The over/under is 8 wins for the Baltimore Ravens.  The Ravens are 30-1 to win the Super Bowl, and 14-1 to win the AFC.

The suggestion here is that the bookies are right on the money here.  I think the Ravens will finish 8-8, but a key bounce either way could be the big difference in the over or the under.  Keep your money in your pocket.

The Ravens offense looked downright horrible as it accounted for 7 of the points that the Vikings scored.  In the second quarter CB Fred Smoot of the Vikings picked-off a McNair pass and returned it 70 yards for a TD. 

McNair completed 13 of 17 passes for 80 yards and an interception.  McNair padded his stats with a lot of dink and dunk passes.  Kyle Boller completed 9 of 15 passes for 105 yards and continued his strong pre-season play.

Musa Smith started the game, and finally had a bad game.  Smith only had 4 carries for 7 yards.  Mike Anderson then came in an only carried the ball for 11 yards on 7 carries.  The Ravens only had 85 yards rushing as a team on 25 carries (3.4 ypc).

WR Clarence Moore had a good game catching 2 passes for 60 yards as he is trying to wrap up the role as #3 WR.

The Ravens defense didn’t play that bad if you take out one play.  In the 4th quarter, rookie QB Tavaris Jackson completed a 77 yard TD pass.  For the game the Ravens allowed 86 yards rushing on 24 carries (3.6 ypc).  The Vikings threw the ball for a net 211 yards and completed 55.6% of their passes.

The Ravens played awful on Friday night, but it’s only the pre-season.

When the Browns stole Dave Zastudil, the Ravens thought they would be able to replace him easily.  Not so fast my friend.  They used a 6th round pick on Sam Koch out of Nebraska and he has been horrible so far in the pre-season.  Koch is averaging a weak 36.9 average per punt.  Worse than that is Koch’s 25.6 net average on his punts.

Leo Araguz, who was cut from the Seahawks after only four games last year was signed to give Koch competition in camp.  Araguz is only averaging 37.5 yards per punt, but he is getting a 35.5 net average. 

Araguz has a slight edge so far, but the Ravens may need to get a different punter from outside the organization if things don’t change soon.

Big running back Musa Smith has been the talk of the pre-season, both in Baltimore and around the league.  Smith is pushing Mike Anderson for the back-up job on the Ravens.  In two games, Smith has run the ball 8 times for 116 yards (14.5 ypc) and has caught 5 passes for another 51 yards.  Smith who was injured most of last season is back with a vengeance.

Jamal Lewis has been looking like his old self.  Lewis has rushed 15 times for 61 yards, but it seems like his power has returned after having a full off-season to get ready for the year.

WR Davard Darling is pushing Clarence Moore for the #3 WR spot.  Darling has caught 5 passes in the pre-season for 121 yards (24.2 avg) and a TD.

WR Derrick Mason is re-united with McNair and is primed for a huge season.  He has caught 8 passes for 76 yards so far.

The Ravens have to be pleased with what they’ve seen of their QBs so far in the pre-season.  Steve McNair is connecting real well with his new teammates and it’s showing in his performance.  McNair has completed 78.3% of his passes so far for 193 yards and a 101.6 QB rating.  He also has took off from the pocket twice for 13 yards and a TD.  The Ravens would be smart to minimize how many times McNair runs to keep him in one piece.

Kyle Boller looks like a QB whose confidence is building.  Boller is building on his strong finish to last season, and he better be ready to play because McNair is a little injury-prone at his advance age.  Boller has completed 64.0% of his passes so far, for 215 yards and a TD.

The Ravens are looking good at QB.