Week 7: Baltimore Ravens At Buffalo Bills

[Ravens Dave]

Baltimore Ravens (4-2) at Buffalo Bills (1-4)

Sunday, October 21, 1:00 PM EST

Ralph Wilson Stadium

Orchard Park, New York

Follow the Game Live on Ravens Gameday

Where: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, NY

Television: CBS-TV (Channel 13/23 in Baltimore)

TV Broadcast Crew: Kevin Harlan & Rich Gannon

National Radio: Sports USA Radio Network

Local Radio: 98 Rock (97.9 FM) / WBAL Radio (1090 AM)

National Radio Broadcast Crew: Howard David, Doug Plank & Rich Herrera

Local Radio Broadcast Crew: Gerry Sandusky, Rob Burnett & Stan White

Regular Season Series: Ravens lead series, 2-1

This is the Ravens' 1st-ever regular season trip to Buffalo.

First Matchup: 10-31-99, Bills, 13-10 in Baltimore

Last Matchup: 12-31-06, Ravens, 19-7 in Baltimore

[Raven07]

should be Great game to watch....i would expect (as i said before) McGahee to have a good game for himself, hopefully rushing for over the 100 yard mark for about 125-130 yards and at least a Touchdown or 2 (given the right circumstances) and i would expect our defense to continue to Dominate...sacking Losman 3-4 times at least and intercpeting him 2-3 times, a a Defensive Score (again.....given the Oppurtunity), in the end...a Ravens Win

[Purple and Black Forever]

It will be an excellent game, Trent Edwards is starting over Lossman and our defense has a great track record of beating rookies and back ups. Look for McGahee to get at least 100 yards and a TD as the Bills have an awful defense against both the pass and the run, ranking no higher than 25th in either department. This should give us more chances in the red zone where we can hopefully fix our problems. Their offense is almost last in nearly every category giving us a chance to dominate defensively. However, stats dont mean a thing in this league and the worst teams can show up big for any given game, which is why we play them, either way, I hope the Ravens win and enter the bye week sitting at 5-2. (also hoping to see a Pittsburgh loss) and taking back first place, which will always be rightfully ours.

[Guest Birdfan]

I have to admit that our lengthy injury-list has me worried. I don't care WHO you're playing, you still need to put a full team on the field. We're woefully short of backup at too many positions.

[baltimoreravens00]

im pumped.

[theFRANCHISE]

I'm excited for this game, even though this'll be the first game since last year I won't be able to watch live on TV...

But regardless, I'll still be able to listen to it online here at work while I've got NFL.com's play-by-play up, so it's all good, I guess...

Anyway, onto my thoughts on this game...

Honestly, this has all the makings of a trap game, just like Dallas/Buffalo on MNF two weeks ago. With that said, I know the mantra has been not to overlook ANY opponent. But to be frank, that's easier said than done, considering the Bills' 1-4 record.

The Buffalo crowd will undoubtedly play a huge factor, given the heartbreak of that last-second loss to Dallas on national TV. The Bills also have the advantage of coming off a bye week, which essentially gives them nearly two weeks' worth of prep-time (remember, preparations can often begin as early as the day after the last game played).

With that said...this is still a very winnable game.

The Bills defense doesn't have quite the same tenacity it did with the aptly-named "110%" in their linebacking corps (#59 London Fletcher BEFORE the hyphenated name, and #51 Takeo Spikes). Also, the departure of cornerback Nate Clements has been noticeable at times in their secondary, and although 2nd-year safety Donte Whitner had a surprisingly-steady rookie campaign, he's looked lost at times this season.

In addition, Marshawn Lynch is certainly no Adrian Peterson (Minnesota's, not Chicago's) in the backfield, but he's still one of the better running backs we've faced this season, so we can't afford to be embarassed by him now after playing so stout against the run thus far. Also, Trent Edwards has played better than his numbers have shown, so we can't afford to take him for granted and risk having him become another Kurt Warner-like story. After all, it was our defense that was embarassed by Warner back in his St. Louis debut after Trent Green went down with an injury. And it was our defense that was baffled by Warner only a couple weeks back after Matt Leinart was pulled in the second half.

On offense, Kyle Boller has been serviceable as our starter, and he's played well enough to win, which is all we can ask of him. He's no Peyton Manning or even Tony Romo, but he's certainly a better option this week than a hurting Steve McNair. Willis McGahee, meanwhile, has to be careful not to let the crowd get under his skin. His former teammates likely will not want to do any malicious harm, but it's still a violent, emotional sport, and there are no apologies for injuries. But given McGahee's steady rushing production this season, and our ability to march down the field, we should be able to pull out a win.

The only thing about our offense that worries me is the lack of scoring in the red zone. But then again, what else is new with Ravens football?

As for defense, we've had a history of doing things to young QB's that are almost inhumane. Though Trent Edwards' flashes of talent (as I stated above) scares me a little, the secondary should do fine as long as the communication is there. That means no selfishness on Ed Reed's part in trying to overcompensate, and no mental lapses on Dawan Landry's part. Corey Ivy should be fine as our starter this week if McAlister is out as expected, and Samari Rolle will play well as always, but will certainly (unfairly) still be the scapegoat if there is miscommunication again in the secondary.

[theFRANCHISE]

So far, looking at NFL.com's play-by-play, I'm not ENTIRELY worried just yet about being down 9-0...

The consolation prize is that our defense has yet to give up a TD...for now.

But more turnovers in our own territory like the fumble earlier usually leads to points.

Offensively, it looks as if we've gotten a spark going occasionally, and the law of averages dictate that we're bound to get a TD resulting from a big play EVENTUALLY. We keep teasing for TD's, and we're bound to get one at SOME POINT...

[theFRANCHISE]

I think the only thing that worries me RIGHT NOW is McGahee's 22 yards over 10 carries for a 2.2 YPC average...

But that's to be expected considering the emotion the Bills' defense must have in playing against their former teammate...things like this happen all the time.

[baltimoreravens00]

wow.

[saved72907]

This is totally disgusting.

[Guest Birdfan]

Our special teams are getting us killed today. We start with crappy field position and Buffalo starts with good position on every change of possesssion.

[Sub-Zero]

im getting a little worried here....

[Guest Birdfan]

My stomach and head are hurting. We need something GOOD to happen soon.

[saved72907]

Why can't we have a coach like bill belichick.

[theFRANCHISE]

Honestly, it's easy to play devil's advocate and try to pin the blame on any one thing as to why we're struggling.

But we all know that it's numerous things that are all connected.

The #1 reason is obviously injuries. Players playing banged-up are always a factor, and that's just the way of life for an NFL team.

But because of those injuries, the offensive line is hurting the most, as the inexperience is starting to show due to the lack of a veteran presence on that line right now.

And because of that inexperience, holes are not opening for the running game.

In addition, the running game is also being shut down because of the Bills' playing with emotion through the fans for obvious reasons.

Factor in the missing presence at tight end that is Todd Heap, and that explains the lack of intermediate passes being completed over the middle on third-down.

Also throw in there the fact that Kyle Boller has not had a good history on the road as well as the crowd noise, and that explains his lack of recognition and inability to make things happen. At the same time, at least he's not forcing things, hence his current lack of interceptions as of halftime.

As for our defense, there's clearly miscommunication on that side of the ball. The occasional big play is being given up because not everyone is on the same page.

Factor in our offense's current inability to sustain a scoring drive (let alone any sort of drive, period), and the defense is obviously fatigued, and something's bound to give.

Obviously, someone will want to mention playcalling as one of the bigger reasons we're not moving down the field. And there may be some truth to it. But clearly, if we've been able to move down the field in previous games, it's not the playcalling that's the issue, but rather, the execution. And execution comes in the form of mental preparation as well as natural athleticism and a bit of luck. Frankly, right now, I believe we have two out of those three.

Unless we produce no points whatsoever in this game or unless we continue to produce consecutive stalled drives, I will refrain from blaming the playcalling for now, since I am not watching this game live and am forced to go by the play-by-play and make my own deductions.

[saved72907]

WaaaaaaaaHooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eat that Buffalo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ragnorok99]

I texted my friend, "we need to keep feeding willis."

Very next play, Willis runs for 46 and a TD.

Hopefully this game is turning around.

[baltimoreravens00]

did you hear them all shut up?!?!? it was great!

[theFRANCHISE]

Umm...remember that saying "Winning solves everything"??...

46 yard TD = me eating my words about the O-line's ability to open up holes today.

I just did the Ray Lewis dance here in the office by myself when I saw that play pop up on the computer screen.

[saved72907]

And they just got done running their mouths about how they were holding willis in check. hhahahahahaa

[saved72907]

I'm happy now, and I just wanted to say..... I love you guys!

[theFRANCHISE]

It's amazing how Willis went from a 4.7 YPC average (after a 2.2 YPC average at one point), to almost a 7.5 YPC average in just ONE play. LOL

[saved72907]

good thing our defense held up again after that drive, a buffalo td would have killed our momentum.

[ragnorok99]

Anyone know why Reed is out?

[baltimoreravens00]

Anyone know why Reed is out?

i was wondering the same thing.

[Guest Birdfan]

According to the radio, they're retaping his ankle and he'll be back.

[Guest Birdfan]

By the way, love him or hate him, Boller is one heck of a blocker. He's the one that sprung Willis for the TD.

[ragnorok99]

Yeah that Boller block was pretty badass.

[theFRANCHISE]

It's killing me that I can't watch this live AND I have no online radio feed...

This is one of those days where I wish I carried an old-school Walkman radio with me or something...LOL

[saved72907]

It's killing me that I can't watch this live AND I have no online radio feed...

This is one of those days where I wish I carried an old-school Walkman radio with me or something...LOL

dude, download sopcast on your pc, and you can watch it. it's free. then type in the sopcast player channel bar sop://broker.sopcast.com:3912/33003