Think of it this way. Imagine if, in the first game of the John Harbaugh Era and the first game of the Joe Flacco Era, the Ravens had lost. With Hurricane Ike shaking up the remaining schedule (among other things), everybody would have had an extra week to marinate in the gloom and doom.
Instead, there's an extra week to bask in the glow of victory. Thank you, Cincinnati Bungles.
After that, though, it's hard to find many other benefits to the Ravens - strictly from a football sense, of course - getting a bye in Week 2 of a 17-week season. Oh, one could make a case for the walking wounded being spared the pounding yesterday. Kelly Gregg's status was still up in the air. Ed Reed, Chris McAlister and the rest who gritted their teeth through the season opener probably were not much healthier this week. Troy Smith probably could have used the break, what with much of his daily routine still being taken up by intravenous treatments.
But try polling the players about whether they would have wanted that break now - when they didn't know they were getting it and thus practiced all week only to get the unexpected mini-vacation starting yesterday - or the second week of November, after the grind of nine weeks and before they go to East Rutherford, N.J., to face the defending champion New York Giants.
Or, to take it a step further, whether they would choose to play three straight road games, as they now will - at Cleveland, at Houston, at the Giants - to begin November, and five in six weeks.
Fresh and rested now, or later? Yup, looks like all the hands are up.
This, let's point out, is not to join the Conspiracy Chorus, the bunch who is convinced the NFL's sole priority was to stick it to the Ravens, apparently because the league spends a huge portion of its time devising ways to keep Charm City down. (The rest appears to be dedicated to fine-tuning the excessive-celebration rules.) Remember - again, from just the football aspects of this - the Houston Texans aren't exactly being handed a gift, either. Same thing for them as with the Ravens: 15 straight weeks of football.
Plus, if they didn't have Ike to occupy their minds, they would be occupied by this: Pittsburgh Steelers 38, Texans 17. Ouch. Now they have their next two on the road, not exactly in hospitable places (Tennessee and Jacksonville), before their home opener. Against the Indianapolis Colts. If their stadium is ready to be used.
