Right Off Russell

Back in August when we were all making our predictions there seemed to a consensus that the Ravens were a playoff team. Of course, many people (myself included) didn’t think the team would take the path it did in advancing to the postseason.  Anyone else feel, at certain points this season, that watching this team was almost like going to work on a Monday morning?  I know I did. But the regular season is over and now every team is 0-0.

So what do the Ravens need to do on defense vs. the Patriots to go 1-0?

Defensive Line: Haloti Ngata, Kelly Gregg and Co. just need to keep plugging along. The Patriots have a bunch of different running backs that they will use at some point.  None of them are game breakers but they all possess different skills that can be effective for the New England offense.  What would be a huge bonus is if guys like Trevor Pryce and Terrell Suggs can generate pressure on their own.  Unfortunately they haven’t been able to create consistent pressure this season and the Patriots offensive line will probably be able to handle them.  As a whole, the Ravens defensive line should be able to hold their own and make some plays. It’s not a huge area of concern for me in this game. Read more »

Two weeks ago the Steelers managed a mere six points on two field goals at Cleveland.  Five days ago they put up 37 points vs. a very solid Green Bay defense.  Ben Roethlisberger threw for 503 yards against a secondary that features possible defensive player of the year Charles Woodson.

Ed Reed just got back from Miami where his ailing hip was examined.  He was on the field at practice today although it’s not known how much work he actually did.  His status seems very much up in the air for Sunday.  Sadly, Lardarius Webb’s status is not in doubt.  Webb, whose play at CB was by far the best on the team, tore his ACL last week vs. Chicago and is out for the year.  Needless to say the secondary of the Ravens is going to play a major role in the outcome of the game at Heinz Field on Sunday.  On the flip side, the Steelers secondary, which has been torched as of late, will be the key if they are going to win as well. Read more »

The NFL is a strange league.  It seems like every week a sure “lock” of a game turns into a debacle for the favorite.  All one has to do is look at the Steelers to see what can happen to a season in the blink of an eye.

Playing the Lions at home seems like exactly what the Ravens need right now doesn’t it?  At first glance I’d agree.  But then I realize that the term “Any Given Sunday” isn’t some overused cliche.   The Ravens are 13.5 point favorites this Sunday which makes them the biggest favorite of the week.  Why do I get the feeling it’s not gonna be that easy?

The Ravens defense is really banged up right now.  They might be a lot lighter in the wallet to if you ask Terrell Suggs.  Ed Reed, who is listed as doubtful, is in danger of missing another game.  I would be shocked if Suggs played.  Jarret Johnson is questionable but should play. Read more »

The NFL free agency period began today without deals in place between the Ravens and either Bart Scott, Ray Lewis, or Jason Brown.  While Brown seems all but gone, the deal for Scott, that was apparently almost completed last night, never materialized making him a free agent.  The Sun is reporting that Scott’s preference is to stay with the Ravens and that he would give the team a shot to match any offer he receives from other clubs.

The Ravens seem set on not over paying for any of their services and have shown extraordinary restraint in their approach.  I thought the Ravens would show less restraint, especially when it came to re-signing the face of the franchise.  The Ravens typically do a good job at assigning value to a player, if they have to go beyond that value to get it done they will likely pass.  It is also believed that front office officials for the Ravens do not feel the market for Ray Lewis will be as high dollar as Ray-Ray thinks.

How the market develops for Lewis and Scott will be interesting to watch, but I believe the Ravens have a good shot at bring both back.  If faced with only signing one of the two, who is your preference?

In other news, the Ravens could bring in former Maryland standout DB Dom Foxworth.  If the Ravens do sign Foxworth, it would either indicate that the team plans on parting ways with CB Samari Rolle and then look to find a corner in the draft.  Or, they could sign Foxworth to run with Rolle and Fabian Washington.  My preference would be to draft a bigger, more physical corner to play alongside 2 of Washington/Rolle/Foxworth, who are all smaller cover corners.  Thoughts on this or other FA targets for the Ratbirds?

Pro-bowl linebacker Terrell Suggs could be franchised for the second consecutive year if a contract extension is not struck by the Thursday deadline to declare a franchise player.  It is a move that makes sense for the Ravens and possibly for Suggs, who has expressed his desire to remain in Baltimore.    For the Ravens it buys them more time to negotiate with Suggs, while not running the risk of losing him this year.  It also gives the front office a better working cap number to try and re-sign other free agents.  Suggs meanwhile, gets a nice raise and it is likely that Suggs has received every indication of the Ravens desire to get a long term deal done.

The only risk I see is if a deal is not struck before the beginning of next season, Suggs might feel the Ravens mislead him by using the franchise tag again without the intention of getting a new deal done.  That could lead him to walk without giving the Ravens a shot after the coming season.

Anything I am missing?

While Koji Uehara may not have been the jewel of the Orioles off-season free agent acquisitions, his signing does indicate the club is making an effort to become a player in the Asian markets.  Uehara may end up nothing more than a 4th or 5th starter, with middle reliever talent, disguised as a no. 2 starter behind Guts, but he does accomplish 2 things in the McPhail Plan.

First and foremost, he is a stop gap or bridge to the future of Orioles pitching.  Uehara will be expected to take the ball every 5th day and hopefully log around 200 innings.  The pluses are that he works primarily off locating his high-80’s to low-90’s fastball, walks very few batters. Uehara is an economical pitcher, which could allow him to go deep into games; something few Orioles starters have done in recent years.  He also has a nice splitter, or shuuto.  This gave Mr. Baseball fits for much of his Japanese career.  The negatives are that his is 33 going on 34, having 10 years of service time in Japan; and for the last 2 years he was relegated to the bullpen.  Uehara also has a penchant for giving up the long ball.

Secondly, Uehara represents the Orioles first foray into the Japanese and/or Asian market.  No he is not Ichiro, Dice-K, or even Hideki Matsui, but the Orioles need to have all talent resources available if they hope to keep in the AL East.  There is no hope of out spending the Yanks and Sox for talent.  The O’s need to be better at finding talent all over and if players like Uehara make inroads in Japan for talent in their prime then his signing is a success.  Also, winning 10-12 games with a sub .450 ERA would be nice.

Here are some Uehara highlights from Japan.