http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaSBztkY-DQ
Justin Tucker hits a game winning field goal in overtime and his first thought is to do the Cousin Terio- Ohh Kill Um dance? I love Cousin Terio and everything he’s about, but as a NFL Kicker, I think a simple jump and fist pump would have been sufficient.
Cousin Terio’s body defies physics.
It may be a little too early to say this, but this game could be a must win for the Ravens. The Birds are back at M&T Bank, where they have been pretty good this year. The only problem is that the Bengals are in town. The Bengals are the favorite to win this(for obvious reason), but I expect this to be a tough battle between AFC North foes.
You can read my reaction to last weeks loss for the state of the Ravens. They need to play better in the secondary and the offensive line needs to start blocking. The front 7 have been playing well all year. The offensive skilled positions have not had holes or time to get open because of the lack of blocking. Joe Flacco needs to emerge as a leader and win this team some games, even with the struggling secondary.
The Bengals enter Sunday’s game 6-3, and fresh off an overtime loss to Miami last Thursday. They have had plenty of time to recover and prepare for this weeks game. They boast 7th best passing attack and 19th rushing. Two words: A.J Green. I would suspect the Ravens to double him and/or shadow him with a safety over top. Good luck to the Raven’s corner who gets that duty. The Bengals O-line has been pretty good this year in their pass and run blocking. Andy Dalton has been improving all year and has time and weapons. They feature a 2 back system with BenJarvis Green-Ellis and rookie playmaker Giovanni Bernard who has also been getting better week by week. Marvin Williams had a 4 TD game two weeks ago and Sanu is decent, but AJ Green is their only solid WR. TEs Gresham and rookie Tyler Eifert can stretch the field and block. They cause mismatches with LBs and Safeties. This is very good and balanced offense. The Ravens D needs to rely on pass rush, shutting down the run, and limiting big plays. The Bengals will pass for 300 yards, but AJ Green and Sanu need to be kept under check. They need to give up the underneath routes and play a bend but not break style defense. Let the D-Line pressure Dalton into a mistake or 2 that could change the game.
Defensively, the Bengals are one of the best in the league, 11th in passing and 10th in rushing. The loss of Geno Atkins is huge, but they have pretty good replacements for him. The Ravens will be unable to run against the front 7. Burfict, Maualuga, and James Harrison are all run stoppers at Linebacker. The D-Line includes run stopper Domata Peko, and edger rushers Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson. This is a scary front 7(without Atkins). Corners Adam Jones, Terence Newman, and nickel Dre Kirkpatrick are decent but nothing too special. Safeties Reggie Nelson and George Iloka have been very consistant this year. The Ravens need to isolate Torrey Smith on one of these corners. Throw him slants, curls, crossing routes, and screen early. Get the ball in his hands. After repeated short attempts, get him on a double move with max protection. Utilizing Smith will be essential for a win. Ray Rice, Bernard Pierce, and TEs Dickson and Clarke should be used in the passing game as well. Burfict is the only one who can cover, so getting Rice on Maualuga or Harrison should be easy checks for Flacco. Dickson and Clarke should be able to find holes in the middle of the field. Flacco needs to make calls and audibles at the line depending on what the Bengals line up in.
Prediction: The Bengals are too good of a team to lose this game. 27-17 Bengals. Only way Ravens win is if their RBs go for 100 and 1+TD and Torrey Smith hits 100 and 1TD(must keep AJ Green under this as well).
(saw this picture plenty of times this year)
The Orioles continue to win headlines(and not games) in the post season with a few silver slugger awards. The Orioles had the most players from one team this year; Adam Jones(OF), JJ Hardy(SS), and Chris Davis(1B). Hardy(.263 25 HR 76 RBI) and Davis(.286 53 HR 138 RBI) were well deserving of this award. I know Joneys led all AL outfielders with 108 RBI, but I thought there would be someone more deserving. After further looking into it, Trout and Tori Hunter were the only 2 that should have won anything. Adam Jones is a great hitter, but his .318 OBP is pathetic. Jacoby Ellsbury is a great player, but I don’t think he deserved a silve slugger. Same with Alex Rios, he put up great stats, but was on a shitty team. He probably would have posted 100 RBIs on a real team. Hardy’s only competition was Jed Lawrie who had a higher batting average and same the amount of RBIs, but only 15 HR.
The only other teams with multiple players to win silver sluggers were Detroit, Pittsburg, and St. Louis, all playoff teams. This is a clear evidence that the Os need to improve their pitching staff. They had the best hitter in the AL at 3/9 of their positions and were unable to reach the playoffs. None of the Os pitchers will even come close to an award. I still laugh at the fact that Chris Tillman was an All-Star. An average ERA and high wins thanks to the Os offense got him there.
Os need to keep the bats around and bring in some pitching. Need to challenge the Yanks, Rays, and Sox batters this year.
Davis, Miggy, and Trout are up this AL MVP this year. I think it comes down to Miggy and Davis. Trout did post extremely impressive numbers with .323, 27 HR, 97 RBI, 33 SB, 109 R, 110 BB, and a .432 OBP. He’s also a great fielder, but his team was pathetic this year. As much as I would love to see Davis walk away with the MVP, Cabrera was easily the best player in baseball this year to me. His .348, 44 HR, 137 RBI, 103 R, .442 OBP, .636 SLG are pretty tough to beat. Davis Posted .286 53 HR, 138 RBI, 103 R, and .634 SLG. He led the league in HRs and RBIs but also struck out 199 times, 105 more times than Miggy.
Baseball analysts have been placing a huge emphasis on WAR recently, and according to the scoring system, the top 5 are Trout(9.2), Josh Donaldson(8.0), Robby Cano(7.6), Miggy(7.2), and Machado/Pedrioa(6.5). Davis is getting shafted here because the AL 1st basemen are amazing, and also because he pretty much played first base every game this year. Kind of shocked by Donaldson, even though he was very good this year. I guess 3rd base was down this year.
My guess would be 1.) Miggy, 2.) Davis 3.) Trout. I think Miggy is the definite 1 here with Trout and Davis being seperated by a few points for 2 and 3.
I would probably chose Trout to build my team around, mostly because he is a young and tough 5 tool playerplayer, but if I was to build my team around a player for one season, gotta go with Miggy. Hopefully I am wrong and Davis wins this. Would be a nice boost going into next season.
Well, this was not a good one. The Browns snapped their 11 game win street vs the Ravens. The Birdss ran for 55 yards on 21 carries. Rice and Pierce were non factors as the oline continued to struggle. The Browns ran for 73 yards on 28 carries. The worst part of this game: the Ravens defense was handeld by Jason Campbell. 23/35 262 yards 3 TDs O INT. This is the line I would expect from Brady, Manning, or Breese vs. The Ravens defense.
With another road loss, the Ravens fall to 1-4 on the road (2-1 at home) and 3-5 overall. If the Ravens continue their woes on the road, there is no chance they make the playoffs. Raven defensive front played well sacking Campbell 3 times and stopping the run. The secondary played poor all game, allowing Greg Little 122 yards. They did shut down Josh Gordon(3 rec 44 yds), but they couldn’t limit the damage. Ladarius Webb has been picked on all year. Same with Elam and Ihedigbo. They must improve.
The 9 penaltys for 80 yards didn’t help, as well as the -1 turnover ratio. Joe Flacco was pressured all game, including 5 sacks for 27 yards. 24/41 with a 56.1 QBR was terrible, although the Browns defense is very good. The Ravens offensive line may be the worst in the NFL. This game came down to if Flacco could outplay Jason Campbell in the second half and he was unable to. The defense struggling with the pass game and the poor offense need to change soon or the Ravens may be picking in the top 10. Luckily 4/5 next games are home, including CIN, NYJ, PIT, and MIN. This could be 3-4 wins that could put the Birds in wild card contention. Get it together Flacco, let’s get a 100 yard rusher this season please.
The Ravens won week 2 vs Cleveland at M&T Bank, 14-6. Some notable changes have occurred since week 2 for the Browns, including Jason Campbell starting this week and Trent Richardson being traded to Indy. The Ravens defense has been improving each week, especially the front 7 which has been able to pressure QBs.
While it would be easy to chalk this down as a win for the Ravens, don’t forget this game is being played in Cleveland. The Dawg Pound is always rocking, regardless of the teams success, so I expect this game to be a close one. Ravens should shut down the Browns rushing game, but I’d expect Jason Campbell to have a few scrambles out of the pocket. Limiting Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron will be essential. Their explosive play ability is in the tops in the league.
The Browns defense is one of the best in the league. 6th in passing and 11th in rushing. They have also played Green Bay, Detroit, Kansas City, Cincinnati and Minnesota(only rushing attack), all teams with top offenses. The Ravens will not be able to run the ball, so this game should depend of Flacco and the defense. The Browns secondary is pretty good, including All Pro Joe Haden, so Flacco needs to stay calm in the pocket and make smart, quick decisions. They also have one of the better front 7 including Kruger, D’qwell Jackson, Phil Taylor, and rookie standout from LSU Barkevious Mingo, who has 4 sacks.
This is a tough call because I think it’s really a toss up, but I’m going to guess a 20-13 Raven’s victory. Suggs, Dumervile, and Ngata apply pressure and close running lanes all game, Flacco does enough in a defensive battle to get the W in Cleveland.
-Falcons at Panthers (-7.5)
Pick: Falcons(+7.5) cover in a close on in Carolina.
-Vikings at Cowboys(-10.5)
Pick: Vikings(+10.5) cover, regardless of the QB.
-Saints(-6) at Jets
Pick: Saints(-6) should cover this one easily
-Titans(-3) at Rams
Pick: Rams(+3) in a close one.
-Chiefs(-3) at Bills
Pick: Chief(-3) remain unbeaten in a close in Buffalo.
-Chargers at Redskins(even)
Pick: Chargers take down the Bravehearts in DC
-Eagles at Raiders(-2)
Pick: Eagles(+2), not confident in Pryor
-Bucs at Seahawks(-16.5)
Pick: Bucs(+16.5) lose by 2 TDs but cover
-Ravens at Browns(+2.5)
Pick: Ravens(-2.5) win in a close game in Cleveland.
-Steelers at Patriots(-6.5)
Pick: Patriots(-6.5) should cover, I’d stay away from this one.
-Colts(-2.5) at Texans
Pick: Colts(-2.5) should easily win this one.
-Bears at Packers(-10.5) Monday Night Game
Pick: Packers(-10.5) cover with Cutler out.
Locks:
Saints(-6) at Jets
Chiefs(-3) at Bills
Colts(-2.5) at Texans
My 17-14 Steelers prediction was close. The Ravens ran for 82 yards on 26 carries and got to Big Ben 3 times. I said the Ravens would win if they ran for 100 and sacked Ben 5 times. Very close. Antonio Brown killed the Ravens in the 4th quarter with screens and crossing routes. The Steelers run game was on as well. Levon Bell had himself a game, hitting the holes hard and not going down on first contact. The Ravens D played a solid bend but not break style the entire game but the Offense was terrible again.
The Ravens need to establish some sort of identity on offense. Last year it was run up the middle and play action. This year has been a struggle to establish the run early, which leaves the Ravens in 2nd and long situations. Jim Caldwell needs to figure this problem out very soon or the Ravens are going to miss out on the playoffs.
Tampa Bay at Atlanta(-6.5) – Sun, Oct 20, 1:00 PM ET
Pick: Atlanta(-6.5) should win this by at least a TD.
Cincinnati at Detroit(-2.5) – Sun, Oct 20, 1:00 PM ET
Pick: Cincinnati(+2.5) is 4-2 and getting no respect. Defense has been excellent
Buffalo at Miami(-8) – Sun, Oct 20, 1:00 PM ET
Pick: Buffalo(+8) covers in a close one
New England(-3.5) at NY Jets – Sun, Oct 20, 1:00 PM ET
Pick: New England(-3.5) Brady is sick of hearing all this nonsense about Geno and whoops them.
Dallas at Philadelphia(-2.5) – Sun, Oct 20, 1:00 PM ET
Pick: Eagles(-2.5) Vegas throwing a trap bet at us?
Bears at Washington(Pick) – Sun, Oct 20, 1:00 PM ET
Pick: Bears handle the shitty Redskins
St. Louis at Carolina(-7) – Sun, Oct 20, 1:00 PM ET
Pick: Rams(+7) they’ve won 2 in a row and cover in a close one in Carolina
San Diego(-8) at Jacksonville – Sun, Oct 20, 1:00 PM ET
Pick: San Diego(-8) I dont like this game, Jacksonville looked good last week, could be another trap.
San Francisco(-3.5) at Tennessee – Sun, Oct 20, 4:05 PM ET
Pick: San Francisco(-3.5) should cover.
Cleveland at Green Bay(-10) – Sun, Oct 20, 4:25 PM ET
Pick: Cleveland(+10) this is a tough one, I think Cleveland loses by a TD.
Houston at Kansas City(-7) – Sun, Oct 20, 4:25 PM ET
Pick: Kansas City(-7) Keep riding the train while it lasts. Andy Reid and Jamaal Charles have been magical.
Baltimore(+2) at Pittsburgh – Sun, Oct 20, 4:25 PM ET
Pick: Steelers(-2) Stay away from this bet.
Denver(-7) at Indianapolis – Sun, Oct 20, 8:30 PM ET
Pick Denver(-7)Denver Another tough one, I think Peyton will throw for like 450 and 5 TDs.
Minnesota at NY Giants(-3.5) – Mon, Oct 21, 8:30 PM ET
Pick: Minnesota(+3.5) Giants remain defeated.
Locks:
Tampa Bay at Atlanta(-6.5) – Sun, Oct 20, 1:00 PM ET
New England(-3.5) at NY Jets – Sun, Oct 20, 1:00 PM ET
Houston at Kansas City(-7) – Sun, Oct 20, 4:25 PM ET
Last Week: 6-8 (Yuck)
Overall: 6-8
Locks: 3-0
The Steelers vs Ravens rivalry has been one of the best in the NFL over the past years. While both teams are not where they want to be right now, this should be a hard hitting, down to the wire, defensive battle that all Pittsburg and Baltimore fans are used to.
The Steelers and Ravens seem to have similar problems and strengths. Both teams have good defenses who can rush the passer. The Steelers have a better secondary while the Ravens front 7 is slightly favored over the Steelers. Both teams obvious problem: the offensive line. The Steelers lost Pouncey for the year and have struggled mightily in his absence. They are last in the league in rushing averaging only 61 yards a game. Levon Bell is back from injury, but the rushing attack for the Steelers has been pathetic. The Ravens are not much better at 27th in NFL with 72.7 yards a game. Eugene Monroe, the former Jacksonville first round pick filled in for Bryant McKinnie last week and whiffed on a block that lead to a Flacco fumble that was returned for a TD right before the end of halftime. Not a good start buddy.
Both teams have very good defenses. The Ravens shut down the run well, but can struggle vs the pass. The Steelers can be run on, but have a top 5 NFL secondary in terms of passing yards per game. The Ravens have been trying all year to establish the run, and this could be the week. Eugene Monroe is a good run blocker and if Ed Dickson can block the tough OLBs on the Steelers, there could be some holes for Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce. Knowing how this rivalry goes, I’m going to guess the Ravens and Steelers running games are both shut down and eventually abandoned by the middle of the 3rd quarter. This means Big Ben vs the inconsistant Ravens secondary and Flacco vs the tough and experienced Steelers secondary. The Ravens will need to pressure Big Ben and close the pocket. He is one of the shiftiest pocket passers in the NFL(science messed up on that one), and the Ravens need to utilize the 3-4 to mix up blitz packages. The Steelers will put Ike Taylor on Torrey Smith and play ball. This should be a bit worrisome for Ravens fans. The Steelers generally leave Ike Taylor on an island and let Troy Polamalu run wild, which means he will be in the middle of the field distributing crossing routes, running into the flat to get under curls, and blitzing like a mad man.
With the Steelers at home, and the match ups being somehow favorable for the Steelers, I think this could be another L for the Ravens. If your looking to bet on the game, I’d go with the under. This will be a low scoring game, likely ending on a field goal or a missed 4th down conversion.
Pick: 17-14 Steelers. I don’t have much confidence in either teams right now. Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders stretching the field scares me. If the Ravens pass rush can get 5-6 sacks and the the offense can rush for 100 yards, I would chalk it down as a win, but I don’t see that happening.
Bohs and Birds 