Something about this NFL season has felt so fast--so brief. Here we are over halfway finished the season, and it seems as though things are just getting warmed up. Maybe for Ravens fans it's the fact that they've waited each week to see if the offense will fiiiiinally click. They've waited to see Breshad Perriman break out, they've waited to see how Steve Smith Sr. and Dennis Pitta would perform coming back from injuries, they've waited to see what Kenneth Dixon could add to the rushing attack, and they've waited to see what exactly Mike Wallace has left in the tank. They've waited to see if and when the switch to Marty Morhninweg as offensive coordinator would ultimately pay off, and, most of all, they've waited to see Joe Flacco finally play with confidence, accuracy, and proper mechanics so as to utilize the biggest collections of weapons he's ever had at his disposal. Fortunately for Ravens fans, I think they just got at least some of those questions answered.
Thursday night's game against the Browns wasn't exactly a clash of two league powerhouses. The Ravens came into the game with a 4-4 record and only one win in their last 5 games. The win against the Steelers was a pleasant surprise for many, though I have lost fear of a team that has gone 3-9 against the Ravens in the last 6 seasons. The problem was that the Ravens offense still couldn't get going against Pittsburgh despite the defense's impressive performance and another huge play from special teams. Then the Ravens were set to host a familiar foe on a short week; a foe that gave them first quarter fits in Cleveland earlier this season. I didn't buy into the idea that it would be an impossibly close game, but I assumed (rightly so) that the Browns would ultimately put Josh McCown back in the driver's seat because of his recent penchant for lighting up the Ravens defense. McCown had, after all, thrown for an average of 302 passing yards per game in his previous three meetings with the Ravens.
There was a moment in the second quarter that undoubtedly made Ravens fans nervous when the Browns drove effortlessly downfield, and their starting rookie quarterback, Cody Kessler, threw a touchdown pass to a frustratingly wide open fullback. The Ravens found themselves losing to an 0-9 team only days after beating the first place team in the division. That scoring drive would be the last success the Browns found, however, as the Ravens defense clamped down so hard in the second half that Cleveland could barely move. Baltimore's defense only allowed 37 total offensive yards in the second half. The Browns are the worst team in football, but they usually play incredibly close games against the Ravens regardless of their annual abysmal record.
Offensive progress, even over a bad team, is still welcome in Baltimore right now. Joe Flacco had his moments where he made two head-scratching throws that resulted in picks, and he appeared to simply not see open receivers at times. Flacco more than redeemed himself late, however, as he threw three well-placed touchdowns in the second half to three different receivers including Darren Waller and Breshad Perriman. The Ravens had high hopes for Perriman with his 4.24 second 40 yard dash and Waller with his 6'6" frame and an impressive 40 yard dash time of his own at 4.46 seconds. Waller, now that he's off his suspension for marijuana, is one of the fastest tight ends in the NFL. There was never any question that the Ravens had weapons, but there was question about their ability to get those weapons the ball.
Healthy quality offensive linemen have often been in short supply for Baltimore this season. The Ravens didn't win a single game with Ronnie Stanley out, and it didn't help that Marshal Yanda was out nearly as many weeks along with him. After a Browns player fell violently into the side of starting left guard Alex Lewis' knee, Joe Flacco found himself without the protection of BOTH of his starting guards as Marshal Yanda sat out the entire game. Flacco, nevertheless, stood in and threw more confidently than he's thrown all season to 9 different receivers. It appeared as though he finally played without fear in the second half of the game despite the ever-looming physical presence of the newest Brown, Jamie Collins. This tells me that much of Flacco's poor performance was do to his own psychological limitations. His fear of reinjuring his surgically repaired knee, and his lack of confidence in his offensive line appears to have finally dissipated enough for him to look like his old self en route to a throttling victory over a bad team. Remember that it wasn't long ago that the Ravens LOST to a bad Jets team, so this performance is unquestionably a sign of progress.
Nothing is more predictive of the Ravens' success than the health and availability of their starters. The bye week really allowed the Ravens to rest and retool in each phase of their game, and if they end up making it to the playoffs, they can look back at that 14 day span as the turning point of their season. Players such as Marshal Yanda, Elvis Dumervil, and Crocket Gillmore have had trouble finding their way back on to the field, but Baltimore has a 10 day break to rest, get healthy, and prepare to go on the road and face a strong, yet suddenly potentially vulnerable Cowboys team.
The Cowboys definitely didn't show any vulnerability in their last game which, coincidentally, happened to be against the Browns. The Cowboys won a decisive, dominant 35-10 victory over Cleveland, and helped to ensure the worst start in Browns history. The Cowboys, however, find themselves a bit banged up at some key positions just as they go into Pittsburgh to face a Steelers team that has played extremely well at home this season. Dallas' starting left tackle, Tyron Smith, did not participate most of the week, and he only participated on a limited basis on Friday. Cowboys starting strong safety, Barry Church, has been ruled out, and one of their starting corners Morris Claiborne is out with a groin injury. More troublesome still is the fact that Tyron Smith's backup, Chaz Green did not participate in Friday's practice, and starting left guard, Ronald Leary, only finally returned to practice on Friday after spending the rest of the week in concussion protocol.
The Cowboys' biggest strength is unquestionably their offensive line, but injuries could severely limit that strength. Ezekiel Elliot is a tremendous talent, but he'll have trouble putting his talent on display without holes to run through. The Steelers had been gashed by good running backs in the two weeks prior to their game against the Ravens, but both Ryan Shazier and Cameron Heyward returned to the field against the Ravens, and the Steelers run defense suddenly displayed the juice and intensity not seen since the previous generation of Steelers defenders took the field. It wouldn't come as a total shock to see Ezekiel Elliott held well under 100 rushing yards against this Steelers run defense, especially in light of the injuries to the Cowboys' offensive line.
I will, of course, be rooting for the Cowboys to beat the Steelers and extend Pittsburgh's losing streak, but if Dak and company can't manage to put down the Steelers, there is still value in a Steelers win. A Steelers win would give the Ravens a blueprint to beating the Cowboys next weekend. The Ravens are an even more highly rated run-stuffing team, and could benefit tremendously from film on how to shut down Zeke and Dak. It is for that reason that Sunday's game between the Cowboys and Steelers is the most important for Ravens fans and staff to watch. For the rest of the league, however, the game of the week to watch is almost certainly the Seahawks traveling to Foxboro to play a rested Patriots team with Dion Lewis possibly returning, and THAT brings us to this week's picks!
WEEK 10 NFL PICKS
PACKERS AT TITANS- It's difficult to know what to expect from the Packers at this point. Aaron Rodgers has seemed lost at times despite having already thrown 20 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions through the first half of the season, but over a third of those touchdowns have come in shootout losses to the Falcons and Colts in the past two weeks. The Packers have also fared incredibly poorly when facing quality defenses. The Titans certainly don't fall into the quality defense category, but Marcus Mariota should be able to trade scores with Rodgers for most of the game. If Rodgers can't win this game, I'm losing faith in him as an elite QB. PACKERS 31-27
VIKINGS AT REDSKINS- The Vikings defense is fantastic, but the Vikings' offensive personnel issues are simply too big to overcome right now. The Vikings offense has only put up 12 points per game in Minnesota's three consecutive losses. Without both of their offensive tackles, the Vikings simply can't protect Sam Bradford or run the football. The Redskins offense won't exactly run wild, especially without DeSean Jackson to help stretch the field, but they will inevitably find success as the game wears on because the Vikings defense will have been on the field for such an exhausting amount of time. REDSKINS 20-13
BEARS AT BUCCANEERS- The Bears offense simply can't score enough to keep up with the Bucs. The Buccaneers have lost two consecutive, high-scoring games against two of the league's top pass offenses in the Raiders and Falcons, but they're hosting a foe that ranks 31st in the league in points scored per game with 16.4. This won't be fun for the people of Chicago. BUCCANEERS 28-16
CHIEFS AT PANTHERS- This is actually one of the better matchups of the weekend for two teams that have both come alive as of late. The Chiefs defense has been able to limit some incredibly high-powered pass offenses in the last month. The held the Raiders to 10 points, the Colts to 14 points in Indianapolis, and the Saints to 21 points. The Panthers, on the other hand, finally got back on track by winning their last two games over the Cardinals and Rams. It's difficult to know which Panthers team will show up, but I don't think a home win over a heavily injured Cardinals team and a 13-10 road win over a horrendous Rams team is enough to make me believe Carolina can beat a Chiefs team that has already limited some impressive offensive teams both at home and on the road this season. CHIEFS 26-17
FALCONS AT EAGLES- The Falcons aren't undefeated, but they can move the ball on anyone they face. They even put up 24 points on the Seahawks in Seattle, but barely lost 26-24. Since that game, the Falcons haven't scored any less than 30 points in a game. The Eagles looked great at the beginning of the season, but their rookie QB has stumbled since their 3-0 start. I have a hard time believing he'll be able to outscore Matt Ryan, even if the Falcons will be on the road. The Eagles haven't lost a home game this season, but two out of three of their home games came within Carson Wentz's early hot streak, and the third was against the Vikings after the Vikings offense fell apart because of major injuries to critical offensive linemen. Matty Ice helps to solidify his case for MVP today. FALCONS 34-23
RAMS AT JETS- It would have been nice if the Ravens had caught the Jets when they were starting their third string quarterback, but the Ravens are actually a big part of the reason that's happening (Geno Smith tore his ACL on a brutal sack by Matt Judon). The Rams are not great, but they're good enough to beat the Jets in their current predicament. RAMS 17-14
BRONCOS AT SAINTS- After a rough start against some good teams, the Saints have begun to catch fire. As good as the Broncos defense is, it's difficult to imagine them being able to limit the Saints in New Orleans. If the Seahawks defense couldn't stifle the Saints offense in Nawlins, I can't imagine the Broncos will be able to do so to a degree that would allow them to outscore Drew Brees and company. SAINTS 27-20
TEXANS AT JAGUARS- The Jaguars have been a massive disappointment after being picked as a dark horse chock full of young talent before the season began. The Texans have not won a road game yet this season, but the Jaguars have only won two games total. The Jaguars have, however, played some good teams extremely closely in Jacksonville. They may not be a winning team, but the Jags can go toe to toe with most teams at home. The Texans, on the other hand, are a totally different animal on the road. Their offense barely moves outside of Houston. JAGUARS 19-14
DOLPHINS AT CHARGERS- The Dolphins have been on quite the tear as of late. They won their last 3 games in a row, but all were at home in Miami. I would love to see the Fins upset Philip Rivers in San Diego, but the Chargers have been on a tear of their own as they've won 3 of their last 4 games. The Chargers were able to put up 43 points on the Titans, 33 points on the Falcons, and they beat the Broncos in San Diego 21-13. It's difficult to picture Jay Ajayi's heroics will be enough to outscore the Chargers three thousand miles away from South Beach. CHARGERS 31-21
COWBOYS AT STEELERS- The Cowboys have run over almost everyone they've faced this season, but they're about to run into a wall. With key injuries to offensive linemen and a revamped Steelers run defense, it's going to be a tall task for Dak Prescott to lead this team to victory on the road against a desperate Steelers team. Without one of their starting corners and their starting strong safety, it's difficult to imagine that the Cowboys will be able to shut down the Steelers the way the Ravens did last Sunday. This is a week that Jerry Jones will have thoughts of sticking Tony Romo in the game despite the wishes of everyone else in the world...except anyone in Romo's immediate family of course. No question Ravens fans should be rooting for the 'Boys though. STEELERS 28-17
49ERS AT CARDINALS- The 49ers can score, but they can't stop anyone else from scoring. CARDINALS 34-27
SEAHAWKS AT PATRIOTS- No Thomas Rawls, no Michael Bennett, and the Seahawks are going on the road in Foxboro to face the Patriots after a bye week. This is not the Seahawks defense of a few years ago. The way the Bills drove swiftly down the field in Seattle, it's no stretch to imagine the Patriots doing exactly the same thing but more often. Jimmy Graham is great, but he won't be nearly enough to outscore a rest, well-prepared Patriots team in Foxboro. We may see Dion Lewis take the field as well, and that could make the Patriots nearly unstoppable in the regular season. The Patriots' one weakness is uneven play from the secondary at times, but that won't matter enough to change the winner of this game. PATRIOTS 35-23
BENGALS AT GIANTS- The Bengals are coming off of a bye week, but their defense isn't good to limit a Giants offense that just finished putting up 28 points on a much stronger Eagle's D. The Giants should have enough firepower, especially when running no-huddle, to outscore the Bengals. If the Bengals are able to win this game, they may have turned the corner, but with only three wins, that's difficult to imagine. If they lose and fall to 3-5-1, that may be the nail in their season's figurative coffin. GIANTS 28-24
AFTER TWO WINS IN 5 DAYS, THE RAVENS HAVE EARNED A WELL-DESERVED WEEKEND OFF. DESPITE WHAT STUBBORN SKEPTICS MIGHT SAY, THE RAVENS HAVE ABSOLUTELY IMPROVED AND CONTINUE TO TREND UPWARD GOING INTO NEXT WEEK. ENJOY WATCHING THE REST OF THE LEAGUE BEAT EACH OTHER UP THIS WEEKEND, RAVENS NATION!!
AS ALWAYS,
GO RAVENS!!!
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