Ravens Blogger Speaks Out

As I mentioned yesterday, I posed five questions to Ravens blogger Tony Lombardi from football24x7.com. Here are those questions, and his responses. Enjoy.

1). Given what the Cowboys and Steelers defenses did to the Browns, are you licking your chops?

Not necessarily. The Browns beat the Ravens twice in ’07 and they’ve struggled to contain Braylon Edwards. If the Ravens don’t put pressure on a shaky Derek Anderson, Edwards and Kellen Winslow could be problematic for the Ravens secondary – a secondary that has struggled to stay healthy.

The Browns defense is another story and they will see a different style of offense from the Ravens than they are accustomed to seeing from Baltimore. Cam Cameron, a mentor of sorts to Rob Chudzinski will attack the Browns secondary after establishing the run through play action passing, something that rookie QB Joe Flacco handles like a veteran. The Browns can also look for some no huddle attacks from the Ravens in part to limit substitutions and wear down the DT’s like Shaun Rogers who looked gassed towards the end of the Browns contest against the Steelers.

2) How satisfied are you with your QB situation in Baltimore? Who's your pick to start?

Flacco gets the start but personally I had hoped that either Troy Smith or Kyle Boller would win the job to enable Flacco to learn a bit from the sidelines. That won’t happen because Smith contracted a bacterial infection coupled with tonsillitis just when it seemed the job would be his. Boller has a torn labrum and is on injured reserve.

The rookie looked very solid in his pro debut but if Flacco goes down, John Harbaugh will call on the great Todd Bouman.

I know what you are thinking…hoping…

3) With the changes the Ravens made during the offseason, what were your expectations coming into this season?

I thought the Ravens were a 7 win team entering the season. I just thought there were too many question marks at quarterback, offensive line and in the secondary. After one game it looks like the Ravens have done a better job addressing those positions than I thought, particularly with the development of Flacco, the meshing of the offensive line plus the added depth with former Pro Bowler Willie Anderson and the return of Chris McAlister, Samari Rolle and Ed Reed to the starting secondary.

That said, it is only one game but it is a start.

If the Ravens can play consistently and stay healthy, they will compete. Let’s face it the AFC North isn’t exactly a strong division and the Ravens could win as many as nine games. But staying healthy is hardly a given for a team that starts 6 players on defense who are 30+.

4) What's your scouting report on the Browns telling you about Sunday's game?

I think the Ravens need to be physical with Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow. I expect short drops from Derek Anderson as he looks to get the ball off quickly. Jamming his favorite targets will force Anderson to read through his progressions and those short drops might ultimately lead to a few unwelcomed meetings with Ravens’ tackle Haloti Ngata who is emerging as a force in the NFL. The Browns will have to beat the Ravens by air and more than likely they’ll need a couple of big plays. The Ravens aren’t worried about former teammate Jamal Lewis.

On offense the Ravens will try and pick up where they left off last week – running the football and leaving Joe Flacco with manageable third down conversions. They will test the Browns’ shaky secondary and you may even see Todd Heap flanked outside the numbers to create mismatches. Look out for rookie Ray Rice.

When all is said and done and the clock reads 0:00, the Ravens will walk away with a 20-17 victory.

5) Are you as sick as we are of hearing people say, "It's the old Browns versus the new Browns?" I mean, it's been long enough, can't people get over it already? These are two different teams.

Actually we seldom hear that phrase in Baltimore but if it makes Cleveland Browns fans feel better, have at it. The Super Bowl XXXV win probably has something to do with our relative indifference towards the statement. That said, be happy with your new stadium and old colors. Baltimore would love to have a stadium that didn’t require permanent seat licenses to help finance its construction and there is no question about the town’s affinity for the horseshoes of the Baltimore Colts.

There you have it. While praise was given to the Browns, Tony still believes the Ravens will win Sunday. We'll see, Tony. We'll see.

If you'd like to see my responses to the five questions Tony asked me, visit his blog.