Gabrosin
11-20-2006, 03:07 PM
I have to say, 8-2 feels damn good. This is really the first time I've ever felt like the Ravens have a complete team. There's still plenty of room for improvement, but as long as the offensive line continues its current level of play, there's also no glaring area of weakness. Our offense picks up for our defense; our defense picks up for our offense; our special teams have excelled in all facets. Every win a different set of players are contributing the most. Steve McNair plays smart and can bring us back in the fourth quarter. Mason, Clayton, and Heap provide a reliable set of targets that keep defenses guessing, and Demetrius Williams has shown some ability as a deep threat with speed and good hands. The offensive line has in many cases played well beyond their expectations. Kelly Gregg has been phenomenal, and Haloti Ngata looks like another first-round Baltimore star. Trevor Pryce has stayed healthy and been a huge factor; now his contract looks like a steal, compared to guys like John Abraham who can't stay on the field. Bart Scott and Adalius Thomas have made the world question whether Ray Lewis is still top dog in his own unit. Our secondary and our running game have both had bumpy rides so far, but they still provide a contribution in some weeks. Stover has been nearly perfect (thanks for that streak-tracking graphic Fox, you know how to ruin a good thing), Koch has shown great leg strength, and Sams just showed everyone what he's capable of. Our starters have stayed mostly healthy and our reserves haven't let us down, be it Jason Brown, Chris Chester, Jarret Johnson, Dennis Haley, or Ronnie Prude. Both of our losses have come against very good teams, and despite some scares, we've taken down every team that we were supposed to.
And the beauty of it all is that we're getting very, very little noise as a Super Bowl threat. People look at the Cleveland and Tennessee games and call us lucky; but the Colts can nearly slide against Tennessee and Buffalo, and they're favorites; the Bears can lose to the Dolphins and nearly tank against the Cardinals and they're the best in their conference; teams with huge question marks like the Broncos (Plummer), the Chargers (the secondary), the Giants (injuries and Eli), and the Patriots (the secondary again, and to some extent the receivers) are all mentioned as having a great chance to reach the big game.
The fact is, we're 8-2, one game back of the top seed in the AFC, with a head-to-head tiebreaker against the other team that shares our record (San Diego). With three games up on the Bengals, we've all but sealed the division title (something very few people were willing to even give us a chance at when the season started); we've still got four divisional games to go, and all six remaining contests are in conference, so we're in complete control of our chase for the division AND a first-round bye. And we've done all this while playing against the only two divisions that have three legitimate playoff contenders (SD, Denver, and KC in the AFC West, NO, Atlanta, and Carolina in the NFC South); we're 5-2 in games against those divisions so far.
We have three difficult road contests remaining, along with two home rivalry games against Pittsburgh and Cleveland. None of them are going to be easy, but I would favor the Ravens in every single one. The Chiefs are our only remaining opponent with a winning record. Meanwhile, Denver has to go to KC and SD and hosts Seattle and Cincy; San Diego hosts Denver and KC and travels to Seattle; New England hosts the Bears and travels to the Jaguars, plus road games against the Dolphins and Titans, either one of which could pull an upset. And while the Colts look to have a smooth road ahead, they still have to face a desperate Philly team, followed by travelling to Tennessee and Jacksonville and hosting Cincy.
If the Ravens stay focused, there's a very good chance of getting one of those top two seeds in the AFC... and an even better chance that no one will notice us doing it, caught up in the hype of Manning and Brady and Rivers and Grossman and hell, even Tony Romo.
After a few seasons of failing to live up to expectations, it's a welcome change to be forgotten. May the NFL and the media lose sight of us completely, until we're holding the Lombardi trophy.
And the beauty of it all is that we're getting very, very little noise as a Super Bowl threat. People look at the Cleveland and Tennessee games and call us lucky; but the Colts can nearly slide against Tennessee and Buffalo, and they're favorites; the Bears can lose to the Dolphins and nearly tank against the Cardinals and they're the best in their conference; teams with huge question marks like the Broncos (Plummer), the Chargers (the secondary), the Giants (injuries and Eli), and the Patriots (the secondary again, and to some extent the receivers) are all mentioned as having a great chance to reach the big game.
The fact is, we're 8-2, one game back of the top seed in the AFC, with a head-to-head tiebreaker against the other team that shares our record (San Diego). With three games up on the Bengals, we've all but sealed the division title (something very few people were willing to even give us a chance at when the season started); we've still got four divisional games to go, and all six remaining contests are in conference, so we're in complete control of our chase for the division AND a first-round bye. And we've done all this while playing against the only two divisions that have three legitimate playoff contenders (SD, Denver, and KC in the AFC West, NO, Atlanta, and Carolina in the NFC South); we're 5-2 in games against those divisions so far.
We have three difficult road contests remaining, along with two home rivalry games against Pittsburgh and Cleveland. None of them are going to be easy, but I would favor the Ravens in every single one. The Chiefs are our only remaining opponent with a winning record. Meanwhile, Denver has to go to KC and SD and hosts Seattle and Cincy; San Diego hosts Denver and KC and travels to Seattle; New England hosts the Bears and travels to the Jaguars, plus road games against the Dolphins and Titans, either one of which could pull an upset. And while the Colts look to have a smooth road ahead, they still have to face a desperate Philly team, followed by travelling to Tennessee and Jacksonville and hosting Cincy.
If the Ravens stay focused, there's a very good chance of getting one of those top two seeds in the AFC... and an even better chance that no one will notice us doing it, caught up in the hype of Manning and Brady and Rivers and Grossman and hell, even Tony Romo.
After a few seasons of failing to live up to expectations, it's a welcome change to be forgotten. May the NFL and the media lose sight of us completely, until we're holding the Lombardi trophy.