Here we go!!

Bit too late, game starts at 2:30 at night, that's not staying up late, that's an all-nighter!

 

It's been far too long. I can't wait. Ready to get back into the habit of not getting to sleep until gone 4 on three days of the week!

 

So I'll pop the big question for this season: Can the Baltimore Ravens do with Ray Lewis and make it to the Super Bowl?

 

I highly doubt it. More likely they miss the playoffs than win the Super Bowl. Let's not forget, they were quite poor until the playoffs last year, when Flacco suddenly learned how to be more than just an average QB. There's no reason to assume he'll continue his super human form. Ray Lewis was crap last year, so he's not a loss on the field (Daryl Smith is actually an upgrade) but it remains to be seen how important his motivation was. But no, I'd be very surprised if Ravens won it again.

 

My thought exactly, I can't believe the contract upgrade Flacco got, a very average QB who was lucky Ray Rice, Pitta and Jacoby Jones were there to compensate his shortcomings. I can't see them getting into the post season either. The team I do have on my sights are the Seahawks, they look lethal in offence and solid in defence in pre-season, they need to work on their offensive line though, Wilson got sacked a couple of times last week against the Raiders.

 

His agent must have been laughing all the way to the bank, but at the same time, I don't know what other option Ravens had. Flacco isn't great by any means, but it's very hard to find NFL quality quarterbacks. Look at what Cardinals have been doing since Kurt Warner, and teams like Browns and Jags are trying and failing to do. When you get an NFL quality QB, you need to hold onto them with everything you've got. Ravens couldn't afford to lose Flacco. Jacoby Jones helped a lot in the return game, but the idea of him as a #2 receiver is hilarious. Anquan Boldin was huge for them them through the playoffs.

Seahawks are interesting. An incredibly talented roster, but a lot of question marks on offense. A lack of good receivers (pity Harvin looks to be out for a long time) and Russell Wilson, who is getting a lot of hype but not everyone is convinced - even our resident Seahawks fan, Gay Bacon Strips, doesn't think he's as incredible as a lot of the media make him out to be.

 

You should've seen a couple of the catches the WR made last week, I think the third play by Wilson was a 50y complete pass, it was brilliant. I was also keeping an eye on the Dolphins, all the free agents brought in and their draft picks looked sensible. Bit sad to see it was all for nought as they look dodgy in the first four weeks.

 

One of Wilson's big problems last season was that he very often missed open receivers downfield, which resulted in his highly publicised scrambling. Obviously it's a nice thing to fall back on, but for him to be a "great" QB, he needs to throw the ball more often. He can throw, he's got a great arm on him, but unfortunately a few of his attempts in the pre-season were quite inaccurate.

 

I wasn't a fan of Dolphins' preseason. Mike Wallace was massively overpaid, and trading up for Dion Jordan at #3 is a big, big risk, as he's such a boom or bust player - especially as it sounds like he isn't even going to be a starter.

 

Would that be the pass to Stephen Williams? That looked a tad underthrown to me, and it's just as well Williams is 6'5, otherwise it could well have went the other way.

 

Talking about QB's how do you guys rate Alex Smith at KC? And is the Jets decision to pick Geno Smith over Sanchez a good one? Me personally, I never really rated Sanchez, lots of talking and excuses but when push comes to shove, he never delivers. From what I've seen of Smith, the guy can't find a way out of a collapsing pocket, last week against the Ravens he got lucky a couple of times but his running game was poor. No better than Sanchez IMO.

 

Alex Smith... eh. Very good at the most simple stuff, crap at everything else. I'm not sure how Andy Reid will use him, but I can't see him being a long term solution for any side. An upgrade on Cassel, I suppose.

Geno Smith... erm. I liked him a lot in college and thought he should have gone earlier than he did, I think he was very good. Sanchez is complete crap and shouldn't be an NFL starter. Geno has been really, really disappointing in preseason, but he's just a rookie and it's just preseason. I definitely think he should be the starter and I'm still hopeful he'll impress, though I'm certainly not as confident on him as I was. I definitely think he's a better option than Sanchez and I'm not sure why you think he's no better, just based on preseason?!

 

Nah he's better, never liked Sanchez, I'm just having my doubts about his decision making and running when his OL breaks down. Gets sacked a lot, just like Sanchez.

 

Yep that's the one, Wilson threw the right distance and Williams made the most of it, was a great link up considering the game had just started 5 minutes before.

 

The Revis trade had absolutely nothing to do with the Geno pick?

 

That's a real stretch, given that absolutely nothing about the pick used to take Geno was used in the Revis trade. Sheldon Richardson, definitely. Dee Milliner, probably. Geno Smith is far too much of a stretch to link to the Revis deal.