Excellent Point by Preston

[vmax]

 

 

 

On paper, the Ravens don't appear much better than a year ago. There could be arguments that they are worse because of the departure of several key veterans..

But, upon further review, the Ravens might end up being the best team in the AFC.

They will have dominating interior lines, a key to winning in the NFL. But if that is not enough then ask yourself this: Which playoff teams from a year ago made dramatic enough changes in personnel to catapult over the others?

 

There might be one in Indianapolis, but the Colts added a lot of 30-something players. New England lost cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner, and quarterback Tom Brady could be suspended for four games because of his possible involvement in Deflategate.

Denver has a new coach and Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning looked old last season, even taking into account his reported injuries. Pittsburgh has a great offense, but a rebuilding defense. And the San Diego Chargers look like they are pretenders again.

Cincinnati? The Bengals have Andy Dalton as a starting quarterback. End of conversation.

There are questions about all the contenders, so even if the Ravens didn't improve much they will be in the playoff hunt againhttp://www.carrollcountytimes.com/sports/ravens/bs-sp-preston-column-0725-20150724-column.html

 

[varaven45]

The AFC looks to have a bunch of teams clustered around 10-6 or 9-7 and that will get you to the dance. And maybe a SB.

 

We seem to be in that group and with a healthy, strong secondary and an effective WR/TE corps,

this might be a special season. Those two- secondary and receiving corps - will make or break our season.

[TBird]

Yup, Mike makes the point.

 

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-obese-man-eating-donut-image29651899

[Tornado700]

That has got to be the best thing Preston has ever said about the Ravens. High praise indeed. He knows this is a damn good football team. There is also one other point to make. I'll call it the Nado-point. - We have a real tough schedule. I believe that we are still better than every team we play, but alot of these games will be tough, physical match ups. Come playoff time, the Ravens are going to be battle tested and battle ready. And you know what that means.

[TBird]

Yea, the schedule is a bitch. No one has talked about it. There's only one easy team, OAK,

in the first 5 weeks while going up vs the division teams.

[varaven45]

Uh, got news for you. Oakland ain't going to be easy, especially in the black hole. I am not looking forward to that game.

[TBird]

They're easier that the division rivals we're facing. Cleveland will be tougher.

 

BTW, it was re-named The Purple Hole when Goose landed on top of Gannon knocking that p*ssy out

and was fined $10,000 for it. I was there and participated in renaming the stadium.

 

I expect Cleveland to be tougher than Oakland with a new coach who's been fired - Jack Del Rio.

They're not gonna win on coaching (Rio vs Harbs) or by quarterbacking (Carr vs Flacco) OR RB or defense.

 

THIS ON OFFENSE FOR 2014:

 

 

Total Yards Per Game

• 364.9 = RAVENS
• 282.2 = OAK

Passing Yards Per Game

• 238.7 = RAVENS
• 204.7 = OAK

Rush Yards Per Game

• 126.2 = RAVENS
• 77.5 = OAK

ANALYZE MATCHUP

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2015092010/2015/REG2/ravens@raiders#menu=gameinfo&tab=preview

[varaven45]

Based purely on paper and last year's stats, we got this game won hands-down. It's a new year and its played on the field. This will be another grinder.

[TBird]

They still have the worse defense in the league and ours 6th best overall, even

with a secondary deleted of its top corners and some of its backups.

 

A new coach will put in another system while Ravens defense is the same and only

got better with more depth like with Carl and Zadarius who freed up Dupree in college

and with vet guys like Urban and KLM returning from injuries

and we should have Webbie back and maybe Jimmy.

 

The secondary got even stronger with signings of Arrington in case Jimmy isn't there

for week 1 and Kendrick Lewis who is better than Elam and just might take his place.

Plus Will Hill will be here there entire year.

 

Defense alone wins this game hands down, and throw in 30 pts from Joe it's easy, as long

as he shows up. The only way we lose is if Joe and the team doesn't show up like in

Houston last year which is always a possibility as Ravens play down to the other team at

times. Its hard to play so emotionally high in Pissburgh and then play a lousy team at the

same emotional level.