The Ravens have traded 25-year old OLB Prescott Burgess to the Patriots for a conditional 7th round draft pick.  Burgess played in both games for the Ravens last season and he has 2 tackles.  He played 3 years for the Ravens appearing in 10 games and making a whopping six tackles.  This will likely turn out to be a good trade for both teams.

The Baltimore Ravens have signed 26-year old TE Tony Curtis.  Curtis played in 16 games (6 starts) for the Cowboys last season and he caught 8 passes for 32 yards (4.0 avg).  He has now played 3 years in his NFL career appearing in 36 games (6 starts) in which he has caught 11 passes for 50 yards (4.5 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Curtis will be the #3 TE behind Todd Heap and L.J. Smith who is hurting right now.

The Ravens won a tough game on the left coast yesterday.  Joe Flacco was solid in this game completing 17 of 26 passes for 190 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception.  Willis McGahee led the way for the Ravens in this game with 15 carries for 79 yards (5.3 ypc) with 2 TD runs.   He also caught 2 passes for 10 yards in this game.  Ray Rice was also busy carrying the ball 8 times for 36 yards (4.5 ypc) and he also caught 5 passes for 46 yards (9.2 avg).  WR Kelley Washington had a breakout game for the Ravens with 58 yards on 4 catches (14.5 avg) with a TD.  The Ravens finished up with 311 total yards on offense (130 rushing, 182 passing) in this game.

The defense made plays when it had to for the Ravens.  Ray Lewis led the way for the Ravens on D with 12 tackles including his final one which won the game.  Safety Dawan Landry (11 tackles, interception) and OLB Terrell Suggs (5 tackles, 1.5 sacks) also pitched in on D for the Ravens yesterday.  The Chargers finished up with 474 total yards in this game (53 rushing, 421 passing).  The Ravens are now 2-0 on the season and they are sitting on top of the AFC North by themselves.

The Baltimore Ravens have long been known for their outstanding defense, but it was the offense that was the most impressive part of the Ravens week one victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.  The defense did play well, but Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense racked up a franchise-record 501 total yards.

The Chargers did not look very good in their opener, as they edged out a win over the improved Oakland Raiders.  They also lost their star running back LaDainian Tomlinson in that game as he sprained his ankle. This doesn’t matter that much though, as the Chargers’ Darren Sproles did just about everything for the Chargers last week.  He will be the biggest challenge for the Ravens defense, as Phillip Rivers did not look very good last week.

I’m expecting the Ravens to make a statement in this game and I think they are going to win pretty easily.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Ravens 27, Chargers 17

Nothing makes a young QB feel safer than having a good TE to throw to and the Ravens have one in Todd Heap.  Heap was banged up most of last season despite playing in all 16 games but he appears healthy now.  Heap caught 5 passes for 74 yards (14.8 avg) with a TD in the season opener against the Chiefs.  Without a real go-to WR look for Heap to get a lot of action this season for the Ravens and that’s a good thing.