Preseason Game 4: Redskins (0-3) at Ravens (1-2)

vs.

For Redskins fans, the Washington Post is required daily. Jason La Canfora and Howard Bryant are excellent beat writers, entertaining but not in that too-clever-by-half way of some baseball beat writers (*koffsvrlugakoff*). It's consistent, and there is depth of coverage. The writers stick around too (Mr. NFL Insider, Mark Maske, used to be the Redskins beat writer).

One of the great things about being a Redskins fan is how small and far away the Ravens look in the paper, like a teeny little mouse. They get the little column at the bottom left, under the Redskins' coverage armpit. Every Ravens story reads choppy, like Camille Powell, the dedicated Ravens beat writer, is writing longer pieces that get hacked up at edit.

Today's nutgraf is typical of the Post's contempt for the Ravens:

Ravens Backup QB Prepares as if He's Still Starting

Of course, this is what you want out of your backup, to be ready to step in at a moment's notice. But look again. What sticks in the reader's head is

Boller Too Stupid to Realize It's Over

or maybe

Former Starter Struggling with Demotion

A nicer way to highlight Boller's preparation and new role without insult would have been

Ravens Backup QB Stays Sharp

or maybe

Former Starter Coming to Terms with New Role

But just so it doesn't look like look like I'm picking on the Ravens because the Redskins aren't filling me with confidence 12 days before the season opener, let's do a game preview.

The Ravens' starting offense has been pretty weak, not scoring a TD since the opening drive of the first preseason game, when Brian Billick called his one play: McNair Improvised Scramble 'cause No One Was Open, codename MIS-b-NOWO. Like Tecmo Bowl, teams can just defend against that play all year and blitz from the outside. Sadly, Orlando Brown is gone and Jonathan Ogden is a shadow of his former self, and the Ravens did not do much to upgrade at O-line.

Jamal Lewis, goddamit you better heal up that hip. You're on my fantasy team and Mike Anderson is a four-letter word.

The Ravens had a good draft (Ozzie Newsome, who as Barry Svrluga noted today, works for the organization he played for, which has a different name and is in a different city than where he played; the records of his career are in the city where he played, but owned by an organization he never played for which has the same name as the team he did play for, which changed cities and names and abandoned the records of it players, knows talent), and they answered their major problems at QB and RB. So why arent't they gelling? Could it be because Brian Billick was fired two years ago, but kept coming to work, so no one talks about it?

Defensively, the Ravens look better. Than the offense. Ray Lewis is 31, but still will kill you if you're in the wrong place. He's coming back from a torn hamstring, Ed Reed, Chris McAlister and Samari Roll still anchor the defensive secondary, at 28, 29 and 30 respectively. This may be the swan song for these great players. Expect to read a lot about how the defense thinks of the offense as its retarded big brother.

For the Redskins: show me you give a shit. Anyone.

Baltimore Sun Washington Post

8pm CBS channel 9 in DC

This is an open game thread.




* Just kidding, Barry. We kid because we love. Now how bout granting Curly W an exclusive interview, huh? Pretty please?