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!!!
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