By shelz.
It’s week seven people and the Steelers loom. Am I comfortable with this? Of course not. There is no clear cut advantage here. Considering how awful these teams have been, it could be the turkey of the week. It could also be the most exciting game of the season (umm minus last weeks last minute loss by the Saints). I’m going to suggest the latter.
The most obvious issue is Baltimore taking its porous offensive line into the den of legendary blitz master, Dick Lebeau. He’s going to rush everything. Ever heard of a punter blitz? Me neither, but the Ravens should prepare for it. The second issue; this is a MUST WIN for Pittsburgh. Imagine getting your mojo back against your most hated rival; the team you had to watch hoist the Lombardi just 8 months ago. It’s too grand of a story line to dismiss. The Ravens’ improbable championship run left plenty of people waiting on retribution The Steelers are included. Issue three? The Steelers had their most complete game against the Jets last week. The Ravens haven’t had a complete game since the Superbowl. Manhandling of Houston included.
Does all of the above deter me from saying the Ravens are going to win? Let me quote Miss Sophia when I say, “Hell naw.”
Lookie here. I wouldn’t care if the Steelers were 56-0 and had just traded for Vernon Davis, Jamaal Charles, JJ Watt, Cameron Wake and Peyton Manning. They won’t win this game. This game is on an island unto itself. It’s about man pride and divisional placement and both are very important to these teams right now. That being the case, I say the Ravens have the more talented squad. I say all the shit talking about that offensive line spurs them to great play. I say Ihedigbo squashes Heath Miller’s chances of leading this offense to the promised land. I say Webb corals Antonio Brown, sending him home with his least productive game of the season. And there will be other matchups the Steelers cannot overcome. The ones to watch? Gay on Jones and Ngata on Velasco. The second will insure Ben spends more time out of than in the pocket.
Prediction: WTF you think?
*Throws down mic and walks away….
I guess I should move on considering this isn’t the only game going on this weekend and everybody reading this isn’t a raging Ravens fan. We also have the Eagles vs the Cowboys, the Falcons vs. the Bucs, the Bengals vs the Lions, the Texans vs. the Chiefs, The Chargers vs. the Jags and the Broncos vs the Colts. Some other people are playing but who cares about the Vikings? Yeah, exactly.
The Manning Man Returneth
Drama anyone? This whole Jim Irsay/John Fox thing is pretty funny. Irsay says he unloaded Peyton so the Colts could actually win in the playoffs. John Fox says it’s a cheap shot. Irsay says Fox has a negative agenda and Manning is saying much of nothing. I’m sure we can expect that whole the-Colts-are-a-good-team-and-we-have-plenty-of-things-we-need-to-work-on speech from Peyton. But seriously, as this point who listens to that nonsense? Much ado about nothing to get the hype machine rolling at full force for this game? Probably.
Prediction: Even if Manning takes this match up against the Colts like just another game, be certain the rest of his team plans to put a boot on the Colts just for GP. Sorry Indy, but this is not going to be your day.
If I ruled the World… Or at least the NFC East
This whole Eagles/Cowboys game is sketchy. We don’t even know who is playing. No Vick, or some Vick? Demarco Murray out for two weeks or two days? No Demarcus Ware at all? Man, I dunno. Romo still has some serious weapons at the end of his throws, but that Dallas defense is a sieve. Foles is pretty unflappable, but you could run a freight train through the gaps Philly’s front seven allow. I see lots of points and the last team holding the ball wins. If Romo can avoid one of his mythical picks, it might be the Cowboys, but I doubt it.
Prediction: Who knew Nick Foles was secretly the best QB in Philly to run Chip Kelly’s offense? Yeah, me neither. Philly by one point.
The Bowl of Despair
The Falcons and the Bucs have collectively played 10 games and have one win. I live right outside Atlanta and this city has surpassed grump muffin status by leaps and bounds. Between the Braves, Falcons, Dream and Bulldogs trouble, the malaise hangs heavy. But this frowny-faced city marches on. This week is a gimme right? A game to bolster the Falcons’ esteem and get them back to some semblance of their winning ways. The Bucs haven’t won a game yet. What makes Sunday all special? I said I wasn’t going to fall for the banana in the tail pipe anymore, but it’s the Bucs. I’m just sayin.
Prediction: Falcons win because they have to and Bucs make Jag fans mad by taking a step closer to getting the draft pick that Jacksonville wants. The Jaguars will help too. Keep reading.
No She Didn’t….
The Chargers are playing the Jags and after Jacksonville’s valiant outing against the Broncos, I’m pretty sure these youngsters are feeling themselves. Plenty of them came from winning squads and haven’t been beaten into loser submission yet. Chad Henne will likely pull the start and anything beats Gabbert. The bolts, while being a godsend to my fantasy team, might just fall for this trap game.
Prediction: It all equals one thing. Jags by 3. Yeah, I said it.
Lions and Tigers, No Bears
Two all-around solid teams. I really can’t say the Lions are soooooo much better that this will be an easy win for them. The only thing I have is the Bengals lead the AFC North and I wish them the worst because of that.
Prediction: Curb stomp and Suh manages to eat up his entire check in fines and moves back in to his mother’s basement.
And the barbarism continues
Brian Cushing called his own fans barbaric when they cheered after Matt Schaub was injured last week. Well Matt Schaub says fuck that, I’m getting right for this game which probably means things will go horribly wrong as they face the best defense in the league. I’m not anticipating that Alex Smith will go all dynamo on the Texans defense, but he will do enough to keep Schaub and company off the field and a sprightly Kansas City defense is nothing nice.
Prediction: Houston fans can’t run Schaub out of town like they did Jacoby Jones because the Ravens can’t afford him. It could be worse. You could have Blaine Gabbert. Chiefs by a lot.
Well there you go; week seven in a nut shell. A few for the road though…
Someone tell Darrelle Revis instead of trademarking Revis Island he should be worried about protecting it. I know I said I didn’t care about the Vikings but how long does Schiano last after Freeman hands the Giants loss #7? Also, I’m curious about how seriously the NFL is taking this outbreak in Tampa? The last thing the Falcons need is to lose a player to the cooties. Get it together Tampa. This would have never happened on Dungy’s watch.
Ravens!
