Sunday Night Football; Game Prediction

 

Gametime is less than an hour away and the Ravens are ready!! With their defensive leader Ray Lewis ready to suit up and make some big plays. This isn’t going to be another walk in the park that the Ravens have been used to the last two weeks. San Diego’s offense is ranked 6th in the league in passing yards per game, with that said the secondary for the Ravens have had their fair share of quarterbacks throwing the ball to top recievers this season, and had gotten shut down! I feel that the Ravens may have a little  bit of trouble keeping Antonio Gates and Vincent Jackson grounded but rest assured the Ravens are taking this game for the win. The reason?  Plain and simple. . . Ray Rice.

 The phenomenal running back is viscous on the ground as his small stature hides him behind the very tall offensive lineman and burts through the holes and takes off! he is a terrific pass catcher and eats up yards after making the catch. I dont see the Chargers stopping Flacco’s arial assault that were all going to see. Torrey Smith should have a few big catches that make an impact and the tight end duo of Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson should make the chargers secondary frustrated.

Outcome: Ravens WIN!

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/Media/Video_Landing.aspx

Ray Lewis expected back for Sunday Night Football

The wait could finally be over!

Come Sunday night we could be seing relentless Ray back on the field again. It has been 4 week since the future Hall-of-Famer was chewing up opposing teams playmakers. When lewis went down , many were wondering how the defense would hold up without its vocal leader amping them up… suprisingly the team has gone 4-0. The ever present Terrell Suggs has been racking up multiple sacks in the last few games and the secondary has been stopping some deep passes and shutting down some top notch running backs as well.

During Lewis’ time spent on the sidelines the team has taken down two strong teams and two very weak teams, but either way, his presences has never left the team as his voice echo’d on the sidelines anytime the defense left the field! Speaking to the media, Safety Bernard Pollard had said, “That’s our leader. Just seeing No. 52 running around, having fun, screaming and excited about everything he’s doing, that gets us all motivated“.

Seeing that number playing with you is definately a plus and could be a bit relaxing, but this week is no time to be putting the level of intensity on cruise control as the Philip Rivers and the Chargers host the Ravens. Fill in Dannell Ellerbe has done well in Ray’s absence with 14 tackles, but the team is by far better with Ray Lewis leading the pack.

I do feel that Chuck Pagano, Baltimore’s defensive coordinator, will aim to keep Lewis on the field a lot longer than we all would like. With both QB’s airing it out in San Diego I have a feeling once the game gets going that we will see Lewis making some bone crunching hits and huge stops to close the lid on Rivers passing attack and the Chargers offense! hopefully we get another shut down stop by Lewis like the one below, but signs point to him putting on a pretty good  show!

 

Baltimore Ravens earn easy win against Indianapolis Colts

This game was in the books from the very start. You could tell from the first drive that the Ravens have too many weapons when it comes to its potent offense! The Colts slide further down the loss column to 0-13, while the Top team in the AFC moved to 10-3 as it fights for the top spot with the Houston Texans and New England Patriots. The game capped off with another touchdown to the sensational rookie speedster Torrey Smith who scored his 6th TD as the pass to the end zone was the first one for Flacco in 8 years! As soon as that play ended, the Ravens took to the ground and ran over the shoddy Colts. Ray Rice had another stand out game tallying 103 yards on the ground with a touchdown and 46 more yards in the air. Flacco had another good outing himself, throwing for 227 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Baltimore has found the perfect compliment to its offense with its run game and passing game!

Not only was the offense pounding the Colts, the Ravens defense was tearing the Colts lack-luster  apart. Terrell Suggs was yet again a force to be reckon with as the superstar pass rusher recorded 3 more sacks on the stat sheet. Coach John Harbaugh said it best in the post game interview calling Suggs a game wrecker, in both run defense and pass defense! Harbs couldn’t of been any more right as all game you saw the scary linebacker all over the field chasing down the Colts QB. One thing that isn’t for sure is who gets this weeks game  ball as every part of the team shined bright, however what is apparent is that the Ravens have proven themselves as superbowl contenders without their hall of fame linebacker Ray Lewis on the field! Even as they took on a winless team and gained a very lopsided win, “death on wings” was flying high over the AFC to show how feared they should be!
Onto San Diego!

John Harbaugh’s post game interview.

Indianapolis Colts vs Baltimore Ravens prediction!

With the game about to start, the prediction for this game should be a simple one! The Ravens Offense, though in the past has struggled, should get off to a rocking start with its strong run game. I also expect to see Joe Flacco going to the air again frequently against a weak secondary. The Colts might get a few key passes down field and a TD against a Ravens, however Baltimore’s defense is too strong and vicious to let the Colts post any more than 10 points. Ravens offense and defense should both have great games against this winless Colts squad. Indianapolis will move to 0-13. A final thought… the Colts only chance at winning this game is with Luck, which their hoping to get in next years draft!

Indianapolis Colts still a threat to Ravens

The 9-3 Ravens are facing a winless Colts team come Sunday, but that doesn’t mean that there is a lack of firepower from the “horseshoes”. Even though the Ravens are a sure favorite to win this game, I do see the Colts getting a touchdown or two. With that said I do feel the Ravens will win this game by double-digit points.

A few of the names that stand out in my mind is the pass rush duo of Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney. Mathis has totaled 5.5 sacks so far this season and his counterpart Freeney has 99 sacks for his career; an impressive stat as only “25 players in NFL history have ever reached the 100-sack mark“. a pretty remarkable feet!

Another great player the ravens need to watch out for is Reggie Wayne who has 52 receptions and 700+ yards. He could be a dangerous threat..if their QB can get him the ball. Quite Frankly I don’t see Dan Orlovsky doing too much damage with him.

Dallas Clark is still playing in this game who is always a scary player to watch, and could get a few good looks with Ray Lewis will remain on the sidelines on Sunday. He has been a stud in the middle of the field.

One thing the Ravens have not done in the past three years is win against Indy. However I strongly see that streak ending come game time!

Joe Flacco’s reaction to past struggles can be seen here!

The final thing that is still a threat to the Ravens, though slim chances it happen, are the winless Colts upsetting the Ravens , and possibly eliminating them from the top spot and a first round bye. A loss to the Colts would be catastrophic, however like I said there is a tiny chance that they pull an upset!

Baltimore Ravens run game too much for cleveland, Rice rushes for 204

What a beating Ray Rice put on the Cleveland Browns Sunday night! The star running back was running circles around the Browns 29th ranked run defense. Cam Cameron and the Ravens game plan going into Sunday’s game was to take advantage of the horrendous  Cleveland stopping power against the run., and they let ‘em have it! Nearly the entire game all we witnessed was Flacco handing the ball to the star back, as he burst through large holes and poor tackles for large gains. It was a beautiful thing to see the Ravens get back to the “ground and pound” attack we saw at the beginning of the year! This win, although against a mediocre Browns squad, just shows the rest of the league just how versatile their offense can be! These Ravens have so many option on attacking the opposing defense’s weakness.

Still A Fight for First
Baltimore has run itself into a great position for a first round bye, and even a chance at getting home field through out the playoffs, however they are in a battle with a few other teams for that top spot! The fierce Ravens have the Steelers in their rear view mirror with the same 9-3 record hoping that Baltimore screws up. The Patriots are tied with the Ravens and technically have the #1 seed if the playoffs started today, but luckily for Ravens fans… there still is 4 weeks left of the regular season. Also tied with the Ravens, Pats and Steelers are the suprising Houston Texans, who won with the third string QB this past sunday. The purple&black need to remain in the win column these next 4 weeks for that chance atop the AFC or hope for losses to the remaining teams in the race

 

Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns; Prediction

Sunday afternoon the red-hot Ravens travel to Cleveland to take on the stingy Browns defense. The Browns rank #1 in pass defense, which is almost unbelievable. On the other hand they rank 29th in run defense which fairs well for the Ravens. Joe Flacco has proven himself among the top quarterbacks in the league thus far with his substantial passing attacks to rookie wide out Torrey Smith. Although he has done well, I expect the Ravens “shot-caller” Cam Cameron to dial-up a lot of running plays to offensive stud Ray Rice early and often. The Ravens are going to need to attack the Browns weak run defense as much as it can, while mixing in some key passes. In a race for first place with the Patriots, Texans, and the Steelers, this Ravens team needs to win every game down the stretch. They need to erase this streak of losing easy games after emotional wins, and this is the game that ends it! I feel that the Ravens are going to have no problem sacking the Browns, especially with Terrell Suggs coming off his best gave of the season, and the defense stepping up big with the Hall-of-Famer Ray Lewis sidelined. The Ravens will come out of this game on top and shouldnt have to much trouble with struggling QB Colt McCoy. The Browns do have Peyton Hillis back but as he isnt 100% the Ravens will shut him down. Win goes to Baltimore who stay on top of the AFC standings.

Suggs “sizzles”, as Ravens Defense shuts down 49ers!

 

 

Terrell Suggs had one of his best games of the year on Thanksgiving night! The intense pass rusher was all over the 49ers QB Alex Smith as the defense once flourished as linebacker Ray Lewis remained on the sidelines. The Ravens D set a franchise record with 9 sacks, 3 from Suggs, as the 49ers QB struggled to get his offense going!

A big win for the Ravens, but an even bigger victory for John Harbaugh, who was opposite his brother on the sidelines. Noone would of guessed that at week 12 the two brothers would be facing eachother with so much on the line. John Harbaugh’s ferocious defense stopped the chance for the 49ers to clinch the NFC West Division and secure a playoffs spot that hasn’t been accomplished since ’02. Though they were denied the 49ers face a weak St. Louis team struggling to find their identity as a team.

As the game concluded the media watched as the two competitive coaches run over to one another at midfield. The two embraced each other in a hug and a few words. Ravens coach John Harbaugh told the media :
 ”Just running across the field, I felt really humble, really humble and just thankful”. The winning Ravens coach also assumed his parents would of been with Jim after the game rather than himself, ” mom and dad are both over there – and I think that’s where they ought to be, I think he is 100 percent happy for us and 100 percent disappointed for them ”.

But as the Defense tore apart another great team, Suggs continued to make headlines, not just on the field but in his postgame interview as well as his only answer was ” I eat QB’s, Anthony Hopkins”. Suggs also added, “I felt like the pressure was on me and Ed Reed to lead the team. Everybody thinks we’re a different defense with Ray Lewis not out there. We are, but we are still a hell of a defense, we’re still a great defense. Second in command is Ed Reed and I’m third in command – me and Haloti and Jarret Johnson. We are in a big shadow. Ray Lewis might be the greatest player to ever play the game, but when he’s not there, it’s others’ time to shine.” With a win like this, Baltimore can see the #1 spot getting closer as they are lined with New England. With an easy schedule remaining, lets juts hope the Ravens continue their dominance against the approaching teams left on the schedule. Their next 4 games are against sub 500 teams, and it looks to be smooth sailing from here on out; lets just hope Ray Lewis can recover from his toe injury to join the tenacious defense!

Weekly Photo Caption Contest Weak 10

Alright everyone, Photo Caption Contest is back!! I found an interesting photo from week 10 of Jim Harbaugh around his players…lets get some funny stuff on this one! Winner gets the usual bragging rigihts, which obviously is worth leaving a comment for!

Ravens putting ugly win behind them, looking to big game against Bengals

The Baltimore Ravens suffered a tough loss on Sunday versus the suprisingly stingy Seahawks, But they’ve been here before, as last season at this week 11 mark they were also 6-3. The Ravens season is far from over as no other team in the AFC has fewer losses than the Ravens. This Ravens team returns to M&T Bank Stadium to take on a ferocious Bengals team who just took rivaled Pittsburgh to the wire. Luckily for the Ravens they have won the last 13 games at home dating back to the 2009 season and 11-0 following a loss as well. So if history repeats itself, which I think it will, the Ravens should come out surging!

With a win at home against the Bengals, this team can position itself (given they play well down the stretch) for a first round bye AND home field advantage, as they hold the tie breaker over the Steelers. Bengals QB Andy Dalton has consistently posted big numbers following a weak passing game, though this Ravens secondary has been hard to throw against! Dalton also has had his fair share of struggles versuse top 5 defenses in the league; 157yds against the 49ers and 170yds against the Steelers. This week the rookie QB faces the another top 5 defense and the best in the AFC.

Linebacker Terrell Suggs said to the media earlier in the week that “Despite everything that happened early we still had an opportunity to come back and win the game, and we didn’t get it done” and that ” It’s not the end of the world, we’re just going to learn from here, and however we’ve got to go do it, that’s what we’re going to go do“. He couldn’t be any more right, it isnt the end of the world, or the season for that matter. The Ravens, can lock up a top spot in the AFC if they can win a few key games down the road, including Sunday’s game against the Bengals! This Ravens Defense has been through a lot and realizes in order to be elite they have to bring the house down every game . I feel that the Ravens are making the proper adjustments to get themselves back to smash mouth football.