00:00Time for the Circa Sports team of the day.
00:02It is the Baltimore Ravens, who are 13-1 at Circa Sports to win it all.
00:07The Ravens' win total is set at 10.5.
00:10And as I mentioned, they looked pretty good over the weekend in their first preseason game.
00:14But you can't draw that much.
00:16Lamar didn't play, so you don't really know how much is going to be taken into effect.
00:19But this Ravens team has a very interesting schedule.
00:24So it's year one for Jesse Minter.
00:26But let's focus on the top of this schedule.
00:34So Baltimore's on the road at Indy and home for New Orleans.
00:39Those games would be stunning if they were to lose either one of those games.
00:43Those should absolutely be wins.
00:45So that's a 2-0 start.
00:47They then go to Rio to play the Cowboys in Rio.
00:53And I don't know what to make of that game.
00:57That game has the potential.
01:00If they were to lose that game to the Cowboys, which could happen.
01:05They lose that game.
01:06They go 2-1.
01:07There is not a bye week after the Rio trip.
01:10So that's a really far trek to go down all the way down there.
01:18To Rio de Janeiro to play football in week three.
01:22The turnaround to come home to play the Tennessee Titans.
01:27Which, again, Tennessee is not going to be a layup.
01:30I mean, it's Robert Sala.
01:32It's second year of Cam Ward.
01:34They've got some weapons.
01:35I mean, they should win the game.
01:36They're at home.
01:37But then look at the road games after that.
01:41They just play three more home games with five on the road before they get to their bye week in
01:48week 13.
01:50At Atlanta, should be a win.
01:52At Cleveland, should be a win.
01:54So if they were to beat Dallas, this is where the 10.5 comes from.
01:58That they could make a run all the way to that game on the 25th at home against Cincinnati.
02:04Where the schedule really, really changes.
02:08Look at the difference in the schedule in October and November before the bye week.
02:13They play the Bengals at home.
02:15The Bills on the road.
02:17The Jaguars at home.
02:18The Chargers at home.
02:20At Carolina.
02:22And at Houston.
02:24They could open up and go 5-0 to start.
02:29That wouldn't be crazy.
02:31Maybe even 6-0 to start.
02:33And then they could wind up.
02:35I don't think they lose every game.
02:36But they could be 7-5 when they hit their bye week.
02:40If things don't go well for the Ravens with that schedule.
02:44That is a really interesting, you know, yin and yang, if you will, to that schedule.
02:49With the Rio game being mixed in, which causes sort of an X factor as to what is it like
02:55to play in a foreign country against the Cowboys.
03:00I don't like this.
03:02This schedule scares me.
03:04And I don't know if I really want to get involved with the Ravens.
03:07Because at first blush, I'm like, oh, I think they could win 12 games.
03:12But now I'm not so sure.
03:14After the bye week, they play Tampa at home.
03:17At Pittsburgh.
03:18Home for Cleveland.
03:19Those games should be W's.
03:21They play at Cincy, which is probably going to be a split.
03:25And then they play Pittsburgh.
03:26So, at home to end the year.
03:28Like, those were always the black and blue games.
03:31And we'll see with Mike McCarthy and Jesse Minter being the head coaches.
03:34You know, we had a pretty good idea when it was Harbaugh against Tomlin.
03:37We knew, right?
03:38The line was going to be three.
03:39Usually one team was going to win by four, five, or six points.
03:42And that was it, right?
03:43That's kind of how that series went between those two franchises.
03:47Now, with Minter and McCarthy, I don't know.
03:49I think a lot of the trend data is out the window for the Ravens and the Steelers.
03:55But we'll see how it all matches up.
03:57Pittsburgh, at the end of the year, I mean, playing the Steelers in two times in a month.
04:04I mean, that's my anger.
04:06When I look back at other schedules we have talked about and we have done, my anger is
04:11that, like, Denver and the Chiefs, Denver and Kansas City, they're not doing that.
04:17Denver and KC should play in December and January, like the Steelers are with the Ravens.
04:23Like, the fact that, you know, two of the top five teams in the AFC play in September and
04:30October and then don't play at all in November and December, I'm going to cry about that all
04:33year.
04:34I think that's complete malpractice by the NFL from a scheduling standpoint because they
04:38can prove to you they can do it.
04:40Like, look at that schedule for the Ravens.
04:42They can do it.
04:43So, on paper, I think that's a 12-win schedule.
04:46I think it's a 12-win.
04:48I think that they could do some real damage with Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers.
04:52You've already heard Andrew Erickson come on this show and he thinks that Zay Flowers
04:56has a monster year, has a huge breakout year, is going to score a bunch of touchdowns in
05:01this offense, that this is going to be a huge season for Zay Flowers.
05:05And if that happens, well, then you probably can go ahead and bet the over here for these
05:09guys.
05:10But Jesse Minter is a defensive guy from the defensive tree out of Baltimore.
05:16He's familiar.
05:17He's had a lot of success.
05:19Let's see where he goes and how he winds up performing, how his defense performs.
05:23But if they fix the defense, we know what the offense is.
05:26We know what Lamar is capable of doing.
05:28We know what Derrick Henry is.
05:30So, we have a pretty good idea.
05:31You know, you've got a really good receiver, you've got a really good running back, and you've
05:34got a really good quarterback.
05:35So, you've got the pieces to be successful.
05:37If the defense can do, last year it could not, and if the defense can be good, this is
05:42a team that could really make some noise.
05:44This is a team that could make some, could go all the way to the Super Bowl.
05:47But let's see how it all plays out.
05:51On paper, I would say bet the over 10 and a half.
05:53So, let's see how it works.
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