Posts Tagged ‘Baltimore Ravens’

Saints (10-3) @ Ravens (9-4)

Posted by darnold on Friday, December 17th, 2010

Filling out the rankings chart (above) is getting to be a bit depressing. As the weeks rolled on, I really expected the Ravens’ offense to inch closer and closer to being a top 10 unit. Instead, even after playing the lowly Houston Texans and their 31st ranked defense, the Ravens dropped in every offensive category when compared to last week.

Total offense: 16th to 18th

Rushing offense: 19th to 21st

Passing offense: 13th to 14th

They did go from the #17 scoring team to the #14 scoring team, but as we know, the special teams and defense had as much to do with that as the offense did.

At least, though, the most important number – wins – moved in the right direction. However, it’s still a little disheartening that the offense continues to struggle as much as it does. Thinking that they can find a quick answer down the stretch seems to be becoming more of a…well, stretch.

This week, the defending Super Bowl Champs roll into Charm City, winners of six consecutive games. They’ve also put up 30 or more points in five straight games, which gives Ravens fans a nice pre-holiday case of indigestion after watching the Texans rack up 21 second half points on Monday night.

Upon further review though, it’s not like the Saints have been hanging 30 on the ’85 Bears. Their recent 30 point outputs have come against the Rams (15th in points allowed), Bengals (28th), Cowboys (31st), Seahawks (24th), and Panthers (26th). Even after blowing their first 21-point lead since 1997, the Ravens much-maligned defense is still fourth in the NFL in points allowed. Throw in a healthy dose of the elements, and this game should be far from the shootout that many are predicting/fearing.

Which isn’t to say that Drew Brees and his stable of big play wideouts/backs doesn’t present a formidable challenge. Brees is playing as well as any quarterback in the NFL right now, and is just the type of “elite” signal-caller that the Ravens have struggled time and again to find a way to beat over the past five years or so.

If Brees has one chink in his armor this season, it’s been the interception. “Breesus” has already been picked 18 times, tying his career high. That’s 3.4% of his throws that are being intercepted, highest since his third season in the league in San Diego (for comparison, Joe Flacco’s INT percentage this year is 1.9%). When the Ravens last played the Saints in 2006, they picked him off twice and both were returned for touchdowns. After four interceptions in his first four games back off the PUP list, Ed Reed hasn’t gotten his hands on a pass in three straight contests. Sunday would be a great time for Reed – who looked slow, old, and hurt at times Monday – to come alive again.

When you think New Orleans, you think offense. However, their defense is none too shabby either. After leading the NFL in turnovers a season ago, which helped mask their 25th-ranked defense, this year’s Saints have been much more consistent – at the cost of the turnovers – on that side of the ball. They currently sit as the #6 defense in the NFL, allowing just 308 yards per game. They’ve intercepted just nine passes though, four shy of the Ravens’ 13, and 13 less than the Philadelphia Eagles’ league-leading 22 picks.

They’re more vulnerable on the ground than they are through the air, but nothing the Ravens have done lately inspires any kind of confidence that they can exploit the Saints with the running game. Baltimore is still averaging just 3.6 yards per attempt on the ground, tied for next-to-last in the NFL. Monday in Houston – despite focusing on the running game with unbalanced lines and such – they were even worse, averaging just 2.6 yards per carry. Le’Ron “Ankle Sprain” McClain looked like he was still a bit bothered by the injury Monday, so hopefully he can get back to full strength and do a better job of opening some holes (McClain missed practice Thursday with an illness.)

Todd Heap still hasn’t returned to practice (as of Thursday), so his status is very much up in the air for Sunday. Heap has never been the best blocking tight end, but at this point he is worlds ahead of rookies Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta. Heap’s absence not only hampered the Ravens in the passing game against Pittsburgh and Houston, but on the ground as well. Keep your fingers crossed that #86 makes an appearance on the practice field Friday.

Even more concerning than their inability to run the ball lately, has been the Ravens’ pass protection. Joe Flacco has been sacked 32 times now, and an incredible 22 of those have come in the six games since the bye (3.67 sacks per game). The Saints are right in the middle of the pack in sacks, with 26 (the Ravens have 24). Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams, who never met a blitz he didn’t like, was surely licking his chops this week looking at film of the Ravens’ inability to stop a rushing safety. That’s right, even after Cam Cameron assured us that whatever breakdown in protection allowed Troy Polamalu to steal the Pittsburgh game from them was fixed, Houston safety Bernard Pollard came untouched over and over Monday night on his way to 1.5 sacks.

WTF, Cam? WTF, Matt Birk? WTF, Michael Oher? Fix it, please.

On the bright side, the Ravens’ special teams have been playing lights out lately. Rookie David “Cop Speed (cuz you got weed)” Reed now leads the NFL in kick return average after his franchise record 103-yard touchdown return last week. He also had an 84-yard return against Carolina. Billy Cundiff is now just three touchbacks shy of tying an NFL record. Sam Koch (more like Sam Kick, am I right?!) was incredible Monday, dropping 5 punts inside the 20-yard line, including the crucial one in overtime. He leads all punters with 34 placed inside the 20. Winning the field position battle will go a long way towards a Ravens win on Sunday.

The New Orleans Saints may be the best team the Ravens play all year (New England would be a close second, but they weren’t playing their best football in Week 6 when the Ravens saw them). Playing them on a neutral field (let’s hope that happens in early 2011) would be a very daunting task, but the home field should really benefit B’More this week. The Saints are a very good road team, but the Ravens are even better at home. They owe the fans one after pooping away the last home game in the final minutes.

Ravens 24 Saints 21

I met this guy – “The Sidewalk Saint” – in the Big Easy last summer. Here’s me showing him what’s what. Let’s hope he remembers me on Sunday, and shakes his fist angrily at the sky after a Ravens win.

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Ravens 34 Texans 28 OT (The JOSH SAVES THE COLLAPSE Game)

Posted by darnold on Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Former University of Maryland Terrapin Josh Wilson was the hero in Houston, saving the Ravens from what would have arguably been the worst collapse in an important game in the team’s fifteen year history. The Ravens blew a 28-7 lead, and were up by 15 entering the game’s final period. However, as has been their M.O. this season, no lead was safe…

Nice company to be in, huh?

Ugh…

Those two ESPN graphics looked to be prescient and incredibly accurate as the Texans scored a touchdown and a 2-point conversion with just 21 seconds remaining in regulation to force the extra period. With the way the Ravens defense played over the final quarter, overtime looked to be just a formality in what was to be another Ravens’ collapse and Texans’ come-back win.

Luckily, Josh Wilson stepped up to preserve the win for the good guys.

Let’s dive into this one a bit…

No blowout

With 14:30 to go in the third quarter, this game looked to finally be the complete dominant game that Ravens fans have been waiting for all season. The offense had already put up 21 points, and touchdowns on two of their final three possessions of the half. The defense had held the Texans’ high-powered attack to just a single score, a touchdown on a hurry-up drive to end the second quarter. And kick returner David Reed set the franchise record for longest kickoff return with his 103-yard touchdown to start the second half. Life was good in Purple Paradise.

Slowly but surely though, the wheels came off. Again.

Letting them back in it

In fact, Reed’s kick return touchdown may have been a bit of a blessing and a curse. Instead of a two-score game, the Houston Texans suddenly found themselves trailing by a full three touchdowns. With any minute hopes of postseason play – and likely, their coach’s job – fading before their eyes, they developed a “nothing to lose” mentality. They were forced to throw the ball, and be aggressive. And with weapons like Houston has – wide receiver Andre Johnson, running back Arian Foster, tight end Owen Daniels – they are very capable of putting up points in bunches, which is just what they did.

On the ensuing possession after the kick return, Houston faced 4th-and-3 at the Ravens’ 41. In a 21-7 game, they probably punt there. Trailing 28-7 though, they were forced to go for it. They converted, and seven plays later a Neil Rackers field goal made the score 28-10.

Then came the wonderful Cam Cameron “playing from ahead” offense.

This was a great tweet from Tony Lombardi of Ravens 24×7 during the game:

The Ravens next offensive play was a Ray Rice run for no gain. After that, a nine-yard sack of Joe Flacco. Two plays, and the drive was effectively over, as they faced a 3rd-and-19 at their own 13-yard line. A 12-yard pass to Rice would be the Ravens’ final play of the quarter until he ran for 4 yards on the period’s last play.

In the entire third quarter, the Ravens offense ran 4 plays (not including the punt) for 7 yards.

Still, they led 28-13, so things were looking alright.

Defense gassed

Although they were on the field for about 13 minutes in the third quarter, the Ravens’ defense gave up only two field goals. However, all that time on the field would result in some cumulative fatigue. As a result, those third quarter field goals turned into fourth quarter touchdowns for Houston.

The offense again sputtered, picking up just two first downs before giving the ball back to the Texans. Five minutes and fifteen plays later, the score was 28-20.

The Ravens’ defense was struggling, and obviously needed a break before being sent back out on the field.

Then things really got weird.

More odd clock management

Last year, Ravens fans were frustrated with the way John Harbaugh and Joe Flacco managed timeouts and the clock in the final minutes of halves and games. The Ravens’ two-minute drill was terribly ineffective in 2009, and many of us felt that just from having played Madden for a few years, we better understood how to manipulate the game clock to our advantage than the Ravens did.

Obviously, that’s ridiculous. But so is the way Harbaugh used…and continues to use…timeouts.

For whatever reason, those situations have been more rare in 2010 – the Ravens haven’t had too many occasions where they’ve had to run a two-minute drill and put up points. The first Pittsburgh game comes to mind, but that’s about it.

However, the Ravens’ coaches’ questionable decision-making with regards to clock management have reared their ugly head in other areas. Last week, it was Cam Cameron’s decision to pass the ball on 2nd-and-5 in the game’s final minutes, resulting in Troy Polamalu’s sack-fumble and a Steelers win. Last night, a similar situation presented itself.

The Ravens led 28-20 with 2:58 remaining in the game, and faced a 3rd down and 2 at the Texans’ 44-yard line. Houston had just burned their final timeout of the half. A first down here would seal the game for the Ravens. However, failing that, just keeping the clock running would be the next best thing – a 1-yard run would result in a 4th down, but the Ravens could have taken the clock down to about 2:10, and then either used a timeout or taken a 5-yard delay of game penalty, punted, and pinned the Texans deep with two minutes to drive the length of the field, and – at best – a single stop of the clock from the two-minute warning.

Ravens Nation was screaming – RUN THE BALL.

Did Cam run the ball? Of course not. Incomplete pass, clock stops, and now Houston takes possession with 2:42 to go. They would go 95 yards and score with, again, 21 seconds left. The Ravens could have taken 40 seconds off the clock by running on 3rd-and-2. You do the math.

When asked after the game about the decision to pass, John Harbaugh responded with some nonsense about “not thinking about the clock there,” and that “we wanted the first down.” Really coach, NOT thinking about the clock at all? Your biggest ally at that point in the game? Yeah, that’s not asinine or anything.

And did the rules change? You can’t get a first down by running?

“It’s all Cam’s fault,” is still a popular mantra in Baltimore today, even with the Ravens’ win.

Taking them with you?

As odd as the decision to run the ball on 3rd-and-2 was, the coaches’ use of timeouts down the stretch was even stranger. As mentioned, the defense was GASSED. They had nothing left.

Greg Mattison is being criticized today for his 3-man rush late in the game today. There is some merit to that, however, there are other circumstances to examine. It’s widely understood that the most exhausting thing to do in football is rush the passer. Matt Schaub threw 62 passes in the game, the great majority of which were in the second half. The Ravens didn’t have anybody with enough energy to blitz. This was never more painfully obvious than when, with 1:07 to go, Schaub scrambled for eight yards to the Ravens’ 35. On the play, Jarret Johnson was giving chase, but Schaub – who runs something like a 5.5 40 – looked like Mike Vick running from the tired J.J.

The defense had nothing left. What the team did have left was timeouts. Two of them, to be exact. Twice in the final minute the Texans stopped the clock – once by running out of bounds and once with a spike. Two opportunities for the Ravens to use a timeout and give their defense a breather while not “helping the Texans out” at all by stopping the clock. They chose not to, for whatever reason.

I’m shocked that one of the players – especially an Ed Reed or Ray Lewis – didn’t look around at their exhausted teammates and say “f this, coach,” and take a timeout on their own accord.

Now, with 21 seconds remaining, the score is 28-26. A stop on the two-point conversion try can still win the game. With 21 seconds, any dreams of having time after the kickoff to move down the field and get into field goal range are out of the question. These timeouts can do absolutely no good after this play. You can’t take them with you into overtime.

WHY NOT CALL A TIMEOUT AND REGROUP FOR THE 2-POINT TRY? YOU CAN STILL WIN THE GAME HERE!

This decision still boggles my mind.

The real hero


With all due respect to Wilson, perhaps the real hero of the game is Cory Redding. Redding stood at midfield before the overtime period, and correctly guessed “tails” on the coin flip. Had the Ravens lost the toss, I have no doubt that we would be talking about an 8-5 team today. The utterly pooped Ravens’ defense was not going to go back out there and stop Houston, not without at least a small break.

Tails gave them that break.

With a chance to go win the game, the offense of course failed again. They did at least pick up a first down and hold the ball for three minutes. Apparently, that was all the defense needed.

In the two plays that they were on the field in OT, the Ravens got great pressure with four rushers on Schaub. It was Haloti Ngata harassing him in his own end zone that caused the errant pass from Schaub that ended the game.

Thanks for the drops

This recap is getting a bit too lengthy, so I’ll cut it short and save some other observations (terrible O-line play, great special teams) for a later post. However, any analysis of this game can’t ignore the fact that the Texans started the game unable to catch a cold.

Texans’ receivers dropped five or six passes in the first half, which went a huge way in allowing the Ravens to build the 21 point lead that, in the end, they needed every bit of.

Thanks for being terrible at catching, Texans.

Now the Ravens come back home to face the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints, who are finally getting healthy and seem to be hitting their stride as the season comes to a close.

Fun fun.

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Buccaneers (7-3) @ Ravens (7-3)

Posted by darnold on Friday, November 26th, 2010

This week, the Ravens play their third straight game against an NFC South opponent, taking on the upstart Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Many Ravens fans had circled this game as a win coming into the season, as the Bucs were coming off a 3-13 2009 season, and have the youngest roster in the NFL. Tampa, however, has surprised so far in 2010, matching the Ravens’ 7-3 record, and look to be no walkovers on Sunday. The Ravens should still be able to pick up their eighth win of the year, but this game will be much tougher than we had hoped for when looking ahead to it back in September.

On paper, the Bucs’ offense doesn’t look too intimidating, as they are just 23rd in the NFL in yards per game. Second year quarterback Josh Freeman, though, has been deceivingly efficient, throwing 14 touchdowns to go with only 5 interceptions and 1 lost fumble, good for a QB rating of 92.0 – just 0.1 behind Joe Flacco. Rookie wide receiver Mike Williams leads the team in receiving, with 43 catches for 681 yards and 6 touchdowns. The Ravens secondary, after basically a week off in Carolina last week, will have to be on top of their game, and prove that they can at least stop a good — if not elite — quarterback.

Where Freeman and the rest of the Tampa offense should really give the Ravens and their fans a case of post-Thanksgiving indigestion, though, is on the ground. Freeman is a horse at 6’6″ 250, and can really hurt opposing defenses with his feet. He has 236 rushing yards this season, and averages over 6 every time he decides to take off. Even more dangerous is rookie running back LeGarrette Blount. Blount, the former Oregon Duck (you remember him, right?), is a 6’0 247 lb. battering ram, and is averaging 4.4 yards per carry since the Bucs started really working him into the offense about five weeks ago. Throw in Carnell “Cadillac” Williams, a big threat catching passes out of the backfield, and the Ravens front seven will have their hands full this week.

Blount is like a more athletic Peyton Hillis, who torched the Ravens in Week 3 for Cleveland. The Ravens looked like they had gotten their run defense fixed two weeks ago in Atlanta, completely shutting down Michael Turner. Last week, though, Mike Goodson of the Carolina Panthers went for 120 yards against them. The outcome of this one will depend heavily on the Ravens’ run defense, and they’ll need to perform much better than they did in Charlotte to contain the Bucs’ much more potent attack.

I had hoped to devote an entire post this week to thoughts on fixing the run defense, but I found some other things to write about instead. So I’ll have to just spitball a bit here in the preview…

First off, Brandon McKinney should be back on the field. McKinney played in seven games earlier this year, and started four, but has been a healthy scratch the last three contests. He played very well when he was in there, and could be an asset for this team down the stretch.

Who does McKinney replace?

It may be sacrilege to Ravens fans, but I’d nominate Kelly Gregg. “Buddy Lee” is having his worst season, and at this point is a liability to this defense. He’s a fan favorite, but it may be time to give #97 a game or two off.

The next guy who could help bottle up Blount is Dannell Ellerbe. Ellerbe, whose specialty is being a run stuffer at the linebacker position, has apparently made his way into the infamous John Harbaugh “doghouse,” after some special teams penalties. Ellerbe, like McKinney, hasn’t been active since the Buffalo game. Not only are these two very good at helping shut down opposing running backs, but they should also both have very fresh legs. Keep an eye on the inactive list Sunday morning – if these two are on it, I’d be very disappointed, and that much more worried.

Regardless who is active on the defense, the entire unit needs to tackle better. Freeman and Blount will be licking their chops in film study this week seeing the Ravens’ dismal tackling of late. Keeping the yards after contact down will be especially crucial on Sunday against the physical runners the Bucs showcase.

Offensively, Joe Flacco and the rest of the Ravens will look to continue the kind of performance they put up in the first half of the Carolina game, and put the second half of that contest behind them. Remember, despite the 37 points put up by the team, the Ravens managed only two offensive touchdowns against the Panthers. Fortunately, they’re generally better at home, having put up 31, 37, and 26 points in their last three at The Big Crabcake. Flacco has eight touchdowns and no interceptions at home this season (although defenders have dropped should-be interceptions on at least three occasions), and will look to continue that trend against a Tampa squad that is tied for second in the NFL with 15 picks.

The Bucs’ ability to force turnovers helps mask their deficiencies in run defense, where they rank 29th, giving up over 136 yards per game. Ray Rice and Willis McGahee should be in for big games, though at this point I’m not still delusional enough to think that Cam Cameron will come into the game with a plan of anything but something along the lines of “we’re going to pass the ball because they THINK we’re going to run it!” I can’t help but think back to the Buffalo game – the Bills came into B’More with the league’s worst run defense, and the Ravens’ first possession went: pass, pass, pass, punt. Tampa can’t stop the run, has very strong cornerbacks in Ronde Barber and Aqib Talib, and thrives on interceptions, so needless to say I expect a similar ass-backwards attack from Cam as the one we saw against Buffalo (at least prior to the Bills playing “light up the scoreboard.”) Hopefully the Ravens have enough talent running routes and throwing the football to move the ball and get into the end zone in spite of the guy calling in the plays.

With this game getting “flexed” by the NFL and moved to a 4:15 start from it’s original 1:00 slot, game time temperatures will drop significantly. Currently, the forecast calls for a high temperature of about 47 degrees on Sunday, which will likely have the mercury dipping near 40 by the time the second half rolls around. Historically, Tampa is awful in the cold; the franchise didn’t win their first game that featured sub-40 degree temperatures at kickoff until their Super Bowl season of 2002. As a Ravens fan who will be sitting at M&T Bank Stadium shivering, I’ll gladly plan on piling on an extra layer if it means the Ravens have even a slightly better chance of emerging victorious. If Mother Nature is on our side Sunday, all the better.

We’ll likely know by game time whether or not Pittsburgh pushes their record to 8-3, as they play at 1 PM. They are in Buffalo, so most likely the Ravens will need this win to keep pace in the division. Moreover, the Ravens need to win this game regardless of what the Steelers do, as the rest of the schedule doesn’t get any easier. If they can’t defeat this feisty but inexperienced (and, truthfully, overachieving) Bucs squad on their own turf, what chance do we really give them against the likes of Pittsburgh and New Orleans here, and Houston and Cleveland teams on the road?

Gotta have this one.

Ravens 27 Bucs 17

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Ravens 37 Panthers 13 (The DEFENSE AND SPECIAL TEAMS FINALLY SHOW UP Game)

Posted by darnold on Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

Despite leading by just a single touchdown two plays into the fourth quarter, the Ravens dominated the Carolina Panthers over the final ten minutes of play, and two defensive touchdowns gave B’More a comfortable 24 point victory.

The defensive touchdowns were the Ravens’ first two of the 2010 season, an oddity for a unit that has historically had no problem finding the end zone. The first came on an Ed Reed interception (his fourth in four games this year), but it was Dawan Landry who ultimately crossed the goalline, after receiving what may well have been the prettiest lateral of Reed’s lateral-happy career. It looked almost like an offensive option play, the way Reed hit Landry in perfect stride. For all the headaches he induces with those flips of the ball, when it works to perfection like it did yesterday, we hardly have any room to complain.

The second defensive score, on the Panthers’ very next play from scrimmage, was by the other Hall of Famer, Ray Lewis. It was Ray’s first touchdown since 2007 against Cleveland, and his 30th career interception. That puts Ray-Ray into the 30 sack/30 interception “club.” I say “club” in quotes because the only other member is former Patriot Rodney Harrison. Thats right, Lewis and Harrison are the ONLY NFL players to ever amass 30 interceptions and 30 sacks in a career. Watching Lewis get to waltz into the end zone one more time was a great sight for Ravens fans, who know that the sun is (slowly) setting on #52′s time on the field.

While the defense provided the points to finally put the game away, special teams nearly provided the nail in the coffin much earlier in the contest. Rookie David Reed took the opening kickoff of the second half 84 yards to the Carolina 18-yard line. Although he didn’t score on the play, Reed’s return was easily the Ravens’ best of the year, and it looks like the speedy first year player out of Utah has finally brought some stability to the kick return position.

Had the Ravens’ offense been able to capitalize on the great field position, the game would have been effectively over. A touchdown at that point would have put the Ravens up 24-3, and with Brian St. Pierre floundering under center for the Panthers, that would have been all she wrote. Unfortunately, we saw those same old red zone woes rear their ugly head, as Joe Flacco and Co. managed just 3 yards on 3 plays before settling for a 33-yard Billy Cundiff field goal.

It seems like the Ravens’ offense is just completely determined to sleep-walk through at least some portion of games these days. Last week a big deal was made about how they always start so slow in games played outside of M&T Bank Stadium. Well, that problem was solved quickly yesterday, as Flacco hooked up with T.J. Houshmandzadeh for a 56-yard touchdown on the team’s second offensive snap. After one quarter, the Ravens led 10-0, and looked to be moving the ball at will against Carolina’s defense. They racked up 258 yards of offense in the first half, and led 17-3.

Then they went into the locker room at halftime and…

took naps?

got deep tissue massages?

hung out in the sauna for 8 minutes?

Whatever the cause, they came out extremely lethargic after the break, looking nothing like the team that had dominated the first half. Taking possession with 9:40 left in the game, the Ravens had amassed just 63 total yards of offense in the second half.

What was most disappointing to me was their complete inability/refusal to run the ball.

Listen, I’m as big a Joe Flacco fan as you’re going to find. Two and a half years into his tenure, I am as “Wacko for Flacco as ever.” But holding a lead in the second half on the road is the time to pound the football, unleash the offensive linemen, and get “downhill” on your opponent.

Not in the mind of Cam Cameron, I suppose.

In the third quarter, the Ravens ran 17 plays – 12 passes and 5 runs.

That’s playcalling. That’s on the coaching staff.

Those 5 runs went for a total of 18 yards (3.6 ypc).

That’s execution. The blame there goes on the offensive line and running backs.

It’s obvious that this team just doesn’t have the make up or mentality to totally stomp on inferior teams – at least not on offense. While frustrating, that’s not necessarily a fatal flaw. What it is though, is a call for the coaching staff to realize it, and stop trying to keep throwing the ball all over the field when the team is leading. Especially as we get into the colder weather here in December, it would be nice to be reassured that the Ravens have the ability to “take the air out of the ball” when they get up, and use their running game to effectively hold onto leads.

Another sign that the Ravens may not have been 100% into the game mentally was the severe case of “fumbleitis” they experienced throughout the day. It started when Flacco and Rice botched a hand off at the Panthers’ 11-yard line midway through the second quarter (Flacco stated that it was his fault; the play was supposed to be a reverse, not a handoff to Rice). It then continued with normally very sure-handed guys like Anquan Boldin and Todd Heap. On the day, the Ravens put the ball on the ground a total of four times, and lost two of those. With three of their next four games against teams with winning records, those types of things could be detrimental to the Ravens’ chances.

Although they provided the knockout punches, it was hardly a dominant effort overall from the Ravens defense. Third string running back Mike Goodson ran 22 times for 120 yards, including a long of 45 (in fairness, 22 of those came in junk time when John Fox should have had his team taking a knee). It appeared the Ravens had gotten their run defense straightened out after back-to-back strong performances against Miami (to a degree) and Atlanta (vintage Ravens run-stuffing), but the gaping holes were there again yesterday. Against a team whose starting quarterback was literally a stay-at-home dad two weeks ago, and who can do next to nothing (88-yard touchdown passes notwithstanding), there is no excuse for a team to run wild like that. I have some ideas for things the team can try to plug up those holes, and I’ll write about that later in the week. For now though, suffice to say that Tampa Bay running backs LeGarrette Blount and Cadillac Williams will be licking their chops looking at film this week.

The Ravens are now 7-3 – their best record through 10 games in the John Harbaugh era – and have four of their final six games at M&T Bank Stadium, along with two very winnable road games. While Ravens fans seem to be eternal pessimists, the fact of the matter is that everything this team set out to do is still well within their grasp.

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Play Like a Raven – Week 7

Posted by darnold on Thursday, October 28th, 2010

PlayLikeaRayRice

Ray Rice had a solid, if unspectacular, day Sunday, rushing for 72 yards on 16 carries (4.5 ypc). Mike Preston wrote on Monday that Rice seems to be a bit slow hitting his holes, making too many cuts trying to find the “home run.”

Running back Ray Rice carried the ball 16 times for 72 yards against the Bills Sunday, but he is still slow hitting holes.

Rice had a similar problem the week before against the New England Patriots. The Ravens are opening holes, but Rice is hesitating, trying to bounce outside or cut back for the home run instead of just blasting through the hole.

Additionally, in the fourth quarter, when the Ravens could have really used some yards on the ground to put the game away, Rice was nowhere to be found, for the most part. His fourth quarter touches:

3-7-BAL 10 (9:09) (Shotgun) 5-J.Flacco pass short right to 27-R.Rice to BLT 11 for 1 yard (59-A.Coleman).
1-10-BUF 44 (4:54) 27-R.Rice right guard to BUF 43 for 1 yard (99-M.Stroud, 90-C.Kelsay).
2-9-BUF 43 (4:15) 27-R.Rice left guard to BUF 40 for 3 yards (95-K.Williams, 20-D.Whitner).

I still maintain that Rice is the most important piece to this offense, but his follow-up to his Pro Bowl 2009 season has been a bit disappointing. Let’s hope he picks things up in the second half of the season.

Played Like a Raven – Ed Reed

Mr. Reed made his triumphant return to the gridiron against the Bills, and had a huge say in the outcome of the game. Eddie picked off two Ryan Fitzpatrick passes and caused a Roscoe Parrish fumble. The Ravens had only two interceptions in six games without #20, and that total was already doubled after just 45 minutes of football with Reed on the field.

I’m imagining Tom Zbikowski standing on the sideline, muttering to himself “they never throw the ball to me like that, mehhhh…”

The goofy faction of Ravens fans that maintain the delusion that the secondary is better without Reed (due to his “wreckless” play) will point to the four long touchdown passes as evidence that their claim still holds water. To those people, I’d remind them of the big touchdown passes by Denver in Week 5, and the horrendous play by Ravens’ cornerbacks all day against Buffalo. The bottom line is, if Ed Reed doesn’t play Sunday, the Ravens are very likely 4-3 today.

Honorable Mentions: Ray Lewis, Todd Heap, Marshal Yanda

Did Not Play Like a Raven – Rest of Defense

Holy shitballs. Where to start?

Let’s go down the list, excluding the two players (#20 and #52, of course) named above.

Fabian Washington: “Toast” was burned again and again, to the point that, by Fabe’s own admission, Ryan Fitzpatrick was calling him out via audibles at the line of scrimmage.

“Once they start going after somebody, you’ve got to get them off you then,” said Washington, who wears No. 31. “[Sunday] was, ‘check, check 31.’ That’s what it was. This week, they got me, but please believe I will be back.”

After his great day against Denver, Washington has fallen off a cliff. In New England, he was simply ineffective, and, against the Bills, he had likely his worst game as a pro. Fabe looked completely shell-shocked by the end of his day, which came midway through the fourth quarter when he was benched in favor of Josh Wilson following Fitzpatrick’s final touchdown pass.

Haloti Ngata, Terrell Suggs: These two are counted on by the Ravens’ defense to be playmakers. Do you remember hearing either of their named called on Sunday? Suggs and Ngata can NOT be invisible, or this defense is in more trouble than any of us realize. Ngata’s play is somewhat excused by the rest of his body of work so far in 2010. Suggs needs to step up down the stretch, it’s just that simple.

Edit: Some guys that know a lot more about football than me say that Sunday was actually Suggs’ best day rushing the passer since the Washington game in 2008, despite his not recording a sack.

The seven total pressures (a hit, six pressures) Suggs recorded in this game was the most since he recorded eight (a sack, a hit, six pressures) in Week 14 of the 2008 season against the Washington Redskins.

Lardarius Webb: He was slowed by a groin wrap, but Webb was the one beaten on the 33-yard touchdown to Stevie Johnson.

Webb said he had his groin wrapped as a precaution, but took it off after Johnson beat him for a 33-yard score in the second quarter.

“That’s not an excuse,” Webb said. “I’m still supposed to make that play. I took it off then, and didn’t have any problems. I’m thinking I never should have put it on in the first place. It’s the NFL. Everybody makes plays.

Webbie also whiffed on several tackle attempts.

Dawan Landry: Sure, he had 9 tackles, but how many did he miss? Unfortunately, they don’t keep that stat on NFL.com (well, fortunately for Dawan). Landry has been sub-par in pass support, run support, and general tackling all season. Maybe during his week off, he can go work out with, and get some pointers from, his brother LaRon, who is having a stellar season down in Landover for the Redskins.

Jarret Johnson, Paul Kruger, Brandon McKinney, Terrence Cody, Cory Redding: Buffalo averaged 3.8 yards per rushing play for the day, and had 132 total yards on the ground. Fitzpatrick was sacked only once, and it was hardly a true sack (he rolled out on a 4th-and-1 bootleg, and was stopped behind the line by Lewis). Nobody on the defense escapes blame for the Bills’ 64% 3rd-down conversion rate on the day.

Just an ugly, ugly performance all around.

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Ravens 37 Bills 34 OT (The SHOULD HAVE SUITED UP THE 2000 DEFENSE Game)

Posted by darnold on Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

On Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, the Ravens honored the 2000 Super Bowl team with a “homecoming” of sorts.

Maybe they should have let those guys play a bit. Even though most of them haven’t stepped foot on a field in nearly a decade, they certainly couldn’t have been any worse than the current Ravens were yesterday.

I’m pretty sure Tony Siragusa could have plugged up the middle and slowed down Buffalo’s rushing game more aptly than Haloti Ngata, Kelly Gregg, and co. were able to.

I’m fairly certain that Duane Starks would have held his own against the Bills’ wide receivers better than Fabian Washington and Lardarius Webb did.

Fabian “Toast” Washington was burned repeatedly

And I’m damn positive that Kim Herring could have stepped in and given Dawan Landry an absolute clinic on how to make a tackle.

On a day when members of the greatest defense of all time were in the house, the Ravens did little to make the former Super Bowl champs proud.

The Buffalo Bills came into Baltimore and ran roughshod over the Ravens’ defense, doing pretty much anything they wanted to all afternoon. They entered the game averaging just 251 yards of total offense per game, and had more than doubled that output (506 total yards of offense) by the time Billy Cundiff’s 38-yard field goal gave the Ravens the 37-34 victory. In overtime. Against, of all teams, the freaking Buffalo Bills.

Buffalo also sported the worst 3rd-down conversion percentage in the NFL entering the game. At the end of the day, one of the two teams was just 2/11 on 3rd downs, while the other was a stout 11/17 on their way to holding the ball for more than 38 minutes. The latter, of course, however inexplicably, was the Bills.

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick put an end to the Bills league-worst 58 consecutive games without a 300-yard passer, and did so emphatically; he threw for 374 yards and FOUR touchdowns. Not to be outdone, receivers Lee Evans and Stevie Johnson ended Bills streaks of their own, as each surpassed 100 yards receiving, something no Buffalo Bill had managed in 11 games.

Not that it was a complete aerial assualt – Buffalo also put up 132 yards on the ground for the day.

And yet…as bleak a picture as all of those numbers paint – not only on the day, but moving forward as well – the Ravens still eked out the win.

It was up to the offense to bail the defense out yesterday, and Joe Flacco, Anquan Boldin, Todd Heap, and company were up to the challenge. Finding themselves in a 24-10 hole after Evans’ second touchdown with 5 minutes remaining in the first half, the Ravens’ offense – with an assist from the great Ed Reed (more on him later) – ripped off 17 points in just 71 seconds of game clock to take a 27-24 lead.

The final 7 of that 17 came on a beautiful flea flicker, a play that I would bet the Ravens haven’t hit on in at least five years. From the Buffalo 34, Joe Flacco handed to Willis McGahee, who lateraled back to Flacco, and Joe launched a gorgeous touchdown rainbow to Anquan Boldin.

While Joe didn’t have his best day, he made enough plays to win the game. He connected on just 16 of his 31 throws, but the ones he did hit, he made count: 250 yards through the air was the final result, with three touchdown strikes of 26, 14, and 34 yards.

Ed Reed. The man just makes plays. Even though Reed looked a half-step slow at times during the day, his uncanny nose for the football just will not be suppressed. On the Bills’ first series, when it looked like they were about to pick up a 3rd-and-8 from the Ravens’ 32, Reed came up and put his helmet right on the ball, jarring it free from wideout Roscoe Parrish. The Ravens didn’t recover, but Buffalo lost 12 yards on the play, and the ensuing punt set the Ravens’ up to take their short-lived 3-0 lead. On Buffalo’s very first snap of the second half, Reed, off a tipped pass from Ray Lewis, intercepted Fitzpatrick to set up the aforementioned flea flicker score. And, at the end of the third, with the Ravens holding a 34-24 lead, just a single play after he came up a little lame and CBS analyst Steve Beuerlein noted that Reed looked a little slow, #20 AGAIN intercepted Fitzpatrick, this time returning the pick 40 yards to the Buffalo nine.

That play should have effectively won the game for the Ravens. Unfortunately, Willis McGahee and Joe Flacco botched the handoff on the ensuing snap, and gave the ball right back to the Bills. Instead of a 17-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the defense was faced for the second straight week with a 10 point lead at the same juncture in the ball game. And, just like in New England last week, they would cave.

Buffalo put together a 63-yard touchdown drive and a 59-yard field goal drive – the latter starting at their own 9 yard line with just 3:26 to go in the game – in the fourth quarter, while the Ravens managed just a single first down in the final period. It’s distressing that just a week after blowing a fourth quarter lead, both units – offense and defense – again choked when given the chance to put the game away.

Facing the worst run defense in the league, and having gained nearly 5 yards per carry all day, the Ravens’ fourth quarter play selection was the following:

1st drive: Run (fumble)
2nd drive: Pass (incomplete), Run (6 yards), Pass (1 yard), Punt
3rd drive: Pass (incomplete), Pass (36 yards), Run (1 yard), Run (3 yards), Pass (incomplete), Punt

And in overtime (the drive that didn’t START in field goal range): Run (5 yards), Pass (incomplete), Pass (sack), Punt

Five runs, seven passes.

Now, some will argue that Cam Cameron was just doing exactly what Ravens fans were blasting him for NOT doing after last week’s New England loss – that is, being aggressive and not “going conservative.” To those people, I’d offer this rebuttal: the difference is, in both instances, Cam went AWAY from what was working. Last week in New England, it was the intermediate passing game that was having success – and in the fourth quarter the Ravens decided they were going to play it safe. Against Buffalo – again, the WORST run defense in the league – Ray Rice was having a fairly good day and Willis McGahee was outstanding (besides the fumble), averaging nearly six yards per carry. Add in that Flacco, as mentioned earlier, was erratic on the day (he should have been intercepted at least once, if not twice), and the decision to skew the playcalling towards the pass in the fourth quarter and overtime becomes even more perplexing.

I suppose I just don’t understand NFL playcalling. I’ll leave it at that for now, so I don’t drive myself insane.

Two additional points I’d be remiss not to address: First up, Ray Lewis. With his former teammates watching, is it any surprise that #52 would say, “enough of this bullshit, we’re not losing,” and just straight up maul the football from Bills tight end Shawn Nelson? Make no mistake about it, Ray won the game with that play, as the Ravens had very little hope of stopping the offensive juggernaut that stole the Buffalo Bills’ jerseys and wore them in Baltimore.

The second point, which piggybacks right off of that one – the officials. I’ve complained about the refereeing enough on this blog over the years that I’d be quite hypocritical to not acknowledge that the Ravens were aided monumentally at least once yesterday by the guys’ in stripes. So, referee Pete Morelli and crew: thank you for not blowing the whistle on that play.

In fairness, former NFL VP of Officiating Mike Pereira says the refs made the right call.

The other curious ruling came two plays before Flacco found Heap to pull the Ravens to within 24-20 at the half. Flacco had appeared to have found Bills cornerback Reggie Corner (great career choice BTW Reggie!) for an interception that would have kep the deficit at 11 points at the break. However, luckily, Corner was ruled out of bounds even after review – and Boldin was not flagged for offensive pass interference (though either player could have been called for P.I.)

The Ravens have problems on both sides of the ball, and on special teams, and we’ll get into those problems deeper here during the bye week. But for now, let’s just thank our lucky (after yesterday, that word bears repeating) stars that the Ravens go into the off date at 5-2 and right where they need to be…record-wise, anyway.

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Patriots 23 Ravens 20 OT (The GOTTA PLAY/COACH ALL FOUR QUARTERS Game)

Posted by darnold on Monday, October 18th, 2010

On Sunday, the Ravens lost.

They lost to a very good football team.

They lost to a very good football team with a Hall-of-Fame head coach.

They lost to a very good football team with a Hall-of-Fame head coach and a Hall-of-Fame quarterback.

They lost to a very good football team with a Hall-of-Fame head coach and a Hall-of-Fame quarterback, who had two weeks to rest and prepare.

They lost to a very good football team with a Hall-of-Fame head coach and a Hall-of-Fame quarterback, who had two weeks to rest and prepare, on the road.

All of that, I can deal with.

What makes this loss so difficult to stomach is what I neglected to mention above…

On Sunday, the Ravens lost to a very good football team with a Hall-of-Fame head coach and quarterback, who had two weeks to rest and prepare, on the road…in a game in which they held a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.

Yeah. That last point is the inexcusable part. For the first 45 minutes of the game, the Ravens beat the Patriots up and down the field, building a 20-10 lead with 14:57 remaining. What was unfortunate, and what ultimately proved to be the difference in the game, was that in the four plays prior to Billy Cundiff’s 25-yard field goal gave the Ravens what would be their final points for the day, Ravens’ receivers dropped two potential touchdown passes. On the first, Anquan Boldin was separated from the ball by a New England safety after a perfect strike from Joe Flacco from 20 yards out. On the second, Derrick Mason heard footsteps and couldn’t haul in what should have been a seven-yard score.

Sure, both plays would have required impressive, if not spectacular, catches. But both Boldin and Mason got two hands on the ball, and in the NFL, those passes should have been caught – especially by veterans like those two. If they are, this recap likely has a much different tone.

Compounding the problem was that, after that series, the Ravens offense (both playcalling and execution) seemed to climb aboard the plane back to Baltimore. With the exception of an 18-yard pass from Flacco to Boldin on the opening play of their next drive, the Ravens offense went 3-and-out, 3-and-out, 3-and-out on their next three possessions of regulation and overtime. The aforementioned Boldin completion came with 10:24 left in the fourth. The Ravens would not pick up another first down until the 10:17 mark of overtime – over a full quarter of play.

Three plays after that 10:24 first down, a sequence that could likely be pointed to as the pivotal one of the game unfolded.

On 3rd-and-1 from their own 47, leading 20-17, Cam Cameron called for a quarterback sneak. A play which, for anyone watching, was obviously doomed from the start. Flacco attempted to go through Pats’ defensive linemen Vince Wilfork and Greg Warren, and didn’t have a prayer.

The talk radio lines will no doubt be lighting up this week with people blaming Cameron for the odd call, and Flacco for not recognizing the defense and audibling out of the play. What is likely to be an even greater point of contention this week in B’More, though, is what happened next.

Facing 4th-and-the length of the football, Coach John “you have to put teams away when you have the chance” Harbaugh elected to punt. To punt the ball back to Tom Brady and the Patriots offense, who were fresh off an 8-play, 60-yard drive where they faced only a single third down, in that situation…puzzling, to say that least. To say a bit more, it was the kind of decision that we just aren’t used to seeing from Harbaugh, who has proven during his 2+ years as the head coach, that he has plenty of “balls” in those type of situations. This time, though, he went timid, and the Ravens paid dearly.

It wasn’t just Harbaugh that went into a shell in the fourth quarter and overtime though. He took the entire Baltimore coaching staff with him.

Cam Cameron stopped picking on the Patriots’ secondary.

Greg Mattison gave Brady the short underneath stuff in the passing game, and Brady took it eagerly.

Now, give New England credit. As mentioned, they have a great coaching staff of their own, and those guys made the necessary adjustments. They took away Flacco’s passing lanes. They threw quick screen after quick screen on offense. They did what was necessary to win the game. What the Ravens’ coaches were up to is anybody’s guess.

Flacco played very well all day, going 27/35 for 285 yards and two touchdowns. I don’t know if the Ravens’ coaches’ tentative mentality was preached to Joe on the sideline during the fourth quarter or what, but he wasn’t the same after those two dropped touchdown passes. He seemed much more willing to check down to Ray Rice, even though Rice was routinely swarmed by New England linebackers.

That’s another area where New England must be commended – they were not going to let Rice destroy them like he did in the two 2009 meetings. Although there seemed to be some nice holes on the Ravens’ opening drive, ultimately Rice ran the ball 28 times for just 88 yards, and his long of the day was just eight. He added eight receptions for 38 yards, but really wasn’t a major factor in the game.

Which brings us to the next puzzling thing about the gameplan of the Ravens’ staff…

Where the hell was Willis McGahee???

McGahee did not see a single touch in Foxborough, and I’m not even positive he was at the stadium. Sure, I was calling for Rice to take over goalline duties from Willis, but to just leave #23 on the sideline all afternoon? Especially considering the relative lack of success that Rice was having? It just makes absolutely no sense to me that McGahee was never even inserted as a sort of change-of-pace, and I’ll be anticipating how Cameron and Harbaugh explain that fact this week.

Before we wrap up, we can’t excuse the Ravens’ defense or special teams here either. While it’s commendable to hold New England to just 23 points, after they had put up 38 in each of their prior two home games, there were some disturbing signs from the “D.”

First off, what the hell is it with the Ravens’ inability to stop white running backs? We all remember Peyton Hillis running roughshod over them in week 2, and in Foxborough, Danny Freakin’ Woodhead had 63 yards and 5.7 per carry. They also had a hell of a time tackling Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez, and Deion Branch, allowing the Pats to rack up an incredible amount of YAC, after doing such a great job against the Denver Broncos last week.

Next, Mattison’s insistence to only rush three men so often is starting to cost the team. By now we know not to expect the kind of blitzes that we saw when Rex Ryan was in town, but giving Tom Brady 5 or 6 seconds to find a receiver down near the end zone isn’t a recipe for success in any universe. I don’t care if the Ravens emptied the bench and put 12 guys in the end zone covering Pats’ receivers, if Brady can basically take his helmet off back there and stand flat footed, he’s going to find someone. And that’s exactly what he did to get New England to within 20-17. With the exception of Haloti Ngata, the Ravens’ pass rush was disturbingly non-existent, especially considering the past success they have had against the Patriots.

Finally, we come to special teams. While they never came up with the huge game-breaker that we feared, and that they used to beat Miami in week 4, New England was clearly the superior unit on Sunday.

Jalen Parmele needs to be out of a job. His indecision/terrible decisions cost the Ravens a good bit of field position on at least two occasions.

Neither Chris Carr nor Tom Zbikowski can generate anything on punt returns. And when it seems like they just MIGHT, it’s always because someone else is illegally blocking or holding. On top of that, their refusal to come up and field punts that aren’t hit directly to them cost the team additional field position several times. It’s a sad state of affairs for the Ravens’ return games.

Even Billy Cundiff, despite his three touchbacks, had a costly gaffe. After going up 20-10, Cundiff’s ensuing kickoff squirted out of bounds at about the two yard line…two yards too soon, which resulted in the Patriots starting at their own 40-yard line.

The Ravens outplayed the Patriots for three quarters Sunday. Despite the Pats having two weeks to prepare, the Ravens appeared ready to take their best shot and bring a 5-1 record back to B’More.

Unfortunately, they were outplayed and (thoroughly) outcoached during the final quarter and the overtime period, and 4-2 is the result.

Still not a terrible place to be, after four tough road games, and with only a home game against Buffalo standing between us and the bye week.

Oh, and a certain guy who wears #20 is rumored to be coming back this week.

Things could be worse.

Let’s not melt down like a bunch of complete morons, please (these comments make me embarrassed to be a Ravens fan).

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Ravens (4-1) @ Patriots (3-1)

Posted by darnold on Saturday, October 16th, 2010

For the third time in just over a calendar year, the Ravens travel to Foxborough to take on the New England Patriots on their home turf. So will this trip end in heartbreak like the 2009 regular season meeting, or in jubilation as the playoff matchup did?

The Patriots have won 22 consecutive regular season home games.

They are coming off their bye week, a situation in which Bill Belichick coached teams are 8-2 since 2000, and have not lost since 2002.

In short, it won’t be easy, but if the Ravens play a solid game, they could have the talent on both sides of the ball to hand the Patriots their well overdue post-bye week loss.

Tom Brady is having another stellar season so far in 2010, completing 69.7 percent of his passes for 911 yards and 9 touchdowns to go with only two interceptions. In the first meeting with Baltimore last year, “Tom Terrific” was just that, going 21/32 for 258 yards and a critical touchdown to Randy Moss. In the playoff game however, a time during which Tom has been exceptional during his career, the Ravens held Brady to 23/42 for 154 yards, and picked him off three times. One area in which B’More has had success against the Patriots, though, is in pressuring Brady. They sacked him three times in each of those 2009 meetings, and Terrell Suggs especially seems to dominate Pats’ left tackle Matt Light. Even last season, when Suggs was generally playing poorly, he got to Brady and forced a fumble in both games. He, and the rest of the Ravens’ pass rush, will need to be equally effective against Brady, who has only been sacked five times in four games, on Sunday.

The Pats’ offense is also dealing with the much ballyhooed departure of All-World wide receiver Randy Moss, who was traded to Minnesota during New England’s bye week. Moss was not particularly effective against the Ravens last year (managing just 8 catches for 98 yards and 1 score total in the two games), but his presence on the field undeniably opens things up for the Patriots’ very strong underneath passing game. Guys like Wes Welker, and more recently Julian Edelman, have found great success running routes against linebackers with Moss taking the coverage deep with him. New England reacquired Super Bowl XXXIX MVP Deion Branch from Seattle, and he and second-year wideout Brandon Tate will try to pick up Moss’s slack.

Perhaps the more dangerous weapon in the Patriots’ passing attack Sunday will be rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez. Hernandez, out of the University of Florida, has 18 receptions for 240 yards already (for comparison’s sake, Moss had 9 for 139), and at 6’1″ 245 lbs., could pose a big matchup problem for the Ravens. Ravens’ linebackers struggled mightily in pass coverage in the preseason, and will have their hands full this week. As a whole, the Ravens’ 2nd-ranked pass defense will face easily their biggest challenge of the young season. Though Kyle Orton managed over 300 yards last week, the defense held him in check while it mattered, allowing the offense to build a comfortable lead through the early part of the game, before Orton racked up some yards with the game out of hand. Even sans Moss, they’ll have to play their best game of the year to beat Brady and the Patriots.

On the other side of the ball, the Ravens have a clear advantage over the Pats’ young and struggling defense. New England is 29th overall and 28th against the pass, so Joe Flacco and the Ravens’ passing game could be in for a big day. In the playoff game, of course, it was Ray Rice and the running attack that won the game, racking up 234 total yards on the ground. Flacco, meanwhile, was just 4/10 for 34 yards and an interception. I don’t expect New England to allow such a one-dimensional attack to be successful again, so B’More will have to be much more balanced from the start to have a chance. Fortunately, with the additions of Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, along with Todd Heap and Ed Dickson, the Ravens have plenty of weapons to turn to, should New England shut down the run as they were unable to do in January.

One area where the New England defense has excelled is in catching errant passes from opposing quarterbacks. The Patriots have seven interceptions, tied for third highest in the NFL, through just four games. Let’s hope Flacco leaves his patented “back foot floater” at home, or he could be in for a long day.

The Patriots’ special teams have also been a strength, as evidenced by their single-handedly costing the Miami Dolphins’ special teams coach his job two weeks ago. Brandon Tate is averaging over 33 yards per kick return, and the Patriots have blocked several punts. Fortunately for the Ravens, they have the ultimate special teams trump cards in their excellent kickers. Billy Cundiff has 11 touchbacks already this season, and Sam Koch’s incredible directional punting skills were on full display against the Broncos’ dangerous returner Eddie Royal. Although the Ravens’ return games have been disappointing as a whole in 2010, the coverage has been solid, and John Harbaugh’s special teams background could be a great asset for the team in Foxborough.

Now, when you see my prediction, some may accuse me of “flip-flopping” or of pandering to the audience earlier in the week when I picked the Patriots to win in my chat with Foxboroblog.

However, I did that interview on Tuesday, and in the days since then I have been convinced otherwise. Through listening to the local and national pundits, and watching Playbook on the NFL Network, I’m now much more confident that the Ravens can pull out a victory against the favored Patriots.

Mike Preston says he “can’t figure out how” the Patriots will beat the Ravens.

All three guys (Brian Billick, Sterling Sharpe, Joe Theisman) on NFL Network picked the Ravens.

All the Boston-area media who were guests on Baltimore talk radio this week picked the Ravens.

As you can see below, 6 of the 8 ESPN personalities picked the Ravens (even Steeler-loving Raven-hater Merrill Hoge!)

via

Bill Belichick was the one that called Steve Bisciotti nearly three years ago and told him to hire John Harbaugh. He regretted that phone call, if just a bit, last January. Let’s hope he regrets it again, just a bit, Sunday.

Goob used TV commercials to decide his pick. I’m going to be a bit more superstitious, pick the score I picked for the playoff game, and hope for the same result:


Ravens 28 Patriots 24

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Broncos (2-2) @ Ravens (3-1)

Posted by darnold on Friday, October 8th, 2010

When the Denver Broncos roll into M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday, history will not be on their side. Denver is 0-4 all time in B’More, the last loss being the 30-7 shellacking the Ravens put on them last season. Again the Broncos come into town with an apparent “house of cards” number attached to them. In 2009, it was their 6-0 record, which made them look much better than they actually were. This year, I’m thinking it’s their top-ranked passing attack.

You read that right.

It’s not Drew Brees’ Saints, Peyton Manning’s Colts, or even Matt Schaub’s Texans that own the top aerial attack in the NFL through four weeks…its Kyle Orton’s Broncos.

The same Broncos that are now without their leading receiver from 2009, one of the best in the game, Brandon Marshall. The same Broncos that are now throwing the ball all over the field to guys like Jabar Gaffney, Brandon Lloyd, and Eddie Royal. That’s the team that leads the NFL in passing yardage.

Again, I’m not terribly impressed.

Though those three have each had a 100-yard game already this season, the secondaries Denver has faced are not exactly the cream of the crop: Jacksonville – 30th against the pass in 2010, Indianapolis – 15th, Seattle – 29th, and Tennessee – 13th. This week, they’ll face a Ravens secondary that, despite being told all offseason that they were going to be the team’s Achilles heel, are the best unit in the NFL at the moment. Even without Dominique Foxworth or Ed Reed, the Ravens currently boast three cornerbacks playing extremely well – Lardarius Webb, Fabian Washington, and Chris Carr – another who has a track record of strong performances and should see plenty of the field this week – Josh Wilson – another who had a great preseason and appeared ready to step in and contribute – Cary Williams – and a backup safety who has proven that he can come in and cover one-on-one in a pinch – Haruki Nakamura. The Broncos don’t have a true #1 wideout, as Orton has shown that he can spread the ball around very evenly, but that could play right into the hands of the Ravens, who have 5 or 6 players who can adequately cover, despite not having a big-name “shut down” cornerback.

I could be way off base here (wouldn’t be the first time, won’t be the last), but it just looks like a good matchup for B’More to me.

Another thing – the reason the Broncos have had to fling it around so much is that they cannot run it. At all. At 55 yards per game, the Broncos own the NFL’s worst rushing attack by more than 10 yards per game (The 31st ranked team, The Bears, average 68.8 ypg.) Their #1 running back, second year player Knowshon Moreno, has missed the team’s last two games with a hamstring injury. Moreno practiced Wednesday, but not Thursday, and will be, at best, considered questionable for Sunday (though if you tell him Ed Reed isn’t playing, that may change to probable.) Filling in for Moreno has been former Patriots’ first round pick (and eventual bust) Lawrence Moroney. Moroney, though, has just 29 yards on 23 carries (not a typo) through his two starts.

Moreno, Maroney, whatever. It doesn’t matter – this game proves a great opportunity for the Ravens’ run defense to move up from their slightly misleading 23rd overall rank.

Now that Denver has spent all week looking at film trying to figure out how to block Haloti Ngata (hint: give it up; can’t be done.), there should be plenty of opportunities for guys like Cory Redding (who missed the Pittsburgh game due to a concussion), Kelly Gregg, and Brandon McKinney to make a few plays. Unfortunately, just as one lineman comes back, another goes out. Paul Kruger suffered a sprained MCL in Pittsburgh, and will miss 2-4 weeks. It’s a shame, as Kruger (if you excuse his penalties as a symptom of rust) showed some things last week, pressuring Charlie Batch several times and recording what would have been a sack-fumble were the play not negated for offsetting penalties. As long as those forementioned D-linemen, along with linebackers Terrell Suggs and Jarret Johnson, can find ways to get pressure on Orton, it should be a very long day for the Broncos’ offense.

As for the other side of the ball, we’ve heard this week that Ray Rice is ready to reclaim his starring role in the Ravens’ offense, after a disappointing first four weeks for Mighty Mouse. Denver, though, is not likely to be the team that he breaks out against. After allowing Maurice Jones-Drew 98 yards on the ground in Week 1, the Broncos have buckled down. In Week 2, Justin Forsett of Seattle had just 44 yards, though he did average a hefty 5.5 ypc. In Week 3, Joseph Addai of Indy managed just 29 yards and a 2.2 average. And, most impressively, they held Chris “I’m going to run for 2500 yards this year” Johnson of the Titans to a measly 53 yards on 19 carries last week. While Ravens fans are clamoring for a more balanced offense, and more touches for Rice, Denver just looks much more vulnerable against the pass.

And so, we could very well be in for another week of 200+ yards and multiple touchdowns from Joe Flacco like we saw the last time the Ravens played at home. Last year against Denver, Flacco was 20/25 (80%) for 175 yards and 1 score. While Denver may elect to put their best cornerback, Champ Bailey, on Anquan Boldin all day long, Flacco is showing more and more comfort with T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and should have all the confidence in the world in T.J. after last week. Throw Derrick Mason, Flacco’s all-time favorite target and the Ravens’ leading receiver in Pittsburgh a week ago, into the mix, along with Todd Heap and Rice out of the backfield, and the Ravens should have plenty of success moving the ball through the air even if “Q” has another relatively quiet afternoon.

The guys on the NFL Network’s great program, Playbook, were discussing how they feel the Ravens’ offense will “break out” against the Broncos. They pointed to Flacco’s 5-0 lifetime record against the AFC West, and predicted a big day from Anquan Boldin, while also forecasting that the Ravens will shut down the Broncs’ high-flying offense.

Some are making a big deal about the fact that the Ravens are just 1-3 in their last 4 games coming after a win over Pittsburgh. That’s a combination of emotional letdown and physical beatdown after those intense rivalry matches, but let’s remember – fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it – this is just the second such occurrence during the Harbaugh/Flacco era, as last week was just their second victory against Pittsburgh. Flacco said this week that, if the Ravens can’t put the emotion of last week behind them and move forward quickly, then they aren’t the team that they think they are.

The Ravens have a history of slapping around the Broncos, a team that our favorite columnist Mike Preston likes to describe as “soft,” when they come to town, and this week should be no different.

This assertion still applies.

Ravens 27 Broncos 13

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Play Like a Raven – Week 3

Posted by darnold on Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

PlayLikeaRaven

Played Like a Raven – “Flacco to Boldin”

Whether Joe’s first pass of the day was simply a little leftover hiccup from Cincinnati, or a huge wake up call that b-slapped him mentally back into the game, things were different from pass #2 onward. “Good Joe,” showed up, sound mechanics and all, stepping into his throws and delivering the ball into some tight windows.

More often than not, the recipient of those strong throws was Anquan Boldin, who finds himself in this spot for the second time in just three weeks as a Raven. Boldin has immediately brought a nastiness to the wide receiver position in Baltimore, a dimension that has been sorely lacking for years. Watching “Q” go up and snatch the ball out of the air has quickly become a favorite sight of the purple faithful, and for Joe Flacco. Had he not been interfered with not once, but TWICE (both uncalled), Boldin would have had an even bigger day and at least one more touchdown. As these two continue to develop chemistry and confidence in one another, “Flacco-to-Boldin” could quickly become one of the most familiar phrases on NFL highlight shows.

Did Not Play Like a Raven – Run Defense

I struggled a bit with this one; that is, deciding exactly who to pin Peyton Hillis’ 144-yard performance on. First, I was going to put the lion’s share of the blame on Haloti Ngata. After all, as the best player on the defensive line and a guy who many consider to be one of the top tackles in the NFL, he should have been able to do more personally to clog up the middle. Watching the game again though, Haloti wasn’t even on the field for a few of Hillis’ big gains.

So I thought, “lets put this one on the defensive line in general.” It wasn’t just Ngata who had a bad day – Kelly Gregg and Trevor Pryce didn’t do much either. Then again, when a running back busts through the line like that, a team that supposedly has a strong linebacking corps should be able to bottle him up just a few yards downfield, not deep in the secondary. Alright then, let’s go with: The Entire Front 7 “did not Play Like Ravens.”

However, watching the pathetic attempts of some of the Ravens’ secondary in trying to bring down Hillis (looking at you, Fabian Washington and Tom Zbikowski), there was no way I could just let them off the hook.

So we’ll go this route: The ENTIRE Ravens’ defense played un-Raven-like…when the Browns ran the ball.

They were decent when Seneca Wallace dropped back to throw, flushing him from the pocket regularly and ultimately allowing only 141 passing yards on the afternoon. Granted, they weren’t exactly challenged (again), but I’m still convinced that the reports of the death of the B’More secondary have been greatly exaggerated. Once Ed Reed comes back, things will only get better.

The play of the pass defense doesn’t excuse the failures to contain Hillis though. We know that this team has a very stout front seven, so we have to believe this was strictly an aberration. Though they’d never admit it, it was perhaps a result of the defense looking past the Browns a bit with Pittsburgh looming.

They’ll have to be MUCH better against Rashard Mendenhall this week, or it likely won’t matter that the Steelers are on what amounts to their fourth string quarterback at this point.

Photos c/o Baltimore Sun

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