Those still “on board” with the O’s (gluttons that we are for punishment) endured another season of dashed expectations and ineptitude and perhaps to an even greater degree than in seasons past frustration, because this Orioles team, the 2011 version looked capable (at least before the season began) of achieving the .500 mark that has eluded this franchise for now 14 years and counting. It seemed for once that as fans our embarrassingly modest expectations actually had a chance at being met.

Those of us who have simply accepted that what we are experiencing now is the new “Oriole Way”, those of us who have abandoned any realistic expectations of competitiveness and accepted the Orioles for the train wreck style of entertainment that they’ve now devolved into, those of us who have taken to the inherent drama and excitement unfolding season after season in other markets while hoping against hope that the O’s will someday be a part of it once again, were treated to perhaps the best baseball season in recent history.

The 2011 baseball season had a drama in spades. The Cardinals and Rays caught the Braves and Red Sox respectively to stage two of the greatest late season comebacks in the history of baseball. That episode in and of itself brought about 4 must see games to finish the season on its final day, and for O’s fan pining for some modicum of relevance, fortune involved our Birds, albeit indirectly at best, in the action. 

If indeed it is always darkest before the dawn as the adage suggests, than Dawn should be on a fast moving trade to Camden Yards as we speak. That said, as the O’s searched for their next GM it seemed that few if any were wiling to buy into that notion. Enter Dan Duquette…

While there’s no single formula for building a winning baseball team, if there were an anti-formula we could safely guess that the O’s have perfected that mix. It would also seem that the serum is nowhere in sight. Or is it?

It’s easy to be put off about the O’s, especially given the number of budding GM candidates that were also put off by them. As the O’s made overture after unreciprocated overture at prospective GM candidates fans are rightly embarrassed for the franchise. There are only 30 of these jobs in existence right? As keepers of one, you’d think the O’s would have no trouble luring a candidate anxious to make his mark. Sure the franchise is a disaster at present, and the odds were against whomever accepted the challenge; but the reputation of Peter Angelos is well known, and the myriad of names that have tried and failed already suggests that anyone able to right the ship would be seen as a miracle worker able to write his own ticket going forward, a la Theo Epstein. And likewise trying and failing would do little to derail a candidate’s reputation given our understanding of those circumstances.

By way of encouragement, and again I’m squinting hard through my orange tinted shades here, just because the Orioles liked Tony LaCava and Jerry Dipoto best didn’t mean that they were the best guys for the job. Remember the Ravens’ rebuffed overtures toward Jason Garrett just a few years ago? Hindsight has seemingly proven in the years that have followed, that it was a rare and fortunate miss by the Ravens. Perhaps and hopefully hindsight will say the same about the process that brought the O’s to Duquette.

Squint a little more and you might see this with me too:

There’s no secret about the circumstances into which Duquette is willingly walking. Unlike the other candidates he’s up for the challenge, and unlike other candidates as well, and maybe to an even greater degree, because of his cousin Jim’s tenure here, Dan Duquette should harbor no false expectations of the task at hand or the inner workings of the organization. Still Duquette is up for the challenge.

Obviously there are literally hundreds of things we could point to and cast these O’s as deficient. One that has been a pet peeve of mine in recent seasons though is this; the O’s have consistently gone into free agency and tried to find lightning in a bottle with guys like Derek Lee and Garrett Atkins. The O’s found “bargains” in guys who had put up very productive seasons in the past but who also appeared to be past that prime and those numbers. The money they paid them while bargain basement if they were to capture lightning in a bottle was mostly wasted on guys who had already made plenty of money in their careers and was essentially money paid backwards, but not for services actually rendered with the O’s.

Other teams by contrast, have found real value in hitting on guys who were trending the opposite way. Guys like Carlos Pena and Jose Bautista had shown glimpses of talent over their brief careers, but had also disappointed enough to cast them as journeymen. When faced with the prospect of missing out on big paydays and possibly being out of baseball, those players responded and began to develop the talents that had made them intriguing prospects once upon a time. While those types of players may be harder to find, they come a lot cheaper. I’ll always bet on a guy trying to prove something over an old guy who’s already proven…and wealthy.

While I don’t know that Duquette will find or even look for those types of guys, I do believe that he is one of those guys. Duquette laid the groundwork for the 1994 Expos team (in hindsight an unbelievable collection of talent) that never got the opportunity to see how far they could go. Duquette also laid the groundwork that Theo Epstein and co. tweaked to the tune of a pair of World Series titles in Boston. Like Buck Showalter, who saw both the Yankees and Diamondbacks win world titles immediately after his departure, Duquette is due some level of championship credibility. And thus far, like Showalter, Duquette doesn’t get that credit. Give me the guy who gets out of bed with that chip on his shoulder every day.

Three years is hardly enough time to impart real change, but I’ll hope for the best. I’ll also hope that the inexplicable performance of the young pitchers last season is somehow or somewhat correctable and suggest that the future might be just a bit brighter than the present appears. While Duquette’s culpability begins today, he inherits an ongoing 14-year fiasco that has everyone impatient and skeptical if not downright hopeless. Time will not be on his side and for now, neither will most of the fans…and that’s what I like about Dan Duquette.

I would encourage anyone looking for a little extra interest in Sunday’s game to try the MobTown $15.70 prop card. It’s free it’s easy and cash and bragging rights are on the line.

All lines taken from sportsbook.com.

Loves (100 pts for a win and -110 for a loss)

week 8: 3-2 (80 pts)    season: 16-14 (60 pts) 

Saints -8.5 vs. Buccaneers

Chiefs -4 vs. Dolphins

Bengals +3 @ Titans

Cardinals -3.5 vs. Rams

Bears +8 @ Eagles

Likes (50 pts for a win and -55 for a loss)

week 8: 3-2 (40 pts)    season: 13-14-1 (-120 pts)

Bills -1.5 vs. Jets

49ers -3.5 @ Redskins

Broncos +8 @ Raiders

Giants +8.5 @ Patriots

Chargers +6  vs. Green Bay

Feeling Lucky? (20 pts for a win and -22 for a loss)

Week 8: 1-2 (-24 pts)    season 10-12-2 (-64 pts)

Falcons -7 @ Colts

Browns +11 @ Texans

Steelers -3.5 vs. Ravens

Seahawks +12 @ Cowboys  

Last week Total: 7-6  (96 pts)     Season Total: 39-40-3 (-124 pts)

1. Joe Flacco passing yards (over or under 199.5) – 1 pt.

2. Joe Flacco completion percentage (over or under 49.9) – 1 pt.

3. Ray Rice total yards from scrimmage (over or under 124.5) – 1 pt.

4. Torrey Smith receptions (over or under 3.5) – 1 pt.

5. Anquan Boldin receiving yards (over or under 99.5) – 1 pt.

6. Terrell Suggs sacks (over or under 1.25) – 1 pt.

7. Ed Reed interceptions (over or under 0.5) – 1 pt.

8. Baltimore defensive and/or special teams  TDs (over or under 0.5) – 1 pt.

9. Mike Wallace receiving yards (over or under 99.5)  – 1 pt.

10. Who wins the game? (Baltimore or Pittsburgh) - 1 pt.

11. Which player scores the first TD? (player’s name) – 5 pts.

12. (tie-breaker) Total points scored both teams combined

*Entries will not be published until after the results are tallied

That said, one man’s passion and boisterousness is another man’s craziness and embarrassment. There’s no manual on how to behave when attending Ravens games, and no shortage of opinions as to what constitutes proper fan decorum.

Booing

The “boo birds” were out en mass on Sunday and for reasons that are obvious if not completely justifiable. WNST’s own Peter DiLutis stirred up a fair amount of controversy a couple of weeks ago by taking exception to fans’ willingness to boo the home team, and in particular the offense. Pete felt embarrassed to be associated with the crowd sentiment and many agreed with his stance. Just as many though felt it not only their right but their duty to let the home team know of their displeasure when merited.

In the course of their postgame reaction from Sunday’s game the Ravens players seemed to echo and acknowledge the fans’ frustrations and didn’t seem to take issue with the booing at all. As the boos rained down from the stands however, there’s little reason to believe that this served to inspire or motivate a team likely booing themselves already if not outright cursing their own efforts. Likewise there’s little doubt that the disgruntled and vocal few served to alienate and incite the masses that disagreed with that harsh stance and even harsher reaction.

While I try to refrain at all costs from booing the home team, I acknowledge the rights of other fans to do so, and simply don’t allow it to bother me (or at least I try not to). There are far worse things that fans can do or say in voicing their displeasure than booing (see: cheering for Kyle Boller’s injury or hurling profanities).

Don’t Be A Jerk…Don’t Be A Rat

The Ravens have lain down this edict at every home game that I can seem to remember since at least their arrival at M&T Bank Stadium. “Show respect for the fans around you, and don’t be a jerk” is the mandate. While sound in theory, the definition of jerkdom is a tough line to draw. Recently the Ravens have added an additional message about respecting other fans, including those of the visiting team which includes a number to which fans put off by the behavior of others can text their complaints anonymously. Talk about being a jerk. Unruly behavior shouldn’t be tolerated and usually isn’t. The stands are full of do-gooders capable of summoning an usher and/or police officer to sort out fan disagreements. My guess is that these can usually be resolved peacefully and amicably once addressed. Allowing fans though to lodge anonymous complaints without first making the offending party aware of their issue is plain cruddy.

My advice…don’t be a jerk, and if you feel like someone else is being one, say so…to them. If you’re right, you’ll find typically find plenty of back up in support of your request. Texting complaints about unsuspecting offenders without first asking them to stop whatever their offensive behavior might be, is divisive and counterproductive. Being a jerk is one thing, being a rat however is something else altogether.

Do You “O”?

The practice of yelling “O” during the national anthem is a long standing Baltimore tradition. As I said earlier, Baltimore fans represent for sure, both at home and on the road. It’s always heartening to hear the roar of the “O” on the road to signify the presence of the Ravens’ well-traveled fan base (Reeeeeeeeeeed and formerly Heeeeeeaaaaaap chants are other fun fan barometers).

I can understand how this could be off-putting to those not “down” with this tradition. It’s always fun to see if the anthem singer has been apprised of the forthcoming “O” or if the fans surprise them with it. While some might see the practice as disrespectful, practitioners would argue that it’s anything but. Regardless of your stance on that, the anthem represents the ideals of this country, free speech and free expression amongst them. To take umbrage with fans exercising that right during the anthem seems to miss the point of the celebration of freedom that the anthem represents in the first place.

Disclaimer: Soap Box Time – As an Army veteran who freely enlisted during wartime, I don’t believe it to be anyone’s right to criticize my (or anyone else’s) observance of the anthem no matter how deviant or disrespectful said behavior might be. Being a veteran doesn’t give me that right; it simply makes me appreciate it a bit more than I otherwise would have. Being an American is what gives me that right, plain and simple. The song is a celebration of that notion.

For my money, it’s far more disrespectful for those who take umbrage with the practice to impose that point of view on others who don’t. Likewise, demanding that others “honor the anthem” by browbeating them to stand or remove their hats during its playing are missing the point too. Observe the anthem any way you see fit I say, but allow me and others to do the same.

Speaking of “O”

How do you like the “7 Nation Army” chant that has taken over the better part of second halves at M&T and league wide for that matter?

I like it but admittedly don’t love it yet. Maybe that in part is due to the fact that I hear it on more and more game broadcasts throughout the nation. Maybe if the Ravens had a song that was specific or unique to them, one that also allowed for crowd participation I’d like it more. Surely if they did, others would soon copy anyway.

How about this instead? The Baltimore Orioles Wikipedia page mentions the practice discussed above of yelling “O” during the anthem. The page also points out that “O” is not only the first letter in Orioles but also a standout aspect of the Baltimore accent. Perhaps Baltimore could still own the “7 Nation Army” chant, but only if they willingly embraced their inner “hon” and delivered it as “Ooooowe Owe owe owe” in their truest and most exaggerated “Bawlmerese”.

When Is It Cool to Stand?

While booing seems to get all of the press, it might be the practice of standing and of determining the right time to stand that is the most divisive issue that fans deal with on a regular basis.

What’s interesting about his is that most game attendees are season ticket holders and PSL owners, to that end they’ve mostly been sitting around the same group of “friends” for 10 years or more. By now, most understand the preferences and pet peeves of their “seat neighbors”. The guys behind me for example (friends of my Dad’s) used to hate my Dad’s standing throughout the game. While respecting the view of others is important, seeing the game yourself is paramount meaning that most are bound by the practices of those immediately in front of them. If the guy in front of you stands up, then you in turn stand up too. Therefore those of you sitting in the first rows of your respective sections wield great power.

My take is that if your section begins with a #1 then you should expect to be standing on every defensive 3^rd down , other “key downs” throughout most games, and more often than not in important and or contentiously played games. If your section doesn’t begin with a #1 the line is a bit fuzzier. I’m not sure that you can make more noise standing than sitting, and it’s inconceivable that players on the field even take notice of whether the upper deck crowd is standing or even care. That said, you should still expect to be standing on important third downs at least.

What does kill me though are the guys who feel compelled when standing up themselves to turn to the crowd behind them and incite them to stand as well “Wild Bill Hagy style” by waving their arms at the fans behind them in an upward motion. As I’m there to see the game first and foremost, I’ll stand when I feel compelled or when it’s necessary to keep an eye on the action. Those wanna be cheerleaders feeling the need to rally the crowd should direct their efforts and energy at the action and players on the field rather than facing backward and choreographing the troops.

Choreographed Noise

While baseball fans (those that remain) seem to resent being prompted by the scoreboard to make noise, football fans it seems may thrive on it. Clearly because of the difficulty in communicating the impact of crowd noise on football is much greater than in other sports. In that way, I’ve always wondered whether or not false cadence from the crowd would inhibit the offense. Clearly when the defensive line yells, “hike” it can be a problem for the opposing offense (which is why it’s not legal). I wonder if cries of “hut hut hut” from the crowd might negatively impact the quarterback’s ability call out snap counts and have them heard.

“Move those chains” is a fun ritual but doesn’t exactly fit with the sound effect assigned to it at M&T. For that reason it seems that each section or cluster of rows is doing it to the beat of their “own drum”. A better sound effect might bring about a more unified and concerted effort.

Simulating the Road Environment

As encouraging as the Ravens comeback win over the Cardinals was on Sunday, the fact that it happened primarily from the shotgun formation is both telling and concerning. Telling as to the nature of the offensive line and their shortcomings and concerning because the Ravens look in the shotgun on the road is glaringly inefficient. By resorting to silent snap counts on the road the Ravens have precluded their ability to change the play once set as no one is listening for the quarterbacks voice anyway, and are giving the defensive clues on when it’s safe for the defense to change their look and when the snap is coming by way of the movements of both RG Marshal Yanda and C Matt Birk pre-snap.

This night and day difference between home and road efficiency, particularly in the shotgun seem to cast a greater onus on the Ravens getting home games in the playoffs instead of having to win in hostile road environs. The catch-22 being that they’ll have to find a way to win games on the road in the regular season in order to get those home playoff games.

Maybe the fans can do the team a favor, if and when they find themselves in firm control of a home game late by getting loud for (or in opposition of) the offense to prepare them for those issues on the road. The Ravens treated Jacksonville last Monday night like it was the Georgia Dome or Ford Field instead of the lightly attended venue that it is in reality. If that is indeed going to be an issue going forward, then who better to prepare the offense for noise and hostility then the “World’s Largest Outdoor Insane Asylum” reincarnated?

Boise State: It was supposed to somehow be their year. What’s more, this should have been a good weekend for the Boise Sate Broncos, instead it was just another in a series of tough late season blows for the “Little Engine That Could” of college football as the Stanford Cardinal not only survived a triple OT scare against USC, but catapulted the Broncos for the fourth spot in the BCS this week as a result.

The losses by Kansas State and Clemson had to be encouraging for the Broncos, and if the probability of USC upending Stanford as it was happening appeared too good to be true, it ultimately was. After starting the season with little #’s 5 & 7 in the two major polls next to their name, the Broncos appeared to be in line for their first legitimate shot at getting into the BCS title game if a few things broke their way. Lately it became apparent that they were the contingency plan for Oklahoma State at best. Now looking up at Stanford too, it seems that QB Kellen Moore and company will need lots of help in earning their “lifetime achievement award”.

Last but not least, it seems that in the era of conference landscape shake-up the Broncos, apparently Big East bound will still be looking at a future where the strength of schedule still serves to indict their record no matter how impressive.

Outlook: Stay positive, the weekend wasn’t a total loss. Clemson lost, K-State lost, and Stanford at least proved that they could be beaten. The Cardinal still have a showdown with Oregon and the PAC-12 title game to get through and Oklahoma State’s road may be even tougher than that. Boise’s BCS outlook may still be more realistic and closer than ever.

Washington Redskins: You started 3-1 and Rex Grossman’s misplaced confidence in declaring the Redskins contenders seemed to be both founded and contagious. Three straight losses and two quarterbacks later the Skins are fresh off of a 23-0 oak-sticking at the hands of the Bills and the once vulnerable looking NFC East is beginning to round more into the form that most expected to begin the season. The Eagles look to be clicking right now, the Giants and Cowboys both look talented but inconsistent and the Redskins look to be pulling up the rear.

Outlook: You knew it would eventually come to this, didn’t you? Even at 3-1 the Redskins were tough to buy into, now we’re being reminded of why. 

City of Dallas: The year began so well. The Cowboys played host to the Super Bowl and even though they expected to be in it and weren’t and even though the weather was an ongoing storyline throughout Super Bowl week, it’s tough to count that experience as a negative. In fact on the heels of the Super Bowl and tons of giant events at the new “Jerry-World” the Mavericks won the NBA Finals and the Rangers dominated most of the summer.

Now however, the Rangers arguably choked away their first world title twice in game 6 of the World Series then lost it in game 7, the reeling Cowboys are 3-4 and fresh off of an embarrassing Sunday Night performance on national television, and the Mavericks chance to defend their NBA title is on hold indefinitely as the NBA lockout drags on.

Outlook: Everything is bigger in Big D, I suppose panic is no different.

Denver Broncos: Okay, Tim Tebow stinks. It’s easy to tolerate when he’s winning and inspiring people along the way, but a win over a bad Dolphins team was just that no matter how exciting, and the reeling Detroit Lions exacted 2 weeks of frustrations on the Broncos on Sunday with ease. Tebow was a winner in college, but so were lots of NFL players, and even more who never made it or simply stunk in the NFL. Winning at this level is different, and Tebow has a long way to go before he can think about doing it consistently, and the current coaching staff may have no legitimate designs on waiting for him to be ready.

The Broncos are paying 3 quarterbacks good money, yet still have no real answer at quarterback. Additionally their win against the Dolphins while inspirational has them looking “up” at 4 teams in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes and on even ground (in the loss column) with 4 more.

Outlook: A team with 2 quarterbacks really has none; a team with 3 might have no idea what they’re looking for. Be afraid Bronco’s fans yours is a tough road ahead.

Roger Goodell: Mr. Ndamukong Suh would like to see you sir.

Outlook: Be afraid be very afraid.

I would encourage anyone looking for a little extra interest in Sunday’s game to try the MobTown $15.70 prop card. It’s free it’s easy and cash and bragging rights are on the line.

All lines taken from sportsbook.com.

Loves (100 pts for a win and -110 for a loss)

week 7: 2-3 (-130 pts)    season: 13-12 (-20 pts) 

Saints -14 @ Rams 

Lions -3 @ Broncos

Steelers +3 vs. Patriots

Browns +9 @ 49ers

Chiefs +4 vs. Chargers

Likes (50 pts for a win and -55 for a loss)

week 7: 2-2-1 (-10 pts)    season: 10-12-1 (-160 pts)

Panthers -3.5 vs. Vikings

Dolphins +9.5 @ Giants

Bills -6 vs. Redskins

Bengals -3 @ Seahawks

Cowboys +3.5  @ Eagles

Feeling Lucky? (20 pts for a win and -22 for a loss)

Week 7: 1-2(-24 pts)    season 9-10-2 (-40 pts)

Titans -9 vs. Colts

Jaguars +9.5 @ Texans

Ravens -12.5 vs. Cardinals

Last week Total: 5-7-1  (-164 pts)     Season Total: 32-34-3 (-220 pts)

1. Joe Flacco passing yards (over or under 199.5) – 1 pt.

2. Joe Flacco completion percentage (over or under 49.9) – 1 pt.

3. Ray Rice total yards from scrimmage (over or under 124.5) – 1 pt.

4. Torrey Smith receptions (over or under 3.5) – 1 pt.

5. Anquan Boldin receiving yards (over or under 99.5) – 1 pt.

6. Terrell Suggs sacks (over or under 1.25) – 1 pt.

7. Ed Reed interceptions (over or under 0.5) – 1 pt.

8. Baltimore defensive and/or special teams  TDs (over or under 0.5) – 1 pt.

9. Larry Fitzgerald receiving yards (over or under 99.5)  – 1 pt.

10. Arizona offensive TDs (over or under 1.5) – 1 pt.

11. Which player scores the first TD? (player’s name) – 5 pts.

12. (tie-breaker) Total points scored both teams combined

*Entries will not be published until after the results are tallied

Point #1 – This might be the best defensive performance we’ve seen from these Ravens in a long time.

Unlike their turnover driven performances against Pittsburgh and the Jets, this was smash mouth, “punch you in the face” defense. The 12 points that the Jags scored in the game were tough to come by. Ray Rice’s 1^st quarter fumble set the Jags up for a 51-yard field goal if they had simply kicked it immediately on 1^st down, in hindsight not a bad idea. Instead the Jags, pulling out all the stops, drove to the 1-yard line and converted on a 4^th and 2 in the process before Maurice Jones-Drew fumbled the ball back to the Ravens. The ensuing possession had Sam Koch punting from his own end zone. Again, if the Jags had kicked immediately on first down, the field goal attempt would have been 51-yards from the spot where the drive started. Three negative yards, a timeout and a tough decision later, Jack Del Rio and the Jags were kicking from 54-yards and taking a 3-0 lead.

The second field goal for Josh Scobee and company, another ambitious 54-yarder, came only after a Paul Kruger running into the kicker call negated a Jags punt and improved their field position as a result.

The Jags 3^rd field goal was the result of their most impressive drive in the game, a drive 16 plays in duration and one that arguably should have ended at 5 plays with a punt if not for a terrible unnecessary roughness penalty on Bernard Pollard. Another stop for the Ravens at the 7-yard line was nullified by a Brendon Ayanbadejo penalty and ejection. The 3 points they yielded on that series was ultimately a relief despite it putting the margin at 2 scores, the 8 minutes and 30 seconds they spent getting there might have been an even bigger win for the Jags.

And of course the 4^th filed goal came after the decision to try and onsides kick at 2:02 of the 4^th quarter and was the result of a 4-yard drive.

At the end of the day it was a shutout caliber performance by the defense, spoiled by circumstance and bad luck.

Point #2 – The Ravens were in the shotgun way too much.

The Ravens officially ran 38 passing plays and just 12 running plays against the Jags. In the aftermath of the defeat, those numbers have been heavily criticized and deservedly so. In a game as close as that one was, that type of imbalance is all but inexcusable for a team of the Ravens offensive identity. That said, that’s life in the modern NFL, and had the Ravens won, no one would have batted an eye.

That Ray Rice only had 8 “touches” has been a bit overstated though as he also had 5 catches on 8 targets in the passing game. Furthermore down and distance have a lot to do with making running opportunities available and the fact that the Ravens offense only ran 25 plays in total in Monday’s first half, 8 of which were 3^rd downs explains the imbalance somewhat.

What’s tough to explain from where I sit is why the Ravens felt compelled to tip their hands out of the running game as readily as they did on Monday.

By my unofficial count, the Ravens lined up 46 times on Monday either in the shotgun formation or with Flacco under center and intending to pass (this includes sacks and penalties). Of those 46 plays, 14 snaps under center were passes leaving 32 snaps from the shotgun.

On each of those shotgun snaps the Ravens seemed to go to silent counts with no cadence from Flacco at all. Instead, Marshal Yanda would watch for Flacco’s foot pump and then tap Matt Birk on the leg. Once Birk felt the tap, he’d rock back and snap in a predictable rhythm. I say predictable, but in fairness it appears the Jags got caught jumping offsides at least twice while trying to anticipate the snap. That said, that means there were 30 other plays where they conceivably timed it correctly. Surely this had something to do with the effectiveness the Jags were having with simple 4 and 5-man rushes.

That Jacksonville generates enough crowd noise to dictate the Ravens using a silent count in the shotgun is strange (especially after watching Matt Ryan direct the no huddle in Detroit last week). That Flacco is looking less and less like a quarterback during these scenarios is debatable in its impact perhaps, that the Ravens are essentially declaring that Ray Rice running the ball (a staple of the Ravens attack) is not an option and giving the defense a timing mechanism with which to start their jump at the line is absolutely baffling.

That Flacco looked so out of sorts when trying to direct a hurried offense when the Ravens needed him to may speak to the limited control he’s given of his offense pre-snap throughout the game.

Point #3 – Home field advantage may be more important than ever this year.

The Ravens have played 3 road games against 3 very bad teams and have looked good for exactly one quarter of one game. They’ve lost 2 road games to teams that had no business playing with them on paper, and while we all know that’s why they play the games, it’s un-Raven-like to say the least.

Your glass could easily be half empty or half full regarding the Ravens road successes and failures in the playoffs in the last 3 years and concerning the path that led them there and the missed opportunities to have games at home. If the Ravens are going to have a real shot this season in the playoffs, getting there will only be half the battle. These Ravens thrive on home cooking it seems.

Point #4 – This is not the same old offense.

It may be the same old result, but it’s not the same old offense. Don’t let your lingering frustration from the previous regime cloud your point of view. This isn’t even the same offense they had last year. Much less the Billick offense or the unbalanced run heavy (literally) attack of 2008. Call them crutches, call them security blankets, call them whatever you want, but Flacco knew where Mason and Heap were going to be all of the time it seemed. This new group…not so much.

The offensive line was an ambitious experiment to begin with putting 3 of 5 opening week starters in positions that they hadn’t even played in the pre-season together spoke to the possibility of tough sledding. The number of plug-ins necessitated by injuries on the line already only serves to perpetuate that problem. That the offensive line is struggling shouldn’t be a surprise. Maybe the bigger surprise should be how good they have looked at times. Either way they project to get better as time allows them to continue to evolve.

Anquan Boldin and two second year tight ends are the long tenured members of the receiving corps already, rookie LaQuan Williams seems to be playing more wide receiver as a rookie for the Ravens than he ever did as a collegiate for the Terps and Lee Evans has been a non-factor.

It stands to reason that this offense would struggle and will again, check back on them around week 13 or so, once the weather has changed, to see how well primed they are for the playoffs.

Point #5 – There’s lots of finger pointing going around.

Harbaugh pointing at Cundiff, Suggs pointing at Cam, the fans and the media joining Suggs in pointing at Cam and at Flacco too, everybody it seems blames somebody, and everybody just might be right. For a 4-2 team though this has to be at least a little bit unnerving.

This was a lot funnier when it was coming from the Jets locker room a couple of weeks ago.

Point #6 – You can’t blame apathy again.

When the Ravens lost to Tennessee apathy could have been to blame. Whether it was actually the case or not, it was easy for everyone to simply dismiss the loss as the Ravens were riding too high after a win against Pittsburgh or that the Ravens simply didn’t come to play. On the surface you might be tempted to say the same about Jacksonville, but it simply can’t be true.

As pointed out in Point #1, the Ravens defense did come to play. It was the defense that should have and could have been riding high and resting on their laurels, but they didn’t. It was the offense that failed to perform on Monday. The offense has been feeling the proverbial heat of criticism for weeks, and while folks were surely taking the Jags as a whole lightly, no one was discounting their defense. The Jags needed a big performance to have any chance against the Ravens on Monday; everyone knew that, including the Ravens.

Apathy may never be a legitimate excuse, here it absolutely wasn’t.

Point #7 – There are deep waters in the AFC North.

The sting of Monday’s loss was surely agitated by the fact that it represented a loss of first place in the division (at least mathematically) to the 5-2 Steelers. It also puts the Ravens in a tie with the surprisingly 4-2 Bengals and just a game ahead of the 3-3 Browns. This isn’t your dad’s AFC North it seems, and the 5 games the Ravens have left in the division are looking scarier by the minute.

The Detroit Lions – Losers now of two straight, the Lions could surely use some good publicity to take some of the spotlight away from coach Jim Schwartz’ loss of decorum during his post game exchange with 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh immediately following the Lions first loss of the season. Getting into a pre-game dust up with the Falcons probably isn’t going to do it, nor is Ndamukong Suh going to do much for his quickly devolving reputation for antics by standing over Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan while heaping on celebratory trash talk and reveling in Ryan’s apparent injury.

Beating the reeling Falcons away from the safety of the Georgia Dome would have been a nice feather in the Lions’ cap, but yesterday’s loss to those Falcons 23-16 may instead serve as a real stumbling block to the Lions potential playoff fortunes. Having seen the Packers run their record to 7-0 with a win on Sunday, the Lions can now look to the NFC wildcard as their most likely passage into the playoffs. As the also-rans of the AFC South look to be fighting for the very same, the Lions may have lost an important tiebreaker on Sunday.

Either way their running game is in apparent shambles, the failed Ronnie Brown trade looks to hurt a lot and the oft injured Matthew Stafford may have gone down to injury on the last play of Sunday’s game to boot.

Prognosis: Hang tight Lions fans. Next up: @ Denver, Bye, @ Chicago & vs. Carolina before a Thanksgiving Day showdown with Green Bay. There’s plenty of time to right the ship.

Tony Sparano – Sunday’s game at Miami against the Broncos might have felt like the whole world (or at least the whole stadium) vs. Tony Sparano. And for a while it looked as though Sparano might have won.

The coach surely began the season on the hot seat, and if Jim Harbaugh had been compelled to take his talents to South Beach there may have been no seat at all for Sparano. There clearly has been no quarterback for Sparano and the Dolphins since making due with Chad Pennington to moderate success in 2008.

Sunday though was strange. Tim Tebow, making his debut for the Broncos this season, enjoyed a great deal of crowd favor from those who showed up to celebrate Tebow’s 2008 Florida Gators National Championship team, and most Dolphins fans it seems have succumbed to the “suck for Luck” philosophy that wins at this point will only inhibit their chances at the top pick in next year’s draft.

As Tebow was crossing the goal with the game tying 2-point conversion, fans of both teams (plentiful in Miami on Sunday) seemed united in their hopes that Sparano and his Dolphins would find a way to lose…and they did. Everyone but Sparano left happy (or at least appeased).

Prognosis: Prepare to be pushed Tony Sparano. Your boy Bill Parcells bailed on you already, and the only purpose you’re serving at present is to be the means to a 0-16 season that will deliver Andrew Luck and likely the next head coach as well. No need for the Dolphins to rush that move though, they can save money now and keep the new guy from being associated with this ongoing mess.

NBA Fans – The NBA lockout got shock value attention courtesy of Bryant Gumbel last week, they got impartial mediation courtesy of the federal government and they got the best wishes of seemingly every fan still clinging to hopes of an NBA season at all this year. The end result, talks broke off at an apparent impasse with not only no apparent resolution in sight, but it seems there aren’t even any official plans to continue the talks as yet. The players are into the “making plans” phase of taking their talents to wherever paychecks are imminent and many owners seem contented to let the whole season go un-played, and David Stern will probably cancel Christmas this week.

Prognosis: Hang tight; college basketball is just around the corner. Accept the fact that there probably won’t be an NBA season and get over it. That way if there is one you’ll be imminently happy but you won’t waste any time, energy or emotion sweating it out in the meanwhile.

Clemson, Stanford & Boise State – It’s that time of year again too. The national championship picture is down to 7 teams after undefeated Oklahoma and Wisconsin fell last weekend. For those 7 teams, their chance at a national title just became a lot more real, and suddenly a lot more important too.

In fairness, it’s probably only 5 of the 7 legitimate title contenders that are seeing the championship picture with more clarity this week, as it’s been all but ordained that the winner of the SEC’s loaded western division would roll though the conference title game and into the BCS National Championship game as a result. For weeks we’ve been touting the LSU and Alabama winner as one half of the title picture at least, that part hasn’t changed.

What has changed is the likelihood that the Big-12 winner would get the other side of that bracket as that may be suddenly not be so likely. The Big-12 still has 2 undefeated teams in Oklahoma State (3^rd in the BCS) and Kansas State (8^th in the BCS) but both still have to play each other and a still strong Oklahoma team now relegated to the role of spoiler. Oklahoma State also still has Baylor with Heisman candidate Robert Griffin III and the Texas Tech team that just beat Oklahoma on their schedule and Kansas State has Texas and Texas A&M still remaining too.

Mathematically there could still be 5 undefeated powers left at season’s end (but likely won’t be). Where the ones who don’t reside in the SEC shake out should be quite interesting and is still very much up in the air right now.

Prognosis: If you’re a fan of any one of the three listed in the title, you might as well jump as no matter which team you side with, the odds are stacked against you. Beware though that if you do, you’ll surely miss out on an exciting and controversial finish to the college football season.

I would encourage anyone looking for a little extra interest in Sunday’s game to try the MobTown $15.70 prop card. It’s free it’s easy and cash and bragging rights are on the line.

All lines taken from sportsbook.com.

Loves (100 pts for a win and -110 for a loss)

week 4: 4-1 (290 pts)    season: 11-9 (110 pts) 

Chargers -2 @ Jets 

Texans +3 @ Titans

Steelers -3.5 @ Cardinals

Packers -9 @. Vikings

Ravens -7.5 @ Jaguars

Likes (50 pts for a win and -55 for a loss)

week 4: 3-2 (40 pts)    season: 8-10 (-150 pts)

Redskins +2.5 @ Panthers

Browns -3 vs. Seahawks

Broncos +1.5 @ Dolphins

Raiders -4.5 vs. Chiefs

Saints -14 vs. Colts

Feeling Lucky? (20 pts for a win and -22 for a loss)

Week 4: 1-1-1 (-2 pts)    season 8-8-2 (-16 pts)

Buccaneers +1 vs. Bears (in London)

Lions -3.5 vs. Falcons

Cowboys -12.5 vs. Rams

Last week Total: 8-4-1 (328 pts)     Season Total: 27-27-2 (-56 pts)