...I just don't see the Ravens being flat for the Jacksonville game.

...head coach John Harbaugh won't let them think the game is in the bag, as he's not overconfident.

... I'm sure he IS confident that his team will win.

...despite their terrible season and 5-10 record which includes losses in five of their last six games and eight of ten, the Jags will not lay down and could be a dangerous team.

...Maurice Jones-Drew is one of the few guys in this league that can score everytime he touches the ball, and you know he'll get a bunch of touches.

...hopefully the guy known as "pocket Hercules" will feel the pain that Ray Lewis and company can bring.

...Jags QB David Garrard is an elusive scrambler and can be a very streaky passer.

...don't forget they took the Colts to the brink in their last game and also beat them earlier this season.

...that was when the Colts looked like a totally different team than they do now.

...don't forget that I said around a month ago that if the Ravens don't make it, I predicted a Manning v. Manning Super Bowl.

...to go off on a different tangent, what in the world was the idiot Plaxico Burress thinking when he STILL had a cache of weapons found in his house, including the bloody clothing he was wearing when he shot himself in the leg!?

...please don't force feed me any more news on the possible retirement of Brett Favre, as I had more than my fill last summer and would prefer not to hear him whine or see him cry again this off season.

...I am rooting for the Buffalo Bills to make our game irrelevant Sunday by upsetting the Patriots in the earlier game.

...I am also rooting for the Miami Dolphins to win the AFC East, although I wouldn't mind punking Favre's butt in HIS last game!

...while we beat the Dolphins earlier this season and I fully expect to beat them again in the post season, this will be a much different and tougher game this time around than it was the first time.

...I can't believe the San Diego Chargers are going to come back from the grave to beat the Denver Broncos and take the AFC West.

...the Broncos should have wrapped that division up weeks ago but couldn't play defense against anyone and doomed themselves to this meltdown.

...the Chargers will be a more dangerous team in the post season than Denver would have been.

...what do we care, as the Colts will have to go to San Diego, or Denver, if by some chance the Broncos pull off a miracle.

...it really doesn't matter, as Indy will beat either one and then go to Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers as well in the next round.

...and while I fully expect to beat the Dolphins and Jets in the first round, I just do not like the matchup with the Patriots, should they end up winning the AFC East title and host us in the first round of the playoffs.

...the Ravens can certainly confound and confuse Matt Cassel, the weather and some guy named Randy Moss might think differently.

...if we handle Moss the same way we did TO, we should be okay, although that little man, Wes Welker, scares me due to his ability to cross the field on the short slant for huge gains, which is our defense's Achilles Heel.

...I can't believe that the NFL (Scrooge) fined the Pats Wes Welker $10G for making a snow angel last week in their win over the hapless Cardinals.

...It's only Friday and I've been going silly since last week's amazing game and win over the Cowboys as I wait for this Sunday's playoff clinhing victory over the Jags!

...the Ravens are still not getting any respect for their win against the Bengals, as evidenced by their being an underdog at Houston.

...I'm not too sure how the Texans can get steamrolled by the Steelers and still be favorites over the Ravens, who won last week.

...it's not like the Texans were upset last week, or they were supposed to be such a good team this season.

...the national media have a much clearer memory of the Ravens injury-riddled 2007 5-11 team as opposed to the healthy 2006 13-3 one.

...with the Ravens healthy this season, it should more closely resemble the 2006 one.

...after the Cleveland Browns lose to the Steelers this Sunday to go 0-2 with both losses at home, they will slink into Baltimore for their first road game and third loss of the season next week.

...the Cincinnati Bengals return home with a very important game on the line for the team and especially head coach Marvin Lewis. An 0-2 start puts them in the division basement & a slow boat to a high draft pick.

...the best games this weekend are the Patriots-Jets, Broncos-Chargers and the Cowboys-Eagles.

...I'm also interested in the Vikings-Colts game, as one of them will end up a very disappointing 0-2 start.

...I fully expect the Colts to still be in the playoff chase with a win or loss this weekend because as long as Peyton Manning is on the field, they are one of the better teams in the league.

...the Pats will still be a very good team and new QB Matt Cassel will have some pretty good targets to still throw to.

...a lot of Tom Brady's TD passes to Randy Moss were completed because of Moss' ability, not because of Brady's.

...therefore, don't be surprised if Moss still has a dozen TD receptions and Cassel ends up looking pretty good.

...weren't the Pats' fans panicking when Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury years ago and the Pats were left with an unproven 6th round draft pick named Tom Brady?

...I'm not saying Matt Cassel is the next "Tom Brady" but if he is, you heard it here first!

...while Brett Favre is an upgrade over Chad Pennington for the Jets (sorry Miami!), I'm not convinced which "Brett Favre" he will be this season- the horrible 2006 one or the incredible 2007 one!

...the Raiders, Bengals, Texans, Dolphins will line their respective division basements in the AFC.

...the Lions, Redskins, Falcons and 49ers will do the same in the NFC.

...the above opinions are mine and only intended to spark debate, not piss off the fans of the teams I degraded. Sorry.

Peace to all those affected by the events of 9/11. We are all Americans. U-S-A, U-S-A!!!

Today was Club Seat Season Ticket Holder Day at the Baltimore Ravens Training Camp, up at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. Club Seat Season Ticket Holders received a special invitation and credentials to a small set of bleachers on the 50 yard line at Training Camp, front and center to see the Ravens practice just two days after the opening the exhibition season with a 16-15 victory over the Tom Brady & Randy Moss-less New England Patriots.

I got there extra early, as the only other time I've been to Training Camp earlier this season, I arrived at the beginning of practice, had to park in East Schlabuckyville, walk 20 minutes to the fields and stand ten deep along the edge of the field. This time I arrived almost 45 minutes prior to practice, parked right next to the fields and grabbed a seat at the top of the bleachers on the 50 yard line. The players straggled out, with the rookies trying to impress. The defense ran some drills right in front of me (see photos below). Finally the offense came over from the far field and ran some quick pass patterns, with quarterbacks Kyle Boller, Troy Smith and Joe Flacco each taking turns (more photos below). All the wideouts took their turns as well, including Derrick Mason, who limped off the field Thursday night in the game against the Pats, so it was good to see him back on the field. Yamon Figurs burned the defense and made a couple of over the shoulder grabs on deep passes. He looks to get more reps and perhaps even chances once the games begin in September. Rookie Marcus Smith seemed to have hands of glue, catching everything thrown his way.

It was nice to see Samari Rolle back on the field, although he was taking it easy since his return to camp following the sudden death of his father. Wide receiver Demetrius Williams and tight end Daniel Wilcox ran some individual drills as they return from nagging leg injuries suffered last season.

It was actually a lot more disappointing than I expected, as the Ravens choose to run their full offense vs. defense drills on the far field, away from the bleachers filled with the areas reserves for players' families, VIPS, Club Seat Ticket Holders and the disabled. Those late arriving fans who had to stand along the ropes over at the secondary field were treated to the better views and saw the full team drills, while those of us who arrived early and grabbed the so-called better seats in the covered bleachers ended up SOL.

Check out the photos from the visit below.

The Baltimore Ravens went into Foxboro, Massachusetts and defeated the NewEngland Patriots 16-15 last night, when the Pats failed to make the decisive two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter. Wait, what? This is preseason? Oh, nevermind.

The first game of the exhibition season went okay for the Ravens, who might have won the game but it was the individual position battles that were of more importance for this time in the season. While Kyle Boller started and looked the best of the three Ravens QB's, Troy Smith has already been tabbed to start the next contest. Rookie Joe Flacco had a forgettable debut, with his first two snaps resulting in an interception and fumble. Neither Tom Brady nor Randy Moss saw action for the Patriots.

Disconcerting was the fact that the Ravens could only manage 35 yards rushing the ball, while former Maryland Terrapin star and now New England Patriot LaMont Jordan gained 76 yards in his debut.

There were a few injuries on the Ravens side of the ball, but hopefully they will be found out in the next few days to be minor ones. The Ravens get back on the practice field on Saturday morning and I am planning to be on the sideline checking out the action and you can count on a report with photos on this blog when I return.

Check out the New England Patriots view of the game over at Pats Pulpit.

In other news, the new addition to our family has been delivered as of yesterday afternoon and has been accepted by the rest of the clan, as evidenced by this photo with the smallest of the other four. Here, Scooter (in white) welcomes Murphy.