Sunday, December 9, 2007

Baltimore Pregame

Injuries: The Colts will be without Marvin Harrison and Raheem Brock. No word yet on Gary Brackett or Ryan Diem. Baltimore has four defensive backs listed as questionable as well as TE Todd Heap.

Weather: Forty degrees and a 50% chance of rain.

Storylines: The Colts currently hold a game and a half lead over the Steelers in the race for the second bye. With a win tonight, the Colts would only need to win two of the final three games to secure the seeding. The Ravens have given up an uncharacteristic number of big plays this season. It will be interesting to see if the Colts can get Addai going enough to set up a big play-action pass. We haven't seen that out of the Colts much in recent memory.

Defensively the story will be Willis McGahee vs. the Colts' front seven. Baltimore's O-line turned in a stout performance last Monday night. Will they make amends for Jamal Lewis's poor showing last January versus Indy? Tyjaun Hagler is expect to have a bigger role tonight after being worked backed in slowly last week. His presence will certainly help, but the Colts may still be in for a long night if Gary "I do it all" Brackett is out.

Prediction: I've been sensing a close game all week, despite the fact that Baltimore lacks a clear edge in any category. Obvious prediction of the night: Watch out for Yamon Figurs versus the Colts' kick coverage unit. The Colts eeked out a tough win last week versus one of the hottest teams in the league. Tonight should give us a clearer picture of how far the Colts can go this year, given their personnel. This is a team the Colts should dominate on both sides of the ball. Still, my gut says the Ravens will give the Colts their money's worth, with Indy coming out on top 27-23.

1 comment:

Joel said...

Who had 9:15 in the pool for the first moving van reference?

I bet a quarter of the fans in the stadium weren't even alive when that happened. Time to move on, folks.

And by the way....the rout is on. What exactly did New England find so difficult about this team?