For the undefeated New England Patriots, the train is on the tracks and rolling towards a perfect season. Having clinched the AFC East prior to the start of last week’s game, it’s gravy the rest of the way for Bill Belichick and his merry band of touchdown machines.

For the struggling Baltimore Ravens, the train is completely wrecked. After posting a 13-3 record in 2006, the Ravens continue to struggle in 2007, losers of five consecutive games and owners of a 4-7 record.

Ravens head coach Brian Billick is concerned, but enthusiastic — as if that’s even possible — as to the makeup of the team:
“We’re obviously not where we want to be, or where we thought we’d be. But, I like the character of this team. They continue to work hard. We have tremendous competitors here, and they’re resilient. They bounce back to fight the next fight. That’s part of being a Raven. We embrace the challenge in front of us. We’re enthusiastic about the opportunity. It’s the chance to find, both collectively and individually, who we are.”

That’s all fine and dandy, but the proof is in the pudding. On Monday night, Billick has a chance to end the Patriots’ historic run by out-coaching Belichick (as if that’s even possible) and the players, if executing correctly, have a chance to neutralize Tom Brady and the Patriots potent passing attack. The key word, of course, is “chance”. Is it likely? Well, that remains to be seen.

Much was made about last week’s “Blueprint” the Eagles laid out of the rest of the teams on the Patriots schedule. As much as I’d like to buy into the genius of Andy Reid, I just can’t. It doesn’t exactly take the father of two convicts to figure out that when you cover Moss, concede the short pass, stop the run and apply pressure and different looks to Brady, you’ll be able to slow down the New England offense. The question remains, though: is Kyle Boller able to keep the New England offense on the bench long enough to keep our defense fresh? Long enough to score the 34 points required to sniff a victory?

Vegas sure doesn’t think so — the visiting Patriots are 21 point favorites.

Reasons for optimism

• Baltimore is 3-1 at home on Monday Night Football. The last MNF home game was a December 19, 2005 rout of the Green Bay Packers, 48-3.
• Matt Stover is perfect on all 10 of his PATs, and is 11-of-14 on FGs.
• Samari Rolle has 5 of his 28 career picks on Monday Night Football. Let’s hope for some more Rolle magic!
• In 3 games played against the Patriots, Derrick Mason has 15 receptions for 193 yards (12.9 average). With 14 more receptions, Mason will crack 700 on his career. With 288 receiving yards, he’ll be sitting pretty with 9,000. Talk about an underrated receiver!
• Willis McGahee only needs 90 rushing yards to hit the 1,000 mark this season. Barring injury, I’d say that he’s got it locked up. McGahee is also 5th in the NFL in total yards from Scrimmage. The dude’s on pace to set a career high in rushing yards with 1,324 (previous high: 1,247 in 2005).

Reasons to punish your liver on Monday night

• Baltimore has never beat the New England Patriots. In 3 meetings, they have the dubious distinction of being 0-fer.
• We’re playing the Patriots. Ugh.
• The Ravens sit at a -11 turnover ratio. When playing games with a negative turnover ratio, the Ravens are a paltry 8-46.
• The Ravens are 0-2 in Monday Night Football contests in 2007. If it rains, well, forgetaboutit.
• The one strength the Ravens have — stopping the run — is the one part of the New England offense that isn’t utilized as much as with other teams.

Sweet Baby Ray

Ray Lewis needs 1 sack to reach 30 for his career. With 8 more tackles, he’ll roll over the odometer to 2,000 for his career. In 13 games against the Patriots, Ray has 26 tackles (17 solo). Hopefully he’ll blow up Brady…

Completely Reediculious stat of the day

Ed Reed is the only player in NFL history to score a return TD off a punt, blocked punt, INT and fumble recovery. Told you it was a way-out stat!

Via Land of Patriots:

“He [Coach Belichick] wants to adopt Ed Reed… It’s going to be Ed Belichick… I know he coached him at the Pro Bowl last year and I think, as a defensive coach, you look at a player like that who’s such a game-changer… I tell you, he better run after the game is over because Coach is going to try to bring him back on the plane with us if he could.”

—Tom Brady

Scary thought.  Just sayin’.

4/1/83 - 11/27/07

Sean Taylor was a meast. Well, that’s what his friends and teammates called him — half-man, half-beast, or “meast” for short. The nickname was fitting. Taylor had the ability to change games - much like Ed Reed, another Miami alum - with his ball hawkin’ and jarring hits. Before his death, Taylor was tied for the lead in the NFC with 5 picks on the season, well on his way to another Pro Bowl.

Today, football is the least of the NFL’s concerns. The league lost a standout player, the Redskins lost an all-pro free safety, and the Taylor family lost a father and a son.

A lot of Ravens fans like to bag on the Redskins. That’s fine. However, the class that the Redskins organization has shown to Taylor’s family and close friends on both the ‘Skins and at the ‘U’ (especially teammate and U alum Clinton Portis) has been nothing short of amazing.

From division champs to division chumps in 11 games. That sure didn’t take long.

Now the Ravens get to play the role of spoiler. Will they topple the New England juggernaut next week? Probably not. Will they finally beat the Colts at M&T? Probably not. Will they help the Miami Dolphins make history? Probably so.

Looking at the rest of the schedule, the Ravens take on four division-leading teams (New England, Indianapolis, Seattle, Pittsburgh) and one cellar-dweller (Miami). Assuming the Ravens win against teams with a losing record and lose against the division leaders, the best they can finish is 5-11.

If Miami loses out the rest of their historic season, they’ll (obviously) have the #1 overall pick in the draft. That leaves the Ravens (4-7), Chiefs (4-7), Panthers (4-7), Raiders (3-8), Falcons (3-8), 49ers (3-8), Rams (2-9) and Jets (2-9) jockeying for draft position and playing for pride.

I’m not looking to throw in the towel on the season but I’m a realist. This incarnation of the Ravens just isn’t that good. Perhaps it’s time to throw fresh blood into the mix and see just where we are as an organization. Move Adam Terry out in favor of Marshall Yanda (and make the move permanent). Swap out Mike Flynn at Center and replace him with Chris Chester. Rest up Jonathan Ogden and let him split some time with Jared Gaither and/or Adam Terry. Let Rhys Lloyd handle kickoffs instead of Matt Stover. Go young. See what these kids have in the tank. Get a good, frank evaluation of the personnel we have so the front office can assess needs for the NFL draft.

Brian Billick may think that the playoffs are possible - and mathematically, we’re not eliminated yet - but who is he kidding? Is there anything about this 2007 squad that makes you believe that they could make the playoffs? And further, let’s say that they actually sniff the post-season — do you really think that they’d be more than one-and-done?

I’ve put off writing this post for 3 weeks. Being dead last in the AFC North, looking up at the Steelers, Browns and Bengals, set off the trigger.

 Loading …

Just wanted to throw out a quick poll — how will the Ravens fare the rest of the way? How many more losses will we endure before registering another win?

vs. New England (12/3)
vs. Indianapolis (12/9)
@ Miami (12/16)
@ Seattle (12/23)
vs. Pittsburgh (12/30)

 Loading …

Must be nice to gang up on those Ravens, eh, Zebras?

I’ve stuffed myself full of thanksgiving, family, friends and whiskey… and now I’m ready for some football!

Disappointment Bowl

In 2006, the Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers produced the two best records in the NFL (14-2, 13-3, respectively). This season has been a huge disappointment, as the Ravens, losers of 4 in a row, sit at 4-6 and the Chargers, losers of 2 of their past 3, are an even .500 (5-5). Should the Ravens lose today, it would be the first 5-game losing streak in franchise history.

Where did things go awry for these two teams?

The dopes at ESPN think that the Ravens defense is the culprit. Granted, the defense is prone to give up the big play every now and again, but the unit hasn’t seen a consistent lineup since week 1, where after 6 turnovers, the defense still had the Ravens in a position to put away the Bengals. Injuries have taken their toll on the secondary and just when things are seemingly back to normal — BAM! — someone else goes down.

As for the Chargers, the same ESPN crew thinks that defense is also the reason for the Chargers demise. It’s possible… but maybe it’s also possible that the Chargers are coming back down to Earth. The thought of repeating a 14-2 season is just silly.

Ray Lewis: Quietly Dominating

Through 10 games, the ageless Ray Lewis has notched 139 tackles. This puts him on pace to reach the 200 tackle milestone for the 4th time in his career with 222 stops. To compliment his tackling, he’s also posted 2 interceptions (1 returned for a TD), 6 PDs, 1 sack, 1 FF and 1 FR on the season.

If Ray doesn’t get a Pro Bowl nod this season, something is seriously wrong.

Against the ‘Bolts…

• QB Kyle Boller has only faced San Diego once in his career, throwing for 98 yards and 1 TD. Let’s hope he can keep the turnovers down.
• WR Derrick Mason has squared off against San Diego 3 times in his career, hauling in 17 receptions for 149 and 1 TD.
• K Matt Stover has played 8 games against San Diego and is perfect in FGA (12/12) and PATs (14/14).
• OLB Terrell Suggs has played 2 games against the Chargers, notching 1 interception (the first of his pro career) and 1 sack.
• LB Ray Lewis has 80 tackles (51 solo) in 5 games against the ‘Bolts. The guy is nothing short of amazing.

Brutal Stretch Run

Baltimore plays New England on December 3, Indianapolis on December 9 and Pittsburgh on December 30. What do these four teams have in common? They are all ranked in the top five for records in November and December. Since 1999, Baltimore has compiled one of the NFL’s best records in the two month span. Here’s how they rank:

1. New England (46-21, .687 winning percentage)
2. Philadelphia (46-22, .676 winning percentage)
3. Indianapolis (46-25, .648 winning percentage)
4. Baltimore (44-25, .638 winning percentage)
5. Pittsburgh (44-26-1, .620 winning percentage)

Milestones

• With a mere 29 yards, LaDainian Tomlinson, the most exciting offensive player in football, can crack 10,000 for his career. He would be the 22nd player in league history to reach 10k yards and the fourth-fastest player to that milestone. He’s been a joy to watch, a joy to have on a fantasy team and a hilarious spokesperson for Vizio (”There. That’s bettah.”)
• Ray Lewis is 1 sack away from an even 30 for his career. With 23 tackles, he will hit the 2,000-career tackle milestone.
• Willis McGahee needs 149 rushing yards to crack 1,000 on the season. It would be the third time in his career (2004, 2005) that he passed 1k on the odometer.

Turnovers: delicious but deadly

(Apologies to Troy McClure)

Facts are facts: the Baltimore Ravens just plain stink this season when it comes to the takeaway/giveaway ratio. After owning a +17 in 2006, the Ravens currently sit at -9. The Chargers, on the other hand, are tied for second in the league with a +9 ratio. The ‘Bolts 17 interceptions lead the NFL.

Uh-oh.

So how costly are the offensive turnovers? Well, consider that for all 17 TDs the defense allowed, the average starting field position has been the Ravens’ 49-yard line. Further, of the 17 TDs allowed, 9 of those scores have come on drives that started at the 50-yard line or in Ravens territory. Of those 9 scores, the average starting field position has been the Ravens 31 yard line.

Prediction

I think the Ravens will ultimately fall to the Chargers, 24-10. I don’t think it’s possible for the Ravens to put 30 on the board again this season, and with the Chargers defense, I think Boller will have an especially difficult time completing passes and keeping the Ravens in the game. I’m expecting a typical Ravens game: the defense will keep the team in a position to win, the offense will be anemic at best and Matt Stover will put up more points than the Ravens offense. That said, I’m looking forward to a good, well played game.

Len Pasquarelli of ESPN is reporting that Ravens CB Samari Rolle’s “undisclosed” illness is epilepsy.

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle on Wednesday identified the previously undisclosed illness that has caused him to miss six games this season, and hospitalized him for a short time, as epilepsy.

“I’ve heard all kind of rumors of what I had,” Rolle told The Baltimore Sun after the team’s Wednesday afternoon practice. “It’s been hard on my wife and my family. I’m just happy to be back playing.”

Rolle said he has suffered three seizures this season and believes that he may actually have suffered fewer serious seizures over the past 2½ years.

Epilepsy is a neurological condition which can be related to brain injury or family tendency, but in many cases the cause is unknown. Seizures can vary in intensity and severity based on the individual case. There is an increasing range of medical options to treat the disorder.

It is not known exactly when Rolle, 31, was diagnosed.

As an aside, I like to bag on the Sun from time to time for whatever reason. I would like to say for the record that the Sun did an excellent job of keeping Rolle’s illness away from the general public until Rolle was ready to come forward. It shows a lot of integrity on the part of the Sun staff. Hats off, guys.

And to Rolle — hang in there. While we missed you when you were playing, I’m just glad that you’re okay.

Edit: Jamison Hensley of the Sun has the piece up on the B’more Sun website. It’s an excellent and well put together read. I highly recommend reading it over Len Pasquarelli’s write-up for more in-depth information, background, et cetera.

From the Sun story:

He [Rolle] acknowledged the 2006 season was the worst of his NFL career. He got beat deep in several games, causing many fans and media members to call him the weak link of the defense.

…

After using the past two weeks to correct his medication, Rolle is ready to play again for a Ravens team that has lost four straight games and has a slim hope of making the playoffs.

“I’m very excited. The season hasn’t gone like we wanted it, and most people ask me, ‘Why are you coming back? You’re 4-6.’ ” he said. “These are my teammates and I love playing. It’s time to come back. I can play, I can continue to play, and I can do so as long as I’m healthy.”

I’ll admit — I was one of those critics. To find out that it was epilepsy the whole time sure makes me feel horrible. If you’re at the next home game (vs. Patriots, 12/3/07), make sure to cheer your ass off for Rolle. He deserves it — he’s a gamer.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner and hectic travel plans with my wife as we coordinate our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, I thought I’d take a moment to jot down a quick post with Ravens-related things I’m thankful for:

• Willis McGahee bringing a completely different style to the running game. Honestly, he’s doing things that Jamal only wishes he can do — hit cutbacks, accelerate through holes… make something out of nothing. He’s definitely worth the pick and money.
• Ray Lewis being in what he claims to be the best shape of his career. Seriously, the guy is a tank. He’s on pace for roughly 140 tackles this season. For a guy that many beat writers and columnists thought was too old to play the MLB position effectively, Ray’s proven each of them wrong. Take that, “experts”.
• Ed Reed ball-hawkin’. He’s proving that he’s still the best in the game.
• I’m not a fan of the following teams:
  • St. Louis Rams - even though I live in St. Louis, I just can’t bring myself to watch the slow-motion train wreck.
  • San Francisco 49ers - quite possibly the biggest let-down of the season.
  • New York Jets - If Kellen Clemens is the best they’ve got under center, I’d hate to see worse (sorry, Chad).
  • Dallas Cowboys - I hate “America’s Team”.
  • Cincinnati Bengals - ’nuff said.
  • Pittsburgh Steelers - ’nuff said.
  • Cleveland Browns - ’nuff said.
  • New England Patriots - I just don’t think I can like ‘em. Sure, I appreciate how they’re a well-oiled offensive killing machine, but I just can’t get past the way they seem to be going for killshots downfield when up by 28 in the 4th quarter. Belichick is going to get Brady severely injured.
• Jonathan Ogden played out his career in the Purple and Black. There just aren’t many guys like him out there… and when he hangs ‘em up, he’ll still be one of my all-time favorites.
• Speaking of favorites, I’m really thankful that Kelly Gregg is on the team. He’s the kind of blue-collar guy you just love to root for. All around, Gregg rules.
• Ozzie Newsome is our GM, and Eric DeCosta is a scouting wizard. Can you imagine how poorly our drafts would be if it wasn’t for those two?
• Matt Stover still has the leg to pot 3 points at a time… that said, I’d be thankful if we put Rhys Lloyd in to handle kickoffs. His leg has less mileage…
• Quinn Sypniewski has steadily improved his play from week to week. Injuries to Todd Heap and Daniel Wilcox have really thrust Sypniewski into the starting role… and barring some initial setbacks, he’s really shown a marked improvement.
• Finally, I’ll close with a Turducken recipe. Because John Madden told you to eat one and you’ve been obsessing on how to make one ever since you first heard him utter those delicious words…

“Eat a turducken or PETA wins!”

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

As reported today by the Baltimore Sun, Ravens DE Trevor Pryce will miss the rest of the 2007 season with a torn pectoral muscle and was placed on the IR.

“We’re going to miss Trevor,” Billick said Tuesday night. “Getting him back was important for us. We’ll adjust but missing him on the inside is going to be a lot to deal with.”

You ain’t kidding, Brian.  Without Pryce, we have a severely limited pass rush.  To fill Pryce’s roster spot, Zarnell Fitch was signed from the practice squad.