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One Last Preseason Game Against Atlanta and Then What???
Place: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
Time: 7:00 pm
Television: WBAL-TV, Channel 11; MASN2
Weather: 71F, showers
Odds: Baltimore -- 2 1/2, 33 o/u
Okay, those irate fans who put in the whammy to make sure Kyle Boller would not be the Ravens’ starting Quarterback, your wish came true. Ozzie Newsome, announced, that Boller’s shoulder injury is serious and may require surgery. Troy Smith has played in four NFL games and only started two. Joe Flacco is a rookie. Smith is a former Heismann trophy winner for Ohio State, a team that had National Championship potential in Smith’s final year with the Buckeyes. At 6’0” Troy Smith is considered by many to be too short to be an effective pro quarterback. Flacco has the height and an arm capable of tossing way deep down field. Flacco’s school, Delaware, is a Division I-AA team from the Colonial Athletic Association with rivals like Towson, James Madison, Hofstra, Massachusettes, and Richmond as rivals. These schools are far below the caliber of play Smith fought in the Big 10.
The Ravens might be well advised to find a capable veteran quarterback FAST! Daunte Culpepper is available. For those fans who are quick to vilify Boller’s performance as a Raven, don’t forget he was forced into starting duty in his rookie year, 2003, when he started nine games. Despite promise which helped get the Ravens to a Wild Card birth, Boller never completely caught on hastening the Ravens to acquire Steve McNair at the end of his career for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. When returned to the starting position in last year, Boller’s performance was miserable.
Flacco is most likely the team’s long term answer for Quarterback, but to jump from a polite East Coast Conference to the AFC North is too much to ask right off the bat. Smith’s Ohio State background has him better prepared for the hoopla, but still all he has going for him are two pro starts.
Defensive lineman, Dwan Edwards, is gone for the season. The Ravens traded a late 2009 draft pick to aquire Marques Douglas as a backup defender.
We’ll go into more detail on the Ravens when we preview the season before opening kickoff on Sunday, September 7.
This will not be the ordinary, go through the motions, put the evil eye on a few players for the final cut, the Ravens contest against Atlanta will be very important in sizing up where the Ravens need to go early in the season.
John Harbaugh, the rookie head coach, has his work cut out for him as he transitions to the regular season. It could be worse. He could be a few miles down I-95 and working for Danny Snyder.
This is a game to watch!
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