The Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens will have the duties of being the first team to take the field in the 2013 NFL Preseason. Watch all the action as they get set to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Thursday night. Where to watch and when to watch? We have you covered.
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel-Where to Watch: None
Radio: Sirius XM Radio
That's right. For some reason, NFL decided not to air this game. You can watch the action online as all 65 preseason games will be shown at a cost.
For the first time in a long time, the Ravens will be without their moral super and on-field soldier, Ray Lewis. The good news is that everybody in that Ravens organization can sleep at peace after being able to win the Super Bowl for super inspirational figure. The one guy truly facing pressures in 2013 and beyond is quarterback Joe Flacco.
Flacco signed a a $120 million contract, making him the highest paid NFL player. Let's just say, he won a Super Bowl at the right time. He will now have to prove he deserved being paid so much money.
Flacco will be aided by the usual guys; Ray Rice, Dennis Pitta, Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones on offense. They added Visanthe Shiancoe, who made his name with the Minnesota Vikings and played for the New England Patriots in 2012-2013.
Over on the other side of the field, the Ravens have the Buccaneers. A team that can only reminisce on their success in the early 2000's. However, things are looking up for the Bucs entering the 2013 season. They already have a ruthless coach, who proved he will not take anything for granted. We learned this early in 2012 as Coach Greg Schiano took heat for knocking over a pile of New York Giants during a kneel down in Week 2. The Bucs finished 7-9 and they might be better in 2013.
The Josh Freeman to Vincent Jackson connection worked very well for the Buccaneers in 2012, not to mention that their running back, Doug Martin went insane. Jackson and Freeman connected for eight touchdowns and 1,384 yards. Martin balanced out the run game by going for 11 touchdowns and 1,454 yards. Those weren't the only weapons Freeman had on offense. There was Mike Williams who missed the 1,000 yard plateau by just four yards, while leading the team with nine touchdowns. Dallas Clark, who played his first season in Tampa, went for 435 yards and four touchdowns. For the first time in his career, Bucs' quarterback Freeman finished with over 4,000 yards passing.
The Bucs are young and dangerous. They stacked up on defense by adding Darrelle Revis. Maybe his mouth can keep him out of trouble down south as he will be away from the media frenzy in New York City.
We hope you enjoy this game if you're going to watch it online. Come back to Sports World Report where we will bring you the final results of all of today's games around the league.
