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Ravens activate Pitta release Scott

Tweet The Baltimore Ravens have activated tight end Dennis Pitta and released Bernard Scott. Pitta has been on the injured reserve designated to return since training camp. Pitta is not expected to play much against the Minnesota Vikings but he will get a chance to knock some rust off. Pitta could be a big part …

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Ravens Viking final injury report and game status’

Tweet This is from a Ravens press release. INJURY REPORT – BALTIMORE RAVENS vs. MINNESOTA VIKINGS SUNDAY, December 8, 2013 WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY GAME STATUS PLAYER (INJURY) PLAYER (INJURY) PLAYER (INJURY) …

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Now that we are clinched out; what’s left?

Tweet There was no screaming and yelling this time. Sure, the Skins blew a 14-0 lead to the NY Giants last Sunday night. But RG III was on some sort of a record pace early throwing the ball around plus he ran the ball so well. And look who showed up. Fred Davis. Remember him? …

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Ravens Vikings Thursday injury report

Tweet This is from a Ravens press release.

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Why the Redskins should consider a name change and five new name suggestions

Tweet This debate has been going on for years now and it has been a hot topic in the last couple of months. My Washington Redskins writer has strong opinions on why they should keep the name which can be found here. I personally think otherwise. Yes, here on Maryland Sports Blog we have both …

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Ravens activate Pitta release Scott Ravens Viking final injury report and game status’Now that we are clinched out; what’s left?Ravens Vikings Thursday injury report Why the Redskins should consider a name change and five new name suggestions

Dec 07

Ravens activate Pitta release Scott

Categories:

Ravens, Ravens Regular season, Transactions, Uncategorized

by Brian Hradsky

The Baltimore Ravens have activated tight end Dennis Pitta and released Bernard Scott. Pitta has been on the injured reserve designated to return since training camp.

Pitta is not expected to play much against the Minnesota Vikings but he will get a chance to knock some rust off. Pitta could be a big part of the Ravens offense as the Ravens try to make the playoffs. The news is not a surprise Pitta has been practicing.

This is really good news for the Ravens and Joe Flacco as Pitta is one of Flacco favorite targets. Pitta is also someone who can make tough catches in the middle of the field.

Scott was rarely active and was an easy pick to make a cut.

Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Dennis Pitta, Joe Flacco, NFL

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Dec 06

Ravens Viking final injury report and game status’

Categories:

Injury reports, Ravens, Ravens Regular season

by Brian Hradsky

This is from a Ravens press release.

INJURY REPORT – BALTIMORE RAVENS vs. MINNESOTA VIKINGS
	SUNDAY, December 8, 2013



*WEDNESDAY*	*THURSDAY*	*FRIDAY*	*GAME STATUS*
*PLAYER (INJURY)*	*PLAYER (INJURY)*	*PLAYER (INJURY)*	*PLAYER (INJURY)*
*OUT*			*OUT*
			S Brynden Trawick (ankle)

*DID NOT PARTICIPATE*			*DOUBTFUL*
LB Elvis Dumervil (ankle)	LB Elvis Dumervil (ankle)	LB Elvis Dumervil (ankle)	LB Elvis Dumervil (ankle)
S Brynden Trawick (ankle)	*CB Asa Jackson (thigh)*	S Brynden Trawick (ankle)
	S Brynden Trawick (ankle)

*LIMITED PARTICIPATION*			*QUESTIONABLE*
DE Chris Canty (shoulder)	DE Chris Canty (shoulder)	DE Chris Canty (shoulder)	DE Chris Canty (shoulder)
CB Asa Jackson (thigh)	WR Brandon Stokley (knee)	*CB Asa Jackson (thigh)*	CB Asa Jackson (thigh)
CB Jimmy Smith (concussion)	CB Lardarius Webb (abs)	WR Brandon Stokley (knee)	WR Brandon Stokley (knee)
WR Brandon Stokley (knee)		CB Lardarius Webb (abs)	CB Lardarius Webb (abs)
CB Lardarius Webb (abs)

*FULL PARTICIPATION*			*PROBABLE*
	*CB Jimmy Smith (concussion)*	CB Jimmy Smith (concussion)	CB Jimmy Smith (concussion)




*WEDNESDAY*	*THURSDAY*	*FRIDAY*	*GAME STATUS*
*PLAYER (INJURY)*	*PLAYER (INJURY)*	*PLAYER (INJURY)*	*PLAYER (INJURY)*
*OUT*			*OUT*
			QB Christian Ponder (concussion)
			CB Josh Robinson (chest)
			TE Kyle Rudolph (foot)

*DID NOT PARTICIPATE*			*DOUBTFUL*
LB Larry Dean (knee)	LB Larry Dean (knee)	QB Christian Ponder (concussion)
RB Adrian Peterson (groin)	RB Adrian Peterson (groin)	CB Josh Robinson (chest)
QB Christian Ponder (concussion)	QB Christian Ponder (concussion)	TE Kyle Rudolph (foot)
CB Josh Robinson (chest)	CB Josh Robinson (chest)
TE Kyle Rudolph (foot)	TE Kyle Rudolph (foot)
S Jamarca Sanford (ankle)

*LIMITED PARTICIPATION*			*QUESTIONABLE*
DE Jared Allen (finger)	DE Jared Allen (finger)	*LB Larry Dean (knee)*	LB Larry Dean (knee)
LB Chad Greenway (wrist)	DT Sharif Floyd (illness)	*RB Adrian Peterson (groin)*	RB Adrian Peterson (groin)
	LB Chad Greenway (wrist)		S Jamarca Sanford (ankle)
	*S Jamarca Sanford (ankle)*

*FULL PARTICIPATION*			*PROBABLE*
RB Matt Asiata (shoulder)	RB Matt Asiata (shoulder)	*DE Jared Allen (finger)*	DE Jared Allen (finger)
DT Fred Evans (knee)	DT Fred Evans (knee)	RB Matt Asiata (shoulder)	RB Matt Asiata (shoulder)
DE Everson Griffen (toe)	DE Everson Griffen (toe)	DT Fred Evans (knee)	DT Fred Evans (knee)
S Andrew Sendejo (toe)	S Andrew Sendejo (toe)	*DT Sharif Floyd (illness)*	DT Sharif Floyd (illness)
		*LB Chad Greenway (wrist)*	LB Chad Greenway (wrist)
		DE Everson Griffen (toe)	DE Everson Griffen (toe)
		*S Jamarca Sanford (ankle)*	S Andrew Sendejo (toe)
		S Andrew Sendejo (toe)

Limited Participation is less than 100 percent of a player’s normal repetitions.
Full Participation is 100 percent of a player’s normal repetitions.
Not Injury Related Player is withheld from his normal repetitions for reasons other than injury.

Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Injury Report, Minnesota Vikings, NFL, preview, Sports Betting

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Dec 06

Now that we are clinched out; what’s left?

Categories:

Redskins

by Bill Pemstein

There was no screaming and yelling this time. Sure, the Skins blew a 14-0 lead to the NY Giants last Sunday night. But RG III was on some sort of a record pace early throwing the ball around plus he ran the ball so well.

And look who showed up. Fred Davis. Remember him? There were some decent moments as Washington finally scored on its opening drive. Were we the last NFL team do that?

Griffin had the offense humming early. And they finally gave Alfred Morris a chance to run the ball down by the goal line. So naturally he scored.

Despite not having Jordan Reed (excellent tight end) available (concussion), Logan Paulsen filled in well and scored the game’s second TD. The Skins were up 14-0 early in the second quarter. Did we really believe that they would win? Frankly, not with this team’s defense.

And on the Giants third possession (please note the so-so Giants had not registered a first down as yet) scored a touchdown. Again, dreadful tackling sunk the team (anyone in the crowd interested in hitting people?).

Long story, shortened up is that this game was tied up by halftime. Actually where the game got away from us is after Brandon Meriweather intercepted Eli Manning and made a nice return. We were set up deep in the red zone. And we couldn’t get the ball in. The offense moved the ball all of two yards on three downs. Our last lead was 17-14 after a Kai Forbath field goal.

Oh, the rest of the game had us screw up a punt. There was the mix-up by the refs and the chain gang which is not a surprise. I know folks hated the replacement refs but the regular crew hasn’t been much better this winter.

Now what’s going to happen to the Skins? Yes, they need to clean house and start over again. Can they beat the Chiefs? Of course a year ago, we would have mauled them. Now we are a decided underdog. But with nothing to play for, this might be a fun game to watch. Griffin is getting close to his old self. Morris is a steady and productive running back. Let’s hope Jordan Reed feels better and can play in this game.

Tags: Alfred Morris, Brandon Meriweather, Fred Davis, Jordan Reed, Robert Griffin

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Dec 05

Why the Redskins should consider a name change and five new name suggestions

Categories:

Ravens Vikings Wednesday injury report

Categories:

Injury reports, Ravens, Ravens Regular season

by Brian Hradsky

This is from a Baltimore Ravens press release, note that Elvis Dumervil is the only notable Raven to not practice.

INJURY REPORT – BALTIMORE RAVENS vs. MINNESOTA VIKINGS
	SUNDAY, December 8, 2013



*WEDNESDAY*	*THURSDAY*	*FRIDAY*	*GAME STATUS*
*PLAYER (INJURY)*	*PLAYER (INJURY)*	*PLAYER (INJURY)*	*PLAYER (INJURY)*
*OUT*			*OUT*



*DID NOT PARTICIPATE*			*DOUBTFUL*
LB Elvis Dumervil (ankle)
S Brynden Trawick (ankle)



*LIMITED PARTICIPATION*			*QUESTIONABLE*
DE Chris Canty (shoulder)
CB Asa Jackson (thigh)
CB Jimmy Smith (concussion)
WR Brandon Stokley (knee)
CB Lardarius Webb (abs)

*FULL PARTICIPATION*			*PROBABLE*










*WEDNESDAY*	*THURSDAY*	*FRIDAY*	*GAME STATUS*
*PLAYER (INJURY)*	*PLAYER (INJURY)*	*PLAYER (INJURY)*	*PLAYER (INJURY)*
*OUT*			*OUT*


*DID NOT PARTICIPATE*			*DOUBTFUL*
LB Larry Dean (knee)
RB Adrian Peterson (groin)
QB Christian Ponder (concussion)
CB Josh Robinson (chest)
TE Kyle Rudolph (foot)
S Jamarca Sanford (ankle)

*LIMITED PARTICIPATION*			*QUESTIONABLE*
DE Jared Allen (finger)
LB Chad Greenway (wrist)

*FULL PARTICIPATION*			*PROBABLE*
RB Matt Asiata (shoulder)
DT Fred Evans (knee)
DE Everson Griffen (toe)
S Andrew Sendejo (toe)


Limited Participation is less than 100 percent of a player’s normal repetitions.
Full Participation is 100 percent of a player’s normal repetitions.
Not Injury Related Player is withheld from his normal repetitions for reasons other than injury.

Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Injury Report, Minnesota Vikings, NFL, preview, Sports Betting

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Dec 04

Ravens Viking preview

Categories:

Featured Post, Ravens, Ravens Regular season, Uncategorized

by Brian Hradsky

Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder may miss this game due to a concussion.

The Baltimore Ravens play the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday in another must win game. This should be an easy win for the Ravens but they have failed to win some of the “easy” games before and have put themselves in a tough spot. Check out the Ravens odds at SportsBettingOnline.ag which is also a great source for picking games.

The Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder may not be available for this game as he is being tested for concussion symptoms. If Ponder were to miss the game Matt Cassel would start for the Vikings. Cassel is the former starting quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs and backup to Tom Brady in New England. Cassel has never impressed me as a quarterback and I think the Ravens can hand him easily. We will know more on Ponder’s condition when the injury report is released later today.

The Ravens biggest concern will be holding Adrian Peterson down and keeping him in check. The Ravens also need to start fixing their offensive line issues which have plagued them all season. Joe Flacco needs support and needs to be protected. Ray Rice or Bernard Pierce need to be able to run the ball to take pressure off Flacco.

The running game can help the drives take up more time and keep Peterson off the field and in turn give the Ravens defense a rest. The Ravens defense has struggled to keep leads late in games because they are on the field for so long.

Home field advantage will be huge for the Ravens and having a long week will also help. The Ravens last played on Thanksgiving which gave them extra rest for this week. On the other side, the Vikings have played back to back overtime games, one included a tie. So the Vikings have played a quarter and a half of extra football in the past two weeks and now have to travel, they may be out of gas.

I think the Ravens will win easily in this game. Even if Christian Ponder plays the Vikings passing offense has not been great. I can see this game playing out a lot like the Ravens Jets game in which the Ravens completely shut down the Jets passing attack.

Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Vikings, NFL, preview

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Dec 04

Orioles tender six players

Categories:

Orioles

by Brian Hradsky

The Baltimore Orioles were busy yesterday and tendered six players along with trading Jim Johnson away. The players they tendered included Brian Matusz, Chris Davis, Matt Wieters, Troy Patton, Bud Norris, and Tommy Hunter. The Orioles also agreed to terms with Nolan Reimold and Steve Pearce.

All these moves seem to be easy decisions to me except for signing Steve Pearce. Pearce has never showed me enough and he seems like an old AAA player.

Reimold who will get just above $1 million is a risk but has huge upsides. I love Reimold as a player when healthy but that has rarely been the case.

Here is the Orioles press release.

Orioles tender contracts to six arbitration-eligible players; agree to terms with OFs Steve Pearce and Nolan Reimold

RHP Eddie Gamboa and OF Jason Pridie not tendered contracts

The Orioles today announced that they have tendered contracts to six of their arbitration eligible players: CA MATT WIETERS, 1B CHRIS DAVIS, RHP’s TOMMY HUNTER and BUD NORRIS and LHP’s BRIAN MATUSZ and TROY PATTON. Additionally, OF’s STEVE PEARCE and NOLAN REIMOLD have agreed to terms on contracts for 2014, and RHP EDDIE GAMBOA and OF JASON PRIDIE were not tendered contracts by the club.

Wieters, 27, batted .235/.287/.417 with 22 home runs and 79 RBI in 148 games in 2013.

Davis, 27, finished third in the American League MVP voting, leading the major leagues with 53 home runs and 138 RBI while batting .286/.370/.634 in 160 games.

Hunter, 27, was 6-5 with a 2.81 ERA (86.1IP, 27ER) in 68 relief appearances.

Norris, 28, went 4-3 with a 4.80 ERA (50.2IP, 27ER) in 11 games (nine starts) for the Orioles after being acquired from Houston on July 31. He went 10-12 with a 4.18 ERA (176.2IP, 82ER) in 32 games (30 starts) in 2013.

Matusz, 26, was 2-1 with a 3.53 ERA (51.0IP, 20ER) in 65 appearances.

Patton, 28, went 2-0 with a 3.70 ERA (56.0IP, 23ER) in 56 outings.

Pearce, 30, hit .261/.362/.420 with four home runs and 13 RBI in 44 games.

Reimold, 30, played in 40 games, batting .195/.250/.335 with five home runs and 12 RBI.

Gamboa, 28, had his contract selected on November 20. He went a combined 6-11 with a 4.43 ERA (142.1IP, 70ER) and 114 strikeouts for Double-A Bowie (16 GS) and Triple-A Norfolk (nine GS) in 2013.

Pridie, 30, had his contract selected on September 25 after batting .269/.333/.434 in 118 games for Triple-A Norfolk. He went 2-for-10 in four games with the Orioles.

Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Chris Davis, Jim Johnson, Matt Wieters, Nolan Reimold, Tommy Hunter

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Dec 03

Ravens report versus the Steelers: defense and special teams

Categories:

Ravens, Ravens Regular season, Report cards

by Brian Hradsky

The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers played last Thursday but this is the normal day for doing these report cards. If you missed the report card on the offense go here.

Defensive line: The Ravens held the Steelers to only 72 yards on the ground, which is good. The thing that concerns me is the lack of pressure the Ravens had up the middle. The Ravens failed to record a sack which is very uncharacteristic of them. Grade B

Linebackers: Daryl Smith and Josh Bynes both had six tackles and were all over the field. Terrell Suggs only had one tackle and was held in check for the game. Evils Dumervil was hurt for part of the game but still played well. A decent game from this unit but nothing special. Grade B

Secondary: James Ihedigbo had another stand out day leading the team in tackles with 10 and defending two pass attempts. Jimmy Smith also played extremely well and broke up a huge play to keep the Steelers out of the end zone. Corey Graham was second on the team with nine tackles. Grade B+

Overall: A good preformance but nothing special from this unit. They started to disappear late and allowed the Steelers to come back again. Grade B

Special Teams: If not for the Mike Tomlin “tackle” Jacoby Jones may have scored a touchdown on a kickoff. Justin Tucker was perfect going 5/5 on field goal attempts and was the reason the Ravens won the game. Grade A+++

Coaching staff: The coaching staff did what they needed to do on this short week. Nothing pretty but the Ravens started out playing well. The Ravens need to finish drives with touchdowns. Grade B

Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Jacoby Jones, Mike Tomlin, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, Report Card

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Dec 03

Orioles trade Jim Johnson to Athletics

Categories:

Orioles, Uncategorized

by Brian Hradsky

The Baltimore Orioles have traded closer Jim Johnson to the Oakland Athletics for Jemile Weeks. The Orioles will also get a player to be named later. Johnson has been the Orioles closer and has had two back to back 50 save seasons. Johnson recorded a franchise best 51 saves in 2012.

Johnson has been with the Orioles since he was being drafted and has been in the majors for the past eight seasons. Orginaly a starter in the minors Johnson evolved into a bullpen pitcher in the majors and eventually became one of the leagues best pitchers.

Last season Johnson showed signs of being overused including a decrease in velocity and an increase in blown saves. Johnson is a sinker ball pitcher who used to have a power fast ball, not saying that he lost that much velocity.

Weeks had an outstanding rookie season in 2011 hitting .303 but since then he has failed to do anything. Weeks is still a young player and could improve.

This move was mostly about the amount of money it would have taken to keep Johnson around. Johnson is tendered for around $9 million.

Johnson has always been one of my favorite players and I think the Orioles could have gotten a better player for him but the financial burden for a player that blew a lot of saves last season is a lot.

Who will be the Orioles next closer? That is a tough question, here is a tweet from the Orioles confirming the trade.

Baltimore also acquires INF Jemile Weeks and a player to be named later from Oakland in exchange for RHP Jim Johnson.

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) December 3, 2013

Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Jemile Weeks, Jim Johnson, MLB, Oakland Athletics

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Ravens activate Pitta release Scott

Ravens Viking final injury report and game status’

Now that we are clinched out; what’s left?

Ravens Vikings Thursday injury report

Why the Redskins should consider a name change and five new name suggestions

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