Through out the NFL season we will welcome in bloggers from the city of the Cardinals opponent for the week in a feature we call behind enemy lines. This week we welcome in Christopher Wittman from the TheLossColumn.com. Below he breaks down everything you need to know about the purple birds (yeah it’s a girly color but what do you expect from a team named for a poet and his poem) The Baltimore Ravens for week 3:

Arizonanians, ready yourselves for some hott bird-on-bird action. This Sunday in land of peasant living: the red birds of p-arid-ise v. the purple birds of…Baltimore.

The majority of Ravens fans think this week’s game is in the bag. Well, the majority of stupid fans do. They also thought last week’s game v. the New York Jets was in the bag. There were callers to the local sports radio stations advocating that the Ravens rest their walking wounded because the Jets game was a lock. The Ravens wound up salvaging a win thanks to a Jets missed field goal coupled with the slippery hands of Justin McCareins who dropped TWO Kellen Clemens touchdown passes.

All in all, the Ravens have yet to dominate either of their opponents on either side of the ball. They are a team ripe for a serious let-down. Matthew the Lionhearted and his cadre of crimson-clad catch-makers are just the team to exploit a banged up Ravens secondary who gave up 127 passing yards in the 4th quarter of last weeks game. There is hardly a playmaker on the Ravens defense who isn’t questionable for this Sunday. Ken Whisenhunt and Co. would be wise to set a tone by getting the ball in the air right away and opening things up for Edgerrin James who, as I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, has been on a bit of a tear lately. Perennial fantasy football tease Larry Fitzgerald will have to step up and play like a 3rd overall pick. If Leinart can get him involved early and often, the Cardinals can easily put the ever-vaunted Ravens D on their collective heels and take control of the game.

The Ravens offense has had a knack for getting in its own way lately. Overall offensive schizophrenia and a QB carousel due to injuries has prohibited the Ravens from showing what kind of offensive football team they will be this year. Steve McNair is expected to start but he is by no means 100%. There should be a quarterback controversy in Baltimore. But there is still a deep-seeded Kyle Boller-phobia lingering thanks to years of his predictably unpredictable performances and his Savion Glover-esque pocket presence. The fans and coaches have more faith (I’m not sure what exactly they’re basing this on) in venerable safety valve, McNair. Willis McGahee has been solid but has yet to take over a game as he was prone to do during his time in Toronto Buffalo. His luke-warm production could be due to a semi-recent shift in offensive philosophy. Head coach Brian Billick is in his second year of calling the shots for the Ravens O. He took over the offensive signal caller duties after last year’s abrupt dismissal of Offensive Coordinator Jim Fassel. During his tenure, Fassel was routinely lambasted by media and fans for his unwillingness to put some sprinkles on his vanilla offense. Now Billick is catching heat for abandoning the running game in favor of a more vertical attack. In last week’s game, protecting a 7 point lead late in the 4th quarter, after the Ravens recovered an on-side kick, Billick chose to throw 3 times in a row which yielded a hasty 3-and-out and took mere seconds off the game clock. Savvy. Look for the much-underrated Arizona D to catch some breaks due to the occasional Ravens Offensive impropriety.

So if I was a betting man, or more accurately, a man with money, taking the under in a game where the underachieving, play-down-but-not-up-to-your-opponent Baltimore Ravens are giving 8 hosting a hungry, young Arizeauxna (this is a brief phonetic taste of the mellifluous Bawlmer accent for any unaware South-westerners) Cardinals team fresh off an emotional win would be my lead-pipe, silver-bullet, master-lock, shoe-in, easy-bake, corn-fed, farm-bred, Sloan-Kettering, Munchausen-by-proxy , Times-Picayune, Ingersoll-Rand, gender-ambiguous, domain-specific, cherry-lime, topsy-turvy, thick ‘n curvy, Jason Hervey, peel-heat-and-servey, foie-gras-on-bruschetta-with-watercress-hors-d’oeuvrey cinch of the week.

But I dunno, it could go either way.

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