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New Media editor/writer Sarah Ellison will blog her thoughts on the news every morning, Monday through Friday. Follow Late for Work to get short recaps and commentary on news about the Ravens and from around the league.
In his Week One Monday Morning QB column, Peter King listed Joe Flacco as a possible MVP candidate for the 2009 NFL season. Only Drew Brees and Adrian Peterson were listed ahead of Flacco. Wow. What a huge compliment from THE Peter King. There is a part of me that is flattered for Joe, but there is another part of me that is trying not to get too excited. There is a lot of football left to play. I do want to believe King is onto something, though. It is important to note that Tom Brady and Phillip Rivers couldn’t be included in the MVP Watch debate because they have yet to play.
In his weekly report card on the Ravens’ game performance, Mike Preston gave the receiving corps an A. Preston notes the effort might have squashed the talk about trading for Broncos wide-out Brandon Marshall. I agree. The spotlight has been on the Ravens’ receivers all season long, but perhaps the attention should have been pointed elsewhere. Ozzie Newsome has been preaching since the Draft that winning starts with protecting the quarterback. Well, Flacco was protected yesterday and it provided the opportunity for the receivers to run through their routes and for plays to develop.
Adrian Peterson ran for 180 yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns in the Vikings 34-20 win over division rival Cleveland Browns. With the Browns set to visit M&T Bank Stadium in two weeks, it will be interesting to see what Baltimore’s three headed monster – Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and Le’Ron McClain – will be able to do against an exposed Browns’ rush defense. On the other hand, the Ravens will visit Minneapolis in October where Adrian Peterson will provide a test for a defense that allowed just 29 rushing yards in Week One.
WR Brandon Stokley grabbed a deflected pass and raced into the end zone for an improbable 87-yard touchdown-winning reception in the final seconds of the Broncos-Bengals contest. I know the Bengals are a division rival, but when I watched the clip I found myself feeling a little sorry for them. What do you think? Is that allowed? If you haven’t seen the clip, take a look for yourself…unbelievable. With the Bengals and Browns losing on Sunday, the Ravens and Steelers step one game ahead in the AFC North Conference standings.
The Washington Post picked their top 10 teams after Week One (with two games left to play tonight) and listed the Ravens as number three. Again, let’s try not to get ahead of ourselves. There are 15 more games to play and these rankings won’t help us reach the playoffs. By the way, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were numbers one and two on the list, respectively.
