Saturday, October 20, 2007

Ravens Report-Week 7

Ravens Report

The Ravens won last week’s game against the Rams, 22-3. The Ravens got on the board first with a 43-yard field goal from Ravens K Matt Stover. In the 2nd quarter, with the score now 6-0, Ravens RB Willis McGahee ran for a 6-yard touchdown run, this was McGahee’s first rushing TD as a Raven. The rest of the scoring was field goals (three from Stover, one from Rams K Jeff Wilkins). The Ravens defense dominated this game, forcing 6 turnovers and 5 INTs from Rams QB Gus Frerotte! The Ravens defense also held Rams RB Travis Minor to only 40 yards! The Ravens had this game under control throughout.

Next Sunday the Ravens will head to Buffalo to face the Bills. Current Ravens RB Willis McGahee will be going against his former team and their fans, one of the most loyal in the NFL. The Ravens played the Bills last year in Baltimore to finish the season, the Ravens won, 19-7. Both teams have already announced that their backup QBs (Ravens QB Kyle Boller and Bills QB Trent Edwards) will be starting. The Bills defense is the worst in the league, so the Ravens offense should have a breakout day. The Ravens have a league-best run defense, and the Bills have RB Marshawn Lynch, who is on track to have 1,000 rushing yards. This should be a good game, but I have the Ravens winning, 31-10. I would also like to wish a happy birthday to Ravens RB Willis McGahee, who turns 26 on October 20th, I hope his birthday will pump him up.

Matchups to look at for Ravens vs. Bills

Ravens LB Ray Lewis vs. Bills RB Marshawn Lynch

Ravens CB Samari Rolle vs. Bills WR Lee Evans

Ravens DT Dwan Edwards vs. Bills G Derrick Dockery

Bills CB Terrence McGee vs. Ravens WR Derrick Mason

Bills RE Aaron Schobel vs. Ravens T Adam Terry

Bills DT Larry Tripplett vs. Ravens T Jared Gaither

Injury Report

Ravens

Player - Injury- Status

DT Trevor Pryce- Wrist- OUT

TE Todd Heap- Thigh- DBT

LB Ray Lewis- Knee- QST

QB Steve McNair- Back- QST

CB Chris McAlister- Knee- DBT

TE Daniel Wilcox- Foot- DBT

C Mike Flynn- Knee- QST

WR Derrick Mason- Knee- PRB

RB Willis McGahee- Knee- PRB

T Jonathan Ogden- Toe- QST

LB Gary Stills- Knee- PRB

T Adam Terry- Ankle- QST

WR Demetrius Williams- Knee- PRB

Bills

Player- Injury- Status

DE Ryan Denney- Foot- OUT

S Jim Leonhard- Calf- OUT

WR Peerless Price- Neck- OUT

WR Sam Aiken- Hamstring- QST

DT Kyle Williams- Illness- PRB

CB Ashton Youboty- Ankle- DBT

G Brad Butler- Hip- PRB

QB J.P. Losman- Knee- PRB

DT Coy Wire- Knee- PRB

Suggestion: The Ravens need to score more touchdowns instead of relying on K Matt Stover to put up points.

AFC North Standings

Team W- L- GB

Steelers 4- 1- 0.0

Ravens 4- 2- 0.5

Browns 3- 3- 1.5

Bengals 1- 4- 3.0

AFC North Outlook: If the Ravens win and the Steelers lose, the Ravens will be in first place. The Steelers are playing the Broncos in Denver, the Browns have a bye week, and the Bengals are playing the Jets in Cincinnati.

That’s it for this week’s version of the Ravens Report, I’m Max Buchdahl, let’s go kick Buffalo’s butts!

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Ravens Report-Week 6

Ravens Report

The Ravens improved their record to 3-2 last week in San Francisco with a 9-7 win over the Niners. The first points were put up by Ravens K Matt Stover who made it 6-0 at the half after kicking two field goals (26 yards and 32 yards). The 49ers offense was dead in the first half, having to punt on all of their 5 possessions. On the first drive of the second half for the Niners, QB Trent Dilfer threw an interception to Ravens S Ed Reed. Matt Stover hit a 49-yard field goal on that drive to make it 9-0. But after that the 49ers offense finally came alive. A 23-yard touchdown pass from Dilfer to WR Arnaz Battle made it 9-7. After a defensive battle in the 4th quarter, the Ravens came away with a victory! There were two great things to look at about this game. First, Ravens K Matt Stover hit the three field goals that won the Ravens the game. The other is that the Ravens defense held amazing Niners RB Frank Gore to only 52 yards.

Next week the Ravens will come back home to face the 0-5 St. Louis Rams. The Rams will be missing star RB Steven Jackson and possibly starting QB Marc Bulger. The replacement for Jackson would be rookie RB Brian Leonard, who is also pretty good.

The replacement for Bulger would be Gus Frerotte. Frerotte started last week’s Rams loss to the Cardinals. He threw for 262 yards, 3 TDs and 3 INTs in the game. The Ravens have a better defense than the Cardinals do, so I expect him to throw at least 2 INTs, no more than 2 TDs and no more than 250 yards passing. Ravens QB Steve McNair has missed two days of practice this week, so if he can’t go, backup QB Kyle “Butterfingers” Boller will be under center. It should be a good game. I have the Ravens winning 24-10.

Matchups to Look at for Ravens vs. Rams

Ravens LB Ray Lewis vs. Rams RB Brian Leonard

Ravens CB Chris McAlister vs. Rams WR Torry Holt

Ravens LB Bart Scott vs. Rams TE Randy McMichael

Rams LB Will Witherspoon vs. Ravens RB Willis McGahee

Rams LB Pisa Tinoisamoa vs. Ravens TE Todd Heap

Rams DE Leonard Little vs. Ravens G Jason Brown

Injury Report

Ravens

Player - Injury- Status

DT Trevor Pryce- Wrist- OUT

C Mike Flynn- Knee - QST

WR Derrick Mason- Illness- PRB

T Adam Terry- Ankle- OUT

TE Daniel Wilcox- Toe- OUT

TE Todd Heap- Thigh- PRB

T Jonathan Ogden- Toe- QST

CB Samari Rolle- Illness- QST

LB Gary Stills- Knee- PRB

QB Steve McNair- Back- QST

Rams

Player - Injury- Status

Steven Jackson- Groin- OUT

WR Dane Looker- Thigh- OUT

LB Raonall Smith- Knee- OUT

WR Isaac Bruce- Hamstring- OUT

WR Dante Hall- Ankle- OUT

WR Torry Holt- Knee- PRB

QB Marc Bulger- Ribs- QST

S Corey Chavous- Pectoral- QST

DE James Hall- Pectoral- PRB

QB Gus Frerotte- Ankle- PRB

CB Tye Hill- Back- PRB

S Todd Johnson- Neck- PRB

Suggestion:

The Ravens are still hoping on luck to bring them to victory. This has got to stop now!

AFC North Standings

Team W- L - GB

Steelers 4- 1- 0.0

Ravens 3- 2- 1.0

Browns 2- 3- 2.0

Bengals 1- 3- 2.5

The Steelers have a bye week this week, so a win for the Ravens would be huge. The Browns will face the 0-5 Dolphins in Cleveland and the Bengals are coming off a bye week, they’ll play the Chiefs in Kansas City.

Gameday: Sunday, October 14

Time: 1:00

Well, that’s it for this week’s version of the Ravens Report, I’m Max Buchdahl, let’s go kick the Rams butt’s!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Ravens Report-Week 5

Ravens Report

Unfortunately, the Ravens lost last week to the Browns, 27-13. The first points were put up by the Browns on a 2-yard pass from Browns QB Derek Anderson to WR Joe Jerevicius. The next points were also from the Browns, a 78-yard pass from Anderson to WR Braylon Edwards. After field goals from each kicker the score was Browns 17, Ravens 3. Browns RB (and Former Ravens RB) Jamal Lewis then ran for a one-yard score. Matt Stover then hit a field goal and the score at half was Browns 24, Ravens 6. At the end of three quarters the score was now 27-6. In the 4th quarter, Ravens QB Steve McNair threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to third-string TE Quinn Sypniewski. Those were the last points put up. I have one main concern after watching this game. The second most accurate kicker in NFL history, Ravens K Matt Stover missed two field goals, one’s that he’d usually hit easily (46 yards and 41 yards). Unfortunately, I have a feeling that this will be Stover’s last year in the NFL. A good thing to look at is that Ravens RB Willis McGahee is getting better every week.

Next Sunday the Ravens will take a road trip to San Francisco to face the 49ers. The Ravens are trying to win their first road game of the year. Also, the Ravens will be going against Mike Nolan, Former Ravens Defensive Coordinator and current 49ers Head Coach. Because Nolan knows the Ravens defense so well, this could be a problem. The Ravens will also be facing 49ers QB Trent Dilfer (and Former Ravens QB), Dilfer was the starting QB for the Ravens when they won the Super Bowl in 2000. The Ravens have more depth on both offense and defense than the 49ers do. My main concern about this game is the Ravens trying to stop 49ers star RB Frank Gore. The Ravens haven’t given up 100 yards to an individual rusher yet, the most being 67 yards to Thomas Jones of the Jets. I have a feeling I won’t be able to give that stat to you next week because of Gore’s power as a RB. It should be a good game, but I think the Ravens will win.

Injury Report

Ravens

DT Trevor Pryce OUT

TE Todd Heap QST

CB Samari Rolle OUT

LB Terrell Suggs PRB

TE Daniel Wilcox QST

KR/PR Yamon Figurs QST

WR Derrick Mason QST

QB Steve McNair PRB

T Jonathan Ogden QST

49ers

TE Vernon Davis OUT

QB Alex Smith OUT

G Larry Allen TEAM DECISION

TE Billy Bajema QST

CB Walt Harris TEAM DECISION

DT Bryant Young TEAM DECISION

WR Jason Hill DBT

CB Tarell Brown PRB

T Jonas Jennings OUT

PRB-Probable

QST-Questionable

DBT- Doubtful

AFC North Standings

Team W- L- GB

Steelers 3- 1- 0.0

Ravens 2- 2- 1.0

Browns 2- 2- 1.0

Bengals 1- 3 - 2.0

Suggestions: The Ravens have got to stop with this “let’s try and get a lucky win” crap. We have to go right for the win, not wish that luck will bring us to victory.

That’s it for this week’s version of the Ravens Report, I’m Max Buchdahl, let’s go kick the Niners butt.