YES, WE HAVE PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR!
As I sit in front of my computer (I am first thankful for spell check as I put two Ls in thankful) early Thanksgiving morning long before the delicious aroma of the turkey in the oven and the loud laughter and political banter of family and friends there are plenty of things I give thanks for. First and foremost the family and friends we have who are there to help in a moments of need and to whom who we graciously return the favor. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Enough of that emotional stuff, this is a football blog so let’s be thankful for football. There will always be a 12 year long black hole in my life– the time between when the Baltimore Colts left and the Ravens arrived in town. A lot of us know what it’s like not to have a hometown team to root for. So this year has not turned out like we wanted it to but we have Ravens football and I am thankful.
We won last week!!! What? Justin Forsett broke his arm and will be out for the rest of the season. We won last week!!! What?  Joe Flacco blow his knee out and will be out for maybe a year including into next season. No, No, say it ain’t so Joe. Yes, last week we won the battle but we may have lost the war. With two more starters going on IR, hence forth formally known throughout the league as Injured Ravens not Injured Reserve. Man, that guy is tough.  Joe stayed on the field for two plays after he injured his knee. With the View from 151, we had no clue Joe was hurt. All we saw was Joe communicating with the sideline and allowing the clock to run down to two seconds so Justin Tucker could come in and kick the winning field goal with no time left. That is just what happened. We won the game.

This team has no give up in it. John Harbaugh has a team of second stringers, young and old, who are playing like a Raven. John’s job has not been easy this year when the next man up may not be anywhere close to having the talent of the player he is replacing. But that being said the replacement players make up a team we can be proud of and thankful for.
18 Ravens on IR -That will be why we remember this season.

I am very, very thankful I don’t live in Cleveland. We play the Browns in Cleveland on Monday night. The Browns are who we thought they were, a disaster. They are one game behind us and they have most of their starting players on the field. Johnny football is benched again for off the field activities during the Bye week. Can’t they get that guy a handler? This truly could be one of the worst  rated Monday Night game of the year. No Joe Flacco and no Johnny football. Matt Schaub and Josh McCown will start as quarterbacks. Look for Buck Allen to have a good night. Last week our defense stopped the Rams rookie RB Gurley holding him to only 66 yards and ending his 4 game streak of 100 yards per game. The Browns can’t run the ball and will not run against our defensive front four. The Browns have the 31st worst rushing offense and the 30th worst rushing defense. Can you say,”Hand the ball to Buck Allen”? The nice part about a game with a lot of running is the game will be short and we get to go to bed earlier. The Browns beat us at home week 5 and we will return the favor Monday night.
Happy Thanksgiving,  everyone. Don’t eat too much and enjoy the games.

WEEK ELEVEN RUNDOWN: Remember this is what we want to happen to help the Ravens, not necessarily what we think will happen. Don’t bet the farm on my picks

Thursday Thanksgiving
12:30

Eagles over Lions
The Chip Kelly experiment is officially over and the Lions have shocked the world by beating the Packers in Green Bay and the Raiders the last two weeks. But we are rooting for our Eagle fan friends.

4:30
Cowboys over Panthers
Grab a plate of food and settle in this could be a great game. Tony Romo came back last week and won. Cam Newton is undefeated but will get his first loss in Dallas.

8:30
Packers over Bears
The Packers are back on top of the NFC North and they know how to play on Thanksgiving. The Bears give up a lot of points, look for Aaron Rodgers to have a big night.

Sunday
1:00

Saints over Texans
NFC vs AFC- We need the Saints to beat the Texans so we can move up in the Wildcard standings. Yes, we are still in the Wildcard race and I won’t give up until the fat lady sings.

Bengals over Rams
Even though this is a NFC vs AFC game we are rooting for the AFC team. The Steelers are in second place in our AFC North only two games behind the Bengals. We definitely don’t want the Steelers to win the division.

Vikings over Falcons
Could you imagine if Matt Ryan blew out his knee? He would be laid out on the field crying like a baby and would need the ambulance to cart him off. Matt Ryan is no Joe Flacco.

Redskins over Giants
The Redskins bounce back from the Panthers beat down last week. Eli Manning is no Cam Newton. Eli will be stopped by the Redskins defense.

Buccaneers over Colts
The Bucs QB Jameis Winston threw for 5 touchdowns last week and will stay on a roll against the Colts defense.
Bills vs Chiefs

You pick’em-Both AFC teams at 5-5
Rex is ticked off about the loss to the Patriots last week and will take it out on the Chiefs.

Titans over Raiders
The Raiders are ahead of us in the Wildcard standings.

Chargers over Jaguars
The Jags are also ahead of us in the Wildcard standings.

Dolphins over Jets
We play the Dolphins next so scout this game.

4:05
49ers over Cardinals
Both NFC teams, rooting for the home team.

4:30
Seahawks over Steelers
The Steelers travel to the west coast just to lose to the Seahawks. Happy Thanksgiving to our special intention in Seattle.

Sunday Night
8:30
Patriots over Broncos
Still rooting for the Patriots to win, go undefeated in the regular season and lose in the first playoff game. Sweet!

Monday Night

RAVENS over Browns
The Ravens defense is coming off the best game of the season and will play like the Ravens of old against the Browns shutting down Josh McCown. Matt Schaub will manage the game with short passes and handing off to Buck Allen. The Ravens will win two in a row.

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the games.
GO RAVENS!!!!
And that’s just the view from 151