Posts Tagged ‘Rex Ryan’

Ravens 10 Jets 9 (The MOST LOPSIDED 1-POINT GAME EVER Game)

Posted by darnold on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

I’m sure many of you out there are, like me, Maryland Terrapin fans. And watching this game, I’ll bet many of you also, like me, felt like you were watching Labor Day’s Maryland-Navy game all over again, only this time from the Navy fan’s point of view. They weren’t quite the goalline possessions that the Midshipmen kept coming away empty from, but the Ravens did have the ball inside the Red Zone twice in the games first 25 minutes (once on a 17-play, 9-minute drive) only to turn the ball over and come away empty handed on both chances.

I’ll also say this – I think we Ravens fans may have cashed in every last “the refs hate us” chip that we had left. The Jets were penalized 10 times for 100 yards in the FIRST HALF alone. The Ravens had four 3rd-down attempts turned into first downs via New York penalties, including a 3rd-and-28, and the pass interference in the end zone that set them up at the 1 for their only touchdown of the night – a touchdown that would not have happened had a field goal attempt earlier on the same drive not been nullified by, you guessed it – a penalty.

As a matter of fact…watching the Jets, with their defense committing a stupid penalty for seemingly every big play they make, and their offense that nobody in the stadium has any confidence in to go 40 or so yards to set up a potential game winning field goal…you begin to wonder if it was Rex Ryan or Brian Billick coaching those Ravens teams of the last decade.

John Harbaugh’s team – the “new” Ravens – were penalized just 5 times for 38 yards in the game, compared to 14-125 for Rex’s “old” Ravens. Several times the New York crowd was pining for pass interference flags on Ravens’ cornerbacks, but none would come, as Chris Carr and Fabian Washington were playing with what Harbaugh likes to call “perfect technique.”

The Jet penalties served to effectively offset all the mistakes the Ravens’ offense was making in giving the ball away. It’s a bit eerie when, after a season of hearing your offense hyped up as potentially one of the league’s best, your quarterback’s very first dropback on the very first offensive snap of the season results in a sack-fumble-turnover. Flacco held the ball way too long on that play, and paid the price. On his interception, the MNF crew seemed to think it was as much Anquan Boldin’s fault as Flacco’s – the ball was seemingly intended for Todd Heap, but Antonio Cromartie – who was covering Boldin on the play – came off his man to make the pick. Still, it was an ugly floater of a pass that had me nervous as soon as it left his hand. As for the Ravens’ THIRD turnover of the first half, Willis McGahee, who looked terrible all night save for his crucial touchdown burst, just played right into the Jets’ hands, allowing himself to be held up by tacklers while more flew in to try to knock the ball loose.

It was those turnovers – along with the Jets eating the Ravens’ lunches on special teams – that kept Gang Green in the ball game. The “lopsidedness” of this one, which I referenced in the blog title, is on full display if you look at some of the numbers:

First Downs: BAL – 20 NYJ – 6
Third down conversions: BAL – 11/19 57% NYJ – 1/11 9%
Passing Yards: BAL – 233 NYJ – 60
Time of Possession: BAL – 38:32 NYJ – 21:28

Complete dominance by the Ravens, yet a single point separated the two teams after 60 minutes. As my dad put it, it felt like we were playing the damn Steelers. The only difference – and its a big one – Mark Sanchez is no Ben Roethlisberger (although he and his teammates seem to be working from Ben’s playbook lately).

Sanchez had no ability to drive down the field for a game-winning score. He was horrific all night, throwing check-down after check-down, and at one point sliding like a wuss just shy of what would have been a Red Zone first down when he saw #52 flying at him. The Ravens’ much-maligned secondary was never even tested by the second-year quarterback. Mark Sanchez did NOTHING the entire game, save for confirm every suspicion I have about him being nothing but Matt Leinart version 1.2.

It was ugly – excruciatingly so at times – but all that really matters is that the Ravens walked out of the New Meadowlands with a 1-0 record.

Now, Rex and the Jets: SHUT THE F*$K UP!!!

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Ravens @ Jets Preview

Posted by darnold on Monday, September 13th, 2010

Well, if the Atlanta Falcons weren’t the worst team ever in the history of teams, the Ravens could be sitting in first place in the AFC North this morning without having yet even played a down in 2010. The Bengals came out looking like the Bungles of old against the Patriots before getting things together in the second half and making the final score a respectable 38-24, and the Browns were undone by two Jake Delhomme interceptions (raise your hands if you’re surprised…anyone? anyone?) down in Tampa. Pittsburgh, however, pulled another one out of their rear ends, winning despite going four full quarters without scoring a touchdown.

So the Ravens miss out on the ridiculously meaningless chance to enter their Monday Night showdown with the Jets with an early 0.5 game lead in the AFC North. No matter. At this point its all about results on the field anyway.

And those results will come after a week of jabber-jawing between these two teams, smack talk which is sure to continue well after the opening kickoff. The Ravens and Jets would be wise to keep the extracurriculars to a minimum, however, as the officiating crew set to watch over this one is the same group that was on the field for the FLAGSFLAGSFLAGSFLAGS Game, which saw an incredible 310 collective penalty yards. I think about 270 of those were Frank Walker’s though, so maybe we’ll be ok.

As long as the zebras let them play, this game could easily be the most smash-mouth, hard-hitting contest of Week 1. They say familiarity breeds contempt, and if that holds true, the hate will be palpable on the field in East Rutherford Monday Night. The Jets’ roster and coaching staff are, as has been well documented, littered with former Ravens.

However, some important things have changed since guys like Rex Ryan, Bart Scott, and Jim Leonhard left B’More. Most notably are the emergence of Ray Rice as a budding superstar, and the addition of some other quality weapons to Joe Flacco’s arsenal, including wide receivers Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and tight end Ed Dickson. The threat of the 3-headed monster Ravens’ backfield still exists as it did when Rex was still going up against the Ravens’ O in practice every day, but the Ravens have since obviously put much more effort into becoming a team that can more efficiently move the football through the air.

Moving the ball in general Monday night, whether through the air or on the ground, will prove difficult against Rex’s Jets.

New York had the #1 defense in the NFL in 2009, #1 against the pass and #8 against the run. That scary-good pass defense has the potential to be even better in 2010, having been bolstered by the offseason acquisitions of cornerbacks Antonio Cromartie and Kyle Wilson, a rookie out of Boise State. As everyone has heard 10,000 times by now, they will also be with Darrelle Revis, thought by many to be the best CB in the league. Flacco and all his fancy new weapons will have their work cut out for them.

Surprisingly, even with Rex’s complex blitz schemes, the Jets had only 32 sacks in 2009, the same number as the Ravens (tied for 18th in the NFL). While the numbers don’t really back up the reputation of the Jets as a get-after-the-passer type team, the Ravens have some questions on the offensive line that make us uneasy regardless. Jared Gaither’s back issues will keep him out, and Oniel Cousins is still dealing with some headaches after suffering a concussion in the preseason, but is expected to start at right tackle. If his noggin starts to hurt, or if his play is poor, the Ravens will likely move right guard Marshal Yanda to right tackle, and insert Chris Chester at right guard. This may be the safest course of action anyway, but the Ravens seem willing to start with Yanda in his more natural spot. If Cousins is effective, this is easily the Ravens’ strongest offensive line alignment in Gaither’s absence.

The Ravens have shown a fair amount of the “slow-hurry” no-huddle offense during the preseason, and Flacco looked very comfortable doing so, especially against the New York Giants. This is something that Ravens fans can attest Rex Ryan’s defenses always struggle to defend against. The issue will be whether or not Flacco can run this offense in what is sure to be an extremely loud New Meadowlands Stadium. He has used a silent snap count in the past, and while it will be a challenge, it could still be the best kryptonite to counter the Jets’ defense.

On the other side of the ball, its surprising how everyone is still talking up the Jets’ rushing attack, which was also #1 in the league last year, despite leading rusher Thomas Jones departing for Kansas City. Sure, Shonn Green may be able to step in and seamlessly continue Gang Green’s dominant ground attack, but let’s make him prove it before we go ahead and just assume they will be as effective this season as last. I’d feel much better about the Ravens defense against this Jets rushing attack were rookie Terrence “Mount” Cody playing. Cody will miss the game with knee issues, and Kelly Gregg will have to play like the Buddy Lee of old to make up for the giant rookie’s absence. Stopping the Jets running game, especially if the offense can jump out and put some points up early, will put the game squarely on the shoulders of second-year quarterback Mark Sanchez, which, conventional wisdom suggests, plays right into B’More’s hands.

Sanchez was just good enough as a rookie, getting his team to the AFC Championship despite throwing 20 picks to just 12 touchdowns, with a QB rating of 63.0. This preseason he hasn’t looked any better, throwing 2 scores and 2 interceptions. Much ado has been made of the Ravens’ issues in the secondary, but it hasn’t looked all that bad so far in the “fake” games. With the potential return of Lardarius Webb, a game-time decision, the chance is there for the Ravens to lock down the Jets’ passing game, which will be missing perennial Raven-killer (while he was in Pittsburgh) Santonio Holmes, who is suspended for the first four games.

More concerning has been the play of the linebackers against the pass. Jets’ tight end Dustin Keller caught 45 passes in 2008, and could cause the Ravens problems. The best defense against Keller may be to crank up the pass rush on Sanchez, so that they are forced to keep their tight ends in to block, much as the Ravens have been forced to do with Todd Heap in the past.

The build-up to this game has been a bit extreme, and admittedly probably tiresome for fans that don’t quite care for these two teams (which, if we’re honest, is MOST NFL fans). Like Ray, we’re all just ready to see them “strap up their chinstraps” at this point.

The Jets seem all too willing to take the torch from the Ravens as the league’s most brash, heaviest trash-talking, and generally universally despised team. What better way to officially pass said torch than to treat the Nation to a very public shutting-up of Rex and his yet-to-win-anything squad?

Ravens 20 Jets 13

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Rex Ryan Mouth-Farts; Sounds like “Ed Reed Will Play”

Posted by darnold on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Rex Derp

Yeah, that’s right – I said “mouth-farts” not “burps.” Once one’s BMI passes the half-century mark, a whole new world of bodily functions opens up.

Rex’s latest triple-chili-corn-dog-burrito-induced expulsion of gas from his face sounded suspiciously to the human ear like he was saying that he expects Ravens’ safety Ed Reed to play in the season opener.

“Somebody asked me about Ed Reed saying, ‘You know Ed Reed hasn’t practiced,’” Ryan said.

“I said, guys, Ed Reed will play this game. Now he might not play the second game, third game or fourth game, whatever, but Ed Reed is going to play this game. I think part of that is a respect thing. He knows how disappointed I would be if he didn’t play. I want to win the game, but I want to play against Ed. I want them at their best and I know they will be.”

So, by Ryan’s logic, Reed will try to play in the season opener against his New York Jets not because he doesn’t want to let his current teammates or coaches down, but because he doesn’t want to disappoint ol’ Rexy poo.

Does this man’s bombast know no limits?

On top of the obvious ridiculousness of Rex’s assertion that Reed cares more about the respect of the head coach of another team than that of his own coaches/teammates, there is another layer of stupidity at play here. Just like a taco dip from Rex’s dreams, the layers just go deeper and deeper here.

Let’s look closer.

“[Reed] might not play the second game, third game or fourth game, whatever, but Ed Reed is going to play this game.”

By saying this, Rex is insinuating one of two things. Either:

A) Reed would gladly put his own motives (ostensibly, not letting down his former defensive coordinator) ahead of those of the team, by playing when he was not yet fully healthy enough to be effective; OR

B) Reed, while healthy enough to play, would indeed play against the Jets, but for purely selfish reasons. He would then likely sit out the next few games, having nobody on the other side to impress/not let down.

Blow it out your ass Rex, along with the next cloud of “Old Faithful”-like toxic fumes scheduled to be expelled.

In actuality, I’m probably reading too far into this. As we’ve seen since he became a head coach (and, to a lesser extent, as those of us in Baltimore have known for years), Rex rarely puts too much thought into what he says. His mental processes are far too focused on his next “Double Down.”

Double Down

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