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Baltimore Ravens

The State of the Baltimore Ravens

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In the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens have long been considered one of the most consistently good teams in the league, often picked as playoff contenders year in and year out.

This, however, is simply not the case with the 2015 Baltimore Ravens, who have not had a good year so far. All made worse after a painful 26-18 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football, dropping them to a 1-6 record on the season, making them tied with the Detroit Lions for the worst record in the league this year.

Even before the season started the Ravens were contenders for the AFC North division crown, given their constant success. Through the first seven weeks of the regular season, this couldn’t appear to be further from the truth, in fact their current record is the absolute worst one in franchise history. Adding insult to injury is the fact that 2015 is supposed to be the Ravens’ 20th Anniversary season.

One interesting thing to take away from the Ravens’ season is that all of their games have been decided by eight points or less, or roughly a touchdown and a two-point conversion. In every game this season the Ravens have had a chance to either make the game winning score or tie the game in the final two minutes, but in three of those games they ended up losing despite leading during the fourth quarter. Their lone win came against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Heinz Field on Thursday Night football where the Ravens drove down the field and allowed for kicker Justin Tucker to kick the winning field goal in overtime. Much of that win was due to Josh Scobee, the Steelers kicker at the time, missing two field goals in the later half of that game.

Problems on all sides of the ball are what have dragged the Ravens down, given that the defense has given up close to 27 points per game this year, putting them in the bottom half of the league. This, coupled with losing key players such as defensive tackle Haloti Ngata and linebacker Terrell Suggs, and poor tackling, has put the team in a bad situation. Offensively, the team has not gotten off to a hot start and lacks truly explosive playmakers, outside of veteran wide receiver Steve Smith. Quarterback Joe Flacco only has nine touchdowns on the season to eight interceptions.

Week 14 Headlines–BlogTalkFootball MMQB

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Gronk Out For Rest Of Season With Torn ACL & MCL!

Anterior and posterior cruciate ligamentsHeartbreaking news for the New England Patriots as their worst fears are realized: Tight End wonder Rob Gronkowski will be out the rest of the season and probably part of next season with a torn ACL and MCL… I could hear Tom Brady crying in anguish when the news broke on NFL Network. The playoff hunt must go on.

Jets Fly Over Raiders

Geno Smith continues to surprise with a 37-27 win over the Oakland Raiders at home.

Geno threw one pick, one touchdown and ran for another. It looks like having a fully healthy receiving corps is just what the Geno ordered.

Chiefs Scalp Redskins

After an embarrassing 45-10 loss to the Kansa City Chiefs, Washington Redskins’ head coach Mike Shanahan has had enough. He benched RG III during the game and allowed Kirk Cousins to play even though the cause was already lost by then. Shanahan has had to deal with rumors of his having reportedly threatened to leave the Redskins in January of this year after losing his QB and the playoffs to the Seahawks. He refused to fuel any of that speculation with any new information nor would he name a starting QB for next week’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Houston Calling

Axing more head coaches?The recent job opening in Houston after head coach Gary Kubiak was unceremoniously fired following the loss to Jacksonville on Thursday night appears to be interesting to Shanahan, although the name that is currently circulating as a favorite for the job is former Bears head coach Lovie Smith.

Weather Impact

In Baltimore and Philadelphia, the falling snow was the headline of the game as the field kept building up with the white stuff throughout the course of the game. The Baltimore Ravens hosted the Minnesota Vikings in a slugfest that included an injury to Adrian Peterson’s right foot. Ravens’ tight end Dennis Pitta returned from IR to make 6  catches for 48 yards and a touchdown in a game the ended with a flurry of scores from both teams in the final couple minutes of the game as Toby Gerhart (Adrian Peterson’s replacement) rushed for a 41-yard TD for Minnesota, followed by a Jacoby Jones 77-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and then with 45 seconds left, Matt Cassell caught Cordarrelle Patterson for a 79-yard touchdown. Leaving it up to Joe Flacco to drive his team down the field 80 yards in 41 seconds for the game winning touchdown pass to Marlon Brown with 4 seconds left.

The win puts Baltimore in a good position to grab the second NFC Wild Card spot. But with 3 more weeks to go, the playoffs are going to shake up a little more.

Philadelphia was not expected to do well against the NFC North leading Detroit Lions, but after LeSean McCoy’s 217 rushing yard game that included a 40 and 57 yard touch down run, the Eagles finished the game with the win and an 8-5 record. The Lions fell to 7-6 and still lead the NFC North by half a game until the Monday Night Football game where the Bears host the Dallas Cowboys. Both the Lions and the Eagles are hoping for a different outcome to tonight’s game since their division lead depends on the loss of their division counterpart. So the Eagles are rooting for the Bears and the Lions are rooting for the Cowboys.

Chillin’

The Cowboys vs Bears game is expected to be downright frigid as the game time temps are supposed to be in the single digits. Can anyone say frostbite?

The temperature in Denver yesterday for the Titans vs Broncos game was in the teens. That did not stop Peyton Manning from leading his team to a 51-28 blowout of the Tennessee Titans. Matt Prater took advantage of the extra muscle flexes of his shivering legs to kick an NFL record setting 64 yard field goal.

Manning completed 39 passes for 397 yards and 4 touchdowns while the Denver defense held Ryan Fitzpatrick to only 13 completions for 172 yards and 1 touchdown. Manning, who has been under constant criticism of his ability to play in cold weather, told his critics, “Whoever wrote that narrative can shove that one where the sun don’t shine!” He also told Denver Radio Station KOA-AM, “I felt pretty good out there today.”

Who You Are Comes From Within

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Baltimore Ravens Wide Receiver Torrey Smith is a long ball threat on the field. He can make plays on any given game day with his speed and his ability to catch the ball. Those skills are not something that a person can acquire without putting forth a lot of time and effort. Preparation is the key.

Torrey Smith on Twitter

Someone on Twitter told Torrey Smith that if he weren’t so fast, he would be flipping burgers. Smith replied that he graduated.

People believe that NFL players lives are easy.

Some make it look easy, but it is because of the years of preparation that preceded the easy years. Even today, for almost everyone in the NFL, preparation is a daily routine. Players listen to motivating music on their ipods when they are walking around. They train in the weight room and on the track to keep their bodies at the peak of their abilities.

Today’s economy has made a lot of people work harder to keep making a good living, because the better jobs are fewer. Those who prepare themselves by going to college and studying (instead of partying) are the ones most likely to come out with the top jobs, while those who study beer bottles and the party scene will be forced to flip the burgers.

Preparation is key.