BSL Analyst
Posted 13 May 2021 - 10:09 AM
16 was perfect, but if it was 18 I could kinda get behind it. But 17 is just plain dumb. Odd numbers, uneven home/road games. Just silly. Literally a team cannot be .500 in a 17 game season.
It's going to take some getting used to. 10-6 is often good enough to get in the playoffs. Is 10-7?
Years of Jeff Fisher 7-9 jokes just down the toilet, one of the sport's great tragedies
she/her
HOF
Posted 13 May 2021 - 10:17 AM
Literally a team cannot be .500 in a 17 game season.
Sure they can. Just need a tie. With the shorter overtime, ties are a yearly occurrence now rather than rarities.
HOF
Posted 13 May 2021 - 10:55 AM
Sure they can. Just need a tie. With the shorter overtime, ties are a yearly occurrence now rather than rarities.
4 times in 1,024 games since its inception is pretty damn rare. But sure. 8-8-1 is possible, I guess.
HOF
Posted 13 May 2021 - 10:55 AM
Sure they can. Just need a tie. With the shorter overtime, ties are a yearly occurrence now rather than rarities.
Yep, there will probably be an 8-8-1 team.
HOF
Posted 13 May 2021 - 11:37 AM
4 times in 1,024 games since its inception is pretty damn rare. But sure. 8-8-1 is possible, I guess.
I was generalizing as didn't know the exact amount or how long the rule has been in place. But, thanks. 4 years, 4 ties...yearly occurrence 
HOF
Posted 15 May 2021 - 09:57 PM
A few observations about the schedule. Overall a very manageable schedule. The Ravens have little to complain about. The 5 week stretch with 4 home games and a bye is almost unprecedented. Take care of business at home and they might be able to take control of the division.
The two areas that are problematic? First, obviously the NFL did them no favors scheduling the KC game in week 2 after a Monday night football game. And even worse is the fact that they have to fly out west for MNF. They won't return to Baltimore until very early Tuesday morning. Tuesday is a lost day for physical team prep. They will have to get their preparation in starting Wednesday. KC, on the other hand will be preparing on a normal schedule, starting Monday morning. That's a pretty good disadvantage for a team that has shown no ability to compete with the opposition over the past two years.
You have to look a bit harder for the second one. It comes just after Thanksgiving when Cleveland will come into Baltimore. The Browns play the Ravens in Baltimore the week before their bye. The Ravens then go to Pittsburgh the next week. Now I don't have a lot of high opinions of the Steelers for this season, but it still is a division rival with a lot of history. The following week, the Ravens go into Cleveland. The Browns effectively will have three straight weeks where they will only be preparing for the Ravens. I'm not sure this has ever happened in the era of the bye, where one team plays another before their bye, and then again after their bye. This would appear to be a huge preparation advantage for Cleveland in the second game. And if they can win the game in Baltimore, they would be set up in at least favorable shape to sweep. Of course, you have to play those games on the field, but I would take the situation Cleveland has against it's main division rival any time I could get it.
The rest of the season is very favorable for the Ravens, imo.
HOF
Posted 16 May 2021 - 09:26 AM
A few observations about the schedule. Overall a very manageable schedule. The Ravens have little to complain about. The 5 week stretch with 4 home games and a bye is almost unprecedented. Take care of business at home and they might be able to take control of the division.
The two areas that are problematic? First, obviously the NFL did them no favors scheduling the KC game in week 2 after a Monday night football game. And even worse is the fact that they have to fly out west for MNF. They won't return to Baltimore until very early Tuesday morning. Tuesday is a lost day for physical team prep. They will have to get their preparation in starting Wednesday. KC, on the other hand will be preparing on a normal schedule, starting Monday morning. That's a pretty good disadvantage for a team that has shown no ability to compete with the opposition over the past two years.
You have to look a bit harder for the second one. It comes just after Thanksgiving when Cleveland will come into Baltimore. The Browns play the Ravens in Baltimore the week before their bye. The Ravens then go to Pittsburgh the next week. Now I don't have a lot of high opinions of the Steelers for this season, but it still is a division rival with a lot of history. The following week, the Ravens go into Cleveland. The Browns effectively will have three straight weeks where they will only be preparing for the Ravens. I'm not sure this has ever happened in the era of the bye, where one team plays another before their bye, and then again after their bye. This would appear to be a huge preparation advantage for Cleveland in the second game. And if they can win the game in Baltimore, they would be set up in at least favorable shape to sweep. Of course, you have to play those games on the field, but I would take the situation Cleveland has against it's main division rival any time I could get it.
The rest of the season is very favorable for the Ravens, imo.
HOF
Posted 16 May 2021 - 10:28 AM
All Star
Posted 16 May 2021 - 10:31 AM
Chiefs game definitely has disaster potential in week 2. The Ravens are gonna be working out some kinks still.
All Star
Posted 16 May 2021 - 10:33 AM
Though KC will be dealing with some of the same potential OL issues as well. So maybe they catch them slipping. Line up Oweh over Brown and see if you can beat him with speed.
I Miss McNulty
Posted 16 May 2021 - 10:36 AM
Already dreading the fan panic if the Ravens happen to start 0-2.
Eh, I really don't see us losing to the Raiders unless they happen to acquire Rodgers.
But, you know, stranger things have happened!
There is baseball, and occasionally there are other things of note
"Now OPS sucks. Got it."
"Making his own olive brine is peak Mackus."
"I'm too hungover to watch a loss." - McNulty
@bopper33
HOF
Posted 16 May 2021 - 10:44 AM
The two areas that are problematic? First, obviously the NFL did them no favors scheduling the KC game in week 2 after a Monday night football game. And even worse is the fact that they have to fly out west for MNF. They won't return to Baltimore until very early Tuesday morning. Tuesday is a lost day for physical team prep. They will have to get their preparation in starting Wednesday. KC, on the other hand will be preparing on a normal schedule, starting Monday morning. That's a pretty good disadvantage for a team that has shown no ability to compete with the opposition over the past two years.
It's funny how much the Chiefs are in the Ravens' heads right now, Lamar called them their kryptonite after all, but I really think it's a little overblown. In 2020 it was pretty much the entire team's worst game of the year, definitely Lamar's worst reg season game. That sucks but teams go flat, it happens. In 2019 the game was a mess, especially the 2nd Q, but losing by 5 with three missed two point conversions is certainly competing. 2018 should have been a win but for a circus-like 4th down conversion and then another 4th down conversion in that same drive. The closest two of those were on the road, the third was a home game without fans. Good teams are hard to beat. If the wind blows a little differently at a random time in 2018 Lamar is 1-2 and KC doesn't feel like such an impossible beast. They need a win just to get KC out of their heads but I don't think there's any reason they can't compete.
I agree that I wish the game was later so the new OL and WRs had more time to gel. I'd also hope they are doing plenty of prep for week 2 prior to the Wednesday before.
HOF
Posted 16 May 2021 - 03:29 PM
Already dreading the fan panic if the Ravens happen to start 0-2.
CFB Analyst
Posted 16 May 2021 - 03:45 PM
Yep, there will probably be an 8-8-1 team.
Probably the NFC East division champ.
CFB Analyst
Posted 16 May 2021 - 03:51 PM
The Browns effectively will have three straight weeks where they will only be preparing for the Ravens. I'm not sure this has ever happened in the era of the bye, where one team plays another before their bye, and then again after their bye. This would appear to be a huge preparation advantage for Cleveland in the second game.
Given the frequency with which they play and are familiar with each other, how much does that extra preparation matter? I'd think the bigger advantage for Cleveland in the second game is that they will be coming off a week of rest, while the Ravens will have just played Pittsburgh.
^^ That's my name. Don't wear it out.
Posted 17 May 2021 - 02:59 PM
Already dreading the fan panic if the Ravens happen to start 0-2.
If you think the Lamar slander is bad NOW...man...
HOF
Posted 17 May 2021 - 10:19 PM
HOF
Posted 18 May 2021 - 08:49 AM
If the NFL does one thing right, they have really found a way to turn a 16 game, sorry; 17 game season, into a year long affair. The spacing out of off-season events to keep them at the top of the sports world has really been a stroke of marketing/PR genius.
HOF
Posted 23 May 2021 - 05:44 PM
If the NFL does one thing right, they have really found a way to turn a 16 game, sorry; 17 game season, into a year long affair. The spacing out of off-season events to keep them at the top of the sports world has really been a stroke of marketing/PR genius.
I think that speaks more to the fan base. I can't remember the last time I watched a Pro Bowl, never watched the combine, and after they pick in the first round of the draft I'm done with the draft. I check the rest of the picks on ESPN.COM. Almost bit me in the ass when Lamar was drafted, but I was holding out hope. Regardless of what they do, hardcore fans will be engaged anyway.
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