I’ll be honest.  Because of life stuff I’ve only been paying half attention (even if that) to the Ratbirds’ offseason.  But here’s what I do know.

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Not Vanilla Anymore, I’ll Take Chocolate

Joe Flacco is now mile high.  That’s gonna be fun to watch.

(lol, sorry Hippo)

Lamar Jackson isn’t quite there yet as a pocket passer, but that doesn’t matter much because the Ratbirds’ receiving corp sucks anyway, quite frankly.  Most of them couldn’t catch a cold.

But Lamar can move.  He very well might be the Ravens’ leading rusher this year.  If opposing defenses don’t break him.  Which is possible, of course.

If opposing DC’s don’t stack the box, they should be fired.

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Where’s Terrell and CJ???????

Known for their defense, the Ravens are going to regress this year.  They lost Za’Darius Smith and DL Brent Urban.  Not a huge deal.  But they also lost star linebacker C.J. Mosley and future Hall of Fame edge defender Terrell Suggs.  There’s going to be a lot of pressure for some young unproven players to grow up fast.  And they will eventually, but probably not this season.  Rush defense is likely going to be a problem for Baltimore until this “new” unit gels.  Short passes, especially out of the backfield, will probably also burn them early and often.

The defensive secondary is still solid though with veterans Jimmy Smith, Brandon Carr and Tavon Young.  Marlon Humphrey has also made a very nice addition back there.  Throwing deep on the secondary won’t be very successful.  But teams with a smart OC will already know that and know they don’t have to.

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Schedule

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Predictions

7-9 at best, with 5-11 being more likely.

Third in the AFC North.  Two losses each to Pittsburgh and Cleveland.  Which is totally gonna suck.

But hey, at least we ain’t Cincinnati.

(sorry Redshirt)

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As a Baltimore native, I think that instead of watching this year I might just go and get crabs.

Wait, let me rephrase that.

OK then, maybe shrimp.

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