Terry Ford: Big Sports Weekend
It was a big sports weekend in the area! Three big events! Well… One out of three ain't bad.
First, let's start with the positive. HOW ABOUT THOSE O'S!!!!!!! Not only do the Birds sweep the Tigers but do it against the last three Cy Young Award winners. We blogged the other day that the Tigers starters would eventually have to give the ball to the Tigers bullpen, nicknamed "The Pyromaniacs". As a matter of fact, I think Detroit reliever Joba Chamberlain should have been named Orioles MVP. But to be honest, besides David Price, it's not like the three Detroit aces tore it up. Orioles starters Chris Tillman and Bud Norris did their jobs, especially Norris. And what can you say about Birds DH Nelson Cruz and that Baltimore bullpen! I'm happy for Buck, finally winning a Postseason series.
Let's give the Ravens defense a big thumbs up because without those guys stiffening up in their Red Zone, it could have been 200-13. How bad was the Baltimore offense in the 20-13 loss to Indy? The Ravens defense forced four turnovers… And the team lost! The Baltimore offense turned the ball over three times themselves and was stopped on downs deep in Colts territory. The Ravens offensive formula is to be balanced with the run and pass. Well, the Ravens threw it 38 times and ran it 15. Now I'm no math whiz, but I don't think that's very balanced. The weird thing was that Baltimore averaged six yards a carry, so they were successful running the rock. Head-scratcher. Oh yeah, the offense was 1-11 on 3rd down… that's not a typo. And Steve Smith Sr. was held to 34 yards receiving. Did Gary Kubiak take the week off and Jim Caldwell take over the offense?
College Park was buzzing on Saturday. Maryland, fresh off of their thumping of Indiana in Bloomington in the Terps Big Ten debut, were hosting The Ohio St. University. There was excitement in the air and the game was close…Until the opening kick-off. The Buckeye ran it and threw it. I believe Ohio St. quarterback J.T. Barrett could have walked up to the line of scrimmage and told the Maryland defense what the play was and the Terps still could have stopped them. The Buckeye offense rolled for 533 yards of total offense in their 52-24 curb stomping of Maryland. It wouldn't have mattered if C.J. Brown, James Brown or Charlie Brown was the Terps quarterback.
The good news for the 3-2 Ravens is that it seems like every team in the AFC has won three games. A big steamy, smelly, heaping lump of mediocrity. And the 4-2 Terps have Iowa and Rutgers at home so six wins could be a possibility.
And I never thought that while I was hosting a show in Baltimore and talking about the Ravens I would have people texting… "Why are you talking about the Ravens? Talk Orioles!" How awesome is that?
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