Personal Thoughts:
Ravens: I received an email to
complain about my treatment of the referees. It basically said that everyone has
a conspiracy theory for their team and the league. Are you thinking what I am
thinking? Yeah, someone is actually reading my column besides Mitch! The add
humor to this whole situation, Dorf (yeah, that's apparently the guys name,
unless it's an alias) does not appear to even be a member of our roost. I
appreciate the feedback, Dorf, but I will continue to report the games as I see
them.
With that said, There isn't much to say about officiating because that was about one of the fairest games I have seen in a while. Yes, there were bad calls, but only the garden variety kind. McGahee was definitely in for the 2, for instance. All in all, they let them play!
On to the game: Flacco 4/10 with 34 Yards and an INT. Looking at a score card, one would think he was injured before halftime or was yanked for poor performance. Bottom line was that we didn't need Flacco to do much more than he did: Hand the ball off! 52 rushes for 234 yards. They couldn't stop us, and we kept going back to that trough. I have said all season that we should be a pass first offense, which will open up the run. We didn't need to do that today, and that was good, because Flacco looked shaky the few times he did drop back to pass. I still have concerns about our QB protection and long snapping consistency.
Defense came out early and set the tone of the game, although they seemed to have have slacked off after the first quarter, but that might have been intentional after going up by 24. They delivered what we needed when we needed it. Special teams had some good returns, but then gave up about the same, making the edge a wash. Ray Rice and our Defense made the difference, and John Harbaugh making a victory lap around the stands, thanking the Ravens fans was priceless.
After finally winning against New England (were 0-5 going in to Sunday's match up), we travel to play another arch-rival that has had our number for a number of years now (7 straight losses, including a home divisional round playoff lost, 15-6, to end the 2006 season). We know who they are and what they can do. We barely lost to them earlier this season when we had no problem moving the ball between the 20s, but failed to reach paydirt in the 17-15 loss. For the Ravens to win, they must repeat their success in New England. Leverage our Running Back by committee, and come out strong on Defense. We can do this.
Orioles: No new news.
Crystal Palace Baltimore F.C. (Home games at UMBC): The U.S. Soccer Federation, United Soccer Leagues (USL) and the North American Soccer League (NASL) have come to an agreement on the formation and operation of a Division 2 professional soccer league for the 2010 season. Under the agreement, U.S. Soccer will oversee the league for the 2010 season, working with both the USL and NASL on the day-to-day league activities.
Alouettes: The New York Jets have signed slotback S.J. Green and Kick returner Larry Taylor.
Blast: The Baltimore Blast (5-3) split the weekend series by defeating the Monterrey La Raza (4-5) 13-4 on Friday night, but dropped the Saturday night match against the Milwaukee Wave (5-3), 11-9, dropping them in to a tie for first with Milwaukee. Next game is Sunday at Monterrey.
Right now I have 8 people for a trip to see the Blast play Monterrey on Friday, February 19. Group discounts start at 10 people, so if you are interested please let me know ASAP. I plan to order tickets on January 22. Tickets will be about $22 (less if I can get a group discount, but maybe a few dollars more if I get hit with too many "convenience fees.")
Mariners (See website for more details): Former Virginia Cavalier De’yon Williams, who earned All- ACC honors in 2005 and was a free agent signee of the Washington Redskins in 2007, has signed with the Baltimore Mariners of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA).
Capitals (See website for more details): At the time of this newsletter, the Caps (27-11-6) have ripped off a 3 game winning streak and now lead Atlanta by 16 points in the standings. maybe I should toss it), but still hold a 12 point lead on Atlanta. They travel to play Tampa Bay (16-17-10) and Florida (18-20-7) for midweek games, before returning home to host Toronto (15-22-9) and Philadelphia (22-19-3) over the weekend. Wizards (See website for more details): Since last report, the Wizards have played .500 ball, winning in Philadelphia, losing in Cleveland, winning at home against Orlando, before dropping the Sunday afternoon matinee to New Orleans. The Wizards are still entrenched in last place of the Southeast division, 4 games behind fourth place Charlotte and 12 games out of first. This week, the will host Detroit, travel to Atlanta and Chicago, before returning home to play Sacramento and Portland.What do you want to see in the Ravens report? What should be scrapped? Actually, nevermind. No one is reading this anyway so you probably won't know the difference. Send an email to iggy at tealdragon.net. Thanks!
| 2009 Preseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Opponent | Time | Result | |
| Thursday, August 13 | Washington Redskins | 1-0-0 | W 23-0 | |
| Monday, August 24 | New York Jets | 2-0-0 | W 24-23 | |
| Saturday, August 29 | @Carolina Panthers | 3-0-0 | W 17-13 | |
| Thursday, September 3 | @Atlanta Falcons | 4-0-0 | W 20-3 | |
| 2009 Regular Season | ||||
| Date | Opponent | Record | Time | Result |
| Sunday, September 13 | Kansas City Chiefs | 1-0-0 | 1:00 PM | W 38-24 |
| Sunday, September 20 | @San Diego Chargers | 2-0-0 | 4:15 PM | W 31-26 |
| Sunday, September 27 | Cleveland Browns | 3-0-0 | 1:00 PM | W 34-3 |
| Sunday, October 4 | @New England Patriots | 3-1-0 | 1:00 PM | L 27-21 |
| Sunday, October 11 | Cincinnati Bengals | 3-2-0 | 1:00 PM | L 17-14 |
| Sunday, October 18 | @Minnesota Vikings | 3-3-0 | 1:00 PM | L 33-31 |
| Sunday, November 1 | Denver Broncos | 4-3-0 | 1:00 PM | W 30-7 |
| Sunday, November 8 | @Cincinnati Bengals | 4-4-0 | 1:00 PM | L 17-7 |
| Monday, November 16 | @Cleveland Browns | 5-4-0 | 8:30 PM | W 16-0 |
| Sunday, November 22 | Indianapolis Colts | 5-5-0 | 1:00 PM | L 17-15 |
| Sunday, November 29 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 6-5-0 | 8:20 PM | W 20-17 (OT) |
| Monday, December 7 | @Green Bay Packers | 6-6-0 | 8:30 PM | L 27-14 |
| Sunday, December 13 | Detroit Lions | 7-6-0 | 1:00 PM | W 48-3 |
| Sunday, December 20 | Chicago Bears | 8-6-0 | 1:00 PM | W 31-7 |
| Sunday, December 27 | @Pittsburgh Steelers | 8-7-0 | 1:00 PM | L 23-20 |
| Sunday, January 3 | @Oakland Raiders | 9-7-0 | 4:15 PM | W 21-13 |
| Post Season | ||||
| Date | Opponent | Record | Time | Result |
| Sunday, January 10 | @3. New England Patriots | 10-7-0 | 1:00 PM | W33-14 |
| Saturday, January 16 | @1. Indianapolis Colts | 2-8 Overall 0-4 Away |
8:15 PM | |