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Blognosticator - Jimbo
BREEDING
I’m here to talk to you today about breeding. No, not THAT kind of breeding. I’m talking about the kind of breeding we haven’t seen around these parts in a long time. The old-fashioned, Bible “begettin’” type of breeding. That’s right brothers and sisters, I’m talking about WINNING. You remember winning, right? No, not THAT type of winning . I mean the winning we were once used to, the “winning begets winning” of George Allen, and Joe Gibbs, and “Four and Oh or we don’t go”.
Our beloved boys in B&G have just completed the hallowed “Divisional Trifecta”, beating each NFC East foe in a three week span. I couldn’t tell you the last time the Skins accomplished that feat, although I’m guessing the St. Louis Cardinals were still in our division at the time.
Just how big was that win over those "mother******* Giants" on Monday Night? I was prepared to write about my hatred of Baltimore and how it was going to be next to impossible to beat the Ravens, a team that just doesn’t lose two games in a row and hasn’t done so since weeks 4 – 6 of the 2009 season.
I was going to talk about how we wouldn’t be able to run against the Ravens because that defense is almost a mirror image of the Pittsburgh Steelers when it comes to stopping the run and you know how the Steelers game turned out.
I was going to talk about how we always seem to turn the ball over against the Ravens and how Ed Reed or somebody else on defense tends to make a play and score a defensive TD against us, or how we weren’t going to be able to stop Ray Rice because, well, nobody really stops Ray Rice.
But that was before “The Breeding”. The breeding of winning. And winning breeds winning.
If breeding isn’t enough to get you excited, how about these stats: The Ravens "vaunted" defense is currently ranked 25th and is giving up a whopping 372.3 YPG, including 125.8 rushing, while the Skins went into the Monday Night game averaging 163.5 rushing yards and put up over 200 on the Giants. Their offense is currently ranked 19th while the Skins are ranked 7th. Despite their reputation, AND their record, this Ravens defense is just not that scary outside of Baltimore.
I’m well aware that the Ravens have a lot of weapons on offense and all QB Joe Flacco needs to do is get the ball into their hands. But I’m also aware that the four games they’ve won on the road, three were by a FG. One was in OT against San Diego and one was a 9-6 victory over Da Chiefs. Yeah, the third was against the Steelers IN Pittsburgh but they're division opponants - where all bets go out the window. Their other road win was a 10 point victory over Cleveland after trailing in the 4th quarter against rookie QB Brandon Weedon. Our rookie QB is just a little bit better and he doesn’t turn the ball over as often.
For those of you worried about a letdown, don’t be. One-legged London Fletcher won’t allow it. The newly anointed Captain, Robert Griffin III, won’t allow it. Alfred “The Beast” Morris won’t allow it.
As RG3 said during his post-game ESPN interview, “We know that our backs are against the wall. And even though we won tonight, our backs are still against the wall”. Does that sound like a guy and a team who are going to let down? Not a chance.
I’m not saying this game won’t be an old fashioned Donnybrook, because I’m fairly certain it will be, but I also think it will be another “playoff atmosphere” game. FedEx Field was absolutely ROCKING Monday night and I expect it to be rocking against the Ravens as well. Playing at home didn’t seem to be much of an advantage when we were 3-6 but now that we’re eyeing the playoffs, and the entire nation is eyeing RG3, everyone wants a piece of this newfound pie. Playing at home is a HUGE advantage this week. Sure, a few of those Baltimorons will find their way in. They always do but this time playing in FedEx Field will not even remotely resemble a home game for the Ravens and we all know how well Joe Flacco performs on the road. It won’t matter that it’s only 50 miles away, or that Joe Flacco is no Eli Manning.
Prediction: MORE BREEDING. Redskins 27, Ravens 24.
BREEDING
I’m here to talk to you today about breeding. No, not THAT kind of breeding. I’m talking about the kind of breeding we haven’t seen around these parts in a long time. The old-fashioned, Bible “begettin’” type of breeding. That’s right brothers and sisters, I’m talking about WINNING. You remember winning, right? No, not THAT type of winning . I mean the winning we were once used to, the “winning begets winning” of George Allen, and Joe Gibbs, and “Four and Oh or we don’t go”.
Our beloved boys in B&G have just completed the hallowed “Divisional Trifecta”, beating each NFC East foe in a three week span. I couldn’t tell you the last time the Skins accomplished that feat, although I’m guessing the St. Louis Cardinals were still in our division at the time.
Just how big was that win over those "mother******* Giants" on Monday Night? I was prepared to write about my hatred of Baltimore and how it was going to be next to impossible to beat the Ravens, a team that just doesn’t lose two games in a row and hasn’t done so since weeks 4 – 6 of the 2009 season.
I was going to talk about how we wouldn’t be able to run against the Ravens because that defense is almost a mirror image of the Pittsburgh Steelers when it comes to stopping the run and you know how the Steelers game turned out.
I was going to talk about how we always seem to turn the ball over against the Ravens and how Ed Reed or somebody else on defense tends to make a play and score a defensive TD against us, or how we weren’t going to be able to stop Ray Rice because, well, nobody really stops Ray Rice.
But that was before “The Breeding”. The breeding of winning. And winning breeds winning.
If breeding isn’t enough to get you excited, how about these stats: The Ravens "vaunted" defense is currently ranked 25th and is giving up a whopping 372.3 YPG, including 125.8 rushing, while the Skins went into the Monday Night game averaging 163.5 rushing yards and put up over 200 on the Giants. Their offense is currently ranked 19th while the Skins are ranked 7th. Despite their reputation, AND their record, this Ravens defense is just not that scary outside of Baltimore.
I’m well aware that the Ravens have a lot of weapons on offense and all QB Joe Flacco needs to do is get the ball into their hands. But I’m also aware that the four games they’ve won on the road, three were by a FG. One was in OT against San Diego and one was a 9-6 victory over Da Chiefs. Yeah, the third was against the Steelers IN Pittsburgh but they're division opponants - where all bets go out the window. Their other road win was a 10 point victory over Cleveland after trailing in the 4th quarter against rookie QB Brandon Weedon. Our rookie QB is just a little bit better and he doesn’t turn the ball over as often.
For those of you worried about a letdown, don’t be. One-legged London Fletcher won’t allow it. The newly anointed Captain, Robert Griffin III, won’t allow it. Alfred “The Beast” Morris won’t allow it.
As RG3 said during his post-game ESPN interview, “We know that our backs are against the wall. And even though we won tonight, our backs are still against the wall”. Does that sound like a guy and a team who are going to let down? Not a chance.
I’m not saying this game won’t be an old fashioned Donnybrook, because I’m fairly certain it will be, but I also think it will be another “playoff atmosphere” game. FedEx Field was absolutely ROCKING Monday night and I expect it to be rocking against the Ravens as well. Playing at home didn’t seem to be much of an advantage when we were 3-6 but now that we’re eyeing the playoffs, and the entire nation is eyeing RG3, everyone wants a piece of this newfound pie. Playing at home is a HUGE advantage this week. Sure, a few of those Baltimorons will find their way in. They always do but this time playing in FedEx Field will not even remotely resemble a home game for the Ravens and we all know how well Joe Flacco performs on the road. It won’t matter that it’s only 50 miles away, or that Joe Flacco is no Eli Manning.
Prediction: MORE BREEDING. Redskins 27, Ravens 24.