DCist Predicts: Skins vs. Ravens
After a multi-week hiatus, DCist Predicts has returned; only to make the bold call that the Redskins will lose to Baltimore on Sunday night and find themselves sitting at 7-6, fading behind the pack of playoff hopefuls.
Jim Zorn's crew travels up I-95 -- or perhaps the scenic B-W Parkway -- to Charm City to take on the surging Ravens in a marquee matchup with local pride at stake. In the past two weeks, the Ravens have played like circling vultures, hovering to feast on the remains of dying football teams, winning six of their last seven. But under rookie coach John Harbaugh, the club has struggled against the league's elite, getting thrashed on the road against the Giants and Colts and dropping decisions to Pittsburgh and Tennessee. That would seem to bode well for Washington, who bring a battered star running back and a creaking offensive line to battle against the notoriously furious onslaught of the Ray Lewis-led Ravens defense.
I don't think anyone likes the Redskins in this game, for two reasons. For one, we've really played awful in night games this season, most notably the fat eggs laid against Dallas and Pittsburgh. Of more importance, the thought of monsters like Lewis, Terrell Suggs, and Bart Scott matching up against an ailing Clinton Portis and an O-line that, of late, has protected Jason Campbell about as well as a blanket fort you built as a kid, only without the nightmare-proofing.
I'll grant that I like our defense, even despite the complete lack of pass rush. Baltimore's offense has been effective, but we've seen more dynamic ones this season and held up well against them. A big turnover or two or a Rock Cartwright kick return TD would go a long, long way to winning this game -- in fact, it's probably essential.
But I don't see that happening. If the last few games are any indication, one can bank on the Skins mounting one good drive and a few mediocre ones. Enough to scrounge one trip to the end zone and a couple of field goal attempts -- attempts being the operative word. In the end, here's the skinny: can the Skins hold the Ravens to less than 17 points? If so, there's a shot. But I think we just barely don't do it, and fall 19-13. With other results around the league, Zorn and Company find themselves two full games back of the wild card with three games to play, not a tenable position in the incredibly competitive NFC.
But hey, at least we can take solace in the fact that we qualified for Mike Wise's playoffs back in week 5. Right?