A lot of fans and some local commentators are furious about what appeared to be a flop on the part of the defensive back covering Steve Smith during what would have been a game-winning touchdown had it not been for the flag thrown for offensive pass interference. If that flag wasn't thrown, the Ravens would have likely won that game with almost no time left on the clock. Steve Smith did have his hands on the defensive back's jersey regardless of whether or not the defender flopped and sold the call. The game is over. The Ravens lost. The Ravens are still 5-3 at the half-season point, but I've suddenly become far more worried about the second half of their season after everything that unfolded in the NFL on Sunday.
It's clear that the Steelers are not nearly as bad as they looked against the Browns and Ravens earlier this season. The Steelers struggled in previous weeks to deal with major losses to their defense and have since re-signed such former veterans as James Harrison. Just as they did last season, the Steelers have made mid-season adjustments and just absolutely obliterated the Colts. It's not that the Steelers defense put up an overwhelming performance against the Colts as they still allowed 34 points, but the offense was absolutely sensational as it amassed 51 points on a Colts defense that totally shut out the Bengals only a week earlier. For the first time in what seems like years the Steelers offensive linemen were able to give Ben Roethlisberger a lot of time in the pocket. Was this a reflection of a poor performance by a dome defense or have the Steelers simply fixed things from a schematic standpoint? I have to assume it was a combination of both.
I was not particularly impressed by the Steelers when they beat a Texans team that could not stop fumbling the ball away, but a win is a win, and forced fumbles are forced fumbles. I did not have the luxury of being able to watch the Steelers face the Colts on Sunday, but it's abundantly clear that their receiving corps has been upgraded with the rise of rookie receiver Martavis Bryant. Bryant was inactive for the first six weeks of the season, but has emerged as a huge redzone threat. The rookie accounted for 83 of Ben Roethlisberger's 522 passing yards on Sunday and two of Ben's 6 touchdowns. The Ravens will have their hands full trying to stop both Bryant AND Antonio Brown this Sunday night, and they're going to have one hell of a time doing it without Jimmy Smith.
Jimmy Smith inexplicably sprained his foot against the Bengals on a play wherein he made a solid tackle. The elite corner should be back for the home game against the Titans or after the bye week, but he will absolutely not play this week. Smith's absence and Asa Jackson's placement on the injured reserve/scheduled to return list means the Ravens will be down to just three cornerbacks against their most hated rival team. This is hardly the situation the Ravens envisioned in the last few weeks as they trounced lesser teams.
If the Ravens hope to beat the Steelers, they'll need a monumental pass rush. Big Ben is great at extending plays with his legs, but he has also been sacked extremely often compared to other quarterbacks in the league. The Ravens had exhibited a fantastic pass rush against the Buccaneers and Falcons, but those teams are not nearly as good as Pittsburgh at home. The Ravens will also have to force turnovers if they hope to win on Sunday night. The Steelers offense WILL move the ball. The question is how often they'll be able to find the endzone.
If there was ever a way to minimize the effects of inadequacies in the Ravens defense, it would be a huge showing from the Ravens offense. The Ravens will need a much bigger offensive performance than the 26 points they put up on the Steelers at home in Week 2. Even in their loss to the Steelers, the Texans showed the ability to move the football--they just couldn't hold on to it. The question isn't whether or not the Ravens can score on this Steelers defense, it's how MUCH can they score and will it be enough to outgun Big Ben?
I have already told friends and co-workers that I'm not terrifically optimistic about the Ravens chances of winning this game without Jimmy Smith and possibly without Owen Daniels. I'd like to see the Ravens get Marlon Brown back in more often as a redzone threat with his incredible height, but they'll also be able to utilize Kyle Juszczyk and the power of their impressive stable of running backs. If the Ravens lose to the Steelers, their season is not over by a long shot. They'll have an easily winnable home game against the Titans and then a bye week with which they can get healthy and ready to face some fairly tough opponents. They will beat the Jaguars and they should beat the Browns at home, but the the Dolphins on the road will be a challenge as will the Texans and Saints. I'm fairly certain the Ravens can beat the Chargers at home with a healthy team after the bye week, but that will be a HUGE test. If the birds manage to beat the Steelers on national T.V. on Sunday night, they'll be in great position to win 10-12 games. If they're exposed once again and go into the bye week 6-4, it could be a serious uphill battle after the bye.
Keep the faith, Baltimore. As the Redskins just showed us, all of the stats and records often mean absolutely nothing in fierce divisional rivalries. No team seems to be consistently good or bad from week to week, and these teams know each other just as well as any other two rivals in the league. C'mon Joe...we need you, big guy. Oh and Torrey: how about some of that magic from the Pittsburgh game in your rookie season?
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS
BEAT THE STEELERS!!! (Please?)
Monday, October 27, 2014
Friday, October 24, 2014
WEEK 8 NFL PREDICTIONS
You are what your record says you are, right? Well then the Seahawks are, as I predicted, not nearly as good as they were last season. The Legion of Boom currently ranks 16th in the league in passing yards allowed, and Seattle has fallen to third place in their division with a mediocre 3-3 record. Now they suddenly trade Percy Harvin to the Jets, and there is clearly no way to deny that something is going seriously wrong within the Seahawks organization. The Bengals, like the Seahawks, were placed at or near the top of numerous major power rankings withing the first few weeks of the season. Now, also like the Seahawks, the Bengals find themselves with only 3 wins (none since September) and obvious problems within their own organization. Is it possible that much of the Bengals early success was the result of a gimmick offense that good teams (and even some bad teams) have since dissected and exposed? The Bengals, after all, were almost totally shut down in the second half of their very first game against the Ravens with the exception of but one deep, bobbled, game-winning pass to A.J. Green. Otherwise, the Ravens appeared to have them completely figured out.
Fast forward to Week 8 in the NFL wherein the Bengals find themselves with injuries to starters vitally important to their ability to win football games. Make no mistake, the Bengals will trot as many of the walking wounded out on to that field if they believe it will help them stop the bleeding of their season, but how much can they really expect out of injured starters? Vontaze Burfict, for example, reportedly practiced in full on Thursday, but he suffered a cervical neck strain during last week's blowout loss to the Colts. Burfict has the habit of tackling by putting the top of his helmet into the abdomen of opposing quarterbacks. This isn't particularly dirty or even very dangerous to opposing quarterbacks, but it has twice caused Burfict to leave games. Ravens fans may recall Vontaze barrelling into Joe Flacco's midsection with the top of his helmet. Flacco got right back up and continued to play seemingly unaffected by the helmet to the gut, but Burfict injured his neck and left the game. I highly doubt Burfict's neck is totally healed, and as a middle linebacker Burfict will undoubtedly take some major jarring contact to his helmet this week trying to stop a potent Ravens rushing attack.
Vontaze Burfict is not the only major injured starter on the Bengals defense. Leon Hall suffered a lower back strain last week against the Colts. Hall is the Bengals' best cornerback, and his absence will be a huge boost to an already strong Ravens aerial attack. Hall was not listed on the injury report in any capacity for the past two days, but there's absolutely no way he'll be at full strength or even necessarily on the field this weekend. Rey Maualuga was also not listed on today's injury report, but that is because he was reportedly expected to miss the next two weeks according to Wednesday's injury report. With so many injured defensive starters and little production from Geno Atkins, it's no surprise the Bengals rank 30th in run defense, 27th in pass defense, and 18th in average points allowed per game.
The Bengals defense is not the only one of Cincinnati's units with problems stemming from major injuries. A.J. Green has not been healthy for weeks as he currently suffers from a toe injury that has kept him out of the last two games. The Bengals offense simply can't function at the same level without Green, and he's likely to be slowed by the same injury even if he manages to get the field this weekend. I read a post on Facebook today that read: "A.J. Green at 75% is still dangerous." In response to that post, another commenter wrote: "A.J. Green at 75% is absolutely no match for Jimmy Smith." Both were correct, but the second post was absolutely spot-on. The Ravens secondary was horrendously thin during the last meeting of these two teams. With Lardarius Webb nearly back to full form, the rise of Terrence Brooks, and the return of Will Hill, the Ravens secondary is a drastically improved unit compared to that of Week 1. I have a sneaking suspicion that an improved Ravens secondary and a weakened Bengals receiving corps will yield entertaining results for viewers in the greater Baltimore area.
The Ravens will also soon presumably see the return their starting left offensive guard and left offensive tackle. This should give added protection, punch, and depth to an already strong Ravens offensive line. Despite the major factors in favor of the Ravens for their game on Sunday, I've heard several sports commentators on the radio bring up the fact that Joe Flacco has a poor record in Cincinnati. I would, however, argue that during Andy Dalton's time as the Bengals starting quarterback, Joe Flacco has had reasonable success. His record against the Bengals during that time period is skewed in part by a the fact that the Ravens rested their starters in the final week of the 2012 season in Cincinnati as they had already clinched the AFC North division. The only legitimate Ravens loss in Cleveland during the Andy Dalton era was, thus, last year's season-ending showdown. Much has changed since that heart-breaking day, and I expect serious redemption this Sunday. It's time for this week's picks!
WEEK 8 NFL PREDICTIONS
LIONS AT FALCONS- The Lions have surprised the NFL with one of the league's best defenses thus far. Lions fans will be happy to see Calvin Johnson return to the field as he has practiced for multiple days on his previously injured ankle. The Falcons offensive line won't be able to hold up to the pass rush of a fierce Lions defensive line. This game is in London, so the Falcons won't get any sort of home field advantage. LIONS 35-17
RAMS AT CHIEFS- The Rams probably felt great about beating the Seahawks last week, but they shouldn't get too comfortable yet. The Chiefs run the football better than almost anyone in the leage, and the Rams defend the run worse than almost anyone in the league. This is a poor matchup on the road for the Rams. CHIEFS 34-20
TEXANS AT TITANS- The Texans will rebound after an embarrassing loss to the Steelers last week. Poor ball security allowed the Steelers to put up 24 points in the second quarter. This in no way means the Steelers are fixed or back in business, but it does mean that the Texans will take out their frustrations on a division rival and one of the worst teams in the league. TEXANS 38-14
VIKINGS AT BUCCANEERS- The Vikings are quite bad...and so are the Buccaneers. In a contest like this, I have to give an advantage to the home team. The Vikings are slightly better on paper, but the Bucs still have some good receiving weapons that helped them beat the Steelers several weeks ago. This is a game that I will not watch. BUCCANEERS 19-17
SEAHAWKS AT PANTHERS- I'd like to think the Seahawks are the better of these two teams. DeAngelo Williams is still out for the Panthers. Until he comes back and they can establish a running game, I can't see them winning against a decent team. SEAHAWKS 20-17
RAVENS AT BENGALS- The Bengals haven't won a game nearly a month and the Ravens have a healthy, fully loaded roster. The Bengals defense is near the bottom of the league, and the offense will not function correctly without a healthy A.J. Green. I forgot to mention earlier that Giovanni Bernard has been limited in practice due to a rib injury. The Ravens defense will feast on Andy Dalton, and the Bengals defense will struggle to stop the Ravens surging O. RAVENS 31-17
DOLPHINS AT JAGUARS- Don't be fooled by the Jaguars win over the Browns. The Dolphins are going to take those fools down. Jacksonville is incredibly lame compared to Miami anyway...just as far as cities are concerned. DOLPHINS 24-13
BEARS AT PATRIOTS- The Patriots are going to have some trouble in the future with the loss of Jerrod Mayo and Steven Ridley. Not this week though. I wasn't sold on the Bears as some sort of offensive powerhouse coming into this season. Brian Urlacher is absolutely right: Jay Cutler is not an elite quarterback. Last season Josh McCown has the same weapons and line to work with and he put up far better numbers...and McCown sucks. I wonder what a REAL QB could do with those weapons. Brady, for example, does more with a lot less at his disposal. PATRIOTS 35-23
BILLS AT JETS- Kyle Orton has helped the Bills win two of their last 3 games. The Bills have one of the best run defenses in the NFL, and that does not bode well for the Jets. Who knows if Percy Harvin will be much of a factor this soon, but I sincerly doubt it. The Jets did, however, show me something promising even in their heart-breaking loss to the Patriots. Chris Ivory has been a pleasant surprise. BILLS 21-20
EAGLES AT CARDINALS- Darren Sproles and Mychal Kendricks should be good to go against the Cardinals on Sunday. The Cardinals have a single win over a winning team all season and that was against the Colts in Week 2. The Cardinals have the 31st ranked pass defense and they'll be going up against the #7 ranked pass offense in the league. The Eagles are simply a better team. EAGLES 33-24
RAIDERS AT BROWNS- The Browns had a confusing loss to one of the worst teams in football last week, but that will not happen for a second week in a row as the Browns face the ACTUAL worst team in football. BROWNS 30-16
COLTS AT STEELERS- The high of beating the Texans will be dashed as soon as the Colts come to town on Sunday. The Colts have quickly become into one of the most complete, dynamic teams in the NFL. The Steelers--not so much. COLTS 38-23
PACKERS AT SAINTS- The Saints have shown that they're improvint slightly, but the Packers have improved by leaps and bounds since their loss to the Seahawks on opening night. I don't care that this game is in New Orleans. PACKERS 42-21
REDSKINS AT COWBOYS- This isn't the Redskins' year. Maybe karma for the franchise name? Who knows. I don't like the Cowboys, but they certainly have impressed me thus far. DeMarco Murray is having a historically great season in a era when the rules favor passing. COWBOYS 28-14
I'm usually nervous leading up to divisional games. This week, I'm not. The Ravens should win their next three games against inferior teams in convincing fashion and go into the bye week 8-2. The Ravens are getting healthy just in time for a second half push.
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
Fast forward to Week 8 in the NFL wherein the Bengals find themselves with injuries to starters vitally important to their ability to win football games. Make no mistake, the Bengals will trot as many of the walking wounded out on to that field if they believe it will help them stop the bleeding of their season, but how much can they really expect out of injured starters? Vontaze Burfict, for example, reportedly practiced in full on Thursday, but he suffered a cervical neck strain during last week's blowout loss to the Colts. Burfict has the habit of tackling by putting the top of his helmet into the abdomen of opposing quarterbacks. This isn't particularly dirty or even very dangerous to opposing quarterbacks, but it has twice caused Burfict to leave games. Ravens fans may recall Vontaze barrelling into Joe Flacco's midsection with the top of his helmet. Flacco got right back up and continued to play seemingly unaffected by the helmet to the gut, but Burfict injured his neck and left the game. I highly doubt Burfict's neck is totally healed, and as a middle linebacker Burfict will undoubtedly take some major jarring contact to his helmet this week trying to stop a potent Ravens rushing attack.
Vontaze Burfict is not the only major injured starter on the Bengals defense. Leon Hall suffered a lower back strain last week against the Colts. Hall is the Bengals' best cornerback, and his absence will be a huge boost to an already strong Ravens aerial attack. Hall was not listed on the injury report in any capacity for the past two days, but there's absolutely no way he'll be at full strength or even necessarily on the field this weekend. Rey Maualuga was also not listed on today's injury report, but that is because he was reportedly expected to miss the next two weeks according to Wednesday's injury report. With so many injured defensive starters and little production from Geno Atkins, it's no surprise the Bengals rank 30th in run defense, 27th in pass defense, and 18th in average points allowed per game.
The Bengals defense is not the only one of Cincinnati's units with problems stemming from major injuries. A.J. Green has not been healthy for weeks as he currently suffers from a toe injury that has kept him out of the last two games. The Bengals offense simply can't function at the same level without Green, and he's likely to be slowed by the same injury even if he manages to get the field this weekend. I read a post on Facebook today that read: "A.J. Green at 75% is still dangerous." In response to that post, another commenter wrote: "A.J. Green at 75% is absolutely no match for Jimmy Smith." Both were correct, but the second post was absolutely spot-on. The Ravens secondary was horrendously thin during the last meeting of these two teams. With Lardarius Webb nearly back to full form, the rise of Terrence Brooks, and the return of Will Hill, the Ravens secondary is a drastically improved unit compared to that of Week 1. I have a sneaking suspicion that an improved Ravens secondary and a weakened Bengals receiving corps will yield entertaining results for viewers in the greater Baltimore area.
The Ravens will also soon presumably see the return their starting left offensive guard and left offensive tackle. This should give added protection, punch, and depth to an already strong Ravens offensive line. Despite the major factors in favor of the Ravens for their game on Sunday, I've heard several sports commentators on the radio bring up the fact that Joe Flacco has a poor record in Cincinnati. I would, however, argue that during Andy Dalton's time as the Bengals starting quarterback, Joe Flacco has had reasonable success. His record against the Bengals during that time period is skewed in part by a the fact that the Ravens rested their starters in the final week of the 2012 season in Cincinnati as they had already clinched the AFC North division. The only legitimate Ravens loss in Cleveland during the Andy Dalton era was, thus, last year's season-ending showdown. Much has changed since that heart-breaking day, and I expect serious redemption this Sunday. It's time for this week's picks!
WEEK 8 NFL PREDICTIONS
LIONS AT FALCONS- The Lions have surprised the NFL with one of the league's best defenses thus far. Lions fans will be happy to see Calvin Johnson return to the field as he has practiced for multiple days on his previously injured ankle. The Falcons offensive line won't be able to hold up to the pass rush of a fierce Lions defensive line. This game is in London, so the Falcons won't get any sort of home field advantage. LIONS 35-17
RAMS AT CHIEFS- The Rams probably felt great about beating the Seahawks last week, but they shouldn't get too comfortable yet. The Chiefs run the football better than almost anyone in the leage, and the Rams defend the run worse than almost anyone in the league. This is a poor matchup on the road for the Rams. CHIEFS 34-20
TEXANS AT TITANS- The Texans will rebound after an embarrassing loss to the Steelers last week. Poor ball security allowed the Steelers to put up 24 points in the second quarter. This in no way means the Steelers are fixed or back in business, but it does mean that the Texans will take out their frustrations on a division rival and one of the worst teams in the league. TEXANS 38-14
VIKINGS AT BUCCANEERS- The Vikings are quite bad...and so are the Buccaneers. In a contest like this, I have to give an advantage to the home team. The Vikings are slightly better on paper, but the Bucs still have some good receiving weapons that helped them beat the Steelers several weeks ago. This is a game that I will not watch. BUCCANEERS 19-17
SEAHAWKS AT PANTHERS- I'd like to think the Seahawks are the better of these two teams. DeAngelo Williams is still out for the Panthers. Until he comes back and they can establish a running game, I can't see them winning against a decent team. SEAHAWKS 20-17
RAVENS AT BENGALS- The Bengals haven't won a game nearly a month and the Ravens have a healthy, fully loaded roster. The Bengals defense is near the bottom of the league, and the offense will not function correctly without a healthy A.J. Green. I forgot to mention earlier that Giovanni Bernard has been limited in practice due to a rib injury. The Ravens defense will feast on Andy Dalton, and the Bengals defense will struggle to stop the Ravens surging O. RAVENS 31-17
DOLPHINS AT JAGUARS- Don't be fooled by the Jaguars win over the Browns. The Dolphins are going to take those fools down. Jacksonville is incredibly lame compared to Miami anyway...just as far as cities are concerned. DOLPHINS 24-13
BEARS AT PATRIOTS- The Patriots are going to have some trouble in the future with the loss of Jerrod Mayo and Steven Ridley. Not this week though. I wasn't sold on the Bears as some sort of offensive powerhouse coming into this season. Brian Urlacher is absolutely right: Jay Cutler is not an elite quarterback. Last season Josh McCown has the same weapons and line to work with and he put up far better numbers...and McCown sucks. I wonder what a REAL QB could do with those weapons. Brady, for example, does more with a lot less at his disposal. PATRIOTS 35-23
BILLS AT JETS- Kyle Orton has helped the Bills win two of their last 3 games. The Bills have one of the best run defenses in the NFL, and that does not bode well for the Jets. Who knows if Percy Harvin will be much of a factor this soon, but I sincerly doubt it. The Jets did, however, show me something promising even in their heart-breaking loss to the Patriots. Chris Ivory has been a pleasant surprise. BILLS 21-20
EAGLES AT CARDINALS- Darren Sproles and Mychal Kendricks should be good to go against the Cardinals on Sunday. The Cardinals have a single win over a winning team all season and that was against the Colts in Week 2. The Cardinals have the 31st ranked pass defense and they'll be going up against the #7 ranked pass offense in the league. The Eagles are simply a better team. EAGLES 33-24
RAIDERS AT BROWNS- The Browns had a confusing loss to one of the worst teams in football last week, but that will not happen for a second week in a row as the Browns face the ACTUAL worst team in football. BROWNS 30-16
COLTS AT STEELERS- The high of beating the Texans will be dashed as soon as the Colts come to town on Sunday. The Colts have quickly become into one of the most complete, dynamic teams in the NFL. The Steelers--not so much. COLTS 38-23
PACKERS AT SAINTS- The Saints have shown that they're improvint slightly, but the Packers have improved by leaps and bounds since their loss to the Seahawks on opening night. I don't care that this game is in New Orleans. PACKERS 42-21
REDSKINS AT COWBOYS- This isn't the Redskins' year. Maybe karma for the franchise name? Who knows. I don't like the Cowboys, but they certainly have impressed me thus far. DeMarco Murray is having a historically great season in a era when the rules favor passing. COWBOYS 28-14
I'm usually nervous leading up to divisional games. This week, I'm not. The Ravens should win their next three games against inferior teams in convincing fashion and go into the bye week 8-2. The Ravens are getting healthy just in time for a second half push.
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
Sunday, October 19, 2014
WEEK 7 NFL PREDICTIONS
Any win in the NFL is a good win. Any ROAD win in the NFL is a GREAT win. I, however, must remind Ravens fans not to get too high off of any one win or too low off of any particular loss. We all had great fun watching the Ravens blast the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48-17, but none of those points carry on to the next week's game. Fortunately for Baltimore, the Ravens will play a struggling Falcon's team at home this week. I've heard some rather outlandish predictions about the upcoming Ravens-Falcons game. One such prediction was that the Falcons would put up 28-30 points on the Ravens in a shootout. Ha.
I get it. The Falcons still get credit for being a good team for the first 5 years of Matt Ryan's career. This, however, is his 7th season, and the Atlanta Falcons have been one of the worst teams in the league for almost a season and a half now. To make matters worse, the Falcons have lost each road game they've played, and two out of three of the road teams they've faced are rather weak. Never mind the fact that the Falcons have scored 27.33 points per game this season. The Falcons have ALLOWED 28.333 points per game, and the only truly relevant statistics are those collected during road games. On the road the Falcons have scored an average 19.33 points per game and allowed an average 31.667 points per game.
Matt Ryan is a still a talented quarterback, and the Falcons still have a pair of impressive wide receivers, but their offensive line simply can't give Matt Ryan enough protection to make effective enough use of his weapons. To make matters worse, even with solid offensive production, the Falcons have a defense ranked near the bottom of the league. If the Ravens were able to hold the NFL's top ranked Colts offense to 20 points on the road, I haven't the faintest idea of how commentators believe the Ravens would give up close to or over 30 points to the Atlanta Falcons at home.
The Ravens, meanwhile, have quickly re-established themselves as one of the league's top defenses. They currently ranked 3rd in scoring defense with only 16.16 pounds allowed per game. Baltimore also has a great chance to get a big boost to its secondary with the possible return of one of best safeties in the NFL last season, Will Hill. Timmy Jernigan may also return to the field to give the Ravens a boost on their defensive line.
It's not the the Ravens haven't ever suffered a let-down game, but there is simply nothing the Falcons have done this season to suggest to me that they're capable of coming into Baltimore and beating a Ravens squad that has more wins than all but 3 teams in the NFL. The Ravens continue to fine-tune their offense that already ranks in the top 10 in the league, and their defense continues to get stronger with the return to form of Lardarius Webb and the rise of C.J. Mosley. The Ravens, in fact, should realistically be able to win at least 3 of their final four games before their bye week...but let's just take this one week at a time,and let's get to the picks!
WEEK 7 NFL PREDICTIONS
FALCONS AT RAVENS- This is a Falcons offense that can't find success on the road, and a Falcons defense that can't stop poor teams on the road...let alone dominant teams. Ravens have a top 10 offense and a top 3 scoring defense. RAVENS 38-14
TITANS AT REDSKINS- This should be one of the brief moments Redskins fans will enjoy this season. The Titans are bad--so very bad. REDSKINS 21-17
SEAHAWKS AT RAMS- The Rams will make this a game, but the Seahawks are still the stronger team. SEAHAWKS 23-21
BROWNS AT JAGUARS- The Browns have shown they can compete with tough NFL teams. The Jaguars are not a tough NFL team. BROWNS 31-16
BENGALS AT COLTS- Without A.J. Green the Bengals simply won't be able to win this game. COLTS 33-24
VIKINGS AT BILLS- The Vikings have been poor on the road this season. BILLS 27-21
DOLPHINS AT BEARS- I know the Dolphins have only won 2 games this season, but they've also played some tough teams and nearly beat a quality Packers team last week. The Bears have been bad at home this week. I'm going against the grain and picking Miami to win this is a close one. DOLPHINS 28-27
SAINTS AT LIONS- The Saints are bad at football. They're even worse at football on the road. LIONS 38-17
PANTHERS AT PACKERS- The Packers have really begun to heat up and the Panthers still have yet to claw their way up to mediocrity. PACKERS 33-21
CHIEFS AT CHARGERS- The Chargers have an elite offense and an elite defense. The Chiefs can't pass and they can't stop the run. The Chargers may be the best team in the league at the moment. CHARGERS 28-21
CARDINALS AT RAIDERS- Who would pick the Raiders to beat anyone other than the Jaguars right now? CARDINALS 30-14
GIANTS AT COWBOYS- DeMarco Murray is on pace to rush for 2093 yards this season. The giants just lost Victor Cruz and got throttled by the Eagles. COWBOYS 35-23
49ERS AT BRONCOS- The 49ers will be without Patrick Willis this week...as if they didn't already have enough defensive injuries. BRONCOS 28-20
TEXANS AT STEELERS- The Texans lost their last two games, but they did so against to of the league's best teams by razor thin margins. The Steelers have totally fallen apart. Defensive injuries have taken their toll, and this offense simply hasn't show the ability to put significant points on the board each week. TEXANS 28-17
This week features far fewer impressive match-ups than last week, but I'm still looking forward to Joe Flacco having a good laugh at all those who have been vocal about wishing the Ravens had found a way to draft Matt Ryan instead of Joe Cool in 2008. For me, the playoff wins and Super Bowl ring have been more than enough justification for years.
The first six weeks of the 2014 season have given me a level of optimism about the the remainder of the Ravens' opponents. Many teams that I originally presumed would be difficult opponents have recently shown themselves to be rather weak. The Ravens have still to face the Falcons, Bengals, Steelers, Titans, Saints, Chargers, Dolphins, Jaguars, Texans, and Browns. Of those ten teams, only the Bengals, Chargers, and Texans strike me as possible losses, and even then I doubt the Ravens will lose to a broken, struggling Bengals team or the Texans. That leaves a big match-up against the Chargers as a looming potential loss. I am by no means suggesting that the Ravens will lose only one game going forward. There are often occasional losses to lesser teams, but the better teams tend to win more games over the course of a full season. I, instead, am saying that the Ravens have a host of extremely beatable teams ahead of them, and this might just be the weakest strength of schedule the Ravens will have enjoyed in a long time. For now, however, let's enjoy watching the Ravens take on the struggling Falcons tomorrow.
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
I get it. The Falcons still get credit for being a good team for the first 5 years of Matt Ryan's career. This, however, is his 7th season, and the Atlanta Falcons have been one of the worst teams in the league for almost a season and a half now. To make matters worse, the Falcons have lost each road game they've played, and two out of three of the road teams they've faced are rather weak. Never mind the fact that the Falcons have scored 27.33 points per game this season. The Falcons have ALLOWED 28.333 points per game, and the only truly relevant statistics are those collected during road games. On the road the Falcons have scored an average 19.33 points per game and allowed an average 31.667 points per game.
Matt Ryan is a still a talented quarterback, and the Falcons still have a pair of impressive wide receivers, but their offensive line simply can't give Matt Ryan enough protection to make effective enough use of his weapons. To make matters worse, even with solid offensive production, the Falcons have a defense ranked near the bottom of the league. If the Ravens were able to hold the NFL's top ranked Colts offense to 20 points on the road, I haven't the faintest idea of how commentators believe the Ravens would give up close to or over 30 points to the Atlanta Falcons at home.
The Ravens, meanwhile, have quickly re-established themselves as one of the league's top defenses. They currently ranked 3rd in scoring defense with only 16.16 pounds allowed per game. Baltimore also has a great chance to get a big boost to its secondary with the possible return of one of best safeties in the NFL last season, Will Hill. Timmy Jernigan may also return to the field to give the Ravens a boost on their defensive line.
It's not the the Ravens haven't ever suffered a let-down game, but there is simply nothing the Falcons have done this season to suggest to me that they're capable of coming into Baltimore and beating a Ravens squad that has more wins than all but 3 teams in the NFL. The Ravens continue to fine-tune their offense that already ranks in the top 10 in the league, and their defense continues to get stronger with the return to form of Lardarius Webb and the rise of C.J. Mosley. The Ravens, in fact, should realistically be able to win at least 3 of their final four games before their bye week...but let's just take this one week at a time,and let's get to the picks!
WEEK 7 NFL PREDICTIONS
FALCONS AT RAVENS- This is a Falcons offense that can't find success on the road, and a Falcons defense that can't stop poor teams on the road...let alone dominant teams. Ravens have a top 10 offense and a top 3 scoring defense. RAVENS 38-14
TITANS AT REDSKINS- This should be one of the brief moments Redskins fans will enjoy this season. The Titans are bad--so very bad. REDSKINS 21-17
SEAHAWKS AT RAMS- The Rams will make this a game, but the Seahawks are still the stronger team. SEAHAWKS 23-21
BROWNS AT JAGUARS- The Browns have shown they can compete with tough NFL teams. The Jaguars are not a tough NFL team. BROWNS 31-16
BENGALS AT COLTS- Without A.J. Green the Bengals simply won't be able to win this game. COLTS 33-24
VIKINGS AT BILLS- The Vikings have been poor on the road this season. BILLS 27-21
DOLPHINS AT BEARS- I know the Dolphins have only won 2 games this season, but they've also played some tough teams and nearly beat a quality Packers team last week. The Bears have been bad at home this week. I'm going against the grain and picking Miami to win this is a close one. DOLPHINS 28-27
SAINTS AT LIONS- The Saints are bad at football. They're even worse at football on the road. LIONS 38-17
PANTHERS AT PACKERS- The Packers have really begun to heat up and the Panthers still have yet to claw their way up to mediocrity. PACKERS 33-21
CHIEFS AT CHARGERS- The Chargers have an elite offense and an elite defense. The Chiefs can't pass and they can't stop the run. The Chargers may be the best team in the league at the moment. CHARGERS 28-21
CARDINALS AT RAIDERS- Who would pick the Raiders to beat anyone other than the Jaguars right now? CARDINALS 30-14
GIANTS AT COWBOYS- DeMarco Murray is on pace to rush for 2093 yards this season. The giants just lost Victor Cruz and got throttled by the Eagles. COWBOYS 35-23
49ERS AT BRONCOS- The 49ers will be without Patrick Willis this week...as if they didn't already have enough defensive injuries. BRONCOS 28-20
TEXANS AT STEELERS- The Texans lost their last two games, but they did so against to of the league's best teams by razor thin margins. The Steelers have totally fallen apart. Defensive injuries have taken their toll, and this offense simply hasn't show the ability to put significant points on the board each week. TEXANS 28-17
This week features far fewer impressive match-ups than last week, but I'm still looking forward to Joe Flacco having a good laugh at all those who have been vocal about wishing the Ravens had found a way to draft Matt Ryan instead of Joe Cool in 2008. For me, the playoff wins and Super Bowl ring have been more than enough justification for years.
The first six weeks of the 2014 season have given me a level of optimism about the the remainder of the Ravens' opponents. Many teams that I originally presumed would be difficult opponents have recently shown themselves to be rather weak. The Ravens have still to face the Falcons, Bengals, Steelers, Titans, Saints, Chargers, Dolphins, Jaguars, Texans, and Browns. Of those ten teams, only the Bengals, Chargers, and Texans strike me as possible losses, and even then I doubt the Ravens will lose to a broken, struggling Bengals team or the Texans. That leaves a big match-up against the Chargers as a looming potential loss. I am by no means suggesting that the Ravens will lose only one game going forward. There are often occasional losses to lesser teams, but the better teams tend to win more games over the course of a full season. I, instead, am saying that the Ravens have a host of extremely beatable teams ahead of them, and this might just be the weakest strength of schedule the Ravens will have enjoyed in a long time. For now, however, let's enjoy watching the Ravens take on the struggling Falcons tomorrow.
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
Sunday, October 12, 2014
WEEK 6 NFL PREDICTIONS
I do not believe I underestimated the Colts offense last week. The Ravens defense held Indianapolis to 20 points despite numerous trips to the Ravens red zone. The Colts, in fact, scored only 6 points in the first half. No, I did not underestimate the Colts offense. I did, however, grossly underestimate the Chuck Pagano's ability to game-plan against his former team, and I OVERestimated the ability of undrafted rookie, James Hurst, to protect Joe Flacco's blind side.
One thing has been made clear over the past two seasons: when Joe Flacco has time in the pocket and confidence in his protection, he performs at an extremely high level. Last weekend was not one of those times. James Hurst may have fooled us into believing that he was a solid left tackle against a horrible Panthers team, but our collective opinion of him came crashing back to earth as he allowed multiple sacks last Sunday. Not only did Flacco not have good protection, but his receivers once again had issues catching the football at critical moments Torrey Smith failed to catch a relatively well thrown pass that would have given the Ravens a first down on what could have been a game-tying drive just before the end of regulation time. Marlon Brown also neglected to at least try to lay out for a deep pass that would have given the Ravens the ball well within the red zone had the ball been caught. Even the recently red-hot Steve Smith fumbled the football deep in Ravens territory after catching a short pass. Suffice it to say that the the conditions for a great passing performance from Joe Flacco were inadequate against what originally appeared to be a relatively weak Colts defense.
Despite a disappointing loss in Indianapolis, I walked away from my television pleased with much of what I had seen. The Ravens offense wasn't at its best, but I know that won't be a chronic issue this season. What left me utterly speechless was the performance of the Ravens defense against the league's leading offense. Lardarius Webb was picked on in his return, but made a handful of aggressive and successful passes defensed. C.J. Mosley played out of his mind with a forced fumble, an interception, a massive hit to Andrew Luck that helped produce another Haloti Ngata interception, and a whopping 15 tackles. The Ravens have found the new anchor of their defense, and his number is 57. If the Ravens offense can sputter so embarrassingly and the Ravens defense can make enough plays to keep them in the game until the last minute, then that means the defense is better by leaps and bounds than the unit fielded in 2013. Sure, there are still issues at safety, but the Ravens will get Will Hill back from his suspension in two days, and Terrence Brooks will continue to develop into the playmaker we know he has the potential to become.
I was not shocked the Ravens lost to the Colts in Indianapolis, but I most certainly WILL be shocked if they lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs to possess some big targets such as Vincent Jackson, but they have the worst defense in the league and have allowed an average of just over 31 points per game through 5 weeks of this season. If the Ravens can hold the Colts to 20 points, the should be able to hold the Buccaneers to 14-17 at the most. We can expect to see the Ravens run the football far more often this week than last, and I fully expect Joe Flacco to attempt at least a few deep passes to Torrey Smith in hopes that he can once again get his timing and hands on the right track. The Patriots demonstrated last week exactly how to attack the Bengals defense and render the Bengals offense almost totally useless. With the return of Will Hill, the return of Eugene Monroe, and hopefully and increase in production from Torrey Smith, the Ravens should be ready in a few weeks to go into Cincinnati and do nearly the same thing.
A team has to experience loss to effectively analyze their weaknesses. The key is to make losses few and far between so the team can also experience success and learn exactly what it is that makes them successful. The Ravens are 3-2, but unlike last season, they have yet to experience any soft of let-down game. Their only two losses have been by a single touchdown against two of the best teams in the league. Only the Chargers have more in the AFC than the Ravens, and the AFC North is wide open. Try to maintain confidence in this team to beat the teams they are absolutely supposed to beat. Now let's take a look at the picks!
WEEK 6 NFL PREDICTIONS
JAGUARS AT TITANS- Almost no one cares who wins this game, but the Titans are slightly less bad. TITANS 21-17
RAVENS AT BUCCANEERS- The Ravens typically bounce thunderously back after a loss, and who better to bounce back off of than the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Ravens will score on their first drive and never look back. RAVENS 33-20
BRONCOS AT JETS- The Jets aren't as bad as their record would suggest...but they're not much better. BRONCOS 42-13
LIONS AT VIKINGS- The Lions without a healthy Megatron are in trouble. The Vikings, however, are still not a great team. LIONS 23-21
PATRIOTS AT BILLS- It might be too soon to proclaim that the Patriots have totally regained their mojo, but they'll handle the Bills this Sunday. PATRIOTS 31-19
PANTHERS AT BENGALS- The Bengals will be without A.J. Green, but their offensive system is still too fast and saturated with weapons for the Panthers to handle. BENGALS 24-14
STEELERS AT BROWNS- The Browns defense is more banged up than the last time these two teams met, but the Steelers defense is FAAAAR more banged up than the last time these two met. If the Steelers could only barely beat the Jaguars, they'll likely lose in Cleveland. BROWNS 23-20
PACKERS AT DOLPHINS- The Packers appear to be on a role recently, but they could have trouble with a still-summery Miami environment. Nevertheless, I expect Aaron Rodgers to find his rhythm against the Dolphins in a narrow win. PACKERS 30-24
CHARGERS AT RAIDERS- YAWN. CHARGERS 35-10
BEARS AT FALCONS- The Falcons have yet to win a road game, but they have yet to LOSE a home game. The Falcons only wins, however, have come against two of the worst teams in the league, the Bucs and Saints. BEARS 42-21
COWBOYS AT SEAHAWKS- The general public still seems to give Seattle major brownie points for winning the Super Bowl last season. I, however, do not. The Seahawks displayed a serious problem moving the football at times against one of the worst teams in the league last week. I don't think the Seahawks will lose this game at home, but it SHOULD be more closer than most people imagine. SEAHAWKS 28-23
REDSKINS AT CARDINALS- The Redskins don't know how to properly use their offensive weapons. CARDINALS 20-16
GIANTS AT EAGLES- This is the hardest game of the week to predict. The Giants have won their last three games including one 45-14 win over the division rival Eagles. The Eagles have a high-powered offense, but they also have one of the worst defenses in the league. I like how the Giants have played recently, and they never seem to have much of a homefield advantage or a road game disadvantage. GIANTS 31-28
49ERS AT RAMS- I'm not sold on the 49ers, but the Rams are a crappy "professional" sports franchise. 49ERS 24-13
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
One thing has been made clear over the past two seasons: when Joe Flacco has time in the pocket and confidence in his protection, he performs at an extremely high level. Last weekend was not one of those times. James Hurst may have fooled us into believing that he was a solid left tackle against a horrible Panthers team, but our collective opinion of him came crashing back to earth as he allowed multiple sacks last Sunday. Not only did Flacco not have good protection, but his receivers once again had issues catching the football at critical moments Torrey Smith failed to catch a relatively well thrown pass that would have given the Ravens a first down on what could have been a game-tying drive just before the end of regulation time. Marlon Brown also neglected to at least try to lay out for a deep pass that would have given the Ravens the ball well within the red zone had the ball been caught. Even the recently red-hot Steve Smith fumbled the football deep in Ravens territory after catching a short pass. Suffice it to say that the the conditions for a great passing performance from Joe Flacco were inadequate against what originally appeared to be a relatively weak Colts defense.
Despite a disappointing loss in Indianapolis, I walked away from my television pleased with much of what I had seen. The Ravens offense wasn't at its best, but I know that won't be a chronic issue this season. What left me utterly speechless was the performance of the Ravens defense against the league's leading offense. Lardarius Webb was picked on in his return, but made a handful of aggressive and successful passes defensed. C.J. Mosley played out of his mind with a forced fumble, an interception, a massive hit to Andrew Luck that helped produce another Haloti Ngata interception, and a whopping 15 tackles. The Ravens have found the new anchor of their defense, and his number is 57. If the Ravens offense can sputter so embarrassingly and the Ravens defense can make enough plays to keep them in the game until the last minute, then that means the defense is better by leaps and bounds than the unit fielded in 2013. Sure, there are still issues at safety, but the Ravens will get Will Hill back from his suspension in two days, and Terrence Brooks will continue to develop into the playmaker we know he has the potential to become.
I was not shocked the Ravens lost to the Colts in Indianapolis, but I most certainly WILL be shocked if they lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs to possess some big targets such as Vincent Jackson, but they have the worst defense in the league and have allowed an average of just over 31 points per game through 5 weeks of this season. If the Ravens can hold the Colts to 20 points, the should be able to hold the Buccaneers to 14-17 at the most. We can expect to see the Ravens run the football far more often this week than last, and I fully expect Joe Flacco to attempt at least a few deep passes to Torrey Smith in hopes that he can once again get his timing and hands on the right track. The Patriots demonstrated last week exactly how to attack the Bengals defense and render the Bengals offense almost totally useless. With the return of Will Hill, the return of Eugene Monroe, and hopefully and increase in production from Torrey Smith, the Ravens should be ready in a few weeks to go into Cincinnati and do nearly the same thing.
A team has to experience loss to effectively analyze their weaknesses. The key is to make losses few and far between so the team can also experience success and learn exactly what it is that makes them successful. The Ravens are 3-2, but unlike last season, they have yet to experience any soft of let-down game. Their only two losses have been by a single touchdown against two of the best teams in the league. Only the Chargers have more in the AFC than the Ravens, and the AFC North is wide open. Try to maintain confidence in this team to beat the teams they are absolutely supposed to beat. Now let's take a look at the picks!
WEEK 6 NFL PREDICTIONS
JAGUARS AT TITANS- Almost no one cares who wins this game, but the Titans are slightly less bad. TITANS 21-17
RAVENS AT BUCCANEERS- The Ravens typically bounce thunderously back after a loss, and who better to bounce back off of than the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Ravens will score on their first drive and never look back. RAVENS 33-20
BRONCOS AT JETS- The Jets aren't as bad as their record would suggest...but they're not much better. BRONCOS 42-13
LIONS AT VIKINGS- The Lions without a healthy Megatron are in trouble. The Vikings, however, are still not a great team. LIONS 23-21
PATRIOTS AT BILLS- It might be too soon to proclaim that the Patriots have totally regained their mojo, but they'll handle the Bills this Sunday. PATRIOTS 31-19
PANTHERS AT BENGALS- The Bengals will be without A.J. Green, but their offensive system is still too fast and saturated with weapons for the Panthers to handle. BENGALS 24-14
STEELERS AT BROWNS- The Browns defense is more banged up than the last time these two teams met, but the Steelers defense is FAAAAR more banged up than the last time these two met. If the Steelers could only barely beat the Jaguars, they'll likely lose in Cleveland. BROWNS 23-20
PACKERS AT DOLPHINS- The Packers appear to be on a role recently, but they could have trouble with a still-summery Miami environment. Nevertheless, I expect Aaron Rodgers to find his rhythm against the Dolphins in a narrow win. PACKERS 30-24
CHARGERS AT RAIDERS- YAWN. CHARGERS 35-10
BEARS AT FALCONS- The Falcons have yet to win a road game, but they have yet to LOSE a home game. The Falcons only wins, however, have come against two of the worst teams in the league, the Bucs and Saints. BEARS 42-21
COWBOYS AT SEAHAWKS- The general public still seems to give Seattle major brownie points for winning the Super Bowl last season. I, however, do not. The Seahawks displayed a serious problem moving the football at times against one of the worst teams in the league last week. I don't think the Seahawks will lose this game at home, but it SHOULD be more closer than most people imagine. SEAHAWKS 28-23
REDSKINS AT CARDINALS- The Redskins don't know how to properly use their offensive weapons. CARDINALS 20-16
GIANTS AT EAGLES- This is the hardest game of the week to predict. The Giants have won their last three games including one 45-14 win over the division rival Eagles. The Eagles have a high-powered offense, but they also have one of the worst defenses in the league. I like how the Giants have played recently, and they never seem to have much of a homefield advantage or a road game disadvantage. GIANTS 31-28
49ERS AT RAMS- I'm not sold on the 49ers, but the Rams are a crappy "professional" sports franchise. 49ERS 24-13
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
Saturday, October 4, 2014
WEEK 5 NFL PREDICTIONS
I must apologize to my readers for neglecting to publish last week's predictions. By the time I remembered to do so, the games had already started, and at that point they meant little. Little was surprising about the Ravens' win over the Panthers, but the rest of the NFL has been anything but predictable thus far. The Patriots appear offensively flawed for the first time in over a decade, the Saints look like one of the worst teams in the league, neither the 49ers or Seahawks currently lead their division, and San Diego is in front of the Broncos in the AFC West. It might be too early to say which teams are bad and which are simply getting warmed up, but certain perennial powerhouses simply don't appear to possess the personnel to make adjustments and regain their elite statuses. The Saints, for example, let far too many key pieces go in order to make salary cap room to sign All-Pro safety, Jairus Byrd, and now Byrd's season is over because of a knee injury. The Seahawks lost two top defensive linemen and have already displayed vulnerability against the Chargers and Broncos. Speaking of the Broncos, Peyton manning has a good number of weapons at his disposal, but his team simply has less offensive weapons than last season.
This season may mark a changing of the guard in NFL with the rise of teams such as the Bengals, Cardinals, and Chargers, but each passing week should offer more clarity as we approach mid-season. The Ravens have been no strangers to success, but many critics still clearly doubt Baltimore after an 8-8 2013 campaign. Almost no major sports pundits have picked the Ravens to beat the Colts on Sunday. It's true that the Colts sport the NFL's #1 ranked offense, but much of the statistics that helped to establish that ranking were accumulated against the bottom-feeding Jaguars and Titans. The Colts have exclusively beaten teams with losing records thus far, and the Colts defense has allowed an average of 30.5 points against teams with winning records. Indianapolis has operated without Arthur Jones and Robert Mathis, but more recently they lost La'Ron Landry to a totally unsurprising PED violation. If the Colts defense was already poor against serious offenses, it will be even more crippled this week. Landry currently leads the Colts secondary in tackles, and his absence should give an already potent Ravens offense more opportunities to makes plays.
The Ravens defense isn't without its own weaknesses. The secondary has displayed numerous weaknesses between the safeties and backup corners....pretty much everyone except Jimmy Smith. Andrew Hawkins of the Browns absolutely embarrassed Lardarius Webb in the only game action Webb has seen this season. A.J. Green made a circus catch over Chykie Brown and then juked Darian Stewart out of his cleats on his way into the endzone to ruin what would have been a glorious come-from-behind Ravens win against the Bengals in Week 1. Lardarius Webb has not been listed on the injury report for a couple of weeks now, but it's unclear if he's truly ready to play as he missed training camp and the preseason. The absence of an effective Webb could mean trouble for the Ravens secondary, but unlike the Colts, the Ravens have serious pass rushers to help make up for weaknesses at corner and safety. The Ravens, after all, rank 2nd in the NFL in scoring defense, and they rank first in the NFL in redzone defense. Couple that with the 2nd ranked scoring offense in the AFC and the 7th ranked offense by yardage in the NFL and you get a Ravens team that is elite on both sides of the ball. This may, in fact, be the most complete team the Colts will have faced this far.
I certainly can't blame sports analysts and pundits for predicting a Colts win, but those predictions were clearly based largely on how the Colts have performed against poor competition in the last two weeks. Had these so-called experts bothered to look a bit closer, they may have seen that the Colts only looked dominant against the 27th and 32nd ranked scoring defenses in the NFL. I'm simply not sold on the Colts. Ok, now let's get to the picks!
WEEK 5 NFL PICKS
BEAR AT PANTHERS- The Panthers defense is absolutely atrocious. BEARS 38-17
BROWNS AT TITANS- The Browns and Titans each only have one win on the season, but the Browns are clearly the better team. BROWNS 23-20
RAMS AT EAGLES- The Eagles should get back on track this week against a lackluster opponent. EAGLES 35-24
FALCONS AT GIANTS- I wouldn't get too high on the Giants after beating a divisional opponent as flawed as the Redskins. The Falcons defense, however, is nearly the worst in the league. This is an opportunity for Eli Manning to pad his stats. The Falcons have yet to win a road game this season. GIANTS 30-19
BUCCANEERS AT SAINTS- The Saints can't do much correctly, but they'll be able to beat the Bucs at home...not by much though. SAINTS 21-20
TEXANS AT COWBOYS- The Texans haven't looked bad this season, but the Cowboys have won 3 straight games. The Texans have only faced crappy teams thus far. DeMarco Murray is having a sensational season. COWBOYS 33-19
BILLS AT LIONS- After a fantastic 2-0 start, the Bills appear to have come crashing back down to earth. The Lions will exploit the 25th ranked Bills secondary. LIONS 24-17
RAVENS AT COLTS- The Ravens showed they can move the ball on the road against a solid defense when they beat the Browns in Cleveland. The Colts couldn't stop the Eagles and they couldn't stop the Broncos. The Ravens have a fantastic rushing attack and their improved passing attack should have a big day against a poor Colts pass rush and pedestrian secondary. Long drives should help keep the ball out of the hands of Andrew Luck, and the Ravens should be able to hold the Colts to field goals at some critical moments. RAVENS 33-26
STEELERS AT JAGUARS- I never thought the Steelers would lose to the Bucs, but their defense looks worse than it has in MANY years after losing 3 key starters in a costly win against the Panthers two weeks ago. Jacksonville is simply too bad to win this game, however, and Ben Roethlisberger should have the best day of his 2014 season against a defense that has allowed an average 38 points per game. STEELERS 42-19
CARDINALS AT BRONCOS- The Broncos are close to the worst in the league in pass defense, and they can't run the football. The Cardinals defense was able to hold the Chargers to 17 points. Both of these teams are coming off of bye weeks. The Broncos aren't the same without Eric Decker and Knowshon Moreno. CARDINALS 27-21
CHIEFS AT 49ERS- Good for the 49ers for beating an uncharacteristically weak Patriots team, but the 49ers won't be nearly so easy. The 49ers stop the run well enough to take away what it is that makes the Chiefs great. I expect a strong day from Frank Gore against a mediocre Chiefs run defense. 49ERS 20-17
JETS AT CHARGERS- The Jets and Browns are the best teams in the league with only one win. The Chargers passing attack will simply be too much for the Jets secondary on the road. Sorry, Gang Green. CHARGERS 28-20
BENGALS AT PATRIOTS- The Bengals offense is not perfect. It displayed issues scoring from the redzone against the Ravens, but make no mistake, this is a fast, potent O. The Patriots have struggled to score this season, and they'll struggle against the league's top scoring defense. The Patriots don't often lose at home, but they will this week. BENGALS 24-21
SEAHAWKS AT REDSKINS- The Seahawks aren't as good as they were last year, but the Redskins are so incredibly bad. SEHAWKS 34-13
If the Ravens can pull of this win, they'll begin to once again become one of the most feared teams in the league. This is the year of the Baltimore bird.
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
This season may mark a changing of the guard in NFL with the rise of teams such as the Bengals, Cardinals, and Chargers, but each passing week should offer more clarity as we approach mid-season. The Ravens have been no strangers to success, but many critics still clearly doubt Baltimore after an 8-8 2013 campaign. Almost no major sports pundits have picked the Ravens to beat the Colts on Sunday. It's true that the Colts sport the NFL's #1 ranked offense, but much of the statistics that helped to establish that ranking were accumulated against the bottom-feeding Jaguars and Titans. The Colts have exclusively beaten teams with losing records thus far, and the Colts defense has allowed an average of 30.5 points against teams with winning records. Indianapolis has operated without Arthur Jones and Robert Mathis, but more recently they lost La'Ron Landry to a totally unsurprising PED violation. If the Colts defense was already poor against serious offenses, it will be even more crippled this week. Landry currently leads the Colts secondary in tackles, and his absence should give an already potent Ravens offense more opportunities to makes plays.
The Ravens defense isn't without its own weaknesses. The secondary has displayed numerous weaknesses between the safeties and backup corners....pretty much everyone except Jimmy Smith. Andrew Hawkins of the Browns absolutely embarrassed Lardarius Webb in the only game action Webb has seen this season. A.J. Green made a circus catch over Chykie Brown and then juked Darian Stewart out of his cleats on his way into the endzone to ruin what would have been a glorious come-from-behind Ravens win against the Bengals in Week 1. Lardarius Webb has not been listed on the injury report for a couple of weeks now, but it's unclear if he's truly ready to play as he missed training camp and the preseason. The absence of an effective Webb could mean trouble for the Ravens secondary, but unlike the Colts, the Ravens have serious pass rushers to help make up for weaknesses at corner and safety. The Ravens, after all, rank 2nd in the NFL in scoring defense, and they rank first in the NFL in redzone defense. Couple that with the 2nd ranked scoring offense in the AFC and the 7th ranked offense by yardage in the NFL and you get a Ravens team that is elite on both sides of the ball. This may, in fact, be the most complete team the Colts will have faced this far.
I certainly can't blame sports analysts and pundits for predicting a Colts win, but those predictions were clearly based largely on how the Colts have performed against poor competition in the last two weeks. Had these so-called experts bothered to look a bit closer, they may have seen that the Colts only looked dominant against the 27th and 32nd ranked scoring defenses in the NFL. I'm simply not sold on the Colts. Ok, now let's get to the picks!
WEEK 5 NFL PICKS
BEAR AT PANTHERS- The Panthers defense is absolutely atrocious. BEARS 38-17
BROWNS AT TITANS- The Browns and Titans each only have one win on the season, but the Browns are clearly the better team. BROWNS 23-20
RAMS AT EAGLES- The Eagles should get back on track this week against a lackluster opponent. EAGLES 35-24
FALCONS AT GIANTS- I wouldn't get too high on the Giants after beating a divisional opponent as flawed as the Redskins. The Falcons defense, however, is nearly the worst in the league. This is an opportunity for Eli Manning to pad his stats. The Falcons have yet to win a road game this season. GIANTS 30-19
BUCCANEERS AT SAINTS- The Saints can't do much correctly, but they'll be able to beat the Bucs at home...not by much though. SAINTS 21-20
TEXANS AT COWBOYS- The Texans haven't looked bad this season, but the Cowboys have won 3 straight games. The Texans have only faced crappy teams thus far. DeMarco Murray is having a sensational season. COWBOYS 33-19
BILLS AT LIONS- After a fantastic 2-0 start, the Bills appear to have come crashing back down to earth. The Lions will exploit the 25th ranked Bills secondary. LIONS 24-17
RAVENS AT COLTS- The Ravens showed they can move the ball on the road against a solid defense when they beat the Browns in Cleveland. The Colts couldn't stop the Eagles and they couldn't stop the Broncos. The Ravens have a fantastic rushing attack and their improved passing attack should have a big day against a poor Colts pass rush and pedestrian secondary. Long drives should help keep the ball out of the hands of Andrew Luck, and the Ravens should be able to hold the Colts to field goals at some critical moments. RAVENS 33-26
STEELERS AT JAGUARS- I never thought the Steelers would lose to the Bucs, but their defense looks worse than it has in MANY years after losing 3 key starters in a costly win against the Panthers two weeks ago. Jacksonville is simply too bad to win this game, however, and Ben Roethlisberger should have the best day of his 2014 season against a defense that has allowed an average 38 points per game. STEELERS 42-19
CARDINALS AT BRONCOS- The Broncos are close to the worst in the league in pass defense, and they can't run the football. The Cardinals defense was able to hold the Chargers to 17 points. Both of these teams are coming off of bye weeks. The Broncos aren't the same without Eric Decker and Knowshon Moreno. CARDINALS 27-21
CHIEFS AT 49ERS- Good for the 49ers for beating an uncharacteristically weak Patriots team, but the 49ers won't be nearly so easy. The 49ers stop the run well enough to take away what it is that makes the Chiefs great. I expect a strong day from Frank Gore against a mediocre Chiefs run defense. 49ERS 20-17
JETS AT CHARGERS- The Jets and Browns are the best teams in the league with only one win. The Chargers passing attack will simply be too much for the Jets secondary on the road. Sorry, Gang Green. CHARGERS 28-20
BENGALS AT PATRIOTS- The Bengals offense is not perfect. It displayed issues scoring from the redzone against the Ravens, but make no mistake, this is a fast, potent O. The Patriots have struggled to score this season, and they'll struggle against the league's top scoring defense. The Patriots don't often lose at home, but they will this week. BENGALS 24-21
SEAHAWKS AT REDSKINS- The Seahawks aren't as good as they were last year, but the Redskins are so incredibly bad. SEHAWKS 34-13
If the Ravens can pull of this win, they'll begin to once again become one of the most feared teams in the league. This is the year of the Baltimore bird.
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
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