I'm a little pissed. I'm gonna have a busy day tomorrow and will miss the game. Such is life. I really want to DVR the game and watch it tomorrow night, but I don't know how I'm going to make it until late night without seeing the score, or overhearing someone talk about it.
Either way, heres what I'm looking for:
It's apparently Cincy's first home opener on week 1 in the Andy Dalton era, which is odd. Will the crowd be factor, and can the Ravens silence them. Will there be a disappointment hangover from Saturday night when the best football team in Ohio lost to Oklahoma, or will more care about checking on the Indians, claiming them as the Reds suck? Silence the crowd early, thats all.
Is the defense for real? Do they pressure Dalton with simple 4-man rushes? Is Jimmy Smith going to shutdown A.J. Green?
Otherwise, all the questions are on the offense for me.
How much does Flacco operate out of the shotgun? Awfully hard to disguise things when you are in that set as much as he was last year.
O-Line play. Often the offense goes the way of the O-line.
Do they commit to the run game in a close game?
How does Danny Woodhead get used? Does Flacco go to that check down well too many times, perhaps with other receivers open?
Is there RAC opportunities for our receivers?
As a team, how disciplined are they? Penalized a lot the last couple years. Has that changed? Do they blow timeouts with a lack of urgency? (Probably do, who am I kidding).
Win or lose, I just want to see smart, disciplined, sometimes creative football. They beat themselves too much last year for my liking. Lets not do that as much this year, and no better time to change that identity than week 1 on the road against a divisional foe.
