Few things infuriate me more than when news is sensationalized and consequently misreported. This tends to happen frequently with sports injuries. Earlier this season, I heard speculation that Breshad Perriman had some serious degenerative joint issue known as Osgood Schlatter disease *gasp*. I, however, knew quite well that Osgood Schlatter is simply tendinitis in the knees that typically accompanies teenage growth--I had it myself. Suddenly countless callers flooded the airwaves on 105.7 The Fan with nonsensical ideas that Ozzie Newsome missed a major red flag with Perriman, and it is finally time for Ozzie to go...because...well...any idiot can call a radio station. In reality, Breshad Perriman has a sprained PCL, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he had tendinitis in his knees during his teenage years. Perriman will absolutely make it to the field this season, and I'm quite confident we'll see him in a helmet and pads within the month of October.
Yesterday morning news broke that Steve Smith had 4 broken bones in his back and that the Ravens were in "wait and see mode." To nearly anyone who read that report it appeared as though Steve Smith had 4 cracks in his spine and his career could potentially be over. The Ravens swooped in, and John Harbaugh clarified the situation. Harbaugh explained that Smith actually simply has 4 microfractures in the RIBS in his back. This injury could take simply two weeks to heal, and while the veteran receiver has already been ruled out for the Week 5 divisional showdown with the Browns, Steve Smith should be expected to be ready to face the 49ers in Week 6 or the Cardinals in Week 7 at the latest. This morning was, nevertheless, utterly saturated with Ravens fans all over the internet so ready to call it a season and drown themselves head first in their respective punch bowls filled with purple cool aid that my head felt as though it would burst had I not decided to simply close up my laptop and ignore their catastrophizing. All of the relatively needless worry about Steve Smith detracted from some pretty fantastic news.
No, it wasn't good news that the Ravens had to put Michael Campanaro on season-ending injured reserve, but the end of his season prompted the Ravens to trade a late round conditional draft pick in the 2017 draft for extremely speedy former Rams receiver, Chris Givens. Givens ran a blazing fast official NFL combine 40 yard dash of 4.35 seconds. To put that into perspective, Torrey Smith ran a 4.41 official forty yard dash at the NFL combine. Givens isn't a pro bowler by any stretch of the imagination, but his ability to stretch opposing defenses should help to open up the middle of the field for the Ravens host of young, talented tight ends and also their second tier receivers such as Kamar Aiken and Marlon Brown. Givens had between 600-700 receiving yards per year for his first two seasons in the NFL, but the Rams brought in other receivers they favored more and his targets dropped significantly. It's also important to note that the Rams never had a serious quarterback from whom Givens could catch passes for any significant period of time, so it's simply no surprise that he didn't rack up mind-boggling statistics in St. Louis. Now he will be targeted by the strongest arm in the NFL on deep passes, and he absolutely possesses the high-end speed to allow Joe to launch bombs knowing his target will be able to hit that second gear to catch up to the ball and snag it. He's not incredibly tall at 6'0", but the Ravens need him to separate, not catch jump balls. This isn't a groundbreaking, landmark acquisition, but Givens is definitely a timely addition while the starting Ravens WRs recover from injuries.
On the defensive side, Will Davis appears to be the factor that finally brought the Ravens defense back to life. With Davis playing significant snaps, in fact, the Ravens were able to limit vaunted receiver, Antonio Brown, to a mere 42 receiving yards in their win in Pittsburgh over a Big Benless Steelers team on Thursday night. Not having Ben certainly helped the Ravens defense, but it's not as though Michael Vick can't throw a football. What was apparent was that regardless of Vick's accuracy (or lack thereof), the Steelers receivers struggled for most of the latter half of the game to separate from the Ravens defensive backs, and that still would have been the case with Roethlisberger playing. Davis earned the second highest defensive grade on the team according to Pro Football Focus, and suddenly the Ravens were able to hold the Steelers scoreless for nearly the entire second half and overtime. The Ravens finally got back to Ravens-style football with multiple stops on 4th down and grinding out a victory with a thunderous rushing attack. That may not be the style of football that thrills many fans nationwide, but it warmed my heart to see an old school AFC North slugfest. I'm well aware that plenty of Ravens fans still fear playing a game without Steve Smith, and I understand why, but this team showed it could win on the road and finally finish a decent team off with suffocating defense. There is yet hope for our birds. Ok, let's take a look at this week's picks!
WEEK 4 NFL PREDICTIONS
RAVENS AT STEELERS- Well we already know how this one ended, but my Thursday night prediction of Ravens 27-20 was pleasantly accurate. The Ravens, of course, won 23-20 in an overtime thriller.
JETS AT DOLPHINS- The Jets came back down to earth last week, but I'm troubled by the current state of the Dolphins. Divisional battles are always difficult to predict, but I'll give the edge to gang green because of their defense. JETS 21-20
JAGUARS AT COLTS- The Colts only barely won one of their games thus far, but there's absolutely no reason they shouldn't beat the Jaguars in Indy to improve to 2-2. The Colts defense isn't good though, so this will be another one that ends up waaaay too close for the comfort of Colts fans. COLTS 33-28
GIANTS AT BILLS- No Victor Cruz means Tyrod Taylor will beat a quarterback who has won multiple Super Bowls...kind of a weird thought. BILLS 24-17
PANTHERS AT BUCCANEERS- The Panthers appear to be having some injury issues with Luke Kuechly, but they're still a better team than the Bucs even on a bad day. PANTHERS 20-17
EAGLES AT REDSKINS- Chip Kelly has failed as an NFL coach. This isn't college. It isn't all about his little system, or maybe it is and his system sucks anyway. REDSKINS 28-21
RAIDERS AT BEARS- I'm not sure the Bears even care whether or not they win another game. They could be angling for the #1 pick in the draft. RAIDERS 35-13
TEXANS AT FALCONS- The Texans are simply not a good team this year, and the Falcons are pretty explosive at home. Get em, Julio. FALCONS 42-23
CHIEFS AT BENGALS- I know the Bengals ultimately beat the Ravens, but I wasn't nearly as impressed with them as I thought I would be. With that said, they're still a more complete team than the Chiefs at this point. BENGALS 27-20
BROWNS AT CHARGERS- I don't think this needs much explanation. The Browns aren't good--they're never good. CHARGERS 30-16
PACKERS AT 49ERS- This is another game whose outcome should surprise no one. PACKERS 38-13
RAMS AT CARDINALS- The Cardinals are a top 3 team in the league right now. The Rams can't do much away from home and when playing anyone other than the Seahawks. CARDINALS 31-17
VIKINGS AT BRONCOS- The Vikings are starting to look better than they initially appeared. This will be far closer than many anticipate. BRONCOS 24-21
COWBOYS AT SAINTS- The Saints are bad at football. COWBOYS 35-19
LIONS AT SEAHAWKS- I figured the Lions defense would be a lot better than it has been, but then again, they replaced Suh with Ngata, and neither one of those men has produced much at all this season. Gotta go with the home team in this one. SEAHAWKS 27-23
IT SURE WILL BE NICE TO KICK BACK AND ENJOY FOOTBALL ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT WITHOUT THE FEAR THAT THE RAVENS WILL ONCE AGAIN LOSE. MY HOPES WERE AT LEAST SOMEWHAT RENEWED AS TUCKER BOOTED THAT BALL FROM 52 YARDS OUT. THIS SEASON IS FAR FROM OVER.
KEEP THE FAITH, BALTIMORE
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
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