NFL: Gooses' Nest Analyzes Sunday's Ravens vs. Chargers Game

OTHERS REPORT...................WE ANALYZE

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SAN DIEGO AT BALTIMORE- Most of you so called Experts will agree that the Ravens should thrash the Chargers with relative ease this Sunday, and rightfully so. After all, Baltimore is on a 4-0 run, and are enjoying their very first winning season in franchise history, with a vitual clear path to the playoffs. Plus, the Ravens are coming in with two weeks of R&R. San Diego comes in having to scrape their pride off of the ground, after their humiliating 28 point loss to the 'Niners. Believe me, I had to dig mighty deep to find any points of interest out of this, seemingly, lop-sided game.

One is, will the Ravens come in rusty after their bye week? Fat chance of that happenin', not with Billick as their coach. The defense is so good and plays so tight, that, if anything, it [Bye Week] will lay more G-forces into their licks. Baltimore's offense might need a couple of possessions to fine tune their machine, but nothing more.

The OL and punting game benifited the most from the extra time off. C Jeff Mitchell and OTs Swayne and Ogden, have been playing hurt most of the season. Prior to the bye, the OL did a stellar job providing protection for their QBs, and blasting holes open for the running game, which is a major reason behind their recent success. PR Jermaine Lewis further injured his ribs two weeks ago, versus Cleveland, and his status for this Sunday's game is still questionable. I will get an update when I go up to the Ravens complex this Wednesday. I hope the punt coverage unit used the time off to look at game film, to try to figure out what they're doing wrong. Whether they did, or not, remains to be seen.

Another point of, somewhat, interest is earlier this season, when the Ravens were sitting at 5-1, they possessed a swagger, that made me feel uneasy. At that point in time, there was still much work to be done. A 0-3 skid brought them back down to Earth in a hurry. Now they're 9-4 and that swagger has been replaced with confidence, and a fear that any given play can blow it for them. Sometimes fear can be a good thing.

San Diego was shackled down before the season even began. 8 out of their 13 games have been against teams with winning records. The Chargers are 0-8 against those teams, including 2 and 3 point losses to Raider Nation, and 1 point losses to the Saints and Broncos. 3 of those games were on the road at Oakland, Denver, and Buffalo, again, all losses, by a combined 5 points. In 9 of their 12 losses, the Chargers had the lead at some point, but wound up losing in the end.

Sorry, but that's about all I could squeeze out. Like I said I had to dig deep.

This Sunday, look for Coach Billick to stretch the field early, by sending WRs Ismail and Johnson deep (20-35+ yd. passes), and TE Shannon Sharpe on mid-range (10-20+ yd. passes) routes down the middle. QB Trent Dilfer should be able to carve up San Diego's DBs with relative ease.

Once that's accomplished, watch Billick unleash RBs Jamal 'Hurricane' Lewis and Priest 'Tornado' Holmes. If I may suggest that they should start working the right side with the run a little more. 2 out of 3 running plays go from C to OLT. If I notice it, certainly opposing NFL coaches aren't far behind. I already know how to do that the left side down, simply by shifting their LBs over one gap and bringing their FS up, and setting their SS at 12 o'clock. That won't be too cool, so getting more consistency and plays on both sided of C is suggested.

Baltimore's defense should have a field day against San Diego's 'Charmin' offense. The Chargers OL has absolutely no chance of containing the Ravens Magnificent 7 (Front seven), not with DEs McCrary and Burnett, and LBs Sharper and Boulware blitzing from the outside, and DTs Siragusa and Adams, and MLB Ray Lewis clogging up the middle. Beside, just in case someone does manage to break through, they won't get far. Not with SS Rod Woodson and Kim Herring back there.

If the Chargers have any leve of success, it will be by going after Baltimore's CBs, McAlister and Starks. However, any success will be minimal. Both CBs give up the short, underneath stuff, but not the deep ball. Don't dare try it either, because that's when McAlister and Starks will burn you for big plays.

It's simple, the Ravens will win. The trick for Billick is to set the pace of the game, early, take a commanding lead, then get his starters outta there, and give their backups as much battle time as possible. And, second only to winning, they must stay healthy!

FINAL SCORE- BALTIMORE 34 SAN DIEGO 10