Lets’ face it, when it comes to generating bad PR, the Orioles haven’t needed any help for a long time; but whether deserved or not, with a helping hand from NBC, Steve Bisciotti, the Ravens and Roger Goodell, the O’s are unfairly taking the brunt of the criticism for the fallout from Schedule-Gate 2013.

It’s a topic that’s been discussed ad nauseum for the better part of the last couple of weeks, and now that it’s been resolved (or at least decided) I’m going to take one last lick at this dead horse before we put it to bed…until the beginning of September that is, when we’re sure to dig it back up and beat it to death all over again.

For now, it’s time for Ravens fans to let go of the “woe is us” and realize that this couldn’t have worked out any better for the team.

In the Harbaugh era, and to some degree before it, there are two giant hammers that the Ravens have wielded consistently. The Ravens have been near impossible to beat at home, and are undefeated when they’ve had extra rest or opportunity to prepare for an opponent. There’s no need to swing both of those hammers at the same time, and all Schedule-Gate has done is prevented the Ravens from having to.

I get that fans want to celebrate the team’s Super Bowl win with the whole world watching; but what’s best for the team? It’s kind of laughable that those who consider themselves fans of the Ravens suddenly seem to be more interested in having center stage for themselves for one night in September, than they are in giving the Ravens their best opportunity at winning enough games to possibly make another Super Bowl run.

The Harbaugh era Ravens are 5-0 in opening games and 14-0 when having 10 or more days to prepare for an opponent (including openers). It’s probably also worth mentioning that 4 of those 5 opening game wins have been at home (so much for the “NFL is out to get us” angle). Now that it’s decided that the Ravens will open on the road, there are only 3 games that should be up for consideration for the NFL’s showcase. Not coincidentally, those games happen to be the Ravens 3 toughest looking road games as well (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati or Denver). Since there’s no avoiding having to play those games anyway, doing it in the first week of the season is ideal.

It’s better to get Peyton Manning and Wes Welker in the first game of the year, when they’re still trying to figure one another out, and probably more ideal to get in and out of Denver before the frost settles in. While it by no means insures the Ravens will win; it seems to give them their best chance to win. In fact, if we can get over our hurt feelings for long enough to think about the good of the team, ideally the Ravens would open in Denver, and then on the back of 10 days rest head to either Pittsburgh or Cincinnati, and then return to Baltimore for the home opener.

It’s also worth mentioning that opening on Thursday night has not always precluded teams from having to play another Thursday game in the same season. Given that the Ravens are defending Super Bowl champions, it would seem likely that they’ll get their maximum 5 prime time games, and that there’s a real possibility that they’ll have another Thursday game. Opening on Thursday, on the road would not only prevent the Ravens from having to be ready for Thursday night on 3 days rest, but would also virtually insure that if they did get a 2^nd Thursday game it would be in Baltimore, with another (likely tough) opponent having to prepare and travel on short rest.

So if we’re keeping score at home, the NFL played the role of bully on behalf of NBC, and tried to impose themselves on the Orioles. The Orioles held their ground and as a result are stuck with a September 5^th game that is sure to be a dog attendance-wise because it’s going up against the Ravens opener. The Ravens by opening on the road against a tough opponent will have a likely better chance to win a tough road game than they would otherwise, and may still get a Thursday home game with significant, inherent advantages built in. Someone remind me again why everyone is so mad at the Orioles over this. Oh yeah…it’s because we miss out on the chance to scream “look at us” to the football world while pounding our chests, right?

Sign me up, 10 times out of 10, for the schedule formula that gives the Ravens the best shot at being a playoff team, or a division winner, or a home playoff game host, or a bye week possessor. Frankly I’m shocked that Ravens fans are having such trouble grasping this one. I thought better of most of you.

Lastly, if the locker room somehow sees this as a slight, as fans clearly have, then it facilitates the mentality that has seemed to serve them so well lately. It’s Baltimore against the world as usual. If that works, so be it. But the Ravens are the winners in this mess; it’s just that some folks’ sensitivity won’t allow them to see it.

When I wrote a few months ago that the Ravens had the look of a championship team, I certainly had my doubts about them actually being able to live up to the legacies of the Packers and Giants as the league’s previous 2 champions by catching lightning in a bottle at just the right time. That however is exactly what has happened so far, and now for the 3^rd time in 5 years the Ravens find themselves within one game of the Super Bowl.

The funny thing about the week leading up to the game in Denver was that on paper at least, it seemed to be the most daunting task the Ravens had faced in the playoffs since the Flacco, Harbaugh et al era began. It sounded strange to say that, while still holding out hope that they could win, because obviously they’ve been ousted from the playoffs in each of the last 4 years by teams that didn’t look nearly as frightening as the Broncos seemed to be.

The one saving grace in that expectation was that the previous most daunting playoff match-up in Ravens playoff history was probably their game against the Tennessee Titans in their run to Super Bowl 35, and of course we all remember how that one ended.

If we were looking for the defining moments and match-ups in Saturday’s game that helped to propel the Ravens to victory we could likely spend at least as long as they spent playing the game…perhaps even longer doing it. Here however are my 7 key elements to Saturday’s win against the Broncos and the questions that arise as a result, relative to the AFC title game and the New England Patriots.

#1 – The Offensive Line

The newly retooled offensive line has come to play so far in the playoffs and on Saturday they were more than impressive in stymieing the likes of Von Miller, Elvis Dumervil and company. Bryant McKinnie was great at left tackle, Michael Oher was comfortable and dominant restored to his natural right tackle spot, Kelechi Osemele seems much better suited (at least for now) at the left guard where he was able to work in concert with Matt Birk, and almost everything the Ravens do on the ground begins with Marshal Yanda who seems healthy once again.

The Ravens Offensive line was so effective at stopping a previously dominant Denver pass rush that the Broncos secondary as a result was exposed. The additional time that the Ravens offense had to let routes develop downfield showed weaknesses in the Denver secondary that arguably no one, even the Broncos, knew that they had. Say what you want about Rahim Moore as the goat in Saturday’s game, but at least part of the issue with is big missed play has to be attributed to the fact that he was forced into a role that he hadn’t had to play all year because the Denver corners weren’t able to maintain man coverage vs. the Ravens.

The Question: Having dealt effectively with 2 pretty good edge rushing defenses, how do the Ravens, and particularly Matt Birk deal with New England’s interior rush and the disruptive capabilities of Vince Wilfork who was dominant in last year’s AFC title game?

#2 – Variety of Weapons

I’ve made arguments throughout the Flacco era in Baltimore that he hasn’t been sufficiently armed with the types of weapons that seemingly every other high level quarterback has at his disposal. That still may be the case, but since Jim Caldwell has taken over the offensive reigns the Ravens have used the middle of the field much more effectively. Torrey Smith has shown tremendous upside in his downfield blocking of late and Anquan Boldin has been a deep threat at times. Ed Dickson has returned to the lineup providing some much needed blocking assurance, and Jacoby Jones has been reincorporated into the offense. Add Bernard Pierce and his complimentary running style to Ray Rice’s and suddenly, despite the lack of any superstars in the receiving corps, Baltimore has a variety of weapons that all have to be accounted for equally. As a result, their ability of spread defenses out, and accept what the defense is allowing has enabled Joe Flacco, behind that newly retooled offensive line, to sit back and pick the opposition apart.

The Question(s): Which Flacco target will be the key against New England’s suspect pass defense?

If Bernard Pierce is unable to go, how much faith can the Ravens have in Anthony Allen to spell Ray Rice?

Well, the Ravens did their part on Saturday in Denver.

Now, let’s see if the fans in Baltimore can follow suit and do their part this week.

I was watching Joel Osteen on Sunday morning and he delivered such a timely, connecting message for Baltimore football fans that I just had to write about it today.

It doesn’t hurt that I tried to get the same message through everyone’s thick heads last week, but now that the Ravens have disposed of the Broncos and are headed to the AFC title game, I figured I’d bring up Osteen’s message and weave it into something worth reading here at WNST.net.

Osteen’s theme on Sunday morning was “Don’t let someone else take your joy from you.”  He went on to ask that you stay focused on what’s important to you and what matters most and to not let others take away your joy and happiness.  His message related to God.  Mine relates to football.

Last week, a lot of you — so many, in fact, I became agitated at first and then, later, just embarrassed – spent a great deal of time complaining and bellyaching about the “Ravens don’t have a chance” angle most of the national media were focused on as the lead-up to the game in Denver.

I must have had 25 calls about it and four times that many e-mails.  Whining, moaning, complaining, fretting.  ”I don’t understand why they’re not giving the Ravens more love…”

“I’m so fed up with the national media…why don’t they give us a chance? – waaaahh, waaaaaah, waaaaaah…”

“All I keep hearing about is Denver and Peyton and how Brady and Manning would be a great AFC title game, blah, blah, blah.”

SHUT UP ALREADY!!! I said to myself under my breath about a hundred times last week.

You could have done so much more with your time last week.  Rather than go on and on and on – and on and on and on – about how “no one likes the Ravens”, you could have walked your neighbor’s dog or washed your car or called an old friend just to shoot the breeze.

Instead, you called ME and just made a whining fool of yourself, complaining about something some guy wrote in Denver…or crying because Skip Bayless thinks “the Ravens don’t have a chance.”  Those people are paid to get you to watch, read, listen and react accordingly.

And, as I tried to tell you for five straight days last week – with the scoreboard supporting me on this Saturday night – the game will be played by the players and NOTHING anyone says or writes about it during the week before will have any bearing on the outcome.

Yet, you guys cried every single time you heard or read something disrespectful to the Ravens.

It was so unbecoming to hear it and read it over and over last week.  Like the teacher said in “Breakfast Club” — “I expected more from a varsity letterman.”

I expected more from you people last week.  Really, I did.

(Please see next page)

Every columnist has done it at one point or another.  I’m talking about the timeless “trash talk” piece of course.  You know, the one where they talk bad about the opposing team coming in to town and talk up their own team.  It’s actually a decent strategy.  It gets the people who read the newspaper fired up so they share it with their friends and gets the opposing team’s fans to read it and freak out about it.  Kind of like Skip Bayless does every day.

So when I heard that Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post wrote this piece, I didn’t think much of it.  I’m sure he is a good writer and a smart guy.  He is a columnist for prominent newspaper after all.  But I thought to myself, why don’t I write one of these pieces and, unlike most of them, actually back it up.

Here it goes.

After mocking our city and our sadness at the retiring of the only middle linebacker this franchise has ever known he proceeds to mock Ray himself. Saying, “But, like Lewis, their very passionate but washed-up warrior, the Ravens now seem better at striking a pose than striking fear in the hearts of a foe.” Washed up you say? Mr. Kiszla, you obviously haven’t done your homework. Ray was leading the team in tackles prior to his triceps injury and had 13 tackles on Sunday against the Colts. Hardly seems washed up to me.

He then picks on Ray for dropping a would be interception last Sunday as the reason why he is washed up and why it’s so remarkable to watch Peyton Manning do what he does.  This, to me, doesn’t make much sense because I’m pretty sure one mistake doesn’t make you terrible.  And I’m definitely sure Peyton Manning has thrown more than a few important interceptions in his career.  Here’s one I’m sure one of his teammates will remember.

He does however give Ray his due, calling him the greatest linebacker of his generation.  However he mentions Peyton Manning as being the greatest quarterback of his generation. I’m sorry, that title belongs to Tom Brady.  And it isn’t even debate, stats, rings, head to head matchups.  These all favor Brady in one way or another.  But you have a right to an opinion.  A stupid one at that

Kiszla, like most people previewing Saturday’s game, points to the score of the previous meeting as to why the Ravens have no shot in this one.  Need I remind you that the Ravens held Peyton Manning in check for that game (he posted some of his lowest numbers all year) and had Joe Flacco not thrown an interception before halftime, that game would have been completely different.  If the Ravens grab a touchdown there, it’s a three point game with all the momentum in the Ravens favor.  Instead, the pick six demoralizes the team and Denver goes on to an easy victory.  How easily you forget this, Mr. Kiszla.

He goes on to talk about how they shut down Anquan Boldin but these few lines really baffled me:

             “I asked: “Were you hoping for a rematch, because the Broncos shut

              you down?”

              Boldin replied: “Just because we lost to them.”

              Wow. Kind of crabby, don’t you think?

              Guess it makes sense. Baltimore is known for crabs.”

Either this guy doesn’t know what crabby means or he was just looking to rile some folks up. Probably both. 

I hope Mr. Kiszla realizes that you shouldn’t write a story about matchup without even attempting to back up. But hey, it’s all in good fun.  Don’t get too mad when Ravens come to town and rain on your parade though.

P.S. By the way we are known for crabs.  And they are damn good.

If you’re looking for some points-of-light besides the Ray Lewis story, I’ll go ahead and give you some.  I’m sure everyone else in the media will handle the Ray-retirement angle, so I’ll look back at Sunday’s 24-9 whipping of Indianapolis and give you four different things on which to chew.

Not in any order of importance, mind you, but here’s what happened on Sunday.

The stage was too big for Luck

Sure, he threw for a handful more yards (six) than Joe Flacco.  He also had thirty-one more attempts.  Yes, you read that right.  The kid had 288 yards on 54 attempts while his opponent in purple was an effective 12-for-23 for 282 yards.  Luck’s QB rating was woeful (59.8) while Flacco’s was superb (125.6).

Simply put, Andrew Luck wasn’t very good on Sunday afternoon.

Now, let’s note right from the start that his offensive line was horrendous.  And that’s being kind.

But the golden boy from Stanford – the likely Rookie of the Year in the NFL – was hardly a threat all afternoon, particularly in the first half when he looked completely rattled.  His deep balls had too much air under them and his inability to sniff out pressure led to far too many scrambles and errant throws.  Luck did settle down in the second half and was a tad better, but years from now he’ll look back on this performance and wince at how rookie-ish he looked for most of the day.

He’ll have plenty of big games in his career, but Sunday’s outing in Baltimore surely wasn’t one of them.

McKinnie steps in and steps up

With left guard Jah Reid out, John Harbaugh was forced to shuffle his offensive line on Sunday, and the emergency nod went to veteran Bryant McKinnie, who played left tackle in place of Michael Oher, who was switched to right tackle so that Kelechi Osemele could sub for Reid at right guard.  Get it?  McKinnie was the big benefactor of the Reid injury, and the Ravens prospered as well, as the big man put together a nice afternoon protecting Joe Flacco.

A week ago in Cincinnati, McKinnie saw extensive playing time in the final three quarters and to say he looked disinterested would be like saying Ray Lewis looked “sort of” fired up for Sunday’s home finale.

McKinnie has spent most of the 2012 season on the bench.  He’s also spent most of the season out-of-shape, overweight and, when pressed into duty, he’s been largely ineffective, no pun intended.

But Harbaugh got him to break a sweat last week in practice when Reid wasn’t able to suit up and the 5th year coach rolled the dice that his veteran left tackle might actually try in the Colts game.

It was a gamble, of course, for Harbaugh saw just one week before in Cincinnati that McKinnie’s series-by-series effort was basically a coin flip.

But the decision worked out for the coach and the offense, as McKinnie stood up to Dwight Freeney for four quarters and kept Flacco upright virtually all day long.

(Please see next page)

After the Ravens were eliminated by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs on January 15, 2011, lots of folks in town were bellyaching about the (hopeful) removal of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron.

At the team’s “State of the Ravens” press conference a week or so later, owner Steve Bisciotti  explained his personal philosophy for retaining Cameron despite an up-and-down offensive performance from the unit he supervised during the regular season and playoffs.

“I know John’s feeling is we like Cam under fire next season as our offensive coordinator,” Bisciotti said that day, effectively supporting his coach by not ursurping his authority and firing Cameron because he has the right to make such a move.

Well, Cameron is gone now, having been dismissed by Bisciotti last Sunday night after the Ravens fell in Washington, 31-28 in OT just hours before.

So, Cameron is no longer under fire.

But someone else is and his name is Joe Flacco.

The Ravens dropped a 3rd straight game on Sunday, getting run out of the gym by the Denver Broncos, 34-17 at M&T Bank Stadium.  It would have been 41-17 or 48-17 if Denver needed bonus points on their checking account.  They basically just walked around throughout the 4th quarter and played keep-away with a 21-point lead.

And with the fan’s scapegoat, Cameron, now no longer part of the problem, Flacco has clearly become public enemy #1.

There’s an argument that he should be, based mainly on a horrible throw at the end of the first half that completely changed the game.  With Denver up 10-0, Flacco drove the offense down the field and had a first and goal on the 4-yard line when the 5th year quarterback tried a quick snap throw in the flat to Anquan Boldin.  The ball was picked off and returned 98 yards for a TD and a 10-7 game suddenly became 17-0.  And, of course, that was all she wrote, as Baltimore fell to 9-5 and dropped consecutive home games for the first time in five seasons.

Should Harbaugh and/or Flacco have called a time-out there?  Absolutely.  They had three to burn – and a rookie offensive coordinator in the booth.  Get a time-out there, get yourself situated, and make the game a 3-point affair heading to the locker room.

Blame that on Harbaugh if you want, or Flacco, since he’s a big boy and he’s been around long enough to know better, but one way or the other, someone has to call a time-out there and get things settled down.

Yes, that throw and the resulting interception return for a TD changed the game.

But I don’t think it cost the Ravens the game.

They weren’t winning this one, no matter how many times they got down there to the 4-yard line.  An undermanned Ravens defense actually did well to only allow Denver 27 points.

This one, honestly, was on Flacco and the offense.  Again.

But the quarterback doesn’t deserve all the blame.  The offensive line continues to be a trainwreck.  The wide receivers looked disinterested most of the afternoon.  And once it got to be 31-3, it almost looked like some guys had – ahem – “stopped trying” if you know what I mean.

(Please see next page) 

There’s plenty of blame to go around in the aftermath of the Ravens loss on Sunday at the hands of the Steelers, and I’m quite certain we’ll be assessing that blame and going over the shortcomings of the team for the majority of this week on the airwaves and blogosphere at WNST.net. In the grander scheme of things however, this should have been an easy outcome to predict. It can be simplified as easy as the following; the Ravens had little to play for on Sunday and the Steelers had everything to play for.

Knowing what we know about both of those teams, we should have known enough. Ravens and Steelers has been universally recognized as football’s best current rivalry and for some the best rivalry in sports period. That legacy didn’t begin with Joe Flacco and Ben Roethlisberger; they just made it more interesting. For the last 12 years at least, through Kyle Boller and Anthony Wright and Jeff Blake and Troy Smith, through Tommy Maddox and Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon and Byron Leftwich, the Ravens vs. the Steelers has been, more often than not, a slugfest decided by a minimal number of points in the latest stages of the game. There was no reason to guess that this one would be any different.

A loss would have dropped the Steelers to 6-6 and put a serious damper on their playoff hopes. It wasn’t exactly do or die for Pittsburgh, but it’s about as close as it gets in week 13 of the NFL season. For the Ravens however, a win didn’t mean much. A win over the Steelers, coupled with a Bengals loss at San Diego would have cemented the AFC North for the Ravens, but for all intents and purposes the Ravens are the AFC North champions. Whether it became official in week 13 or has to wait until week 16 or 17, it’s near impossible to imagine the Ravens not winning the division.

A win on Sunday would have had the Ravens playing the Broncos in Week 15 with the second seed in the AFC and a first round bye in the balance. A loss on Sunday has still left the Ravens looking ahead to a week 15 showdown with the Broncos with the second seed in the AFC and a first round bye in the balance. All Sunday’s loss vs. the Steelers did for the Ravens was to delay their inevitable clinching of their own division, and to serve internal notice that there’s still work to be done.

The Steelers played like a team that needed desperately to win on Sunday; that’s because they were a team desperate to win on Sunday. Pittsburgh, coming off of two consecutive losses (in their own division no less) is left with no choice but to embrace the remainder of the season with a playoff caliber of urgency. The Ravens on the other hand had nothing really to gain from a win on Sunday, and they also played just that way. Assuming that the Texans can’t be caught, as I think most do, the Ravens could afford to lose one of their final 5 games and still hold onto their second spot in the AFC as long as that loss didn’t come against Denver. Now they’ve lost it and restored a sense of urgency (hopefully) to the remainder of the season.

As always, this week’s 15-7-0 is brought to you by Roofing By Elite. Visit them at roofingbyelite.com. We make 15 observations about football that are ELITE, 7 that are “not so ELITE” and one “zero” who deserves to sleep on the roof from outside of football.

(As a reminder, we don’t do Baltimore Ravens game analysis here. We do PLENTY of that elsewhere. This is about the rest of the world of football.)

Here we go.

“The Elite 15″…

1. Stop dancing around it. A freshman who wasn’t in the Top 5 a week ago is now your frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy.

Not a joke. Geno Smith and Matt Barkley have been done for weeks…no one is excited about Collin Klein…and Kenjon Barner played at midnight the other night. Meanwhile Johnny Football was throwing touchdowns even on plays where he fumbled…

Hey Nick Saban-where are you in the polls now???

Elsewhere in the SEC, Auburn fans are looking forward to when coach Gene Chizik gets “Dooley-ed”…

2. So as it turns out, AJ Green was absolutely accurate.

He said he thought the Giants’ defense had some holes. He was right…

And does Eli Manning think he plays for the Jets???

3. Everyone in the Broncos-Panthers game was doing “the Superman”…except Cam Newton.

But you know, no one more than Von Miller…

I mean…why wouldn’t Cam have hit the Superman after this gem?

Remember the time Trindon Holliday scored a touchdown but never actually got the ball in the endzone?

Here’s Von Miller wiggling…

4. At Oregon, the backups to the backups can run 4.4 in the forty and could beat most Pac-12 teams.

Am I supposed to be MF-ing the guy in this circle wearing black and white, too?

Elsewhere in the Pac-12…Marqise Lee!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux_FdS_ogMw

5. The Texas wishbone-throwback-throw again-whatever else it was play was the absolute best of the weekend.

Darrell Royal doesn’t mean a thing to me, but I do know this is completely freaking kickass…

(Continued on Page 2…)

Though the Ravens’ 16 opponents had been known since the end of the 2011 regular season, there was still a feeling akin to Christmas morning when the NFL announced the 2012 schedule on Tuesday night.

The 2011 AFC North champion Ravens will play in four nationally-televised games, including the season opener when they host the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 10 in the first Monday night home game played in Baltimore since 2007.

Also highlighting the 2012 schedule will be Sunday night contests with the AFC champion New England Patriots at M&T Bank Stadium and a battle at Heinz Field in November, where the Ravens won in dramatic fashion on an NBC telecast last season.

Three of the Ravens’ first four games are nationally-televised home games in prime time as the Browns will come to Baltimore for a Thursday night game to end the stretch of national exposure on Sept. 27. However, John Harbaugh’s Ravens play only two home games in October and November before playing three of their final five games in Baltimore for the month of December.

An unpopular portion of the schedule will be the league’s decision to have the Ravens play Pittsburgh twice in three weeks, a rare concurrence with the NFL schedule that leaves an intense few weeks but a void before and after the stretch for the two fan bases.

Baltimore will play the Manning brothers in consecutive weeks when Denver visits M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 16 and Eli Manning and the Super Bowl champions roll into town the following week.

The Ravens make their lone trip to the West Coast on Nov. 25 when they travel to San Diego to take on the San Diego Chargers.

Of their 16 opponents, the Ravens will play 13 games in which the projected starting quarterback has been invited to the Pro Bowl, which will create a daunting task for the Baltimore defense in order to repeat as division champions.

2012 SCHEDULE

Monday, Sept. 10 Cincinnati Bengals - 7:00 p.m. (ESPN)
Skinny: The Ravens host their first Monday night game in five years and begin the season against Marvin Lewis’ Bengals, who hope to build on a surprising 9-7 campaign in which they made the playoffs under rookie quarterback Andy Dalton.

Sunday, Sept. 16 at Philadelphia Eagles – 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: John Harbaugh’s former team is the only one with which the Ravens have ever tied, a 10-10 barnburner at Memorial Stadium on Nov. 16, 1997.

Sunday, Sept. 23 New England Patriots – 8:20 p.m. (NBC)
Skinny: The sting of the AFC Championship loss will clearly be on the Ravens’ minds as they welcome Tom Brady and Co. to town for Sunday Night Football to try to extract some revenge.

Thursday, Sept. 27 Cleveland Browns – 8:20 p.m. (NFL Network)
Skinny: The Ravens’ 19 regular-season wins over the Browns are the most they own against any team in the NFL.

Sunday, Oct. 7 at Kansas City Chiefs - 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: It’s staggering how dramatically the Chiefs collapsed under Todd Haley after losing to the Ravens in a playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium two years ago.

Sunday, Oct. 14 vs. Dallas Cowboys – 1:00 p.m. (FOX)
Skinny: There are some interesting subplots to this one, including Dallas coach Jason Garrett nearly becoming the head man in Baltimore, but the Cowboys are 0-3 all-time against the Ravens.

Sunday, Oct. 21 at Houston Texans - 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: Despite making their first-ever playoff appearance in 2011, Gary Kubiak’s Texans have spent the entire offseason wondering what could have been if quarterback Matt Schaub hadn’t gotten hurt.

Sunday, Oct. 28 BYE WEEK

Sunday, Nov. 4 at Cleveland Browns - 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: The Browns haven’t beaten Baltimore since 2007, which clearly doesn’t make Clevelanders very happy.

Sunday, Nov. 11 vs. Oakland Raiders - 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: Carson Palmer will need to rekindle the magic from his days with the Bengals in order for the Raiders to beat the Ravens for the first time ever in Baltimore (four previous attempts).

Sunday, Nov. 18 at Pittsburgh Steelers – 8:20 p.m. (NBC)
Skinny: This Sunday night affair marks the sixth straight season these rivals have played in a prime-time contest, with the last four night games each decided in the closing seconds.

Sunday, Nov. 25 at San Diego Chargers – 4:05 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: The Ravens’ trip to San Diego last season was the only game in which Baltimore was thoroughly embarrassed, but the Chargers no longer have big target Vincent Jackson.

Sunday, Dec. 2 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers - 4:15 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: It’s unusual for these teams to meet twice in three weeks, but the Steelers will have revenge on their minds after being embarrassed in Baltimore in the 2011 season opener.

Sunday, Dec. 9 at Washington Redskins – 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: The Redskins haven’t beaten the Ravens since Tony Banks was at the helm for Baltimore in the midst of a five-game touchdown drought during the 2000 Super Bowl season.

Sunday, Dec. 16 vs. Denver Broncos – 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: The Ravens haven’t beaten a Peyton Manning-led team since 2001 when the former Indianapolis quarterback threw an interception returned for a touchdown by Hall of Fame defensive back Rod Woodson.

Sunday, Dec. 23 vs. New York Giants - 1:00 p.m. (FOX)
Skinny: Eli Manning once referred to his 2004 loss in Baltimore as the worst game he had ever played at any level, but it’s fair to say the Giants quarterback has recovered by winning two Super Bowls since then.

Sunday, Dec. 30 at Cincinnati Bengals – 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: Before last season’s win in the regular-season finale, the Ravens had lost five of their previous six games at Paul Brown Stadium.

***Note: The final seven weeks of the regular season are subject to flexible scheduling.

No, I don’t think the Ravens should consider bringing in Tim Tebow, but there are a couple of Ravens related points to be made regarding Tebow as we prepare to ramp up the Tim Tebow drama (redundant I know) once again.  Both too, are history lessons of sorts.

The first is simple. It was the Ravens pick that Denver acquired to draft Tim Tebow in the first place in the first round of the 2010 draft. While their haul of picks, amounting to Sergio Kindle, Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta is debatable in terms of return on investment, it’s worth mentioning that the Ravens (indirectly) got some real value out of Tebow already and spared themselves the inherent drama. Chalk one up for Ozzie Newsome and crew.

The second is more debatable, but interesting nonetheless. The expected Tebow drama the Broncos are in the midst of isn’t altogether unlike the Ravens treatment of Trent Dilfer post-Super Bowl in 2001.

In both cases it could be argued that the teams were being greedy, as both had experienced inexplicable success under their previous QB. The Ravens were being much greedier coming off of a Super Bowl win rather than a single playoff game, and as Elvis Grbac relates to Peyton Manning, the Ravens were being much more hopeful too.

The Ravens were stuck in neutral under Tony Banks, fans were begging for Dilfer to get a shot, he got it, and the Ravens began winning and never stopped. The Broncos were likewise stuck in neutral under Kyle Orton, fans were calling for Tebow, they got him (albeit in an apparent effort by John Elway and John Fox to prove Tebow’s inadequacies which seemed to backfire…to the tune wins and hype) they began winning and continued it enough to get to the playoffs and win a game once they got there.

The Ravens didn’t believe in Dilfer despite his success enough to continue on with him, as the Broncos seem contented to do with Tebow. At least Dilfer looked like a quarterback, most thought him an average at best QB, but a moderately successful QB no doubt. In Tebow’s case, the book is out on whether or not he can even ever learn to throw a ball properly. That’s quarterback 101.

Once the Ravens decided on Grbac, right wrong or indifferent, they had no choice but to jettison Dilfer, as at every misstep from Grbac fans would have been calling for their improbable Super Bowl hero. In Manning, the Broncos have at least built a far better shield of credibility against such attacks, and can better justify their choice based on talent, but his success is in no way guaranteed, and the distraction of Tebow and his throngs of supporters, is for that reason, no longer welcome in Denver.

It’s unfortunate, but it’s good business.