Referees' Game Ball

The elephant in the room here is that in both the Lions and the KC game, the referees mugged the Browns.  After the two early bullcrap interference calls on Haden and Skrine, the referees last week were itching to see them actually press cover somebody so they could flag it.

Now, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, as our defenders have a "rap sheet".

And they haven't done a damn thing wrong, and I'm sick of it.

Marty Schottenheimer, in one of his many attempts to sound deep and profound, once said that the referees can't change the outcome of a game.  Yes, there's a mystical sort of fate kinda thing sorta which, you know, if you work harder, you know, you just overcome all the bad calls and win, kinda like.

Marty knows better.

The Lions outplayed the Browns and probably deserved to win.  The Packers beat them fair and square.  But the Browns beat the Chiefs.  They just couldn't beat the referees too.

I told you Jason Campbell was a decent quarterback, and his performance shouldn't suprise anyone who knows what he did with the Raiders.  He was actually a little better here, because he has better talent around him.  In fact it's possible that he has never in his carreer played with this much talent around him.

Peter Smith mentioned that the Ravens will now have some game tape in Campbell.  Well, Peter dismissed Campbell as even a competant quarterback early on,  and might feel a tad embarrassed.

The Chiefs had abundant tape on Campbell from his Raiders days, and some of the defenders had played against him.  Granted, this is a different scheme, but tendancies are built into a player.

I don't know what Campbell's specific tendancies are, but these are examples:

1: A quarterback might not be able to hit the  broad side of a barn if forced to run left.

2: A quarterback's ball might tend to sail/overshoot if he's moving to his right.

3: A Brandon Weeden might tend to lock onto recievers, hesitate, wait to confirm a break before throwing--blowing timing to hell.

The Ravens aren't as good as KC, the Lions, the Packers, or the Browns.  I'm grateful for not hearing this mystical, worshipful crap about them that I hear about the Steelers on NFL Radio.  I'm not the only one who knows that these Browns and Jason Campbell should beat them.

And you know, these guys all know lots more about football than I do.  So does Peter Smith, and even some of the guys on Bleacher Report.  But they're often influenced by emotion.

The Ravens won the Superbowl and have Harbaugh and Newsome.  These are powerful facts.  And just when you thought Newsome's cupboard was cleaned out and his team was gutted, there he goes grabbing Dummerville, a left tackle, and several other bargain free agents!  
That's a fact.  But it's also a fact that they have no consistant deep threat.  Ed Reed was old, but still an elite player.  Lewis's replacement is an upgrade over the shadow of himself he was, but it's not the same team anymore.

If, talent-wise, the Ravens were a nine last season, they're a 7.5 this season.  If the Cleveland Browns were a 6 last season, they're a 7.5 this season.

This was obvious to me.  That's why I said Cameron should explode this season, Gordon would be even better, Skrine had a shot to be much better, Gipson was massively underrated, Campbell was a good quarterback, etc.

It's not rocket science.  Young players tend to get better.  Old players tend to get worse.

Right now, this is the Bengals' Division.  But listen to me:  The Steelers are the worst team in the AFC North, and it's because they lack talent.  It's not because Tomlin suddenly sucks, or Mercury aligns with Mars, or they're just not inspired enough.

The Ravens are still competitive, but the Browns are overtaking them, and are nipping at Cinci's heels.

I personally don't mind them losing this season, because this looks like a bumper crop for quarterbacks in the draft.  Objectively, it's better to lose one more year and get a stud quarterback than to do well, not make the playoffs, and miss that chance.

But also obectively, I'm afraid the Browns with Jason Campbell will sweep the Steelers, beat the Ravens, and could even upset the Bengals again...and go 8-8 or 9-7...and NOT make the playoffs anyway.

...and draft maybe 18th and 26th overall, and get screwed out of a quarterback again.

I repeat that I love Hoyer even more than most other people.  I feel quite confident that he'll continue to kick ass after defenses get film on him and start messing with him.  I see him getting better, and not worse.  I think Hoyer could be a Pro-Bowl, franchise guy, absolutely.

...but I'm not positively sure, and what if I'm wrong, or he gets maimed again?  

The cycle continues.  That's what.  

But what the hell--go Browns beat dem Ratbirds!

Oh yeah...the referees...