Second Half Underway

Two-Minute Drill – Week 11

So tell me: while the Ravens had the Sunday off, what did you spend your time doing?

Watching other games?

Raking leaves?

Decorating for Christmas?

Joyce gets me here…

In case you opted to stay away from football, in fear of seeing other teams succeed and the Ravens fall further into the rear-view mirror of the playoffs (or further up draft boards if you’re a cup-half-full kinda person!), here’s what you may have missed:

-San Fran beat the Giants, thus ending the 49ers winless season; however, not ending the tenure of G-Men coach Ben MacAdoo.

-The same Jags team that dismantled the Ravens, needed OT to beat the hapless Chargers? Okay…

-The Rams took out a bad Houston team 33-7. LAR has now scored 30-40 points 3x, 40-50 points 2x, and 51 1x. REAL. DEAL. FOLKS.

-Indy had a chance to beat the Steelers, then went on and let the Steelers walk all over them in the final 5 minutes to seal the game. Thanks, Colts. Typical…

-Point totals in Week 10: Saints (47), Panthers (45), Pats (41), Lions (38), Vikes (38), Rams (33), 49ers (31). So much for the early season narrative of “points at a premium” and “OL issues looming large.”

Alas, the bye week is behind us in Baltimore, as we look ahead to a trip to the historically awesome Lambeau Field to tangle with Brett Hundley and the Packers.

Preface: get those salty comments ready, because this isn’t going to be the Purple Kool Aid driven narrative you’d hope for against an injury riddled Pack!

(clears throat…deep breath… cracks knuckles…)

Oh look! Another backup quarterback to face the Ravens!

Add Packers QB Brett Hundley to the long list of clipboard holders the Ravens face in 2017; Baltimore has already faced Case Keenum, Mitch Trubisky, E.J. Manuel, and Matt Moore, and still look to face Tom Savage, Jacoby Brissett, and whoever the hell the Browns will run out in Week 15 of the season…

Just think about that – the Ravens have faced the awful Browns, the not-quite-as-horrendous-but-still-awful Bengals, 4 backups quarterbacks…

…and they’re only 4-5.

This week, the Ravens face the 5-4 Packers, who will be trotting out Hundley under center, after an Aaron Rodgers shoulder injury has him sidelined until his eventual miraculous healing that will have A-A-Ron ready for the eventual playoff run from a wild card spot for Green Bay.

Yup, I’m confident that they are a good team.

I’m also confident that the Ravens? Are not.

With a current 2-2 record against backup quarterbacks, my faith in the Ravens to beat Hundley is…non-existent.

Let’s chat a little about Green Bay, shall we?

The Packers are coming off a win against the Bears (same Bears team the Ravens lost to a few weeks back) 23-16 in Week 10. The Pack hit pay dirt twice in the game – once via Ty Mongtomery with a 37-yard scamper, and a Davante Adams 19-yard pass from Hundley. It was Green Bay’s first win since Rodgers’ injury 4 weeks ago versus the Vikings (same Vikings team that dismantled the Ravens – don’t give me a socreboard with junktime points to argue that point).

In 3 full games with Hundley under center, Green Bay’s offense has averaged 19 points per game, while the defense has allowed 24 points per game.

That all sounds great… until you look at the competition.

Their last 3 games have come against the Saints, Lions & Bears. A few high-scoring offensive teams, then the Bears who seem content to score in that 14-20 range weekly, knowing their defense will hold.

The Ravens offense is not the Saints offense. Nor is it the Lions offense. It’s barely the Bears offense, and as we saw a few weeks back in a head-to-head versus Chicago? It may not even be as good as Trubisky & Jordan Howard with a handful of no-name receivers!

Not enough doom & gloom yet?

Try this on: the Ravens are 2-3 on the road, and going to Lambeau Field, where they are 0-3 in team history. 1-5 overall against the Pack.

So yea…

PREDICTION:

The Ravens and Packers both have struggling offenses. As such, both will struggle, making their defenses look far superior to what they actually are.

Joe Flacco will throw for 250 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, while Alex Collins hits 100 total yards on the day. Danny Woodhead will be active, but a decoy for the most part. Give him 3 catches for 15 yards to be kind.

The Packers will win this game, mostly due to the leg of Mason Crosby, who will kick 3 40+ yard field goals, including 2 in the 4th quarter to seal the victory, while the Ravens watch a close game slip away in the final few drives of offensive ineptitude.

Post game, we’ll see and hear the usual: “We saw some good things out there,”and “we’re close to pulling it all together,” and “we need to stay the course and things will come together.”

BAL 13

GB  23

I’m not one to believe the Ravens game is going to be exciting, high energy, or high scoring. If you find yourself flipping around, or checking out a few later games to remind you what a legitimate NFL offense should look like, here’s a few I’d recommend…

Cards @ Texans Sun 11/19 @ 1pm. Scoping out the next opponent in the Texans… oh look! Tom Savage! another backup QB on an injury-riddled team! (Psssst! We’re pulling for Houston if only to make sure Cleveland doesn’t end up with 2 top-5 overall picks next season!)

Eagles @ Cowboys Sun 11/19 @ 8:30pm. The Cowboys appear to be reeling without stud RB Zeke Elliott, while the Eagles are the top team in the NFL right now. THE FRIGGIN’ EAGLES MAN! I’m just watching to see if they pan over to Jerrah while he’s blowing a gasket as Goodell texts him a wink/kiss face emoji…

Falcons @ Seahawks Mon 11/20 @ 8:30pm. Honestly? Both teams here could be fringe playoff teams, but neither has me sold as a true contender. The Seahawks march forward without the services of Richard Sherman (ACL), while Matt Ryan and the Falcons just aren’t the same without their former OC, Lil Shanny. Should be a fun game!

With no Baltimore football to be seen on TV last weekend, it’s likely you ended up watching a few other games. Rightfully so! But as we watched these games, we of course had a tendency to make some comparisons to our own team. The odds that you caught yourself grumbling about the Ravens are pretty damn good… here’s the top candidates likely spewed from Baltimore pie holes last Sunday:

Top-5 Phrases You Likely Mumbled Watching Non-Ravens Football

5- “SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU RUSH MORE THAN 3 GUYS!” Somebody call Dean Pees! He’s gonna want to see this!

4-“HUH…A 2 MINUTE DRILL WHERE NOBODY IS WALKING…” Well that’s new!

3-“____ HAS MORE CATCHES THAN PERRIMAN ALREADY…” After rookie WR catches first pass of the season

2-“WONDER IF HE’LL BE A HEAD COACH CANDIDATE FOR THE RAVENS IN ’18?” In reference to literally every/any coordinator.

1-“WHY CAN’T THE RAVENS DO THAT?!?!” Watching a great play on offense… or defense… maybe a legit challenge flag thrown… hell, a solid punt would have me envious these days…

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