In just a few days, barring some unforeseen circumstance involving the beleaguered Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore is going to get its ego back.
It's been a while.
The Ravens open their regular season Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, and whether they realize it or not, they won't just be wearing their usual purple home uniforms. They'll also be pulling our civic self-esteem out of the closet after another difficult Orioles season, an embarrassing mayoral scandal and the other everyday problems that make Charm City a great place to film a gritty cable series.
The time has finally come to "Play like a Raven," and nothing happened during training camp to discourage the notion that this could be another very exciting and successful season. Second-year head coach John Harbaugh couldn't have asked for a much better preseason, which featured a 4-0 record, several uplifting subplots and very few significant injuries, so it should be full speed ahead Sunday.
This, of course, is in stark contrast to the team that will be arriving in town soon to provide the Ravens with their first real test of 2009. The Chiefs are coming off a 2-14 performance last season and don't appear to be in much better shape after hiring a new coach and acquiring a front-line quarterback.
That's because quarterback Matt Cassel just got fitted for a knee brace and coach Todd Haley decided to fire offensive coordinator Chan Gailey three days before the team's final preseason game.
But don't expect anybody at the Castle to breathe a public sigh of relief at these dire developments. Harbaugh has been doing his best Lou Holtz imitation and telling everybody how scary it is to face a team like the Chiefs, who are going to be difficult to prepare for with all that uncertainty.
Sorry, I'm not buying it. If that kind of logic really held up, the Boston Red Sox would be terrified of the Orioles because they don't recognize half the roster. There's a reason the oddsmakers have posted the Ravens as a double-digit favorite, and it's because Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata and the rest of the Ravens' defense is going to be matched up against either a gimpy Cassel or a couple of backup quarterbacks (Tyler Thigpen and Brodie Croyle) who have a 1-18 combined record as starters in the NFL.
Personally, I think Haley would be nuts to throw Cassel out there on a bad wheel against one of the most dangerous blitzing defenses in the league, but we'll just have to wait and see.
