Look... I loved the way my Ravens played last week but i don't want to start sippin' the champagne yet. The defense was dominant for the most part while the secondary did a great job limiting AJ Green(usually gets over 100 yards over us) and keeping him away from the endzone. The offense is what I thought it was going to be: Subpar with not much chemistry but they capitalized on a few Bengal miscues like that nice Maclin TD.
The Ravens still have room for improvement but are heading in the right direction. however i am still on the fence when it comes to the spread this week. They are big faves which is a rarity lately(anything more than a TD is kind of a big deal). So, is this Ravens team the real deal?
I've said it before but we won't find out until the Ravens go head to head against the Steelers and Raiders in back to back weeks. obviously it'll be one of the more difficult parts of their schedule after flying back from London nonetheless but if they manage to win one of those two games then they will be in good shape. that will be the true test for our defense and we'll find out if all the offseason moves to bolster the defense has paid off....
anyhow, about this matchup..
as i mentioned about London. i hate that the Ravens have to play there the following week. Preparations to fly out, and this being the first time the Ravens are playing overseas has me a little nervous. Teams playing before London in this situation have a bad ATS record like 10-20-2 ats or something like that but i would like to point out that trend did not quite work out last year as the teams went 3-3 SU/ 4-1-1 ATS and some of the faves won. You also have to remember that ats record is comprised of perennial bottom feeder teams like the Jags who play in London just about every year and account for 1/4th of it along with the Bucs and Dolphins too.
Look... I loved the way my Ravens played last week but i don't want to start sippin' the champagne yet. The defense was dominant for the most part while the secondary did a great job limiting AJ Green(usually gets over 100 yards over us) and keeping him away from the endzone. The offense is what I thought it was going to be: Subpar with not much chemistry but they capitalized on a few Bengal miscues like that nice Maclin TD.
The Ravens still have room for improvement but are heading in the right direction. however i am still on the fence when it comes to the spread this week. They are big faves which is a rarity lately(anything more than a TD is kind of a big deal). So, is this Ravens team the real deal?
I've said it before but we won't find out until the Ravens go head to head against the Steelers and Raiders in back to back weeks. obviously it'll be one of the more difficult parts of their schedule after flying back from London nonetheless but if they manage to win one of those two games then they will be in good shape. that will be the true test for our defense and we'll find out if all the offseason moves to bolster the defense has paid off....
anyhow, about this matchup..
as i mentioned about London. i hate that the Ravens have to play there the following week. Preparations to fly out, and this being the first time the Ravens are playing overseas has me a little nervous. Teams playing before London in this situation have a bad ATS record like 10-20-2 ats or something like that but i would like to point out that trend did not quite work out last year as the teams went 3-3 SU/ 4-1-1 ATS and some of the faves won. You also have to remember that ats record is comprised of perennial bottom feeder teams like the Jags who play in London just about every year and account for 1/4th of it along with the Bucs and Dolphins too.
Opposing rookie QB's are 0-6 at M&T Bank with a combined 2 TD's and 8 INTs since Harbaugh took over. I expect that to continue this Sunday. Why? The Browns O-line is banged up and that is not good news for Deshonne Kizer who was sacked 5 times last week. TJ Watt had a monster debut with 2 sacks and picked off Kizer. With TJ Watt(possibly the Steelers game-changer on defense) looking every bit like Palomalu and Keuchly out there and being everywhere on the field, this Steeler defense looks alot more promising than last yearbut i wouldn't say they are quite on the same level as the Ravens just yet.
I see Kizer having a much harder time moving the ball against this Ravens defense. The problem will be the pass protection and the fact they had a hard time running the ball against the Steelers last week. Cleveland's running backs will have just as tough a time going through the RAvens run defense. To make matters worse the Ravens secondary is much better than the Steelers. I wouldn't be surprised if Kizer throws more than 1 interception, i'll predict 2.
Suspect Brown's Defense
I'll admit the Browns did a decent job containing Steelers high octane offense and limit them to just 21 pts but understand this. Le'Veon Bell always seems to miss training camp and preseason so never seems quite in game shape early on. He only had 10 carries that game and wasn't too effective so they stopped giving him the ball and decided to gash the Brown's secondary. I'll go on a limb to say the Brown's #1 run defense hasn't been fully tested yet. I expect the Raven's offensive game plan to be mostly the same as last week. Stick to the run game and throw only when necessary. I do see Joe Flacco throwing a little bit more this time against a suspect Brown's secondary and somewhat better results.
Final thought:
The Ravens' defense will once again be the center of attention here. I see them controlling the game and giving the Ravens offense good field position. The Ravens running game will be put to use again. The Ravens will win all three phases of the game: Offense, defense and special teams. I don't see another shutout happening but i don't see the Browns scoring a touchdown here unless the Ravens are looking ahead to next week and allow a garbage TD. I see the Ravens limiting the Browns to field goals. Ravens are usually strong in home openers when they don't have to play the Bengals. I expect that to be the case again. No overlook factor here. Ravens will be focused and dominate
Final Score: 23-6 Ravens
don't have an official pick in yet. i haven't made a play but if you see my score you get the idea..
Opposing rookie QB's are 0-6 at M&T Bank with a combined 2 TD's and 8 INTs since Harbaugh took over. I expect that to continue this Sunday. Why? The Browns O-line is banged up and that is not good news for Deshonne Kizer who was sacked 5 times last week. TJ Watt had a monster debut with 2 sacks and picked off Kizer. With TJ Watt(possibly the Steelers game-changer on defense) looking every bit like Palomalu and Keuchly out there and being everywhere on the field, this Steeler defense looks alot more promising than last yearbut i wouldn't say they are quite on the same level as the Ravens just yet.
I see Kizer having a much harder time moving the ball against this Ravens defense. The problem will be the pass protection and the fact they had a hard time running the ball against the Steelers last week. Cleveland's running backs will have just as tough a time going through the RAvens run defense. To make matters worse the Ravens secondary is much better than the Steelers. I wouldn't be surprised if Kizer throws more than 1 interception, i'll predict 2.
Suspect Brown's Defense
I'll admit the Browns did a decent job containing Steelers high octane offense and limit them to just 21 pts but understand this. Le'Veon Bell always seems to miss training camp and preseason so never seems quite in game shape early on. He only had 10 carries that game and wasn't too effective so they stopped giving him the ball and decided to gash the Brown's secondary. I'll go on a limb to say the Brown's #1 run defense hasn't been fully tested yet. I expect the Raven's offensive game plan to be mostly the same as last week. Stick to the run game and throw only when necessary. I do see Joe Flacco throwing a little bit more this time against a suspect Brown's secondary and somewhat better results.
Final thought:
The Ravens' defense will once again be the center of attention here. I see them controlling the game and giving the Ravens offense good field position. The Ravens running game will be put to use again. The Ravens will win all three phases of the game: Offense, defense and special teams. I don't see another shutout happening but i don't see the Browns scoring a touchdown here unless the Ravens are looking ahead to next week and allow a garbage TD. I see the Ravens limiting the Browns to field goals. Ravens are usually strong in home openers when they don't have to play the Bengals. I expect that to be the case again. No overlook factor here. Ravens will be focused and dominate
Final Score: 23-6 Ravens
don't have an official pick in yet. i haven't made a play but if you see my score you get the idea..
Sure the Ravens 20-0 shutout might be misleading as some would say but we saw further proof tonight that the Bengals are just THAT bad and cant hold up their end. But no-one has pointed out that the score of the Browns/Steelers game was misleading. Browns were basically still getting outbeaten on defense by the Steelers with a rusty LeVeon and needed a garbage TD at the end of the 4th quarter for a cover. Special teams play and defense is still bad for the Browns in my opinion, an area where the Ravens excel at. You are praying for another backdoor cover if you take the Browns. They might not be so lucky this time.. thats my 2 cents. GL all
Sure the Ravens 20-0 shutout might be misleading as some would say but we saw further proof tonight that the Bengals are just THAT bad and cant hold up their end. But no-one has pointed out that the score of the Browns/Steelers game was misleading. Browns were basically still getting outbeaten on defense by the Steelers with a rusty LeVeon and needed a garbage TD at the end of the 4th quarter for a cover. Special teams play and defense is still bad for the Browns in my opinion, an area where the Ravens excel at. You are praying for another backdoor cover if you take the Browns. They might not be so lucky this time.. thats my 2 cents. GL all
This is a small play for me, not a regular play. Keep in mind, could be a lookahead spot with the London game on deck so i am wary of a backdoor even though i said in my writeup that Ravens wont overlook and will handle their matchups accordingly. Basically this is a bet about the matchups, nothing else. Not about trends or what Vegas thinks or how one-sided the betting percentages are.
But you never know sometimes with this league what some teams are thinking but i'd like to think i know my team pretty well. Plus I am more enticed to play them when they are in the underdog role, not big faves coming off a big win where they might feel a bit cocky which i dont think my team is quite at all. Team works hard and understand the value of a win. The Ravens know they cant slip up and go 1-1 then play a tough Jags team where London is like a 2nd home for them and potentially go down 1-2 with Steelers and Raiders afterwards. Week 2 is a must win for the Ravens and i feel with absolute certainty they get the job done. I would think they have learned that they need to start off the season fast to gain cushion for the tougher games later.
This is a small play for me, not a regular play. Keep in mind, could be a lookahead spot with the London game on deck so i am wary of a backdoor even though i said in my writeup that Ravens wont overlook and will handle their matchups accordingly. Basically this is a bet about the matchups, nothing else. Not about trends or what Vegas thinks or how one-sided the betting percentages are.
But you never know sometimes with this league what some teams are thinking but i'd like to think i know my team pretty well. Plus I am more enticed to play them when they are in the underdog role, not big faves coming off a big win where they might feel a bit cocky which i dont think my team is quite at all. Team works hard and understand the value of a win. The Ravens know they cant slip up and go 1-1 then play a tough Jags team where London is like a 2nd home for them and potentially go down 1-2 with Steelers and Raiders afterwards. Week 2 is a must win for the Ravens and i feel with absolute certainty they get the job done. I would think they have learned that they need to start off the season fast to gain cushion for the tougher games later.
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