Scifres practices punts that will bounce back or to the side… so he has a good hand in controlling how the ball bounces as well. (Something he learned his rookie season when we carried both him and Bennett on our active roster. Bennett was good at this. Scifres is very very good.)
I don’t think Koch will be the difference; I was just noting that he is an underrated part of our overall strategy for dominating the struggle for field position. Field position starts with where the other team gets the ball. If our punter puts the 'fins against the wall, then our defense can apply more pressure, force more three-and-outs, and force Pennington to throw to Reed.
If I had to bet on the game, I’d say Ed Reed’s interceptions are usually the major factor in a Ravens win. If Ed Reed gets no picks, it will be a squeaker.
I’m stunned at the outcomes of both those games yesterday. I stopped watching the ATL game when ATL went up 14-10 due to family engagements, assuming the Falcs would win. Nope.
I fell asleep watching the Colts as they were also winning at the time, Peyton was playing awesome, I assumed they’d win. Nope.
So to me that makes today’s games even harder to pin down. Colts Chargers seemed in my mind to be an “easy” pick for the Colts, but that didn’t turn out well.
Vikes/Eagles could be a struggle. Same with BAL and MIA. I’m sticking with the road teams here, hoping my picks finish out 2-2.
Unbelievable punter. Damn.
Fuuuuuuuuuuck!
Fumble by McClain on the first drive gives the ball to the Dolphins. The offense was looking pretty good, too.
Come on, D.
My Chargers finally, finally played up to their potential. Maybe even beyond their potential. It would have been a blowout without that fumble on the 2 and that late interception in the end zone.
As a Charger fan, who do I want to win the Raven/Dolphin game? If the Dolphins win, we go to Tennessee. If the Ravens win, we go to Pittsburgh and potentially get a home game in the AFC Championship if the Ravens win again. Who is the better match up for us?
ETA: If the Fins keep playing like this, it’ll be Tenn for sure.
Ed Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed! 
13-3 into halftime, with 13 unanswered points. That’s a pretty good head start for the Ravens D, methinks.
Sure seems to be a bunch of empty seats in Miami.
I thought the same thing, and then wondered if it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. But there seem to be sections with large swathes of vacant space.
I’ll take two.
What the FUCK is with the Baltimore defensive calling?
Once again, with a lead in the 4th quarter, they stop blitzing and start to sit back and simply give up yards on short passes over the middle. How many times have they done this, only to lose the game (Steelers), or to give up points against a crappy team (Redskins)?
Baltimore: 27
Miami: 9
FINAL
Notice that their coffin-nail plays in the 4th quarter were defined by blitzing - I’m thinking especially of the pitch-and-fumble for a 10+ yard loss. I was livid during the Steelers game, and my wife almost reached through the screen and strangled Walker (#41) during the Dallas game when he let Romo & TO waltz down the field like it was halftime and they were leading the band. Today we were both up in arms at the “prevent” defense on display during the fourth. “Prevent” the Ravens fans from exhaling until the clock expires, maybe. The Ravens didn’t win this – they just pressured the Dolphins into losing it.
2 minute warning…Iggles are so close. Is this some weird alternate reality? Mid-way through the season, I was telling myself to be happy that the Phils won the World Series and I shouldn’t be greedy. Suddenly the Birds are almost to the second game of the playoffs. It’s good to be from Philly this year, I’ll tell you.
Frank Walker needs to get cut. I was a little frustrated by the prevent/soft coverage late in the game as well.
Still, the Dolphins were down a lot. They waited for the Dolphins to make mistakes, and they did.
So I go 0-4 this weekend and there are no teams left in the playoffs that I can root for. I CAN however root against San Diego. I want them and Arizona right out of the playoffs.
That last drive San Diego made on Indy in overtime was REALLY painful (as an Indy fan). Their defense deserves to get yelled at.
GRRR.
I still think that the four bye teams are the best and will be extremely difficult for any of the wild card teams to beat: Tennessee, Shittsburgh, NY Giants, Panthers.
If I had to guess, I’d give San Diego (as a hot team) and Baltimore as the outside chances to advance. The Eagles and Cardinals, not so much. Color me unimpressed with them.
The Phillies’ winning the World Series had the opposite effect on me: it seemed to only whet my appetite for more championships, and it led me to believe that it really is possible for us to win them (the Phillies were the first Philly championship I’ve been alive for).
And yes, if only we could erase the Sixers, it would be a great year to live in Philly. 
Ugh, I’m-a-scared of the Eagles-Giants matchup.
A funny thing happened in the 2nd quarter of the Phi-Min game: in the last 9:53 of the 1st Half, there was only one (brief) commercial break, at the two minute warning. From 9:53 until 1:55 (the two minute warning), there were three scores and multiple timeouts, but Fox never went to commercial. I guess they just had trouble finding buyers for ad time in the 2nd Quarter.
San Diego is hot, but I’m not sure a reliance on brilliant punting is a sound way to advance deep into the playoffs.