Did the Ravens Get Another Bye?

Normally this would qualify Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun for Hater of the Week status. But I'm back to being discouraged, and pretty much everything the guy wrote is true. This is brutal:

Didn't the Raiders look like a team out of NFL Europe? To the Ravens' credit, they did exactly what they're supposed to do against bad teams. They kicked the Raiders around physically and sent them back home.

It's hard to evaluate the Ravens' performance because everything starts with this qualifier: It was against the Raiders. Oakland has no offensive line. The Raiders' coverage units on special teams were pathetic, and their defense tried to play man-to-man in the secondary with no pass rush.

He goes on to destroy the "West Coast Team Playing at 10:00amPT in the East" excuse with this:

But there is no excuse for the Raiders. They would stink up the field anywhere in the world at any time.

(h/t: Jerry Mac)

First Half: We Suck.

Dan called it barely watchable, and that's about right. Our offense is boring. Our defense got gashed on an option run. There's no pass rush.

19-0 and it could be worse.

Why was optimistic? Was it because last week was so much fun?

The Raiders are playing worse than they did in New Orleans. Ugly football. There's not even the drama of Lance Kiffin sending Seabass out for a 76 yard field goal while Al looks on, catatonic.

It's enough to almost make me not care.

John's Picks

The Professor is in Utah for the Western History Association conference. So I spent last night taking people's money in poker and then drinking at the Broken Record. I'm a little hungover, but not terribly, because I took Chaser. It works.

The Raiders will win today, 24-13. I'm just feeling it, even though McFadden is out. But the Ravens are missing their Corners, starting Fabian "I partied too much in Oakland" Washington. I like JaMarcus and Javon to continue what they started last week, especially against the wrecked-up secondary of the Ravens.

Giants, 21-20.

Bucs over Cowboys.

49ers over Seahawks, who are TERRIBLE.

Rob Ryan: Rex is an Arrogant Ass.

Gotta love Rob Ryan getting after his twin brother Rex in advance of Sunday's game at Baltimore. I say stuff like that about my brother all the time. Loved this:

Q: Have you spoken with your brother Rex this week?

Ryan: I keep quiet and like to be a professional. He’s an arrogant ass. Other than that, he has some big bullies to stand behind, just like I do. But great players make great defenses, and two of the best defenses in the league are going to show up Sunday.

Q: Is your father going to step between you two?

Ryan: No, he’s a Raider fan.

While I would have loved to see Rob punch Tom Walsh in the face a couple of years ago, the 16 sacks since the first game is a testament to the hard work of this defensive unit. Yes, the run D is still a little troubling, but they made Brett look every bit of his 39 years on Sunday.

Could be Worse, Part II

Ike jacked up Reliant Stadium, causing the Texans/Ravens game to be postponed even past Monday night. Five pieces out of nine from the retractable roof just flat-out disappeared.

My fantasy squad is impacted, because I have Andre Johnson at WR (he put up some nice numbers in my win last week) and Baltimore as my D. I had to replace Johnson with newly un-suspended Brandon Marshall, who hopefully will be picketed by MADD on Sunday.