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Originally Posted by guru-t
Yeah!You're right.
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I wasted a little time on this write up tonight, but all the trends point in our favor Guru.
Baltimore Ravens @ Tennessee Titans
Ok, before we look at anything I think Tennessee deserves a lot of credit for what they accomplished this year. 13-3 is a hell of a record for that team, how many of us honestly had them pegged for that kind of a year? I thought Tennessee would be 8-8 at best! Baltimore had strong year too at 11-5 with the same stout defense they’ve always had, a young but very solid coach, and a rookie under center. I think most of us predicted 10 wins for this Ravens team with their defense alone. So here they are now the hottest team in football, coming into Tennessee after absolutely destroying the Dolphins on the road. This should be a great game to watch, Old School Football Baby, I love it!!!
Before I even think about placing a wager on a game, the first thing I like to do is check out the injury report. Baltimore comes into this one relatively healthy, with players who haven’t been sitting on their hands for the past 20 days!!! The same can not be said for the Titans. I know Vandenbosch & Hanyesworth are expected to give it a go (and these guys deserve a lot of credit for doing so, considering all the pansies in the league who wouldn’t) but there’s no way in hell they’re anywhere near 90 or 100 percent healthy, especially Hanyesworth. Linebacker David Thornton (who’s a hell of a player) is also banged up but will probably play. D-End Dave Ball will miss the game indefinitely. But the most significant injury that very few people are discussing is Kevin Mawae. Anyone who’s played the game or knows anything about football knows that games are won & lost up front at the line of scrimmage. I had the pleasure of watching Mawae play with the Jets for multiple seasons, and let me tell you, this guy plays the center position better than anyone in the game. Believe me, this injury is HUGE!!!
With that said, no one should place a bet on a team or against a team just based on injuries alone. Lets look at some other keys to this game. We have a seasoned veteran in Collins up against the impressive rookie Flacco (2nd half of the season Joe). In their 1st meeting both QB’s had days to forget, although Flacco was 18-27 which isn’t too bad and the Titans failed to register one sack. Flacco did throw two picks trying to make things happen offensively though. But since then Flacco’s been very good. Flacco’s got a laser for an arm and over the past 9 weeks he’s thrown 13td’s and 5int’s, and in total (statistically) has actually had a much better year than Collins in the second half. I believe Flacco is the first rookie quarterback to ever win a playoff game on the road. So even with Collins experience I don’t give Tennessee too much of an edge here, especially considering the weapons both men have to throw the ball too. Who the f*** scares you on Tennessee stretching the field??? Brandon Jones??? Come on. Baltimore has much better targets in Heap, Mason, and Clayton (not even close). Plenty of Tennessee backers will point to the Titans two headed monster backfield. Though, can you really see these two guys running on Baltimore? I cant, and they wont. Both of these guys (the rookie and that fat f***) combined rushed for under 50 yards vs. the Ravens. On the other side, the Ravens backs ran for well over 100 yards on Tennessee. That’s another thing, people are severely over looking the efficiency of this Ravens offense this year. They’re putting up a ton of points, compared to past seasons, nearly 26 a game.
Defense. Defense keeps teams in games and as I say “defense can win championships.” There’s no defense in the league people fear more than this Ravens squad, filled with ball hawks, who punch you in the mouth and leave you for dead by the end of the game. The Ravens have played well on the road this year too, 7-2 after last week. Titans are no slouch at home though, so this should be somewhat of a low scoring affair. I really like Jeff Fisher as a coach, but I hate the decision he made to rest his starters last game, it’s the wrong move and recent history proves me and others correct who have brought up this valid point. Take Indy for example, they lost this year and last year after resting their starters in week 17. Look what happened to the Steelers and the Bucs last year after resting their starters week 17. This trend goes back at least 5 years if you research it, these teams are like 5-15, look it up yourself. Titans haven’t seen the field in 14 days, and the starters haven’t played a full game or a meaningful game for that matter since Pittsburgh, 20 days ago!!! With all this in mind, there’s no way I can bet the Titans here.
Score Prediction: Baltimore 20, Tennessee 16
Saturday’s Play: Baltimore Ravens +135 (ML) *20 Units
GURU-Ts playoff card.
Denver and Colts have great defenses
i was heavy on tennessee and carolina. 
