Hey Rushers! It's been an exciting season of football so far! We seem to be on an average of one overtime game per week. This past week, we had the Redskins and Texans in OT. The Texans had a hard fought comeback just to tie it up at the end of regulation. They were down 20-7 at the half but they stole the win in overtime 30-27.

 

My Ravens, on the other hand, faltered last week, losing to the Bengals 15-10. Most notable were the 4 interceptions thrown by Joe Flacco, as well as the Ravens receiving the bad end of some calls in a crucial point late in the game (Tripping on Ray Lewis and Roughing the Passer on Terrell Suggs). The Suggs call was almost as bad as the phantom roughing against Tom Brady last year (see 2009 Week 4 Ravens vs. Pats). Baltimore needs to rebound and be ready to take their home opener against the 0-2 Browns.

 

Baltimore defeated Cleveland at home last year in Week 3, 34-3. Now they need some of that history to help them out. At 1-1, Baltimore sits in a tedious position in the division as they have fallen into third place. The Browns are last in the division and are the only team without a win in the AFC North. The Baltimore offense has struggled of late, as they haven't scored more than 10 points a game this season. The Ravens need to take advantage of a weaker Browns defense. If they could somehow find a way to use this week as a tune-up for their offense, it would make the rest of the season a whole lot easier. People tend to forget that this Baltimore team has a lot of new pieces. Unfortunately, even a multi-million dollar contract can't buy chemistry, which is exactly what the Ravens need more of (chemistry, not multi-million dollar contracts). Anquan Boldin has performed solidly so far, but I think Baltimore needs to get back to its bread and butter in Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and Le'Ron McClain. Rice is obviously one of the best all-purpose backs in the game. The Ravens seem like they are trying to make McGahee a short yardage back. McClain hasn't seen the ball that much, which may not be essential, as he is one of the best blocking FB in the game. My suggestion for Baltimore is to not forget the BIG backfield. Putting McClain in the backfield at FB with McGahee at RB may be the best option when they need to pound the ball. The uplifting thing about the past couple of weeks has been that the Ravens defense has looked extremely solid, as they have held two playoff contenders (Cincinnati and New York) to 15 and 9 points, respectively. I'm hoping for a big win Sunday. Baltimore needs to have the offense firing on all cylinders. This won't be a cakewalk for the men in purple, however. You can't overlook a game in the AFC North, which is arguably the toughest division in the NFL. The Ravens need a win badly this week, and I think they will get it. Final score: Ravens 24, Browns 12.

 

How is your fantasy team doing? My fantasy lineup this week is:

QB: Aaron Rodgers RB: Adrian Peterson WR: Andre Johnson TE: Dallas Clark DEFENSE: Green Bay Packers WILD CARD: Peyton Manning

 

That's about it for this week!

 

See you on the football field!

 

Kid Reporter-KC