Free Agency

Ozzy Newsome and company again look like they know what they are doing.

Some commentary:

Bart Scott to the Jets. Scott is a hell of a player, and probably has the most potential long term upside given his age. However, he's not worth $8million a year. The Jets overpaid, and are going to find out that the Ravens' defensive schemes and the other players make these guys better. Take a look at some other Ravens who moved on and haven't been anywhere near as productive. Certainly a loss, but good for him to go get the payday.

Jason Brown to the Rams. As with Scott, Brown is a great inside lineman and good for him for getting the big payday. But also as with Scott, he's just not worth the $7million a year he's getting. I know there was a disagreement on how he should be paid, as a guard or center, but in my opinion, that just didn't matter. He's good, but can be replaced.

Jim Leonhard to the Jets. Who doesn't love this player? He wanted and deserved a shot at a starting spot, and the Ravens' depth at safety just wasn't going to give him that opportunity. I think he's worth the money even as a backup/special teams guy (3 years at $6million), but the cap limits I think precluded signing him, and he wasn't going to be happy if he didn't have a starting spot. Another good for him, he's going to be a factor.

Terrell Suggs franchised by the Ravens. I don't like this move at all. I think they needed to find a way to work something out without using the tag, and I think now they need to work out a long term deal before the season starts. If they don't, he'll be gone in 2010. While there's a lot of depth at linebacker, I think Suggs is worth locking up for 5 years.

Matt Birk to the Ravens. Great signing, good deal, some experience on the line and a little better protection for Flacco. Sign a big play reciever, and you'll see this pay off.

Ray Lewis re-signed. 3 years and $22million seems about right. I was suprised he didn't get more interest, but I think it was true the Ravens were willing to outbid anyone for Lewis. He's going to retire a Raven, and his leadership and passion have unlimited value. He's going to be the reason these young linebackers are going to be great for years to come.

Matt Stover let go. Well, maybe. He got an offer from the Jets, the Ravens said they would let him go, and the Jets signed someone else. From an emotional standpoint, I hate that Stover might play somewhere else or retire like this, but from a business standpoint, I think carrying two kickers takes up a roster spot better used for something else, and it probably is time to move on. I'm not happy about it, though. We love this guy.

I can't wait for the season to start!

Failing experiments

NASCAR season isn't off to a good start from a ratings perspective. The Bud Shootout ratings are off last year by 22%.

I normally would watch. Didn't this year; I didn't care. Why? Stupid rule changes, again. Instead of being all the pole winners from last year, plus folks who had won the Shootout in the past (usually a good 25 car field of top teams/drivers), NA$CAR had to change the format because of sponsorship (Coors Light now sponsors the pole award) So, now since qualifying is essentially meaningless, and there's no 'all star' race reward, the pole becomes even less important.

Anyway, instead of what it was, they took the top 6 teams by manufacturer, then added in some extras... too complicated to even care to understand. But pretty much every Dodge got in, since there are only 6-7 teams left.

Just dumb. So no one cares to watch.

Since the 150's don't matter any more, I'd bet ratings for those races yesterday were off, too. (I didn't watch, and didn't even bother to record them.)

SHOCKING BREAKING NEWS!!!

College kid smokes pot in his girlfriend's dorm room.

Don't we have something more important to worry about?

What a run

What was probably the best Ravens season comes to an end. Dissapointing loss, but face it, the Steelers are the better team.

The Ravens will be back next year, and they'll be better.

(Go Cardinals!)

What's Our Name?

The team no one wants to play does it again to the Titans. The most stressful and exciting 13-10 game I think I've ever seen. Playoff win #2. 2 more to go.

Honestly, this feels better than 2000.

A Playoff Win!

What a great year. Just dominant over the Dolphins. Dominant.

The offense is still the weak link, but this team is able to do what needs to be done to win. Everything from interceptions to blocked PAT.

Next week's a tough challenge, but I think the Ravens can beat the Titans. I don't know if they will, but they can.

I was 2-2 this weekend (I picked Indy, Falcons, Ravens, Eagles)

Next weekend's predictions:

Cardinals vs Panthers

Panthers blow the Cards out.

Ravens vs Titans

My heart says the Ravens, my brain says the Titans win this game, and I'm not sure it will even be close. The Titans are a better team; but I sure hope I'm wrong.

Eagles vs Giants

The Eagles are on a roll, but they didn't really look so hot yesterday. I think the Giants are the best team in the playoffs, and I don't see Philly beating them. This is another one where I hope I'm wrong.

Chargers vs Steelers

This is going to be a good game. The Chargers match up well against the Steelers, but I still have to pick the team with the best D, and that's the Steelers. It will be closer than you think.

Best football day, ever

Ravens go to the playoffs, when no one expected better than 8-8.

Patriots win, go 11-5, and don't go to the playoffs, because Miami beat the Jets.

Favre goes out like a lamb. Serves him right. It's also poetic that Pennington went back to NY and won.

Cowboys get embarrassed by the Eagles.

The only way this gets better is for the Chargers to beat the Broncos tonight.

How 'bout them... Ravens?

33-24 over the 'boys.

I only watched the 4th quarter, but that was probably the most fun I've had watching 15 minutes of football... ever.

The McClain stiffarm I could watch over and over again.

What an awesome season this has been.

36-7!

I didn't get to see the game, but by all accounts, it was pretty ugly offensively.

But we'll take it.

10-6 is required to get to the playoffs. Right now, the wild card is Patriots, Indy, Ravens. I don't know how the tiebreakers turn out against the Patriots; I know the Ravens lose a tiebreaker to Indy. Given Indy's remaining schedule, I don't think they'll be tied, I think they could end up 12-4.

The Giants are the real deal

Ravens got dominated on both sides of the ball today. A good reminder this is an 8-8 team. They've shown signs they'll be great, but after the performances against the Giants and Indy, they still have a ways to go.

As always, I'd rather be wrong, and have them go 10-6, but given the remaining schedule, I just don't see it.

Blowout

41-13 over the Texans. Yeah, it's the Texans. The same Texans that almost beat Indianapolis.

This team is really playing well. They've had a couple of games where their opponent looks like they just quit late in the game, even when they are ahead. I don't know why that's happening, I wonder if it is the physicality of play.

To 6-3, yet we still should remain cautiously optimistic. The Ravens still have only beaten one team with a winning record (Miami), and they are about to play a bunch of them.

At the Giants next week. The Giants should be heavy favorites.

Oh, Hell yeah!

Came back from 14 down to stuff the Browns. Offense looks pretty damn strong, with a little help from Mr Suggs.

Dare I start to think playoffs? Not just yet.

Ok, so it was the Raiders

And make no mistake, the Raiders are a bad team. When your kickoff return guy runs out of bounds at the 2, you've got a really, really bad team. The game was a bigger blowout than the 29-10 suggests.

I had the opportunity to go to the game yesterday, and had great seats 5 rows off the field at the goal line (the Raiders TD call happened right in front of me, and that was not a touchdown, but it didn't really matter). Got to take my dad, who hadn't been to a professional football game in 54 years. That's honestly enough fun to make me consider a PSL and season tix.

Flacco is a stud. I love the 'Suggs' package with Smith in the game. Again, this team might not finish better than .500, but they are a lot of fun to watch. And I do think they can beat anyone.

They have 3 road games in a row, now, going to the Browns next week, then Houston, then the Giants. They can win all three, but we have to be happy with 2 out of 3 (my preseason prediction has them losing to the Browns and to the Giants, but the Browns look hopeless, and the Giants are vulnerable).

My big concern right now is the secondary. A little banged up for my tastes. They also need to get the penalties under control. Penalties cost them 10 - 14 points yesterday.

A solid performance

1:00 left, 27-13 against the Dolphins. Solid game for the defense, and a good performance from Flacco and the offense as well to go to 3-3.

Still on track, they needed to win this one to have any chance, it's a tough stretch coming up.

Another prediction comes true

31-3 Colts with 3 minutes left in the game.

A pretty pathetic showing by the ravens. The offense was never in the game, and the defense just didn't look sharp. Way too many missed tackles. And too many turnovers. This team has to create turnovers, not give them up.

Hopefully they'll look better next week

As predicted

The Ravens go down to the Titans, 13-10, as predicted. (Or not. But who thought they would be 5-0??)

I think the team continues to be fun to watch. It's a little frustrating to see another 4th quarter letdown, both offensively and defensively, especially when at one point the other team was so frustrated they were fighting amongst themselves.

A couple of things swing the other way, this is a win. They need to make those plays.

Flacco continues to impress. We have to remember, this is a rookie, and he's going to make some mistakes. He's gonna be the real deal.

Indy next week, in Indy. I don't see how the Ravens win this game, although the Colts are vulnerable.

Tough one

23 - 20 in overtime on Monday night in Pittsburgh. Before the game, I honestly thought this might be another blowout, but the Ravens really looked good until late in the 3rd quarter, and stayed in it.

I continue to be impressed by Flacco. He's going to be very, very good. The defense let us down a little, giving up a couple of big 3rd down plays that allowed the winning field goal.

I'm 3 for 3 on my game predictions, and the Ravens are where I predicted. A tough group of games coming up. I do think the loss last night takes some pressure off; this is an 8-8 team, had they won last night, they would be expected to make it to the playoffs.

They sure are fun to watch.

Woooo-hoooooo

Ravens dominate the Browns 28-10.

It is pretty hard to not be excited. The Ravens have started out 2-0 twice. Once they went 13-3, the other they won the Superbowl.

Yes, the wins are against the Browns and the Bengals, both of whom are 0-3. But the defense looks unbeatable, and the offense can succeed at not losing games. Flacco looks like the real deal, and the running game is solid.

I'm not changing my 8-8 prediction yet as I thought they could start out 3-0. But it's still fun to have a better record than the Patriots and the Colts.

Ocho who?

17 - 10!!!

With Flacco as the default starter, the Ravens' offense looked good. Defense looked unreal.

Two fumbles, one a rookie mistake, and one from Todd Heap, who really just doesn't look good. Hopefully it's just not being in game shape.

I was just the Bengals, but that was a pretty encouraging start to the season. Next week at Houston, who gut crushed by the Steelers today.

Bus Update

A while back I mentioned that you can no longer take an MTA bus to the Raven's home games from a park and ride.

Turns out the regulation is that if you take Federal money for your mass transit, you can't use that mass transit to compete with private companies (like charter buses). I'm sure the intent is to keep the MTA from sending city buses to Atlantic City, and to me, it makes sense.

So while it's a federal regulation, it's in place to keep states from using federal dollars to compete with private companies.

Solution: Stop taking the tax dollars of the citizens of Iowa and giving them to the State of Maryland for bus service.

Just a thought.