First, an away win against Miami that got the Road Monkey off our backs, 3-3.  Then an easy win at home against the hapless Raiders, 4-3.  Sweeping the season series against Cleveland, 5-3.  And finally on Sunday, we witnessed a 41-13 demolishing of the Houston Texans, a lopsided victory the Ravens surely would not have gained if the game was played as planned on September 14, 6-3.

The Ravens could not have positioned themselves better.  Heading into a brutal 7 game stretch in which the Ravens play 5 teams with winning records, all of them currently in the playoff picture, it’s not only where we need to be, it’s where we had to be.

Here are my Studs and Duds for this week.

The Studs: 

Joe Flacco:  The Delaware Flash.  Joe Cool.  Natty Joe. Flacco the Unflappable.  It doesn’t matter what nicknames you call him,  it all points to one thing: Flacco is flourishing under Cam Cameron’s tutelage and is progressing beyond the point where he can manage games; now he wins them.

Todd Heap:  5 catches and 2 TDs.  Welcome back, Todd.  Don’t be a stranger.

Ray Lewis: 8 solo tackles, 2 passes defended, and 2 picks, even if they were blue plate specials courtesy of Sage Rosenfels.  At 33, Ray proved he can run it back with the best of them and still has a mean stiff-arm.

Derrick Mason:  Playing with a dislocated shoulder, Derrick showed the heart of a lion.  I hope he’s a quick healer.  We’ll need him on Sunday.

Haloti Ngata:  If not for Albert Haynesworth, Haloti would be a slam dunk for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.  Stuff the run, sack the quarterback, and intercept passes.  What can’t this guy do?

Unsung Studs:  Justin Bannan and Jarret Johnson.  This is long overdue.  They won’t make the Pro Bowl or make anybody’s all-defensive team, but without Bannan and Johnson the defense wouldn’t be nearly as effective.

Long Distance Studs:  Those Ravens fans that were in Reliant Stadium.  You were seen and you were heard.

The Duds

Only one, but this Dud is making a return engagement.  It’s penalties again.  A few Flacco passes were negated due to miscues.  Ray Lewis committed pass interference on the one yard line that should have resulted in a Texan touchdown. Maybe I’m quibbling because things got a lot better in the 2^nd half.  The Ravens can get away with this stuff against the league’s weaker teams, but look out this week if the penalty flags fly in the Meadowlands.

News and Notes

·       How many Ravens fans heard CBS broadcaster Ian Eagle announce during the game that Joe Flacco had gone “99 passes without an interception” and thought – uh oh, there’s the CBS version of the S.I. curse.  Here comes a Texans pick.  Come on now, be honest!

·       I was thinking that the Ravens were in a win-win situation in the Colts-Steelers game.  If the Colts won, the Ravens would be in a first place tie.  If the Steelers won, it would really hurt the Colts playoff chances and we could take care of the Steelers later.  But I hate the Steelers more, so let’s go with the Colts, I said.

Not so fast Fran.

The Colts won and now they’re 5-4.  In their next 5 games, they play teams who have a combined record of 11-34.  The Ravens play teams with a record of 26-17 (in both cases, this includes the Cincinnati Bungles).  The Ravens playoff chances looked a lot better with Indy at 4-5 and Baltimore at 6-3.  I should be careful what I wish for.

However, if anyone, anyone had told me on opening Sunday that the Ravens would be 6-3 after 9 games; I would chalk it up to an overdose of Purple Kool-Aid.  

Dare I say it, can we think FESTIVUS??

Early Prediction

The Ravens travel to the landfills of New Jersey this Sunday against the Giants.  The current spread stands at Ravens + 6.5, the over/under is +/- 41.5, and that sounds about right.  The stupid penalties, unnecessary timeouts, and bad clock management have to stop this Sunday or it’s going to be a Giant win much bigger than 6 ½ points. 

I’m fond of taunting my Giant-loving in-laws, many of whom live in New Jersey and Brooklyn, NY that a Baltimore football team has never lost to the Giants in a game that really counted.  This one doesn’t.