Everyone likes to talk about how easy Miami's schedule was. No one is talking about how easy Baltimore's schedule was. Here are the teams they beat: Cincinatti Cleveland Miami Oakland Cleveland Houston Philly Cincinatti Washington Dallas Jacksonville They get points for beating us (obviously) and they beat Houston on the road, while we lost to Houston on the road, but the Ravens really only beat two playoff teams, us and Philly, and that was when Philly was going through all their turmoil. They lost to: Pittsburgh X2 Indy Tennessee NY Giants These guys don't scare me.
LOVE IT! I was trying to come up with a list myself -- you are 100% right, Gardenhead. The more and more I think about this, I'm not "scared" either. Thanks for spelling it out; this is a great post!
They've certainly lost to better teams than we did. Could be argued that all of their losses came against the league's four best teams. So that could be one caveat. Also, look at their losses themselves. Week 4: 23-20 (OT) at PITT Week 5: 13-10 at TENN Week 6: 31-3 at INDY Week 11: 30-10 at NYG Week 15: 13-9 vs. PITT Only one of those losses came at home. Was against PITT and it literally came down to the end of the game. They lost twice by a total of 7 points to Pittsburgh. They lost by 3 at red hot Tennessee. Indy always blows them out. Tough stretch early for them. But you look at how they recovered. They beat Cleveland, blew out Houston. After losing at the Giants, they blew out Philly and Cincy. Beat Redskins by 2 TD's. After another tight loss to PITT, they tore up Dallas on the road, on national TV and had no trouble with JAX. Hell, that blowout loss to Indy was followed by a 27-13 win AT MIAMI. They aren't eeking by people. They're winning by 2-4 touchdowns. And they played some of the league's best very tough. We finished 9-1. They finished 9-2. Not trying to be negative. Just how I'm seeing it. We are indeed the underdog. We'll see what happens.
I wouldn't say Philly is easy, either. I've seen all their games due to location (and i'm a fan i'll admit it). The eagles D is scary as hell.
either way you spin it, i think this will be a really great game on sunday....this is a team who beat us already this season, but we have visibly improved every game this year...so we'll see. if stats could predict football games, they wouldn't be as exciting as they are!
Kudos on a good breakdown. While the loss to the Colts sucked, I've (unfortunately) come to expect it. Manning just knows how to beat the Ravens. The loss to the Giants was more disturbing. IMO, Brandon Jacobs should not have been able to run the ball as well as he did early in the game (although, in retrospect, he got hammered by the Ravens D and sat out most of the second half and hasn't played that well since). The loss to Tennessee should not have happened. The Ravens played the Titans tough and if it wasn't for a crappy PF call for a hit to the helmet that never happened, the Titans drive would have been stopped. The first loss to the Steelers I have no grief with. A rookie QB's first road game, at Pittsburgh and on national TV, and they lose by a FG in OT. The second was simply a matter of Roethlisberger completing pass after pass after the Ravens went into a prevent D. No excuse for allowing the Steelers to drive 82 yards and score their only TD. So the Ravens lost (twice) to a very good AFCN division champion; once to the Super Bowl champions of 2007; once to Peyton Manning's Colts and once to a Titans team that is the #1 seed in the AFC. I would never say the Ravens cannot lose in Miami. But I have to say I have a hard time seeing them lose this Sunday. I think the Ravens will win by at least 13 points. I mean that as no slap in the face to the Dolphins or their fans, as I respect what Miami has done this year after a 1-15 season. I just don't think the Dolphins offense will be able to score much against the Ravens defense (which is playing lights-out right now), and their offense is now stretching the field and scoring quickly and often. No matter what, it will be a great game.
Yeah, well those of us who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones...our schedule wasn't exactly the toughest...in fact the same analysis could be made about our schedule...
Maybe so, we'll find out Sunday. You might be able to say the same thing about us. We're clutch, but we haven't yet been clutch against any of the elite teams. If we beat Baltimore, our reputation justifiably carries a lot more weight. I'd say they're the league's 6th best team right now. It would not be a surprise to me if they ran the table. They are built like a champion and they're hot right now. IMO, we haven't played a Top 10 team this season. New England could be, but they weren't when we played them. They were much closer to it when we fell apart late and couldn't stop them at home last month. We'll see what this team is truly made of when they step out of that tunnel Sunday at 1 PM. It's they playoffs. Everything is amplified. And they aren't getting a cupcake. They're getting a team that's been there. We're rightly the underdog. It would be an upset if we win. Baltimore is more talented than us. Their defense is better than ours. They run the ball better than us. I don't know about special teams, but Baltimore has been traditionally good. I don't question the fight in this dog. Just the dog in the fight. No shame if we lose IMO. As a fan, I'm already satisfied with the season. But if we don't win, it'll still be be hard to swallow.
Well, after come quick number crunching here is what I have come up with. Our 11 wins came against teams that finished 70-106 or 39.8%. Their 11 wins came against teams that finished 71-102-3 or 41.2%. So that is pretty close to even. Our 5 loses came against teams that finished 48-32 or 60%. Their 5 loses came against teams that finished 61-19 or 76.25%. They lost against better teams but they also played better teams I'm not sure that we should be penalized for that. And neither team lost to a team with a losing record. I think I would give them a slight edge in this category. So, we both beat teams that were of about the same quality but they lost to slightly better teams. I think that overall the fact that both teams wins came against teams that were comparable in record should mean that we are fairly evenly matched. Give the Ravens an edge for beating us earlier this year and give the Dolphins an edge for being at home with hopefully a loud active crowd and it should be a great close game. I think that the Dolphins have developed as a team since the earlier meeting. Add in the fact that there really isn't as much pressure on them because they have already exceeded all expectations and everyone expects the Ravens to win. I think that Miami wins 27 to17.
I'm not going to hate on Balt's schedule. We had similar patterns (they lost to better teams whatever that may mean) but they beat us head to head. they didn't eek us out, they beat us fair and square. I was watching that game on my slingbox on a macbook in a hotel in San Fran at 10 am. I don't wake up at 10 am. I remember that game very well. Common opponents. We barely, and I mean BARELY, squeaked by Oakland. They beat them 29-10. we lost to houston. They smoked them. Ridiculous score. We barely beat Seattle, supposedly a crappy team. We barely beat STL, another crappy team. See a pattern? We barely beat SF, but they were tough at the time,a nd still are. A good solid team. I felt that SF could have been a trap game. My point is, we've been the Heart Attack Dolphins, and I love it (after winning). But we have not by any measure been impressively winning. But it's still winning. Baltimore has been whooping some of their opponents. We have a dogfight ahead of us on Sunday, and I just don't know. We've been winning barely. We're going to win barely on Sunday but we're going to win!!!!! I can't have it any other way.
Once again I direct you to the Dallas game. Flacco handled the pressure remarkably. A road game on nat. T.V. , last game in that stadium, cerimonies with the cowboy greats, the # 1 sackmaster in the NFL(Ware), on a top 5 defense. And you think ANY pressure and its game over??????????? H.H.
I am sure he does... That kid has been amazing this year...(rookie)...but he has been very lucky... A QB best friends are a solid OL, a solid running back core, a solid WR core and good game scheme...ad you see all this when you look sat this Ravens Offensive team... and lastly a Defensive unit that helps him play within his limitations. Its assuring for a QB that when he goes on the field that he does not have to come from behind to win games...especially when 4 of their losses they were behind at the start of the 4th quarter... all but one of their wins they were leading at the start of the 4th quarter... All of this is very important for a young and learning QB...it takes away the pressure that he has to do it all...
I agree with that sentiment... but lets not be totally blind... how comfortable you would have felt without those 77 and 82 yards TD runs by McGahee and McClain??? Those runs in the 4th quarter, turned a 2 point edge into a route. Flacco only threw 2 times in the 4th quater. What pressure would he have had then? I am not taking anything away from Flacco, but a QB works well when he is not the Offense...give kudos to the Ravens team and not just the individual...
I was just addressing the " ANY kind of pressure" comment. His first away game was against the #1 defense(Pit) . That is severe pressure and Pit. still needed O.T. to win. It is common knowledge even among national anylists that Flacco responds like a veteran to pressure. You can not tell wether he is winning or losing by his demeanor. It is always the same. He has that calm reassuring quality seen in the greats at that position. The best way to tell is his body language after a mistake . He puts it behind him. That being said, you don't have to remind me of Chads pressence. He has proven himself under pressure many times. Just enjoy the match up. It could go either way. I still think we are 2 players away from a Superbowl. Good luck. H.H.
