Plenty of keyboard pounding has been going on about the Ravens-Browns game last Sunday, an “instant classic” only in how it ended. The Ravens suffered a 33-30 overtime loss to the Browns, after one of the weirdest field goal attempts (and makes) that I have ever seen. In the game, the Ravens exhibited some good (the offense in the second half, Kyle Boller’s play in same half) and some bad (the offense and Kyle Boller’s play in the first half). The Ravens dug themselves a hole, climbed out of it, stood just outside of the hole after taking the lead and got pushed back in by the foot of Phil Dawson at the end of regulation and in overtime. The Ravens are 0-for-the division, with a home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the end of the season left, and now have a four-game losing streak. If by some miracle, this team makes a playoff push, that division record will be a hard hurdle to overcome.
Now comes the “fun” part of the schedule: a road game at the San Diego Chargers, with consecutive home games against the juggernauts of New England and Indianapolis. If all the Raven fans all over the world pray really hard, these games might not be embarrassments. They may actually have a chance with the Chargers, who are not the team that ran over the AFC last season; they are 5-5 and have some serious issues at quarterback. Philip Rivers is not the player he was last year, and defense isn’t quite as good as it was last year either. However, the Ravens have only one road win on the season, a 9-3 snoozer over the San Francisco 49ers; so winning at San Diego, while not impossible, is a daunting challenge.
The home games look like certain losses. New England has been playing name the score all season, and while the Raven defense of last year might have given the Patriots some problems, this year’s defense isn’t that defense. The offense may be able to score some points against the Patriots’ defense, but certainly not enough to keep up with the visitors. I see a Patriot rout. Indianapolis, while having lost two of their last three games, should be a definite favorite against a Raven team they vanquished in last year’s playoffs. The Colts haven’t looked good at all since that last quarter against the Patriots; perhaps they will have snapped out of their funk by the time they hit Baltimore. Considering that the Ravens only scored six points in the playoff loss, they may be hard pressed to equal that unless Kyle Boller has a very good game.
As for the hole that has been dug on the Ravens season, the coffin isn’t in the ground yet. Let’s see what happens Sunday.
