Iggy's Raven's Report - 26 November 2009

Commentary | Schedule | Relevant Football Links | Predictions

Commentary

Personal Thoughts:
Ravens: Well, if we just didn't miss a 30 yard field goal... and throw an INT deep in Indy territory with time running low... and Ed Reed didn't have a brain fart on the punt return... and we would have found the freakin' end zone. Too many ifs. We had opportunities, we just didn't execute. This one is not on the Refs. This one is on us, and this is why we are .500. Until we get rid of the inexcusable mistakes, we don't deserve playing at the next level. Billy Cundiff did well, and probably better than Hauschka, but may be not better than Stover could have done. Some of the fields goals would have pushed Stover's range to the limit. What hurts is that he was 5 of 6, and the one he missed was a gimme. As a side note, that long snaps are still all over the place. Another game that we could have and should have won goes by. We need to start claiming these.

Next up is the evil Team That Must Not Be Named (TTMNBN), who are coming off a stunning overtime 27-24 loss to the lowly Kansas City Chiefs. Believe it or not, I am more comfortable with this match up against the defending Stupid Bowl Champions, than I was with the past game against the team formerly known as the Baltimore Colts. It might have something to do with TTMNBN starting their third string quarterback, but I'd like to think that we want it more. Their defense will still be tough, so we just have to manufacture some points and break out of this funk. I think we should return to the win column this week, and re-enter the playoff hunt (although they haven't shown me that they deserve it yet)

Orioles: The Orioles claimed catcher Craig Tatum off waivers from the Reds to backup Matt Weiters. Left-hander Chris Waters was designated for assignment to make room. Starting Pitching, 1st Base, and 3rd base are the focus of free-agency.

Crystal Palace Baltimore F.C. (Home games at UMBC): Crystal Palace Baltimore announced Friday that it will compete next year in a new, North American Soccer League (II) that was formed earlier this month. Crystal Palaace, which has competed in the Second Division of the United Soccer Leagues (USL) since 2007, bring to nine the number of team that will participate in the recently created outdoor league. The others are the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina Railhawks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, St. Louis Soccer United, Tampa Bay Rowdies and Vancouver Whitecaps. The league expects to begin play in April.

Alouettes: The Als (16-3) will journey on to their 7th Grey Cup appearance in the last 9 years, as they slaughtered the cross-over B.C. Lions (9-11) on Sunday by a 56-18 score. QB Anthony Calvillo (1 of 9 Als named to the CFL all-star team) tied a CFL Playoff record with 5 touchdown pases before 53,792 fans. The 97th Grey Cup is set for next Sunday in Calgary, where they will face the Western Conference Champion Saskatchewan Roughriders (11-7-1), who defeated the Calgary Stampeders (11-8-1), 27-17 to reach the cup match.

Blast: The Baltimore Blast (1-1) rebounded from their season opening overtime loss to the Rockford Rampage, with a 19-8 pounding of the Philadelphia Kixx (0-2). The Blast will be off the next two weeks, returning to play on December 13 in Monterrey (1-0).

I am gauging interest in a field trip to see the Blast play this season. So far, I have 3 people (self included) interested and we are discussing dates, so please email me if you are interested. Thanks.

Mariners (See website for more details): Former Maryland prep and Illinois University star Rodney Pittman, who also participated in the Washington Redskins 2009 Mini Camp, has signed a contract for the 2010 season with the Baltimore Mariners and hopes to start his professional career with the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) club.

What do you want to see in the Ravens report? What should be scrapped? Actually, nevermind. No one is reading this anyway, so I will just butcher things up however I please, and you won't know the difference. Send an email to iggy at tealdragon.net. Thanks!

Schedule

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	10-18 Overall 6-8 Home	8:20 PM
Monday, December 7	@Green Bay Packers	1-2 Overall 0-2 Road	8:30 PM
Sunday, December 13	Detroit Lions	1-1 Overall 1-0 Home	1:00 PM
Sunday, December 20	Chicago Bears	1-2 Overall 1-0 Home	1:00 PM
Sunday, December 27	@Pittsburgh Steelers	10-18 Overall 4-10 Road	1:00 PM
Sunday, January 3	@Oakland Raiders	5-1 Overall 1-1 Road	4:15 PM

Relevant Football Links

NFL: Tie Breaking Procedures

Iggy's Predictions

Week 11
- Carolina over the Fins (+3½). Both teams are improving, so I went with the home team. I guess I should have gone with the road team
- Indy (+½) over BALTIMORE. There is no way we can contain or put adequate pressure on Manning. I was quite impressed with what we accomplished. Now to get to the end zone...
- Giants over Atlanta (+6½). Giants need this to re-establish their position. Giants win... but Atlanta wouldn't go away.
- Jax over Buff (+8½), but take the points. Jags are 0-4 ATS when favored this season. Stats were right this game.
- Lions over Browns (+3½). Browns have nothing left. ...but just enough to cover.
- Saints over Tampa (+11½), but take the points. Saints have failed to cover 3 times this season, and Tampa has shown signs of improvement. The points were more than Tampa Scored.
- TTMNBN over KC (+9½). TTMNBN is 3-6 ATS when favored this season, but they will whip KC. Glad to be wrong!
- Green Bay over SF (+6½), but take the points. SF is 4-0 ATS when they are the underdog so far this season, but the game is in Green Bay. Stats are right again this week.
- Minnesota over Seattle (+10½). Lock of the week (of course, I thought that about Denver/Washington last week) Now I am 1-1 on "Lock" games.
- Dallas over wershington (+11½), but take the points. Always a close matchup... too close for that line. Is 7-6 close enough for ya?
- Zona over Lambs (+8½), but take the points. I'll probably be wrong again here, but I'm taking the points anyway. Covered... by half a point.
- Cincinnati over Oakland (+9½). My stats say Oakland will cover, my gut says not. Great! And we have to travel to Oakland to close out the season.
- Pats over Jets (+10½), but take the points. Jets are in a tailspin, but usually play the Pats tough. Apparently, not tough enough.
- San Diego over Denver (+2½). May be this should be my lock of the week. Denver has been horrible lately. 2-1 in Lock picks now!
- Eagles over Bears (+3½). Chicago is 1-4 ATS as the dog. Eagles are horrible on the Road... actually they're just horribly inconsistent. You make the call here. Road will be rough for the Eagles this year, and homefield advantage is not an option if they make the playoffs.
- Tennessee (+4½) over Houston. Tennessee has been reborn. Titans are rising.
- This Week: 13-3 Straight Up; 9-7 Against the Spread
- Season: 107-53 Straight Up; 79-81 Against the Spread
Week 12
- Packers over Lions (+10½). Lions to the Thanksgiving day slaughter
- Cowboys over Raiders (+13½), but take the points. Raiders are playing that spoiler role almost too well lately.
- Giants over Broncos (+6½). Broncos are in a death spiral still.
- Jets over Panthers (+3½), but take the points. Home field should have some kind of advantage for the crashing Jets.
- Cincinnati over Cleveland (+14½). I almost took the points, but Cleveland has been that bad.
- Indy over Houston (+3½), but take the points. Houston could actually win this game.
- Miami over Buffalo (+3½). Terrell Who? Never heard of him.
- Seattle over Rams (+2½). Heads or Tails?
- Falcons over Tampa (+12½). Once again, those points were tempting, but we are talking about Tampa here.
- Philly over Wash (+9½). Philly thrives at home.
- Niners over Jags (+3½), but take the points. It will come down to a field goal.
- Chargers over KC (+13½). You'd have to give me at least another TD to take KC in this one... maybe.
- Arizona (+1½) over Titans. Titans may be rising, but Cardinals will find a way to win this one outright.
- Minnesota over Bears (+10½). Favre to have a field day; cover by half time.
- BALTIMORE RAVENS over the team that must not be named (+2½). I think we could beat them at home even if they had Rothlisberger.
- Saints over Pats (+3½), but take the points. A shoot out that comes down to the wire.

Please send comments to Iggy at tealdragon.net