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What to look forward to on Thursday night

ItsNotGonnaBeAlright

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ItsNotGonnaBeAlright Newbie

ItsNotGonnaBeAlright

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So, I was looking through my annual football season preview mags trying to figure out what to watch for in the preseason games after the starters take their seats. Here's what I've got for Baltimore, broken down by their units.

-Offensive line - Baltimore returns all their starters from last year, but it's still an overall young line that managed to give up over 30 sacks last year. That makes 'em just a little worse than average in pass protection. They don't lose too much in the way of talent when you look at second and third stringers, so that's a plus for us in terms of seeing how our defense can handle them. And sense the Ravens appear to be pushing a little more in the passing game, we should see a pretty good test of our pass rush this year, at least from a scheme perspective. Meanwhile, their FB situation is just slightly less interesting than ours.

-Running backs - Again, Baltimore is putting a lot of focus on the passing game this year, but the run is still the backbone of their offensive scheme. We'll get a few tests from Rice and McGahee, but behind them are a trio of UDFA's fighting for special teams spots. They'll be physical at least, but I wouldn't call this the deepest rushing corps we'll be going against. This will just be more indicative of how well the line and the backers can handle their assignments.

-Recievers- For all the talk about how great Mason, Bouldin, Clayton, and Stalworth are going to be teamed up together, there's really some crappy depth behind them. Clayton and Stalworth might see a decent number of snaps, but Mason and Bouldin will sit quick. Best match-up to watch for will be when Wilson and Munnerlyn are on the field against Clayton and Stalworth. Two guys fighting for a nickel corner job against two guys fighting to be the 3rd reciever equals good stuff. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for David Reed. He showed some flashes in college and could irritate our own guys fighting for special teams slots late in the game.

-Tight Ends - Decent battle going between a pair of rookies for them, so this should be a good test of our special team linebackers. Other than that, nothing too exciting other than to see how the shake-ups on defense affect our traditionally dreadful coverage of TE's.

-Defensive Line - I would say this will be a great look at our running game, but honestly, I don't even know which of our running backs are gonna play in this game. So, it'll be more important to see how our o-line depth handles themselves here.

-Linebackers - Pass rushing OLB's will test our young QB's, especially that new guy they have, Kindle. Will also be fun to see us experiment with tight ends in the passing game.

-Defensive Backs - Yeesh these guys have been hit hard with injuries. While we're hoping to get some good reads on our reciever depth, they're having to dig into their depth chart to find starters back there. Not sure how good of a test this will be for us, probably just more guys to get in the way while we test the younger QB's.

-Quarter Backs - Will be interesting to see if they even put Bulger on the field for more than a series, but if they do he's at least a guy who knows how to take a sack and in that regard will be the best test of the pass rush. Wouldn't expect too much of a challenge for the secondary after Flacco calls it a night though.

-Special Teams - They had a good return game last year, so it should be fun to see if we've made improvements there. Also, they fielded good coverage units, so another good look for us. Yay!

That's what I've got. How about you fine folks?

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Doyle Collaborator

Doyle

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I just want to say that I'm team Moore and I hope he breaks out this year. The thing I'm looking forward to the most for Thursday though is to watch Clausen play. I know no matter how good or bad he looks you wont be able to react too much because its preseason and hes been in the league a couple of months now. I wish him luck.

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PandaMan Mentor

PandaMan

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I'm just looking forward to the game itself. Pre-season or not, it's been too long for me since our last game. I'm praying their isn't a lockout next year, or who knows what I'll have to resort to to get my football cravings in check. It could get ugly.

But, I'm particularly looking forward to QB/WR/DL and how they do.

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Humble Pie Newbie

Humble Pie

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I'm just looking forward to the game itself. Pre-season or not, it's been too long for me since our last game. I'm praying their isn't a lockout next year, or who knows what I'll have to resort to to get my football cravings in check. It could get ugly.

But, I'm particularly looking forward to QB/WR/DL and how they do.

I'm looking forward to the same, as I imagine most are.

There won't be a lockout. The NFL would stand to lose too much money... and they won't let that happen.

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