As I sat in 151 at M&T last Sunday watching our once dominate defense get slashed by Baker Mayfield and the Browns, I thought of and old depressing song from the 60’s ( I know I am dating myself). The title is Abraham, Martin, and John. It’s about how the singer misses some old friends and it made me think of some old friends that the Ravens defense is missing.  The song kinda goes like this:

Has anybody seen my old friend Za’Darius? Can you tell me where he’s gone? (Packers) You know, he stopped a lot of runners. But it seems the good move on, yeah I just looked around and he’s gone.

(verse 2)
Has anybody seen my old friend C J? Can you tell me where he’s gone? (Jets) You know, he sacked a lot of quarter backs. But it seems the good move on, yeah I just looked around and he was gone.

(verse 3)
Has anybody seen my old friend Eric? Can you tell me where he’s gone? (Rams) You, know he broke up a lot of passes.  But it seems the good move on, yeah I just looked around and he was gone.

(verse 4)
Has anybody seen my old friend Terrell? Can you tell me where he’s gone? (Cardinals) You know, he caused a lot of havoc. But it seems the good move on, yeah I just looked around and he was gone.

So, this song helped me sink deeper into depression and allowed me to ignore the reality that the Ravens once mighty defense has sunk on par with the likes of the Dolphins.   Where has the defense gone?

Thank you for indulging me and allowing me to wallow in my self-pity.

But as my father said to me when I was a boy “SUCK IT UP AND MOVE ON”. We all must move on to the Steelers.

WHAT! Holy crap! I almost forgot-it’s Steelers Week!

Hey, everybody it’s Steelers Week! I have some catching up to do since I’m a couple of days behind.

The Ravens go to Pittsburgh to face what some may say is a depleted Steeler team.  I say no way can we think any less of this Steeler team than any other Steeler team we have faced in years past.  Yes, Roethlisberger is out for the season, Bell and Brown are no longer with the team, their running back Conner is gimpy at best, and they will start a back up quarterback Mason Rudolph.  We can’t look past Rudolph or this team.  I can remember sitting in 151 on a September Sunday afternoon when Ray Lewis sacked Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox and knocked him out of the game. The back up quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, took over, scoring two touchdowns and almost winning the game.  So, this may not be the Steeler team we are use to playing, but it’s still the hated Steelers and this is a must win for the Ravens to get back on track defending our division title.

OK, enough with the past, back to the present and the unknown.  I desperately want to say the Ravens will go the Pittsburgh and easily beat the Steelers in front of all those obnoxious fans.  But, even after four games we just don’t know who our team is.   The Ravens are 2-2 in second place of the AFC North behind the Browns and we have a defense giving up more yards in one game this year than we gave up in three last year.  Brandon Williams missed last week against the Browns, but should be back to play on Sunday. This should help stop the Steelers from running the ball, but we still need to tighten up the secondary to stop their passing game.

I hope you enjoyed my song this week. I encourage you to look up and listen to the song so I don’t look like a total fool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5hFMy4pTrs

The highlight of last week’s game was meeting fellow Ravens fans from across the pond.  The Scottish Ravens were at the game. Follow them on twitter @scottishravens

GO RAVENS!!!

Remember my picks are teams we want to win not teams that we think will win.  It’s all about helping the Ravens in the standings.  So save your vintage vinyl  record money and don’t bet on my picks.

Thursday Night 8:00

Seahawks 30 over Rams 29
Finally a Thursday night game worth watching.

Sunday 1:00

RAVENS over Steelers
We need to protect Lamar against the Steelers pass rush that sacked Andy Dalton eight times last Monday night.  The Ravens offensive game plan this week is, run the ball, run the ball, RUN THE FREAKING BALL!  The Steelers give up a lot of yards on the ground and we should be able to exploit that weakness.  Wink Martindale and the defensive coaches are working overtime to get things fixed on defense.  Somebody needs to step up and take charge on defense and they need to start this week.  The Ravens go into Pittsburgh and control the game on the ground and come out with a win.

GO RAVENS!!!

Panthers over Jaguars
NFC over AFC

Redskins over Patriots
I just thank God I’m not a Redskin fan.

Titans over Bills
We play the Bills week 14 and they have a better record than the Ravens

Cardinals over Bengals
Put a fork in the Bengals, they’re done.

Falcons over Texans
NFC over AFC

Saints over Buccaneers
Both NFC teams, rooting for the home team

Giants over Vikings
Both 2-2 NFC teams, rooting for the home team

Bears over Raiders
NFC over AFC, and the Raiders have the same record as the Ravens

Eagles over Jets
The 2-2 Eagles need a win over the 0-3 Jets

4:00

Broncos over Chargers
Joe Flacco and the Broncos are 0-4.

Packers at Cowboys
You pick’em. If you have the strength after the Ravens beat the Steelers, this will be a great game to watch.

Sunday Night 8:00

Chiefs over Colts
The Colts are 2-2 same as the Ravens.

Monday Night 8:00

49ers over Browns
The Browns are on prime time again?

BYE WEEK: Lions and Dolphins

Enjoy the games knowing things could be worse, we could be Redskin fans.

And that’s just The View From 151.

GO RAVENS!!!