Absolutely. Lost in Cleveland's won-loss record is how well their defense has played this year in keeping all games close.

Cleveland beat Pittsburgh last year when the Steelers were without Polamalu. It could happen again.

On the other hand if Polamalu plays, he could easily get nicked again making Pittsburgh's post-season prospects more dismal. I'm going to enjoy that game (I think, I hope).

although the colts matchup is problematic, what better way of getting a second super bowl than by exorcising the indianapolis/peyton manning demon? It would certainly add a sweetness to the ride if the ravens were able to finally knock the colts off.

Mike in all honesty this team will finish 12 and 4 and play the colts on the road in the playoffs. We all know right now regardless of what anybody says the result of that game. peyton manning could go down to the local field and pick up 3 guys and work out with them for 2 weeks and complete passes to them in a NFL game. We don't match up with them we never will match up to them as long as peyton is there Qb. They throw pass patterns that we can't cover like when they run that pick play that never gets called for offensive pass interference, they run the quick slant pass that prevents us from putting pressure on him, and once again yesterday peyton takes his team to the line of scrimmage with about 18 seconds left on the play clock and when the defense shows there hand he still has time to audiable out of it. They play in that dome which makes them faster and we are not a fast team, we can't block neither freeney or mathis so this season will go down in flames just like in the past. You can bleed all the purple you want and that won't change the result of that game if we have to play them.

would certainly be good if we could get some help from the Browns. I don't see us winning in Indy either. #6 seed makes more sense for our surival (at least on extra week)

Go Browns is right. But just to be safe I'm also rooting for the Chiefs to lose and indy winning so we can go to KC instead of indy. The last time we lost to indy in the playoffs I turned the TV off and stared at an empty screen for 30 minutes. I don't want to be put through that again.

Well Bob, since the Ravens' season is effectively over: How bout dem O's?

Reading the comments on the Sun I can't believe the amount of people who believe playing at Indy the #4 seed is a foregone conclusion. Indy has every incentive to win next week so against a lifeless Tennessee team, they probably will. But Kansas City has no reason to play their starters next week against an underrated Raiders team. KC will lose, finish 10-6 tied with Indy, and the Ravens will be off to KC to play those playoff virgins.

Then on the other end you have Jets + Colts. Colts could win that and then go on to face the Steelers while the Ravens play a Patriots team that they have their number.

KC has tons of incentive to win. A 3 seed is a huge advantage over a 4 seed, you have a legit shot to host the AFC title game if the 1 and 2 seeds lose like SD and Bal did in 07. Plus the Jets are the one team KC can beat. They will play hard and win Sun.

Bob,

At least we can be thankful that we have one winning professional sports franchise in town. The Ravens have made the playoffs three years in a row. If you are in you have a chance to go all the way. The Ravens are a class organization top to bottom.

On the other hand the Orioles are classless top to bottom and haven't even posted a .500 record in 13 years. Now that is pretty hard to do unless you really plan to lose and work hard at it.

I f you want to be the best you got to beat everyone in your path. I don't care who it is, bring them on. And go Browns!

Boy, it sure is nice to have bob here to brighten your day, isn't it?

Good to see Gil back and pounding the same drum while Rocketting the same dead horse.

Sounds a lot like wayne to me.

Cue the AM isn't giving me new material comment followed by not brooks saying the same thing, just a bit wittier and know-it-all-er.

Exactly sosdd,

Gil pounds the same ole drum simply because when it comes to the Ravens and Orioles, it's literally the only drum to pound.

What drum would you pound? Actually, Gil was being incredibly nice about the O's.

The Ravens are easy to say great things about.... but we're all ears as pertaining to the O's. Let us have it.

You gonna talk about the last 2 months of the season? Oooops, last I checked, two months hardly make up a season. Wanna talk about what an improvement the new additions are over the garbage from last year?

Come on brother, please enlighten us. No, really enlighten us. We want to be positive. Please help us..... Don't try to give a funny response (u can't pull that off). Instead, help a friend and a brother out.

[Something wittier and know-it-all-ier.]

I hear that Andy Macphail won an award from the National Procrastinators Organization.....but decided not to pick it up until next year....or the year after.

You know guys, it's rather annoying to see some of you write off the Ravens that quickly just because we're playing the Colts. What really bothers me is that week 17 hasn't even been played yet, and we got "fans" already declaring the season over and "how bout them O's?"

Even if we play against the Colts, that was then, this is a different season. I know exactly where each of you guys are from the standpoint of looking at the Colts as a lost cause, but seriously, this team has a shot to beat them, and the Steelers, and the Patriots for that matter (which is pretty much our road to Dallas). The Ravens signed the receivers in the offseason for exactly this opportunity. I say give the Ravens a shot, and stop writing them off like it's already over with. If they are going to go, they have to beat Indy anyways.

Before anybody writes them off against Indy, give them a shot against Cincinnati's defense which uses the same base formation as the Colts, which again has been Flacco's Achilles's heel. He has come along way since week 2. If he can execute against Cincy's cover-2 defense I think that he can do it against Indy. Let's just not be so quick to judge just yet.

Joe -

To be fair, blancione majored in Pessimism with a concentration in Writing Things Off Like They're Already Over With.

Gil usually isn't too bad about beating a dead horse compared to Bob and wayne. In fact, Michael Vick was quoted on his off day as saying "ok guys, for real, you shouldn't do that to animals."

Gil sounds like every other Oriole fan, including myself. Is he suppose to be happy? Okay - lets try; I'm very happy Baltimore still has a baseball team. There. I did it.

Bob,

You're a real glass-half-empty kind of guy. If the Ravens play the Colts, maybe it will be a high scoring game being that the Ravens defense, according to you, is so inept.

Gentleman , i am going to try and start the new year off in a less argumentive way. We have lost to the colts 8 straight times, sometimes we have had much the better team like the year when we were 13 and 3 and played them at home. We held them to 5 field goals and still lost. If there is one team in the entire league that we don't match up with it's the colts and that will never change as long as peyton manning is still playing. We have neither the speed or the type of players on our team that match up with them. You have seen it 8 straight times now and as knowledgeable football fans fail to understand why we can't beat the colts.1 we can't put pressure on peyton 2 they run quick pass routes either slants or pick routes which we can't cover 3 our offensive line can't block mathis or freeney something we couldn't do even with our all pro tackle johnathan ogden.4 they play a great cover 2 something that joe cool still hasn't figured out how to beat. If out of all the playoff choices this one would be the one i wouldn't want to play and yet my glass is half filled.

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Pete's reply: I actually agree with Bob here. If you're a Ravens fan, you should be rooting for the Chiefs to lose to the Raiders and the Colts to win this weekend, which would send the Ravens to KC and the Jets to Indy.

Blancione,
You are soft.
Cheer for the Colts and indulge your Peyton fetish.

One thing we are all forgetting is the Ravens have to put up a W vs the Bengals this weekend. If the Steelers lose, that would be awesome, but the Ravens still have to beat the Bengals. Lets hope it happens, but not look to far into the future. I would much rather go into KC than Indi, but I would love even more to have a 1st week bye.

Bob -

13-3 was 4 years ago, with a different roster, under a different coaching staff. Pretty irrelevant, especially in comparison to the 2010 Ravens. I can remember Billick with McNair walking his team to locker room with 0:45 seconds left in the 1st half while behind....

Hey, maybe your prediction will come true. I can't argue that the defense isn't what it used to be. Then again, I also remember in November that you were predicting the Ravens to have a losing final half. They haven't played the Colts yet this year, so we'll see.

The Colts have a few holes that have been exposed too. By now, it's known that their defense has struggled, allowing 24.5 ppg. Their defense has also struggled to force turnovers with only 20 turnovers and 10 interceptions.

Both teams are flawed and have simular problems on key areas. I wouldn't consider either team superior to the other. As far as predictions go, you say the Colts have 8 straight wins and haven't lost to the Ravens since 2001. I say the Ravens are due.

also, Bob, all seriousness aside, I think you're suffering from a case of Orioleitis where you lose all faith and expect the worst.

I root for the Ravens, but honestly, I'm a players fan more than a team fan (when it comes to football). I just want to see a really well played football game, but it would be nice to see the Ravens go all the way. Thier chances are pretty good

It's hilarious that the kool aiders are wishing they could play the Chiefs. If your wonderful "great" team couldn't beat the Steelers why are you rooting for someone else to do so? You CHOKED against the Steelers like you always do with Ben at quarterback. But no need to fear Ben this post season because Peyton Manning will put an end to your purple illusions of purple grandeur. Look in the mirror and check out your "superbowl" team's record against Manning, Roethlisberger and Brady.

DFTT