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Week 2 Preview

stevenlourie Uncategorized

 

 

Subject to change 

9/8/11 8 PM ET

Arizona at Oklahoma State

QB Nick Foles (Arizona) #8

Foles appeared to be putting it all together last year, completing 75.3% of his passes for an average of 8.4 per attempt, 9 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions, before a knee injury cost him a couple games. He wasn’t the same after that. He has all the physical tools and a very good shot to continue his early 2010 run in 2011.

QB Brandon Weeden (Oklahoma State) #3

A former minor league baseball pitcher, Weeden would be a first round pick if he weren’t turning 28 in October. He completed 66.9% of his passes, for an average of 8.4 yards per attempt, 34 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions last season and has a chance to continue that this year as Justin Blackmon has returned for his redshirt junior season.

9/9/11 7 PM ET

Florida Atlantic at Louisville

WR TY Hilton (Florida International) #4

The 5-10 Hilton runs a 40 in the 4.4s and led FIU in receiving with 59 catches for 848 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also rushed for 282 yards and 4 touchdowns on 30 carries, but if he gets drafted, it’ll be as a kick returner. He returned both a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown last season.

TE Josh Chichester (Louisville) #11

The 6-8 is a former college basketball player and a former wide receiver for the University of Louisville. He needs to bulk up from 240 to become a better blocker, but he can be a serious end zone threat and he caught 22 passes for 317 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2010.

9/9/11 10:30 PM ET

Missouri at Arizona State

TE Michael Egnew (Missouri) #82

Egnew’s 90 catches led all tight ends in 2010 and ranked 11th overall, including wide receivers. However, that only led to 762 yards, a really low yards per catch average. He isn’t a very good blocker at all and he’s only 240 pounds. It also remains to be seen how he’ll fare without Blaine Gabbert.

DE Jacquies Smith (Missouri) #3

Smith had 5.5 sacks and 10 tackles for a loss last season. The 6-4 255 pound defensive end with legit 4.6 speed will have a chance to shine with Aldon Smith now a member of the 49ers after being drafted 7th overall.

 

9/10/11 12 PM ET

Florida Atlantic at Michigan State

QB Kirk Cousins (Michigan State) #8

The big armed pro style quarterback completed 66.9% of his passes for an average of 8.4 yards per attempt and 20 touchdowns to 10 interceptions last season. He has a chance to make Michigan State a legitimate BCS Bowl team this season and could become a top 10 pick and the 3rd quarterback off the board in 2011.

S Trenton Robinson (Michigan State) #39

A leader on Michigan State’s defense, Robinson had 4 interceptions and 71 tackles last year. At 5-10 195, he’s undersized for a safety and will probably not be drafted until the late rounds unless he had a great season or can prove he can play corner.

9/10/11 3:30 PM ET

Alabama at Penn State

RB Trent Richardson (Alabama) #3

Mark Ingram’s backup could actually get drafted higher in 2012 than Ingram was drafted in 2011. The 220 pound runner runs in the 4.4s and rushed for 700 yards and 6 touchdowns on 112 carries and also caught 23 passes. He’ll be the lead back this season and if he plays anything like he did against Penn State last year, 22 carries for 144 yards and a touchdown while Ingram was out, he’ll be the first running back off the board and a first round pick.

OLB Courtney Upshaw (Alabama) #41

One of the most versatile linebackers in the country, the 6-2 260 pound Upshaw played inside and outside in Alabama’s 3-4 last season, compiling 52 tackles and 7 sacks. He’s best fit in a 3-4, but theoretically he could play outside linebacker and defensive end in a 4-3.

9/10/11 8 PM ET

Notre Dame at Michigan

MLB Manti Te’o (Notre Dame) #5

Te’o looks like a first round pick at first glance with 129 tackles and 8.5 tackles for a loss in 2010, but we’ve seen linebackers slip before so he’ll need to repeat his strong 2010 season this year.

DE Ryan Van Bergen (Michigan) #53

Van Bergen looks like a 4-3 left end or a 3-4 end in the NFL. He’s not very athletic or a great pass rusher with a 4.9 40 at 6-3 280 and 4 sacks and 8 tackles for a loss in 2010, but he’s very sturdy against the run and is looking like a mid to late round pick at this point.

 

 

Willie Colon Steelers

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Resigning Colon to a long term deal is a risk because he missed all of last season with an injury, but if he can stay healthy and bounce back from that injury as the player he was before the injury, he’s well worth the 29 million over 5 years the Steelers gave him, as one of the best right tackle in the league. Good news for Steelers fan, only 7.5 million of this deal is guaranteed so it’s fairly low risk.

Grade: A

 

NFL Draft Strategy

stevenlourie Uncategorized

 

I am not an NFL GM, obviously, but I thought it would be interesting to post here exactly what strategy I use to fill out my “Should” Mock.

If a quarterback is needed in the first round, and there is one who I have given a first round grade to available, I take him. Good quarterbacks win games. 20 of the last 21 Super Bowls were won by teams starting former Pro Bowl quarterbacks. The one that wasn’t was in 2008, by the New York Giants, who had Eli Manning at quarterback. Manning made the Pro Bowl the very next year. 9 of the 12 starting quarterbacks that made the playoffs in 2011 were drafted in the first 32 picks (Drew Brees was drafted 32nd overall, which was the 1st pick of the 2nd round at the time he was drafted).

Of the 26 quarterbacks drafted in the 2nd or 3rd round since 2002, 6 still have less than 3 years experience and cannot be counted as statistical evidence, but of the other 20, only two have made the Pro Bowl, with one of those being Drew Brees, who, as I said before, was drafted with the 32 ndoverall pick, even though he was actually a 2nd round pick.

Only one of those 20 have won the Super Bowl as a starter, and, of course, that was Brees. Only 5 of those 20 quarterbacks have thrown 1000 passes in their career. Only 4 have thrown more touchdowns than interceptions in their career. Only 5 have career completions percentages of higher than 60% (minimum 100 throws). Historically, quarterbacks drafted in the 2nd or 3rd are no more likely to pan out than quarterbacks drafted in the 4th through 7th. For more on that, read this.

If a quarterback isn’t needed, but a left tackle or defensive end is needed, I address that need before anything unless it’s a major reach. If I have a franchise quarterback and I don’t protect him, I might as well not have a franchise quarterback. There is no such thing as a sure pick in the NFL Draft. Pretty much every position, except, oddly enough offensive tackle, has an fairly equal chance of busting as any other position, for more on that, read this.

Let me say this again. There is no such thing as a sure thing. We can scout for months and months and months and we still wouldn’t know shit relative to what we’ve convinced ourselves we know. Every pick is a risk. Take a college kid and put him in the NFL with millions and there are just so many things that could go wrong, let alone all the possible career ruining injuries he could face.

If I’m going to make a risk, which, by it’s very nature, a draft pick is, especially a first round pick, I would rather take a risk on a quarterback, a left tackle, or a defensive end, because of how important those positions are, than taking a risk on a defensive tackle, linebacker, or wide receiver.

Have a draft board. Just because there are so many things that could go wrong with a prospect, doesn’t mean the draft is a complete crap shoot. Obviously, if a guy has more talent to begin with than another, it helps. Unless it’s for a position like quarterback, left tackle, or defensive end, or unless none of the players on top of my board at the present moment fill a need, I would never make a huge reach against my draft board. I would actually prefer to take best available at a position of need than reach ten or so spots against my Draft Board. You never know when you’ll need talent at a position. 

 

Oklahoma/Texas Tech

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Spotlight #1: Oklahoma DE Ronnell Lewis

Spotlight #2: Oklahoma TE James Hanna 

1st quarter

13:32: Ryan Broyles with good hustle with a run block on a long run. James Hanna with a good job blocking to open the initial hole.

12:40: Lewis doesn’t go down on a cut block, gets pressure, forces the throw.

11:34: Lewis was one of several closing on the quarterback, forcing a quick throw.

8:18: Lewis has a guy blow past him on a long run. He needs to close quicker.

6:46: Hanna with a good pass block.

0:36: Hanna allows a pressure in pass protection.

2nd quarter

14:13: Lewis not fooled by a trick play, tackle for loss.

12:07: Lewis disengages and falls on a guy who already slipped.

10:57: Broyles fumbles. This is the 2nd straight week he’s done that.

9:07: Lewis is one of several who hits the quarterback as he throws, forcing intentional grounding. Lewis was slow off the snap, but rebounded.

6:40: Lewis explodes in for a tackle for loss on a slow developing play.

6:02: Lewis gets a hand in the quarterback’s face.

3:20: Lewis unblocked on a tackle for no gain, dragged a yard or two and could have been a tackle for loss.

 

3rd quarter

11:12: Hanna struggles in pass protection, gets one on one assignments and needs help.

8:14: Lewis throws his man, gets into the backfield on 4th and 1 in Texas Tech field goal range. Tackle for loss, no conversion. He gets the first hit and brings him down.

7:31: Landry Jones under pressure, throws an off balanced throw, picked off.

0:08: Hanna starts out blocking, disengages, runs a route, catches one open short, powers forward a through a defender for the first down.

4th quarter

12:12: Lewis gets a hand in the quarterback’s face, forces quicker release.

11:21: Jones almost has another pick under pressure.

10:03: Lewis helps Frank Alexander on a sack and a near forced fumble, quarterback was down first.

7:10: Hanna can’t hold onto one after a hit against tight double coverage.

1:19: Hanna makes a tough catch for a good chunk of yardage, laying out for it.

1:10: Hanna in the seam, catches a touchdown for 22 yards. Ryan Broyles flagged for unnecessary roughness after the touchdown for retaliating.

0:00: This game was Oklahoma’s first loss and a huge upset, considering Texas Tech was unranked at the time and undefeated Oklahoma was a legitimate National Championship contender. As you can expect, Landry Jones didn’t play well. He was 30 of 55 for 412 yards, 5 touchdowns, and a pick. Not awful, but not as good as he had been and not good enough to win.

Jones didn’t have a lot of help. He was under pressure a lot and really didn’t respond to the pressure well, throwing one off balance pick and almost a 2nd. His receivers also dropped a lot of passes, including the normally sure handed Ryan Broyles. Broyles dropped 2 passes and also fumbled for the 2nd week in a row. He also had an unnecessary roughness penalty in a key time. He also had a great run block and 7 catches for 84 yards, but that was one of his lowest yardage totals of the last 2 years and not great considering Oklahoma threw 55 times. Broyles is still underrated in my book, but this game was very uncharacteristic for him.

Another receiver who dropped a pass for Jones was James Hanna. Hanna was targeted 4 times and he wasn’t targeted at all until the 2nd half. He dropped one of those targeted, but it was a tough catch against double coverage. He also made up for it with an amazing catch where he laid out for a big gain. He also had a 22 yard touchdown and a short catch that he took for a first down with a powerful run after. It wasn’t the best receiving day with 3 catches for 49 yards and a score, considering how much Oklahoma passed, but he showed some promise as a receiver. On the season, he had 25 catches for 363 yards and 2 touchdowns. This is after 18 catches for 292 yards and 7 touchdowns last year. Considering the offense he’s in, those numbers aren’t great, but he has some upside as a receiver.

As a blocker, there was some good and bad. He started out really well in both run and pass blocking, but declined as the game went on in both phases of the game. At 6-4 243, he’s not the biggest guy and he needs to add more functional strength and become a better blocker at the next level. He could get drafted late as an h-back or pass catching tight end.

Defensively, both of Oklahoma’s defensive ends had good games and got consistent pressure. Frank Alexander once again looked better than Ronnell Lewis. Alexander is about 15 pounds bigger and has been a better pass rusher this season, consistently getting more pressure against a tougher matchup (he’s normally the right end, taking on left tackles). His stats are also better. On the season, Alexander had 51 tackles, 18 for loss, and 8.5 sacks. He absolutely abused Andrew Datko earlier this season. Datko was a first round pick potentially before he got hurt. Lewis has 60 tackles, 13 for loss, and 5.5 sacks, though he’s missed 2 games with injury, but that should hurt his draft stock as well.

Alexander looks like an early 2nd round pick, while Lewis is a 2nd or 3rd rounder, a fringe guy. He’s probably a 3-4 guy solely as a rush linebacker at 6-4 243, but he could also play 4-3 outside linebacker, which he also played in college. He got a good game, but not as good as Alexander, and really looked slow off the snap at point. He doesn’t have the quickest first step and I wonder how he’d do against left tackles.

 

Packers Redskins

stevenlourie Uncategorized

By Packrphan 

I offered my preview, for the most part, in my post of late yesterday afternoon. In today’s match up between our beloved Green Bay Packers and the Washington Redskins I just have to admit that on this one…I am a bit, oh, unclear as to outcome. 

It’s a very strange space in which to be. The first two games of the season, I had it pretty well called. In fact, I nailed the score of both teams right on the money in the opener versus Philadelphia, had the Packers’ score right on the button in the game against the Bills, and had the score of the winning team in game #3, too. Unfortunately, that score turned out to be in favor of Da Bearz not the Pack as I had anticipated. Last week, I figured coming off that horrible performance in Chicago they’d have the guns blazing and blow out Detroit at Lambeau. Didn’t quite turn out that way, as the Pack were lucky to survive their many mistakes in that game and come out with a squeaker of a win. 

So the performances of the last two weeks by the Pack leaves me underwhelmed, particularly with the inconsistency on offense. But if ever there was an opportunity to get things going it should be against Washington: they have the NFL’s 31st-ranked pass defense. They also haven’t exhibited much in the way of pressure on opposing quarterbacks. If the Packers’ makeshift running game can at least keep the defense honest, QB Aaron Rodgers could and should have a big day. 

Now, however, toss in to the mix the fact that the defensive unit, because of  injuries, will resemble more of a preseason squad than regulars and it gives a Packer fan pause, ya know? After all, if the Lions were able to do what they did at Lambeau Field last weekend, what might the Redskins do on their home turf? 

Offensively, the ‘skins have enough weapons to not only test but do damage against the Pack’s beat up defense. It will really take great effort on the part of the backups who are now called upon to start to keep QB Donovan McNabb in check. He’s got a good tight end in Chris Cooley who could cause problems in coverage for the Pack’s linebackers, who will be missing starter Nick Barnett and their best coverage linebacker, Brandon Chillar. There is also a Redskins’ deep threat in WR Anthony Armstrong who caught a 57-yarder last week. And RB Ryan Torain will be getting just his second start, filling in for the injured Clinton Portis. Washington head coach Mike Shanahan drafted Torain while in Denver, and believes he is — or can be — a big-time running back. Let’s hope that doesn’t start today. 

So, where does this leave us besides very confused about what to expect today? I guess nowhere. The Packers are favored by 2-1/2 points. I have the sense that it will be a high scoring game with neither defense holding serve, so to speak. Could look like some of the games we saw late last season where which team has the ball last wins. Prior to the season, I had this game going into the “W” column when giving my overall win/loss prediction. But that was before all the injuries and inconsistent play. The Pack is the better team. But over the past two weeks, especially, they haven’t played like it. And with the hits to the defense this past week, they’ve gotten weaker. Aaron Rodgers and the offense is going to have carry the day big-time if the Pack is to come out of this game with a win. They can do it. But will they? No clue. I have just as much a sense that the Redskins could get the “W” as could the Packers. (I hate it when that happens!) 

Right now, I see this game as a toss up, unfortunately. But I’ll put on the Green-‘n’-Gold-colored glasses and take the Packers 31-30.

http://PackerFansUnited.com

Patriots Preview

stevenlourie Uncategorized

By Cormac Eklof

 

A great man once said, ‘it is what it is’, and that has never applied to the New England Patriots as much as it will this coming NFL season. For all the questions around defense, the running game and Tom Brady’s bizarre mullet, the answers are sitting there, staring at us all unerringly in the face.

Before leaping to the glaringly obvious conclusion, a closer look at the elements that will make up the Patriots year.

When it comes to defense, Bill Belichick is going to earn every cent of his pay check over the next several months. The Patriots have a severe lack of defensive depth, particularly at defensive back, and will at times resemble a frat house with the number of fresh, young faces in the defensive eleven. This works two ways. You could argue that the Patriots are going to be way too raw on defense. Or you could argue that Belichick is working with fresh ‘clay’ to mould. What is clear is, the Patriots ‘D’ is going to be young. Real young. The Patriots drafted and signed twelve prospects, with five of those coming in the first 90 selections of the NFL draft. Several of those dozen players are going to see plenty of field time right out of the gate, most of them on defense.

You could say the ‘D’ is a question mark, but in reality it is fairly obvious that it will struggle at first, the real question is, will Belichick be able to turn this raw crew into anything resembling a functioning NFL ‘D’? We should have some idea by week six, October 17th as the Patriots take the field against Baltimore after their bye week.

The good news is on the other side of the ball. With Wes Welker’s timely and speedy return from injury, the Patriots look set to be explosive through the air yet again. Randy Moss will continue to draw double team, deep coverage while Welker and his ‘Mini-Me’ version of himself, Julian Edelman, mop up ‘under’ the coverage. Meanwhile, Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski has been drawing rave reviews in the pre-season, and looks like a nice new set of hands for Brady to aim at. ‘It is what it is’, the Patriots are going to have no problem moving the rock through the air.

Of course, with the lack of solidity in the running game, they are going to have to.

Has anybody seen Laurence Maroney this off-season? Maroney sightings are akin to Bigfoot sightings, few and far between. The Patriots look like they are going to run by committee with, right now, Taylor, Taylor and Morris leading the way (sounds like a law firm!). That could change at a moments notice.

The thing is, New England has done this before, and done it quite well. While it is a veritable pain in the neck for Fantasy NFL owners, who can’t pick a Patriots RB with any peace of mind, it can be effective. Throw in the ageless Kevin Faulk on third-downs, and the Patriots will run more effectively than some people give them a chance to. Probably not well enough to make people stop saying ‘the Patriots running game is an issue’, however.

Everything ‘is what it is’ so far, and there’s no reason to get away from that mantra when talking about the chap behind center. In this day and age of (rightfully so) protected Quarterbacks and (more debatably) frequently penalized defensive backs, the ‘Field General’ position is more important than ever before. Lucky for New England, they have one of the best. A truly fascinating season lies ahead for Tom Brady. He is now two years removed from reconstructive knee surgery. He should be able to plant and throw with more ease than last season. His crew of wide receivers is deep and talented. He now has a new tight end to play with. He has plenty to prove with the Patriots dragging their heels on his contract.

Add everything up and number 12 is primed for a huge season.

When all is said and done, there should be no great mystery, definitely in the early to mid sections of the Patriots season. As the season progresses, Belichick will have the defense playing tighter, better football and the Patriots will be tougher to score on. For the opening section though, they will continue to struggle to get teams off the field on third down, however they will have no problems scoring their own points. Ready for some high scoring shoot-outs? You better be, ‘cause they are on the way.

That’s the predictable part. What we don’t know is, will the Patriots find a way to come out on top in close games? Can Belichick weave some more defensive magic, using essentially ‘lesser’ components?

One sure thing, with an initially suspect defensive group and, on the flip side, a potentially explosive passing attack, the Patriots certainly are not going to be boring.

Boston Irish blog

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Rams/Buccaneers

stevenlourie Uncategorized

With the Chargers coming off a terrible 35-27 loss to the Oakland Raiders and the Rams 44-6 drubbing to the Lions, last week not even the Amazing Kreskin or the most hard core St. Louis Rams fan would have predicted that the St. Louis Rams would completely dominate the San Diego Chargers. However the St. Louis Rams did dominate and beat the Chargers 20-17 to go 3-3 on the season. 

Today is Steven Jackson day in Tampa Bay! Steven Jackson needs 32 yards to pass Eric Dickerson for 1st place all time in Rams history when he reaches 7246 yards rushing. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 31st against the rush so look for Jackson earn the record early in the games against the Bucs.

With a chance to get to 4-3 on the season this is easily the biggest game for the Rams since 2006. The Rams really need a win here. The Rams only road win in 2009 was against the Detroit Lions, and that is the Rams only road win in their last 15 attempts. A win over the 3-2 Buccaneers and a home win over the currently winless Carolina Panthers would give the Rams a chance to go into the bye week at 5-3!

The Buccaneers are very similar to the St. Louis Rams. The Buccaneers are very young and are 3-2 and looking at this as a huge game for them as well. The Bucs young QB Josh Freeman continues to play well and has a 83.4 QB rating much higher than Sam Bradford who is still ranked 30th in the NFL so do not overlook the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers also have a very young and unknown wide receiving core in Mike Williams, Sammie Stroughter, Arrelious Benn and Micheal Spurlock, much like the Rams.

Sam Bradford who has given the St. Louis Rams a ton of confidence, and rookie wide receiver Danario Alexander will continue to look to make some big plays against the Buccaneers today. The Buccaneers have only four interceptions for the season. That along with the improved play from the Rams offensive line and the balance of Steven Jackson running against the 31st ranked rushing defense should buy Bradford and the Rams passing game a lot of time in the pocket. Look for the Rams to be very balanced and continue to use play action passing and roll-outs for Bradford to make some plays down field.

This is the game Rams fans have been waiting for. Sure it is the Buccaneers and not the Steelers but at this point we will take any win we can get and build off of it. I look for the Rams to play a complete and smart road game today. The Rams still rank 28th in points scored so they will try to keep the game close. The running of Steven Jackson and 3rd down conversions will be huge. I look for the clock to move fast in the first half and the Rams to try and get deep into the game with a chance to win.

Prediction – St. Louis Rams 20 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17

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Ravens Bengals Preview

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By Derek Arnold 

Next up in the “teams whose head coach owes their job to Ray Lewis” are the Cincinnati Bengals. Now we just need the Jacksonville Jaguars (Jack Del Rio) and the 2005-2008 San Francisco 49ers (Mike Nolan) to complete the “#52’s head coach’s tree.” Marvin Lewis’ team is still licking their wounds from that 38-24 drubbing at the hands of the New England Patriots (a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score) in Week 1, and will look to rebound against a team that they had plenty of success against in 2009. 

Those 2009 losses to Cincy were especially surprising for the Ravens and their fans not necessarily because of the outcomes, but because of the manner in which the Bengals were victorious. Running back Cedric Benson rad roughshod over B’More’s usually stout run defense, breaking their streak of 40 consecutive games without allowing a 100-yard rusher on his way to 120 yards in Week 5, and duplicating the feat with 117 yards just four weeks later. Benson managed just 43 yards on 15 carries in Week 1, but his opportunities were quite limited due to his team getting blown out of the water early and being forced to play catch-up.

The Ravens will be looking for some revenge against Benson Sunday. If rookie defensive tackle Terrence Cody is able to suit up (he practiced this week), it will go a long way to exacting said revenge. Along with Haloti Ngata and Cory Redding up front, Benson will be hard pressed to find even a sliver of daylight. Even without Cody, the Ravens did well against the Jets’ vaunted rushing attack last week, as RBs Shonn Green and LaDainian Tomlinson managed 80 yards on 16 carries.

“Well, wait a minute, that’s 5 yards per carry,” you might be saying. The stat is a bit misleading, as Tomlinson ripped off two 21-yard runs in the game. Take away those two, and the numbers drop to 38 yards on 14 carries, a 2.7 ypc average. Of course, you can’t just “take away” big plays – the Ravens need to avoid giving up similar big plays to Benson and Bengals’ “change-of-pace” back Bernard Scott.

Which of course, isn’t to say that stopping the run = Ravens win. Quarterback Carson Palmer has always done well against our Ravens, putting up a career record of 8-3. Even after throwing a pick-6 to Ed Reed last year, Palmer bounced back and led his team to a last-minute game-winning touchdown in Baltimore.

Palmer threw for 345 yards and 2 touchdowns last week in New England, but again – they were in catch-up mode all day after falling behind 31-3. He again has a full compliment of weapons to throw to, including two reality TV stars.

Along with those two, rookie WR Jordan Shipley is dangerous, and Andre Caldwell (though I ripped Mike Preston earlier this week for bringing him up) is set to return from a groin injury and has hurt the Ravens in the past.

Just as getting Cody back could help the run defense, a return from injury in the secondary could greatly improve the Ravens’ chances Sunday. Lardarius Webb has been removed from the injury report, but is still “working out the kinks,” after ACL surgery. With Webby in there, the much maligned Ravens’ secondary is instantly better. Without him, newcomer Josh Wilson and safety Haruki Nakamura will be forced to line up against the Bengals, a matchup that favors Cincy.

The Bengals also gave the Ravens fits on defense last year, holding them to 14 and 7 points, respectively, in the two meetings. This despite Ray Rice racking up 143 and 135 yards from scrimmage (mostly receiving). The problem was that Rice was the team’s leading receiver in both games, as cornerbacks Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph gave Joe Flacco and the Ravens’ wideouts fits.

2010 is a new year, though, and now Hall and Joseph have to deal with Anquan “Q” Boldin and former teammate T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who weren’t there last year. Hopefully Housh can also bring some “insider info” to the Ravens in practice this week – the offense and defense could both use all the help they can get after being swept last season. Tom Brady had no trouble finding his wideouts last week, as both Wes Welker (8 catches, 64 yards, 2 TD) and Randy Moss (5, 59, 0) had better days than any Ravens WR had against the Bengals in 2009.

Of course, he’s Tom Brady. While Flacco looked like Brady on occasion last week, skillfully avoiding the Jets’ pressure and converting key 3rd-and-long situations, but looked downright awful at other times, holding the ball too long in the pocket, overthrowing a wide open Le’Ron McClain in the end zone, and throwing from his back foot. To show that he really is ready to step into the next tier of NFL quarterbacks, as so many experts see him doing, Joe needs to start beating quality QBs – not just the likes of Mark Sanchez and Jay Cutler – in head-to-head matchups. He has the weapons to do it now, so the time for excuses is over. In his defense, he had a perfect touchdown pass dropped last week (by Todd Heap) and another likely touchdown just flat out missed (by Derrick Mason). But he also underthrew Mason on another deep route, underthrew Boldin from his back foot, and missed Ray Rice on a slant that would have given the Ravens a 1st-and-goal inside the 5. We know he can make the throws. What we need to see now is consistency from #5.

The Ravens have revenge on their minds after being embarrassed by Cincy in 2009. The Bengals have redemption on theirs, after being blown out in Week 1.

I think the Bengals do bounce back this week…just not quite high enough.

Ravens 24 Bengals 20

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