Ravens: The Long Road Ahead (Part 1)

Great post man. I agree about the Steelers game. Even though they will be without Ben, the Steelers defense still knows how to just work us sometimes. We need to go in to that game on a role and come out with a dominating victory of like 24-7.

Good work man, Bruce should promote this.

dixon will scare the pants off the ravens again. flacco cant stand up to heavy pressure from quick lb’s. he falls like a beach umbrella in a heavy breeze. now, ricky ben booby can shake the first tackle or 2…..or tipsy coed.

Its been said that the Bengals biggest offseason move was bringing in the WR from the Bucs. If they can put to use all of their offensive weapons, they could be a hand full.
I do agree, 3-1 at worst.

I will feature this story. If it gets 6 recs I will put it on the front page.

they improve in their secondary and you never no Jake Delhomme may step up for them. I am just saying because this is the same team that beat the steelers last year without the addition they have now

I don’t know why but I didn’t realize we played the whole division i our first 4 games. Should help us get an early lead on the competition.

but if you are going to write an article, do your research. Your additions and subtractions are lacking.

Cincy’s biggest addition is Antonio Bryant, and Cleveland has a bunch of bigger additions than the QB’s, like Scott Fujita, Ben Watson and Tony Pashos.

Also, if your are going to mention our additions via the draft, you should also mention our opponents additions via the draft, at least the impact 1st rounders like Pouncey, Haden, Gresham and Wilson.

http://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2010/3/23/1386844/afc-north-offseason-2nd-edition

I should comment on things to watch for in the Steelers Game

On Offense

Watch the offensive line, or don’t because I doubt they will get much of any push at all. Mendy will have to get most of his yards himself, if he can break a few tackles and get some day light he can have a good day, but I doubt it because the ravens are very sound on defense.

Watch Emmanuel Sanders. Wallace will surely get a lot of attention but Sanders will have the favorable match up. If he can get some long passes while Ward and El work the under neath stuff then that will bode well for the Steelers.

Watch the QB. As of now we think the QB will be Leftwich but the fans I feel would much rather see Dixon and an emphasis on using his legs to gain some yards. As the ravens discovered last year, Dixon is the next best thing to what Mike Vick was when he was gashing teams with his legs in the NFL. It will depend on how much Dixon has developed in the passing game to determine how much playing time he gets. I get the feeling that he isn’t quite there yet and the Coaches feel more comfortable with Leftwich’s experience. But even still I’d like to see Dixon come in for a couple of plays if the running game has stalled out. If Leftwich is in there, look for the Steelers to do a lot of short passes first. The Ravens will be the first time the Steelers face with a legitimate pass rush, the Falcons, the titans (who has had key losses from their 2008 pass rush), and the bucs, won’t tell us much if they aren’t getting to the QB because they don’t do that well anyways. The steelers will see how well the line is handling the pass rush before they try anything deep, imo. Especially who ever replaces Willie Colon @ tackle.

On Defense

Watch out for L. Timmons. He was suppose to have his break out year last year. But he has been playing out of position for most of his career. With the return of L. Foote and the decline of Farrior, Timmons can now slide into his more natural position of Mack Inside Linebacker. Instead of playing the buck, where he had to take on more linemen and try to stuff the run, timmons can allow his athleticism to flourish in the Mack position, in a way that we saw Kendrell Bell do in his first couple of years at that position. This will make the Defense better when guarding the running backs out of the back field because of Timmons speed. Of course you look for the usual suspects in Woodley and Harrison but I believe it is Timmons who will have the most improvement in his game this year.

Watch out for Keenen Lewis. I know right, who? This was the 3rd round CB from the 2009 draft. He didn’t play last year due to back injuries but has been pushing Bryant McFadden for the #2 CB position this camp. If he lives up to potential that gives the Steelers 3 solid CBs that will bolster the secondary. Instead having Will ‘No Play’ Gay as the #2, its possible that he may not even see the field this year.

The Steelers only hope in this week 4 matchup is if the passing game does not screw them over, that means be efficient, no turnovers and at least 200 yards and a TD. The steelers will try to control the clock and limit mistakes. If not, the Ravens could run away with this game.