The View from 151-THURSDAY NIGHT EDITION

THE RAVENS ARE 0 AND 3 WE HAVE NEVER SAID THAT BEFORE

For the first time in Ravens history we start the season 0-3. The Ravens defensive secondary just could not fight off the Bengals Andy Dalton and AJ Green last week. Joe and Steve Smith gave us two fourth quarter leads but the defense let the leads slip away allowing the Bengals to also score twice in the fourth quarter to win the game 28-24. The Ravens are not a bad 0-3 team, we are a team that has a defensive weakness in the secondary and have injuries to key players. We are just three plays away from 3-0, losing all our games by a combined total of 14 points. We have had late fourth quarter leads in each of the three games but we just couldn’t hold on to the win.

Can we fix the problems?

As Buck Showalter would say “I like our guys”, we have to like our guys since they are team we have. We have a good team but we just need a break or two to go our way. We need injured players to come back without some else getting hurt to replace them on the injury list. We need to hold on to fourth quarter leads. We need a little time to get the secondary right. Maybe we got that break this week. How can I say that, IT’S STEELER WEEK and on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. It’s a short week of preparation, we go on the road, we have no time!!!! Yes we do, we get a break we have been looking for, Ben Roethlisberger is out, so an old Michael Vick will be starting for the Steelers this week.

The Steelers worst nightmare happened last week when Roethlisberger sprained his knee and will be out four to six weeks. Vick will start this week against the Ravens. With Vick at quarterback, the Steeler’s deep threat with Antonio Brown is gone. Vick can’t throw the ball deep any more, giving our secondary a chance to organize and figure out their assignments. Assignment one, cover Antonio Brown, assignment two, cover Antonio Brown, assignment three, COVER Antonio Brown, well you get what I am saying COVER ANTONIO BROWN!!!. Vick’s long passes will be short giving us a chance to intercept. Can you say “pick six”? Back in his day, Vick was a running threat. Not this week! We can contain him to stay in the pocket where our pass rush can get to him. The Steelers can run the ball and are good on the goal line with Bell and Williams but without a passing game they won’t get close to the goal line. It’s going to be a long night for Vick. Joe and the offense can put up enough points to cover our defense. The Steelers defense has only been tested once this season in a loss to the Patriots. Pittsburgh gives up a lot of yards but not a lot of points. Crockett Gillmore has not practiced and may not play so look for rookie tight ends Max Williams (or can I say Todd Heap) and Nick Boyle to have a good night. Steve Smith has carried the offense on his back all season and will do the same Thursday night. We, can control this game on the ground and win it on the foot of Justin Tucker.
WEEK FOUR RUNDOWN: Remember- this is what we want to happen to help the Ravens not necessarily what we think will happen. So don’t bet the farm on my picks.

Thursday night
8:25

RAVENS over Steelers
Get your popcorn ready early this week because it’s Thursday night and you know what that means–work production goes down in Baltimore on Friday. A division game on the road in Pittsburgh that may go down to the final seconds. So stay up late to watch the Ravens win on a last minute field goal. GO RAVENS!!!!

Sunday
1:00

Dolphins over Jets
Jets have a better AFC record. Rooting for the home team.

Jaguars over Colts
Both teams have 1-2 AFC records so we are just rooting against the Colts. Finally we get to root against the Colts.

Giants over Bills
NFC vs AFC The Bills are playing pretty good this season so we want the Giants to knock them back to reality.

Panthers over Buccaneers
It’s only week four and it gets complicated already. So stay with me when I say we want the Panthers to win. Both are NFC teams so it really doesn’t matter against the Ravens. We would usually root for the home team Bucs but the Panthers are tied with the Falcons for first place in their division so we are rooting against Matt Ryan in this game. We just don’t like Matt Ryan and the way everyone says he’s better than Joe Flacco.

Eagles vs Redskins you pick ’em
Both have 1-2 NFC records. Congress will be working overtime to keep the Federal government from shutting down over the budget. But if the Redskins lose, you might as well shut the government down on Monday since none of the DC workers will want to work.

Bears over Raiders
The 0-3 NFC Bears playing at home. Are the Bears throwing in the towel for this season by trading away two good defensive players with others maybe on the trading block? I hope not. We need them to beat the Raiders who have a better AFC record than the Ravens.

Falcons over Texans
Another complicated game where we need to keep emotion out of our picks and root for the NFC team over the AFC team even though the NFC team is the Falcons with Matt Ryan. The Falcons have the #3 offense in the league and making Joe look bad but it’s way too early in the season to talk about rankings.

Chiefs over Bengals
The Bengals pass attack made our secondary look bad last week and probably will do the same this week against the Chiefs. But we need the 1-2 Chiefs to beat the 3-0 Bengals.

4:05

Chargers over Browns
Rooting against the division rival Browns who (and I can’t believe I am saying this, but) have a better record than the Ravens. Has the world gone mad? We play the Browns in Baltimore next week so watch what they do at quarterback. Who will they play– Josh McCown or Johnny Football? Johnny sat on the bench last week to watch the Browns loss to the Raiders, while two weeks ago Johnny started and got their only win.

4:25

Packers over 49ers
Both NFC teams but rooting against the home team and for our Packer fan friends. Dan- we didn’t see you on TV last week you must have been wearing hometown Packer green just like everyone else.

Cardinals over Rams
Rooting for the home team 3-0 Cardinals against the 1-2 Rams, this could be a blowout. Scout this game since we play both of these NFC teams later this season.

Viking over Broncos
Again we put our emotions in our pocket and root for the NFC 1-2 Vikings (even though we don’t like them) over the AFC 3-0 Broncos. The Broncos are 3-0 with the 30th ranked offense. How can that be?  Because they have the best ranked defense. The Vikings Adrian Peterson against the #1 defense. This could be the game to watch at 4:25 when you should be doing other things.

Sunday Night
8:30

Cowboys over Saints
The Pope is back in Rome, so the 0-3 Saints will need Drew Brees to come back from a shoulder injury to have any chance of beating the Cowboys who will not have Tony Romo. The Cowboys Defense should be able to control this game. This could be a game to stay up and watch if Drew Brees plays. If not, the Cowboys should have this game wrapped up by halftime.

Monday Night
8:30

Seahawks over Lions
Haloti Ngata and the 0-3 Lions don’t have a chance against the Seahawks with their defense and RB Marshawn Lynch. Rooting for the home team and our special intention in Seattle, praying for some good news.

Going to Pittsburgh on a short week, forecasting rain all weekend, and a hurricane coming up the east coast– could it be any worse? All I know is the sun will be shining in Baltimore Friday morning after the Ravens beat the Steelers. Enjoy the games.

And that’s just the view from 151

GO RAVENS!!!!!