After a well-earned week off, the Tennessee Titans host the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday as part of the American Football Conference's semi-finals. The Titans edged the Ravens 13-10 in week five, but Baltimore is a much better team now, especially on offense.
Rookie quarterback Joe Flacco is playing much better than he was earlier in the season. Also, the Ravens have developed a three-headed running attack consisting of LeRon McClain, Willis McGahee, and Ray Rice. While the 'running back by committee' approach is usually one to be avoided, the Ravens have made it work. Additionally, the Ravens' defense is first rate. Take it from somebody who had their defense in a fantasy football league, the unit makes a lot of big plays.
The Titans, on the other hand, are a lot like the Ravens. They will emphasize the running game, but if the Ravens commit to stuffing the run, quarterback Kerry Collins has shown he can carry the load if necessary. Defensively, a lot is riding on the health of Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosche. Both are expected to start. If they can both go, then the Titans' defense becomes a stone wall. If not, things will be interesting.
Playing at home and with a full head of steam, I'm taking the Titans.
The pick: Tennessee 23 Baltimore 14
Other picks: Pittsburgh over San Diego, Carolina over Arizona, New York Giants over Philadelphia
Previous week's picks: 4-2 (.667), Overall: 61-34 (.642)
6 comments:
This is when football gets really interesting. All those games are anybody's guess. Titans? Hopefully. Chargers? Maybe. Carolina? Who knows? Giants and Philly? That's the big game.
I think Tennessee will win this week, but I won't be shocked if the Ravens pull off an upset.
I'm looking forward to Titans-Steelers II. Hate to say it, but I don't see Tennessee beating Pittsburgh again.
My first cousin is married to a guy who was born in Pittsburgh. She's several years older than me. When I was at my most football crazy, 8-12-years-old, I always got Steelers stuff for Christmas. I still have a soft spot in my heart -- as well as a Scott Campbell(!)-signed "official" football -- for the Steelers. I also have a Terrible Towel that I "stole" from a big pile o' Terrible Towels from Hank Williams, Jr.'s house.
If it's Tenn vs. Pitt in the AFC Championship, I'm gonna have to pull for the Steelers. Perhaps I'll take a pic of my T Towel and post an accompanying musing.
Stay tuned ...
Ravens 13 Titans 10. Well, I missed this one. To paraphrase Smooth Jimmy Apollo from The Simpsons: "Well, if you're right 64 percent of the time, then I guess you have to be wrong 36 percent of the time."
But seriously, the Titans have nobody to blame but themselves for the loss. We had the ball inside the Ravens 30-yard line four times in the first half and only got seven points. Dumb penalties and critical turnovers ruled the day.
The Titans were the better team, but the Ravens played better.
"I think Tennessee will win this week, but I won't be shocked if the Ravens pull off an upset" I said. Shocked I'm not, and half-right I was ... so there!
I antipate many "we-need-a-new-coach" calls on 104.5 come Monday afternoon. Just you wait and see.
'The Nightly Daily' would like to publicly congratulate the Pittsburgh Steelers for winning today, allowing the blog to salvage a 1-3 record this weekend. In the second quarter, the Chargers were leading, and I feared a winless weekend was at hand.
The Titans and Colts were out but I still had the Giants; then the Giants were out but I still had the Chargers to pull for. Now the Chargers are out and I don't know who's left that I even care about.
"Playoffs! Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs! . . . Playoffs?!"
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