the fact that the Ravens are the only team to have gone to the playoffs every year for the last 5 years. Somehow the national sports media and NFL fanbase still likes to think of just about any reason to insist that the Ravens simply aren't as good as they actually perform.
After five years of watching the Ravens consistently succeed, I once again find myself defending them in the face of criticism. A writer on NFL.com just ranked Joe Flacco 10th behind even the likes of Matt Ryan, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, and Andrew Luck on his 1-32 ranking of NFL quarterbacks. I simply can't fathom that kind of lack of respect. Being a quarterback isn't simply about regular season numbers, and it's certainly not about being able to run the read-option with great athleticism. Being a great NFL quarterback means performing well in high pressure situations and winning when everything is on the line. Joe Montana never passed for 4000+ yards in a regular season, but he was incredible in post seasons and has 4 Super Bowl rings to prove it. Peyton Manning is almost literally the exact opposite. He's great during each regular season, but finds ways to choke in key moments when the post season rolls around. Case in point: Peyton Manning has as many playoff wins (9) in his 15 year career as Joe Flacco has in only 5 seasons.
There are, of course, other factors that account for the Ravens great postseason record over the last 5 years including a great defense and solid running game, but watching Joe in last two postseasons has made it abundantly clear that there's something special about this young guy. He successfully outplayed Tom Brady 3 times in the last two seasons and Peyton Manning in Denver. He outplayed the two best quarterbacks of a generation on route to a Super Bowl MVP. In my mind, and hopefully the minds of others, that deserves a higher ranking than 10th and more respect from the national media.
Maybe until Joe Flacco puts up flashy regular season numbers and wins league MVP, he simply won't get the respect or universal elite classification awarded to Brees, Manning, Brady, and Rodgers, but if he keeps outperforming all of these men in the playoffs, I simply couldn't care less. This, after all, is an exciting year for Ravens fans as it features many young faces that may be household names for years to come in Charm City. The Ravens defense is no longer what anyone would describe as "old", and the Ravens are no longer in a race against time to win a title with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. With that said, let's take a look at the first Purple Nightmare predictions of the season!
WEEK 1 NFL PREDICTIONS
RAVENS AT BRONCOS- The Ravens once again find themselves statistical underdogs according to national oddsmakers, but let's not discount the pieces that Peyton Manning's team will be missing tomorrow. Champ Bailey hasn't practiced in over a month, Elvis Dumervil is playing for the opponent, Von Miller is suspended, and the Broncos starting center is done for the year. Manning does have a new offensive weapon in Wes Welker, but Manning won't have his most important defensive weapons to get him the ball back. The Ravens, on the other hand, have a much improved defense with an improved pass rush, improved pass coverage, and improved defensive line depth. Ed Reed is no longer in the backfield to scare Peyton, but Suggs and Dumervil will scare him more than enough. What defensive backs will be able to match up against Torrey Smith and the 6'5" Marlon Brown? The answer is none on the Broncos' roster. This prediction sounds cocky, but the more I thought about available personnel, the easier it was to make: RAVENS 31-24.
PATRIOTS AT BILLS- I feel like this one warrants far less explanation. The Patriots lost receiving weapons, but they reloaded, and their system along with a fairly explosive running game is what will win them this game easily. PATRIOTS 28-17.
BENGALS AT BEARS- Many people are quite high on the Bengals. They believe this is the year the Bengals take over the AFC North. I haven't seen enough additions to this team to give me reason to believe they'll take that big of a step. With that said, the Bears don't impress me particularly either. The Bears still maintain an impressive defensive ability to force turnovers, and that will make this one interesting. I believe Andy Dalton will throw at least one deep pick since his accuracy on long passes has proven to be quite poor. BENGALS 24-20.
DOLPHINS AT BROWNS- It's tough for me to know what to think about both the Dolphins and Browns at the moment. I've stated for years that both of these teams have shown flashes that make me think they're only 2-3 players away from being contenders to win their respective divisions. In a case like this, I'll simply go with the home team. Trent Richardson should have a big day, and the Browns defense should be able to contain the likes of Mike Wallace, but this could be a close one. BROWNS 17-13.
FALCONS AT SAINTS- The Saints should be right back in action with Sean Payton back as head coach. This is a great rivalry and it should be made more interesting by the presence of Steven Jackson in red and black, but the Saints are simply to dominant at home while at full strength. The Falcons are also not a terrific road team--especially not against the Saints. SAINTS 38-28.
BUCCANEERS AT JETS- The Jets will be starting Geno Smith at quarterback...he didn't even look good in the PRESEASON. BUCCANEERS 35-14.
TITANS AT STEELERS- The Steelers haven't exactly impressed me thus far, but I never discount a healthy Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers have homefield advantage and Kenny Britt still has soreness in his knee. Chris Johnson doesn't scare Pittsburgh either. STEELERS 24-17.
VIKINGS AT LIONS- The Lions are a good team when healthy, and as good as Adrian Peterson is at his position, Megatron is arguably just as good at his. This will be a close one though. LIONS 24-21.
RAIDERS AT COLTS- Hmm, Terrell Pryor or Andrew Luck? COLTS 31-17.
SEAHAWKS AT PANTHERS- The Seahawks, believe it or not, were a poor road team last season. I would hope for their sake that they've improved enough from that point to have no trouble handling the likes of Carolina. SEAHAWKS 34-23.
CHIEFS AT JAGUARS- This game last year would have been the biggest snoozefest of the season, but with the addition of Alex Smith and Andy Reid, the Chiefs should actually surprise some people in 2013. At the very least, the Chiefs should beat a team as lowly as the Jags. CHIEFS 21-17.
CARDINALS AT RAMS- The Cardinals, like the Chiefs, have a new quarterback who has the potential to turn his new team around. I like Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald in this one but the Rams will keep it close. Cardinals 31-28.
PACKERS AT 49ERS- Last season this was an easy win for the 49ers, but this season San Francisco lacks the receiving weapons from 2012. I loved Anquan Boldin, but he's simply not Michael Crabtree at this point in his career. The 49ers defense at home, however, is still too good to let Aaron Rodgers win this one. Expect to see some spectacular highlights from this game. This is a prediction that I debated in my mind for a startlingly long time, but here goes. 49ERS 27-21.
GIANTS AT COWBOYS- The Giants are the best road team in football, but without Jason Pierre Paul, I simply can't see them winning this game. The Giants could still end up with a better record than the Cowboys, but their defense won't be the same without its best player. I'm not a huge fan of the Cowboys, so I hope I'm wrong about this one. COWBOYS 21-16.
EAGLES AT REDSKINS- RG3 will be back, and I doubt he'll be in rare form, but the Eagles run defense is simply too poor to contain the likes of Alfred Morris, and the Redskins defense should be much improved with the return of Orakpo. REDSKINS 33-28.
TEXANS AT CHARGERS- The Texans will be fierce with the return of Brian Cushing and the Chargers haven't been very good for the last couple of seasons. Maybe the Chargers could surprise us all, but I don't expect them to since Vincent Jackson has been a Buccaneer for over a year now. TEXANS 42-21.
Like predictions at the beginning of any season, these may not be particularly accurate as we really have no idea what each team will look like simply based on the preseason. My predictions don't start to become accurate until I have a solid amount of statistical data to analyze. For now, I have to go based on the eyeball test from the preseason and try to make intelligent guesses based on how teams performed last season while taking adjustments to personnel and draft picks into account. Either way, everyone should be pumped Thursday night!
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!!
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