Mile High Massacre..Week 1

Hey...That guy is open again....

Last night kicked off the NFL season as the defending Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens TRAVELED to the mile high City to face the Denver Broncos in a Divisional round rematch from last year.  A place that (as NBC rammed down our throats in case anyone forgot) the Mile High Miracle.  It truly was one of the greatest playoff games I have ever seen, and this was surely going to be a great re-match.........right?

WRONG.....

Last year this game gave us the Mile High Miracle and this year it gave us the Mile High Massacre.  Here are the top 5 things I took from the game....

1. Peyton Manning is the best QB I have ever seen:  Bar none, including his own team president.  No QB is more guaranteed to produce with time to prepare than Peyton Manning.  Last night he put on a surgical clinic, and made adjustments throughout the entire game.  The Ravens took away, Thomas, Decker and Welker early.....He found Julius FREAKING Thomas...The 45th string TE on the roster.   Passes and fades were laid exactly where only his WR could get the ball....oh and tying an NFL record with 7 TD passes is pretty impressive no matter who you are (The last guy to do it is probably more remembered for this good time than the 7 TD's he threw in 1969)

HOT POTATO!!

2. The Baltimore Ravens need to find someone who can catch the ball...soon: Joe Flacco was 34-62 and his "Receivers"(I use that term loosely) had at least 12 drops...Most of which seemed to come on 3rd down.  Joe was not great but he was way better than what his receiving corp showed.  Dallas Clark had 2 KEY drops including a TD to end the half, Ed "Dropsy" Dickson had 4 drops (oh he cant really block either), and Brandon Stokely is old enough that he stopped running for a long pass from Flacco when he realized he was tired and just didnt have that next gear.  Other than Jacoby Jones early on, no one else decided they wanted to get in a rhythm with their QB.

3. Denver's Defense may be better than we all thought:  They are young, fast and athletic, and, oh by the way, were missing their 2 best defensive players....Without Champ Bailey and Von Miller the Broncos D was able to get pressure and able to lock down Torrey Smith.  Sean Phillips was an animal last night.  Peyton and a Defense...uh oh....

4. Baltimore isn't missing the physical presence of Ray Lewis or Ed Reed, but something still seemed weird not seeing them there:  Listen, I am the first to say how big a Ray Lewis Fan I am, but last year he was a physical liability on passing downs.  When new ILB Bynes and Smith were in coverage last night they were able to keep up and stay in coverage, only missing when they had communication breakdowns.  Mike Huff, who was to replace Reed, was actually more disciplined and stayed in his coverage.  The problem, however is that he was BAD at coverage and even WORSE at tackling, things he will get better at.  But even with Suggs and Ngata still there you couldn't help but watch and ask...Where is the swagger?  Where is the ferocious intimidation?  The Answer is.....it retired....

5. NBC was still in preseason mode:  From Bob Costas calling Dennis Pittas, "Dan", and Al Michales taking almost the entire first half to realize Manning was wearing a Glove, The crew wasn't ready for the opener or the weather delay.  Then came the coup de graus.........Al Michaels mentioned how the Ravens had to open on the road (something only one other Super Bowl Champ has had to do) because the ORIOLES refused to work with them.  For the last time folks....even if the Orioles wanted to juggle their Playoff stretch schedule, mess with their pitching rotation during a pennant race(which they are very much a part of) and change the game to help their Russell street brothers...they need permission from MLB and the Players Union......Guess who nixed the whole thing?.....YES..Bud Selig and the players union.  This was not the Orioles fault.

"Goldy, but the Orioles and Angelos told Steve Bisciotti NO when he asked them.."
Ok crazy Baltimore fan (yes I am one too) riddle me this......

You own a competitive professional sports franchise.  Your team is expected to compete for the post season again.  Are you going to change the way your key starters play, move a crucial HOME game to another location? Oh wait, and the game in question is in the literal HOME STRETCH of your regular season when all post season berths are decided! The answer is NO over and over and over again......

What did you think of last nights game?

Goldy!