What they're saying about the Ravens' schedule
Here's a roundup of what the national media think about the Ravens' schedule. Be sure to check The Sun's breakdown from Jamison Hensley.
ESPN.com's James Walker breaks down each team's schedule. Here's what he says about the Ravens:
The Ravens have the league's fifth-toughest schedule despite their 5-11 finish last season. The month of December will be brutal as the team faces the Washington Redskins (Dec. 7), Pittsburgh Steelers (Dec. 14), Dallas Cowboys (Dec. 20) and Jacksonville Jaguars (Dec. 28).
ESPN.com's Matt Mosley breaks down every Monday night matchup. Here's what he says about the Ravens-Steelers game on Sept. 29:
Apparently this is now a MNF staple. I watched the Ravens completely fold at Heinz Field on Monday night last season. Ben Roethlisberger had a huge game, and Steelers linebacker James Harrison introduced himself to the rest of the country. The former Kent State player has been a bit distracted with some off-the-field issues, but watching Harrison and Ray Lewis on the same field will be pretty entertaining.
Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com offers his take on the Ravens' schedule:
First-year Baltimore coach John Harbaugh better have his team ready early. Three of the first four games are against division opponents.
AFC North teams appear on Monday Night Football more than any other division, according to ESPN.com's Mike Sando.
ESPN.com's John Clayton says AFC North teams will have a tough time this season, facing the NFC East and AFC South:
The flag that will hang above the eventual winner of the AFC North will be tattered and torn. Now that the 2008 NFL schedule is released, it looks worse on paper for AFC North teams than it did at the end of the regular season when opponents weren't attached to dates. The AFC North faces the perfect storm of nondivision opponents, a storm that hits as hard as an F5 tornado.
ESPN.com's DJ Gallo runs down the top 43 games of next season. The Ravens make his list twice:
Ravens at Steelers -- Monday, Dec. 29 -- The Pittsburgh faithful will be plenty loud for this "Monday Night Football" matchup. Especially with a liquored-up mascot leading the cheers.
Bengals at Ravens -- Sunday, Sept. 7 -- With Baltimore getting to open up with the Bengals at home, that post-Brian Billick offense should look outstanding. At least for a week.
Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports says the Ravens-Raiders game is the best matchup of Week 8:
I know, this one is pretty weird. But it’s kind of a throwback game to football of the 1970s. Two really talented defensive teams figure to get locked in a low-scoring battle as the brother tandem of Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan takes on Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan. The big question is how much the Ravens defense will mess with the second-year Oakland quarterback. Russell may be able to stand up to a lot of hits, but he’s going to take a lot, particularly as the game progresses.
ESPN.com's Jeremy Green identifies intriguing matchups in '08, three of which include the Ravens:
Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins (Week 7) - This is a grudge match for the Ravens because they were the lone victim of the 1-15 Dolphins last season. Last year's loss cost Baltimore head coach Brian Billick his job, yet Miami's win couldn't save head coach Cam Cameron his job. Baltimore's new offensive coordinator is Cameron, who would love to beat the team that fired him after only one season.
Oakland Raiders at Baltimore Ravens (Week 8) - This will be known as the sibling rivalry between Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan and Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. I am sure each coach will spend just as much time in the offensive meeting room spilling the dirt on his brother's defensive philosophies as he does in the defensive meeting room forming his own game plan.
Philadelphia Eagles at Baltimore Ravens (Week 12) - Many were surprised by the hiring of career special teams coach and one-year defensive back coach John Harbaugh as the head coach in Baltimore. Harbaugh will face his mentor, Eagles head coach Andy Reid, in this interconference matchup.
CBSSports.com's Clark Judge says the Ravens-Raiders matchup is one to avoid:
What do you say we just let the Ryan Brothers decide this in a best-of-three falls? What ... you'd rather watch JaMarcus Russell in a throwdown versus Steve McNair/Kyle Boller/Troy Smith? Please.
Comments
I love getting the national media snub every year. I hope they sleep on this team all season. Clayton is the only one of them worth reading. The Ohio and Pensylvania Writers and yappers all seem to hate the Ravens.
That will make the Ravens rise even more interesting as they knock off favorite after favorite all year. The NFC East and AFC South are the toughest divisions we could have drawn, but the Bungles and Clowns have to deal with them also, and I doubt they measure up. The NFC teams really don't scare me at all still. They are a tough and balanced division, but just because they don't have any bad teams does not mean they are all like NE, SD, Indy or the Jags.
The Bungles still have no defense, they lost the most difficult matchup for us in Henry, and the O line is getting older and more beat up.
The Clowns still have big holes on defense also. I like the LBs, but the DL is still suspect, and the secondary is a bunch of suspects I never heard of and Baxter's bionic knees.
The Steelers letting Faneca walk is going to get them a busted backfield. Ngata is going to really abuse the replacement, and open up the outside rush lanes because of all the double teaming, Hot Sauce. The Steelers really did not look very dangerous after the Jags slapped the fight out of them in week 15 or 16. The Ravens back ups beat down whatever starters were there, and the notion they were not trying to beat us is flat out wrong. The steelers knew the Jags would be a problem they could avoid for a while by beating us and SD losing in week 17. SD was still in a close game all through the 3rd quarter of our game, so that is how long they kept any starter who was not hiding from a Bart Scott payback cheap shot, on the field.
Posted by: Jeremiah | April 16, 2008 2:10 PM
If we don't develop an offensive line that pass protects consistently, and restore our defense to one that pressures QBs and covers receivers, we'll embarrass ourselves on national and local TV again. Blame will be placed on Kyle Boller, if he's the QB as he should be, for all the team's faults, but he's as used to that as he is to having less than three seconds before his pocket collapses or a defender is in his face.
Posted by: Al | April 16, 2008 3:42 PM
December is more of a question mark than anything. Dallas on the road will be brutal and Jacksonville at home won't be easy either. The Redskins, however, are a huge question mark and the Steelers have a big hole to fill in Faneca.
As for the AFC North, I agree there are a lot of question marks for every team. The Browns look like a contender on paper but let's not forget that a lot of it depends on Anderson, he played poorly towards the end of last year and he could very well be a one-year wonder. Not to mention they still have holes on defense, particularly in the secondary, and Shaun Rogers, though he can be a dominant player, has weight issues so they'll have to do a better job motivating him than Detroit.
Bengals? They are likely to be a disaster. Horrendous defense and lost two of their better defensive players this offseason. Released that convict Chris Henry and Chad Johnson has turned into TO, who knows if he'll be there in the opener. Both of them gone though they are likely to be good but far from great on offense. I predict they'll finish last in the North.
Steelers? They lost a big hole on an already shaky O-line in Faneca so they'll need to draft his replacement. Their running game will likely be less dominant this season.
The Ravens need to get younger in certain areas and need to figure out the QB situation. The O-line will have to improve significantly this year if we want to get better on offense. So theres a ton of question marks on offense. Defensively, we have to get younger and add more depth but still should be a top ten defense this year.
Unfortunately, I think it'll come down to
the Browns or Steelers next year. Neither of them though will seriously dominate the division as the division faces the AFC South and NFC East. I think the winner will likely win 10, 11 games at the most.
Posted by: Marcus | April 16, 2008 8:44 PM
TROY SMITH!!!!! I'm amped for an interesting - that's the only adjective I can apply right now - season.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 17, 2008 8:41 AM
I just want to say I enjoyed reading the breakdowns offered in the comment section more than those in the national media.
Posted by: Bo | April 17, 2008 9:34 AM
No love for Baltimore....as usual. From what I hear though Harbaugh has been changing a lot of things already in mini camps. No more veteran preference (sorry Ray), and weight lifting is now all power reps instead of endurance. I think we can surprise some people, especially with a good draft. Troy Smith needs a shot at the starting role too. Hopefully the birds to well cause I'm really getting sick of PA/OH writers.
Posted by: Justin | April 17, 2008 10:32 AM
I think this year will be a tough season for the AFC North. We play a tough AFC South, and NFC East divisons. I do think if the Ravens provide enough depth on defense and open up the offense we could lead the division with a 10 win season. I don't think Cincy will be good enough this yeark, and that Big Ben is still not good enough to lead the steelers. I also think that Anderson will fail under pressure for the Browms this season.
Posted by: Kevin | April 17, 2008 10:28 PM