(Omar Whistle/Warriors playing)………………………………………………………………………………
Bragging Rights Sports Presents:
A Maryland Culture Production
“In 1996, they arrived in Baltimore away from an angry Dawg Pound. They have been criticized by many people outside of their city ever since their inception. Despite 2 championships and many Hall of Famers they get little respect. They get called names such as Murderer, Running Back, Hypocrite, Overrated, Soft, and others. But even if they are disrespected more than any team in the NFL the goal is still the same. Win the Lombardi Trophy. No one outside of the 410 cares about them, yet they work harder every single day. These boys have a swagger, and like to be pushed no matter what. We as Marylanders call them…………………………….”
CHARM CITY BEASTS
The Unrivaled Themed Story of the Baltimore Ravens
(It’s Never Pretty, It’s Never Perfect, BUT IT IS US!)
(XXXV, XLVII)
(BIG TRUZZ)
(THE TEAM, THE TEAM, THE TEAM)
Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews, Justin Tucker, Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, Roquan Smith, JK Dobbins, Calais Campbell, Devin Duvernay, John Harbaugh, Greg Roman, Mike Macdonald, Eric DeCosta, Sashi Brown, Steve Bisciotti, Edgar, Allan, with Poe, and the Salty Marylander/Narrator Michael Hession.
Location: Caesars Superdome Opponent: New Orleans Saints
(Season 3) Episode 9: The Bullies of Bourbon Street
R-A-V-E-N-S RAVENS!
Narrator: I can smell the false hope right now. The AFC right now is up for grabs. The Bills somehow lost to the Jets and are 0-2 against their own division. The Chiefs needed OT and an inexperienced QB to feast on to beat the Titans. Plus 2 AFC North rivals are on a Bye Week, and the Bungles well are a roller coaster. It’s not like the Ravens are dealing with their own problems. The injury bug has returned despite 10 days in between games. It was revealed that Rashod Bateman would be placed on the season ending IR thanks to having lisfranc surgery in his foot. (The same injury Hollywood had at Oklahoma) Not to mention Mark Andrews and Gus Edwards also got injured against Tampa Bay. But thanks to Devin Duvernay, Isaiah Likely, Kenyan Drake, and DeMarcus Robinson putting up solid games, the Boys in Purple held on to win and maintain 1st place in the division. Like most years GM Eric DeCosta made a bold splash at the trade deadline to bolster the defense. This time he traded 2nd and 5th Round picks plus LB AJ Klein to the Bears for one of the best Middle Linebackers in the NFL. Roquan Smith. It was a move that needed to happen. The Ravens have not had a potentially generational MLB since Ray Lewis. And hopefully Smith lives up to the hype. Roquan himself stated that he had no idea that he was traded, but once he arrived the guys embraced him as expected.
Even after acquiring the biggest fish on the trade market it won’t stop the talking heads from gloating about the lack of talent at WR. Poe: Whistling (This already) Narrator: Poe these people need to relax. With Bateman being out for the season, and Andrews being inactive for the 1st time in his career, many are saying that the Ravens aren’t contenders without a legit receiver. Little do they know that they won a championship without such need back in 2000. Yes the game was different back then but still. All you need is an elite run game, defense, and all the momentum there is. Besides, the passing game is getting a minor upgrade. Ah yes DeSean Jackson. After 2 weeks on the practice squad, he is ready to be activated to the 53 man roster. As long as he doesn’t end up like Dez Bryant in 2020 he’ll be alright. As for the defense, they went from a unit described as trash by Stephen A Smith to one of the most underrated units in the game. The pass rush as stated before went from their biggest weakness under Wink to their greatest strength under Mike Man. With the veteran leadership of JPP, and Justin Houston, the front seven has quietly become one of the best in the game. With Calais Campbell returning this week that’s a plus. (Thank god the infection he had wasn’t serious) Even better news is that both Tyus Bowser and David Ojabo are also returning from the IR. They may not make an impact early on, but keep an eye on them once December rolls around.
With their Mini-Bye-Week continuing to unfold the major figure like last week was the rascal known as Lamar Jackson. Planet LJ along with James Proche and a few others attended Wrestle Mania. During the event he was called out by Ramey right away. Jackson gave the LOL face both in the front row and on Twitter afterwards. Not to mention he asked Boy Wonder if he could bring out good friend and rapper Loe Shimmy to the Week 11 game at M&T against the Panthers. The reasoning was so that they could have a boombox playing while they exit the locker room and walk near the tunnel. Edgar: Whistling (Are we trying to copy the 49ers last postseason) Narrator: Edgar I think we are. But we have more swag. Allan: Whistling (I like it!) Narrator: It sounds like a good idea but I’m not sure that Harbaugh will allow this with his old school mentality. I bet you the defensive guys will buy into that.
Anyways all news aside this matchup for the Ravens is crucial for many reasons. With a chance to gain a nice cushion in their division, they face a team that is looking to regain the momentum of years prior. The New Orleans Saints. A team that has had to overcome a massive culture change this offseason due to Sean Payton stepping down. His replacement Dennis Allen has done a decent job. We as Marylanders know him as the guy that was the victim of the most points that the Ravens have ever scored in a game at M&T Bank Stadium. (His time with the Raiders was a dud) Just like he did in that game, Dennis Allen is trotting out a former starting QB from the Cincinnati Bengals. Andy Dalton. A man in which the Boys in Purple have plenty of history with good and bad. He may have 3 memorable 4th Down Hail Mary plays against them, but Baltimore has beaten him like a drum in the past 5 matchups. For the 3rd time since 2006 the Ravens and Saints would play on Monday Night Football in the Superdome. (Baltimore won the first 2 matchups) Just like last week the B-More gets to play on the road in primetime with the comfort of a massive fanbase in New Orleans. (You can thank plenty of Baltimore based companies being based in the Big Easy) See for yourself, Ravens fans: “OOOOOOOOOOOO!” (That chant during the Star Spangled Banner never gets old, NEVER!) Narrator: The Ravens may be short handed on offense but that’s not going to stop them from making another NFC South team look soft. And right away the new look defense would make their presence felt. With Roquan Smith on board, and a now healthy Tyus Bowser, the Front 7 could unlock its full potential. Despite giving up a 15 gain to Chris Olave on the opening play, New Orleans could do nothing against the Ravens D. On the Saints next possession, Kyle Hamilton was robbed of his first NFL interception thanks to REFBALL. (I won’t argue since Chuck Clark mauled Juwan Johnson) It’s ok because Alvin Kamara was lit up by Roquan on 2 consecutive plays to force a 3 and out. The Baltimore offense despite being short handed would do what they do best. Ball controlled attack with minimum risks. It makes sense when you’re missing your top weapons. Planet LJ passed the ball to 5 different targets and his 24 yard TD to Isaiah Likely marked the 100th touchdown pass of his young career. Poe: Whistling (Keep sleeping on this man’s arm) Narrator: Absolutely Poe! These guys don’t know what they are talking about.
With a 7 point lead, the pass rush would tee off on the Red Rifle. Both Justin Houston and Calais Campbell were in a throwback to 2015. Allan: Whistling (Who cares if they are in their mid 30s, they’ll still dominate) Narrator: Dominating one of the best tackles in the game in Ryan Ramczyk for nearly the entire 1st Half and letting the others feast as well. It also helps that there really aren’t any weaknesses on this unit anymore as there were last year. (Plus Patrick Queen has more freedom and has gotten better by the game since Week 5) As did the Ravens running attack. It turns out that not having JK Dobbins or Gus Edwards isn’t such a bad thing after all. That’s what happens when you have quite possibly the best run blocking O-Line in the game. (With 3 potential All Pros in Stanley, Linderbaum, and Zeitler) Whether it was Lamar, or Kenyan Drake, the O-Line was giving them room to roam. Drake himself scored to make it 14-0. But then New Orleans for the first time all night would put together a drive. Both Kamara and Olave contributed for most of the yards on the 12 play drive, as the Saints marched deep in Baltimore territory. What undid them was a dropped pass in the end zone, plus excellent coverage on the 2nd and 3rd down plays. Luckily for What Dat Nation they would at least get 3 points out of it. Leading 14-3 at halftime, the Boys in Purple had a nice cushion that they’d hope would carry over into the 2nd Half.
Which it would, the running game continued to impose its will with holes being opened up for Drake, and Jackson to run through. Planet LJ may have been limited in the passing game thanks to unique coverages thrown out by Dennis Allen but don’t let that get in the way of what the Ravens are trying to do. They want to march the Saints out of their own building. It’ll come eventually since Jackson missed 2 potential TD throws thanks to some serious pressure from the Saints D-Line. (One of the few times that the O-Line got beat in this game) The score is at least 17-3 as JT would add a field goal. New Orleans responded by playing the short game with Kamara being used as a runner and pass catcher. The only downside is that Andy Dalton was still getting pounded by the Ravens pass rush. Exhibit A, a 3rd Down at the Ravens 10 yard line. Everyone that is an outsider believes that Baltimore is about to blow another 10+ point lead. But what they fail to realize is how much of an impact Mike Man has made on their pass rush. “9 guys up at the line of scrimmage, and Humphrey gets home.” That is scheming right there. If that was Wink they probably get burned for a TD because he would have drawn up a blitz with improper placement. Here it was perfectly executed. All Pro Marlo sneaks in off the edge and drops Dalton for a 9 yard loss. Saints settle for a field goal. That right there was probably the death blow to their comeback hopes. Even as they forced a 3 and out, New Orleans once again got burned in pass blocking by the MonStars. That opened the door for Roman to play keepaway. And they did. At first it was easy, there were plenty of big holes to run through. But once they got down inside the redzone things stalled out. A lot of it was due to the crowd noise forcing them to burn 2 timeouts and a delay of game penalty. (They call this the loudest domed stadium in the NFL for a reason) Luckily the Ravens still got 3 points, but it could have been a lot worse. At least Harbaugh didn’t lose his mind. Next possession for the Saints, well they got victimized by a tipped pass from Brent Urban that led to an interception by Justin Houston. (What a game and few weeks he is having) That ultimately led to the knockout shot from Kenyan Drake. Did anything else happen, nothing serious just a garbage time TD which forced Marcus Peters, and Chuck Clark into a family argument with Boy Wonder. (It’s part of life, but hey boys will be boys) Also for the 2nd straight game, the opposing stadium was dominated by the Ravens Flock by the end of the game. Marylander: YEAH BABY! WE’RE BAAAAACK! PAUSE.
Narrator: This game to me meant one thing. The Ravens have reinserted themselves as legitimate Super Bowl Contenders. It took some time, but honestly it feels good to say that again. Yes people will say they need a top receiver but when you have a run game like this, an O-Line that just made mincemeat of 2 very good defensive fronts in consecutive primetime games, and a defense that has finally lived up to the hype after weeks of retooling in the lab you can get away with this. Did I mention that Mark Andrews, Gus Edwards, and David Ojabo are coming back after the Bye Week. Yeah who is gonna wanna mess with this crew. With their schedule coming up, the Boys in Purple having possibly a clear sailing to the #1 seed. (Carolina, Jacksonville, Denver, Pittsburgh x2, Cleveland, Atlanta, Cincinnati. The easiest stretch on paper in the league) And the scary thing is, the defense is only getting stronger. If they can put up a game like this with Roquan Smith having just arrived and getting his feet wet, who knows what they can do going forward. Not only that Marcus Williams will be back some time in December. With that Front 7, and Secondary who wants to play this unit? Edgar: Whistling (The Chiefs and Bills may be the defacto best teams in the AFC, but we have the crew to beat them) Narrator: Edgar you’re spot on. Both them and Miami have top tier passing games. But its harder for those groups to generate points in cold weather without an elite run game. If the Ravens could hang with those teams before all of the moves they made this year, who knows what they can do come playoff time. All I can say is I’m so glad that we have the AFC North lead to ourselves going into the Bye Week. And with the schedule we have coming up, I can anticipate a potential division clincher on Christmas Eve. (With the Bengals having yet to play the Chiefs, Bills, Titans, Buccaneers, and Patriots, plus a 2nd game with the Ravens it could get rough and fast) Let the insufferability of Marylanders everywhere reign supreme! “Marylander: We’re dancing, and singing, and moving to the rhythm, and just when, it hit me, somebody turned around and shouted, PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC WHITE BOY! Edgar/Allan/Poe: Whistling (PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC WHITE!) Marylander: PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC WHITE BOY! LAY DOWN A BOOK AND THEN PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC TILL YOU DIE! (The boys had to recreate Jonathan Ogden on the sideline of that 2006 MNF game in the Superdome. Bringing back the good old days!)
Harbaugh: WHO’S GOT IT BETTER THAN US!? Everyone: NOOOOOBODY!!!
Bragging Rights Sports 