So, ten weeks and nine games into the season, what is it fair to say we have? One probable loss (at New England), four TCOB games (i.e., no excuse for losing, not if you want to be Super Bowl champion: home against KC, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Denver), and an equivalent number of toss-ups (at Cincinnati and Cleveland ... mostly because they're division games, at Minnesota, at San Diego). Leaving us with an intriguing stretch run that features two games against the Super Bowl champions, one game against Peyton Manning and his flying circus, and one game against a team that could very well be looking for its first victory since December 2007.
WEEK 11: VS INDIANAPOLIS (2008 record: 12-4): We haven't beaten the Colts in 6 tries. Any reason to believe it'll happen this time around? For starters, it's an ordinary, Sunday-afternoon home game: no playoffs, no prime time, no special meaning for Baltimore fans to get worked up about---just two teams gunning for a victory late in the year. The Colts will be coming off their annual prime time slugfest with New England. So we might be just a little bit fresher (though we'll be coming off a Monday-nighter against Cleveland). Betting on the Ravens in this series is getting to be like betting on the Cubs to win it all ... still, we've got to get a W one of these years. Don't we?
WEEK 12: VS PITTSBURGH (2008 record: 12-4): Well, we asked for it, and we got it---a prime time game at home against the Steelers, after consecutive years under the lights in Pittsburgh. Which basically means we'd better show up and win, before Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh start seeing James Harrison and Ben Roethlisberger every time they close their eyes.
WEEK 13: at Green Bay (2008 record: 6-10): Our third prime-time game in four weeks is a Monday-nighter in Green Bay. No way to handicap this one. If the Packer defense rebounds to 2007 form, and Aaron Rodgers continues to improve, this could be one of the toughest games on the schedule. On the other hand, if neither of those things happen, the Green Bay faithful could be booing the home team by halftime.
WEEK 14: VS DETROIT (2008 record: 0-16): What will Detroit's record be in Week 14? Whatever it is, if the Ravens don't tack on one more loss, I suspect it will be a very long off-season in Baltimore.
WEEK 15: VS CHICAGO (2008 record: 9-7): Another tough one to handicap. The primary X-factor is whether Jay Cutler can develop a rapport with someone---ANYONE---in the Bears receiving corps. But we're getting to that point in the season where the vast majority of teams could just as easily be in the hunt as out of it, and games start turning on injury reports, funny bounces, and just plain failure to show up. The Bears are no different, and if I'm honest with myself, neither are the Ravens.
WEEK 16: at Pittsburgh: Should be the toughest divisional game on the schedule. And yet, the last time the Steelers won the Super Bowl, we thumped them twice the following year. See what I mean about the futility of April handicapping?
WEEK 17: at Oakland (2008 record: 5-11): I'm sure every Bucs fan looked at their team's schedule last April and placed the season-ending game against Oakland in the win column. They probably did the same thing after Week 16, with their team mired in a three-game losing streak and needing a victory to keep its playoff hopes alive. Of course the Raiders won the game. Will this cautionary tale keep me from looking at this year's season-ending game against Oakland and placing it in the win column? Not on your life! But feel free to ask me again come January.
To repeat, the second half is all but impossible to handicap. Dare I call victories against Detroit, Chicago, and Oakland? Okay, but what do I do with Indianapolis, Green Bay, and Pittsburgh (twice)?
What I will conclude from this schedule is that, barring a rash of injuries at key positions, the Ravens have an excellent shot at building on last year's success and making another Super Bowl run. They won't be sneaking up on anybody this time, but neither will they be starting a rookie QB. For all that, the schedule is only an obstacle if teams allow it to be one. Let no one forget that last year's Steelers were handed a schedule that many pundits immediately proclaimed one of the most difficult of all time. We all know how that one worked out.
Keywords: Baltimore Ravens 2009 schedule part II
