Big Win Against Rival Steelers

I know I've been slacking a little on these posts, but it's been a pretty hectic week for me to say the least. But with all that has happened this past week, the highlight was when Billy Cundiff's field goal in overtime gave the Ravens a much-needed victory over the much hated Pittsburgh Steelers. I still smile as I think back to be leaning on my crutches in M&T Bank Stadium, watching hundreds of Steelers fans walk out of the stadium, trying to hide their "Terrible Towels". I had to sit through three games last year as the Steelers barely edged out the Ravens to sweep them and knock us out of the playoffs. Sunday night felt awesome. I feel like I had something to do with the victory, especially when I woke up Monday morning with a nice, hoarse voice after yelling so much the previous night.

However, even though the Ravens won, it wasn't the prettiest game, but they found a way to win. This is the mark of a good team. And I'm glad that for once this season, we were on the positive side of a close game. And I will give credit to where it is due.

Thank you Ray Rice for having a Pro Bowl caliber season; otherwise, we would be eliminated from the playoffs already.

Thank you Paul Kruger for finally making an impact on this team, and for making Dennis Dixon look like he has never started an NFL football games, even though it took until overtime for you to show up.

Thank you secondary, mainly Lardarius Webb and (I can't believe I am about to say his name) Chris Carr. They both played out of their minds to hold the Steelers wide receivers from absolutely destroying us.

And thank you Billy Cundiff for not being Steve Hauschka.

But it is a team game, and the Raven showed up and played a wonderful game. Now they can't loose again, at least in my opinion, if they want a chance to make it to the playoffs. There are too many teams bunched up right now, so the Ravens cannot afford a loss. The two toughest games we have are coming this Monday night, and then 20 days after that, as the Ravens travel to Green Bay and Pittsburgh. As long as they can pull these two off and take care of the Lions, Bears, and Raiders, I see no reason why the Ravens can't make another surge for the AFC Championship, and possibly their second Super Bowl appearance.

We all know what happened last time the Ravens made it to Super Sunday...

The Horseshoes are Back in Town

On Sunday afternoon, the former Baltimore football franchise comes back into town as the Colts take on the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. This is probably going to be the toughest game that the Ravens have played this season, which isn't a promising statement considering the Ravens have already lost four games. Not to mention, Peyton Manning owns the Ravens, with a record of 6-2. The last time the Colts lost to the Ravens was on December 2, 2001 when the Ravens won 39-27. Since then, it has been all Colts. The last meeting with these two teams came last year when the Colts destroyed the Ravens in Indianapolis by a final score of 31-3.

The Colts bring their undefeated 9-0 record into Baltimore after a last second come from behind victory over the Patriots on Sunday night. It may have been somewhat of a gift from Bill Belichick as he went for it on the now infamous fourth and two, and didn't get it, giving Peyton Manning a short field, which is never a good idea.

Honestly, I want the Ravens to win so badly, and I'll be there screaming at the top of my lungs in section 522, as if it is going to help the corners cover Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark. But I do not have a good feeling about this game. Domonique Foxworth hasn't lived up to his contract, and Fabian Washington and Lardarius Webb aren't shut-down corners. The only hope the Ravens have is that there is a strong pass rush, which may be even more unlikely now that Terrell Suggs is out for an extended period of time. Let's hope Paul Kruger can live up to his hype.

And the Ravens offense needs to show up. They only scored one offensive touchdown on the Browns! That's unacceptable. Period. Monday night should have been a 38-3 trampling, not a 16-0 slopfest. Ray Rice keeps doing his thing, but Joe Flacco has looked average at best lately. They need to take advantage of this banged up Colts defense and put some points on the board.

My prediction for this week (as I forgot to get online and put one up last week) is not going to please the masses around here. Peyton Manning is just too good. Even though I want the Ravens to pull off this upset, I feel that they will lose. And the final score I am guessing is 34-17, a game that Peyton Manning puts away in the early fourth quarter. Let's hope I'm wrong about this, but after watching the games that each one of these teams has just played, I do not see any other outcome.