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Baltimore Ravens Greatest Games Part 3 (12-9)

May 17, 2013 in NFL HISTORY, Ravens Greatest Games, Super Bowl XLVII

By Alan Zlotorzynski: Welcome to the third installment of the 20 Greatest Games in Baltimore Ravens History. With the Ravens offseason in full swing and the NFL Draft complete, I decided to dig into the brief 17-year history of what is steadily becoming one of the model franchises in not just the NFL but in all of professional sports.

The first part of the series ranked games 20-17 and last week I delivered 16-13. With just 12-games left to rank, most of the regular season contests are out of the way. Tonight, we start to dive into some of the memorable playoff games during Ravens history. Speaking of the playoffs, the Ravens have become one of the most successful franchises in NFL history during the post season. The Ravens moved to Baltimore in 1996 and failed to qualify for the playoffs during their first four seasons in the Charm City. Under Head Coaches Ted Marchibroda and Brian Billick, the Ravens posted a four-year record of just 24-39-1.

Since the 8-8 season in 1999 under first year head coach Brian Billick, the Ravens have become one of the winingest teams in the NFL. Billick and now John Harbaugh would guide the Ravens to a combined 126-82 mark since 2000—posting 10 winning seasons, tied for third with Green Bay and Pittsburgh during that span.

The Baltimore Ravens are one of four franchises (New England, NY Giants and Pittsburgh) to win multiple Super Bowls since the year 2000 and are the only NFL team to play in multiple Super Bowls and win each game (2000 & 2014).

Ted Marchibroda

The Ravens have earned nine postseason berths – including a current NFL-best five straight – in their 16-year history (2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2003, 2001, 2000). Baltimore’s nine berths since 2000 rank third most in the AFC and tie for third in the NFL. They have also won three AFC North division titles, including the last two.

Since arriving from Cleveland, the Ravens have appeared in 21 playoff games, which is second only to New England’s 24. The Ravens are also second to the Patriots in playoffs wins with 14. The Pats have won 17 post-season games since the 2000 season. However, with only seven playoff losses, the Ravens own the best playoff winning percentage (.667) in NFL history (since 1970 AFL/NFL merger), compiling a 14-7 mark.

Even more impressive is how the Ravens have become one of the best playoff teams in the past 13 years. Baltimore has done most of their damage away from the Charm City. The Ravens are 9-5 on the road all time in postseason play, posting the second-best road win percentage (.643) since the 1970 merger. The Ravens are 6-4 on the road during the John Harbaugh Era.

Defense has always been the mantra in Baltimore during the regular season and it is the main reason why the Ravens organization can boast such impressive playoff numbers. The Ravens have allowed 15.5 points per game in postseason play, the best playoff mark since the 1970 merger. Limiting the Colts to nine points in the 2012 Wild Card win, it marked the ninth playoff game Baltimore has allowed 10-or-fewer points since 2000. Amazingly, no other team has more than four such games during this span.

In their 21 all-time playoff games, the Ravens have only allowed 192.5 passing yards and 96.3 rushing yards per contest. Baltimore’s 288.8 net yards allowed per game since 2000 (minimum five games) rank as the NFL’s third-best mark during this span.

In 21 playoff games, the Ravens’ “D” has forced 40 INTs, including 28 thefts in their last 15 postseason contests. Baltimore’s 40 INTs rank as the most in NFL postseason play since 2000, while the 679 INT return yards also stand first. In their playoff history, the Ravens have dominated the turnover battle, registering a +25 mark in 21 games.

Under John Harbaugh, the Ravens have forced NFL-best 38 turnovers in 13 playoff games. Still not impressed, how about this—– Baltimore has allowed only two 100-yard rushers in its playoff history, holding opposing RBs under the century mark in 19 of 21 contests.

So before we dive into some of these defensive gems from the past, here is a recap of 16-13.

No.16 November 23, 2003: Ravens Wright Ship in Come From Behind win Vs. Seahawks:

Led by QB Anthony Wright, the Ravens stage their second biggest comeback (first at the time) in team history. The Seattle Seahawks led the Ravens early in the fourth qtr. 41-24 but Wright directed the comeback, as the Ravens salvaged a 5-5 start to the season with a dramatic 44-41 overtime win.

No. 15 September 14, 2003: Jamal Lewis Breaks Single Game Rushing Record

Behind running back Jamal Lewis, who broke Corey Dillon’s single game (278 yards) NFL rushing record on this day, the Ravens trounced the Cleveland Browns 33-14. Lewis wasted little time rushing for the record. On the second play of the game, Lewis took a hand-off and ran for an 82-yard touchdown. He followed that up with a 63-yard rushing TD run early in the fourth quarter, and broke the record on a 3-yard run with 6:55 remaining in the game. Lewis finished the day with 295 rushing yards on 30 carries to break the record, which stood for just four years until its current holder, the Vikings Adrian Peterson, broke it as a rookie in 2007. Peterson rushed for one more yard than Lewis in a game against the San Diego Chargers during a November contest that season.

No.14. December 10, 2000: Happy Berth Day

With the holiday season in full swing, PSI Net Stadium was a “Festivus” place to be on Dec 10 2000, as the Ravens dismantled Ryan Leaf and the dismal 1-12 Chargers to earn their first ever playoff berth.

No.13 November 12, 2000: Ravens End Titans Win Streak at Adelphia

The Ravens with Trent Dilfer at quarterback jumped out to a 14-0 lead but behind Steve McNair, the Titans would come back to tie the game at 17 early in the fourth quarter. The Ravens looked to be driving down the field for what would become the go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter. Instead, Dilfer made a bad read on the play, and threw the ball right to Titans safety Perry Phenix, who ran the ball 87-yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

The play, which seemed devastating to Baltimore's chances to win the game, was not as bad as it could have been. Known as Automatic Al throughout his 17-year NFL career, Titans kicker Al Del Greco missed the extra point, and in the process rejuvenated a down Ravens sideline. The miss opened the door for the Ravens to win in regulation and unfazed by the pick six he had just thrown, Dilfer came back onto the field and promptly led the Ravens on a nine-play, 70-yard drive.

The final play was a Dilfer pass to Patrick Johnson just over the goal line for the game-tying touchdown. After the replay upheld the call on the field, and Matt Stover added the game winning extra point, the Ravens became legitimate AFC contenders.

Sit back and enjoy, as I deliver numbers 12 through 9 in the Ravens Greatest Games of All Time:

No. 12 December 20, 2008 Ravens Run over Cowboys in Texas Stadium Finale

Le'Ron McClain two steps to a late long TD

The Ravens performance in the final game at Texas Stadium may have been fueled by the rumor that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones handpicked them to close out the 37-year old venue. If in fact this was true, Jones obviously thought, as did many, that after a 5-11 record in 2007 and firing head coach Brian Billick, the Ravens may not be much of an opponent be in 2008.

Jones and 10 other teams were wrong in 08, in fact and even with a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback, the Ravens were damn good in '08, as Baltimore surprised the NFL with an 11-5 record.

The Ravens came into Texas Stadium not intimidated by the pomp and circumstance of the evening, but ready to play Ravens football.

Both teams entered the game with identical 9-5 records and very much alive in their respective conferences playoff race. The game began just as Owner Jerry Jones had envisioned. Joe Flacco turned the ball over on a fumble for only the second time during the season when NFL sacks leader DeMarcus Ware sacked and stripped the rookie quarterback of the ball.

It was the first of five sacks in the first half by the Cowboys, tying the most allowed by the Ravens during an entire game that season.

Cowboy’s rookie running back Tashard Choice converted the turnover into a 7-0 Dallas lead when he scored on a third-down draw. From there, the Ravens defense buckled down and following three Matt Stover field goals, led 9-7 at halftime.

The play of the game, and perhaps the 2008 season, occurred late in the third quarter. Ravens kicker Matt Stover again lined up for a 40-yard field-goal attempt, but instead of placing the ball down for Stover to kick through the uprights, Ravens punter, and Stover’s holder, punter Sam Koch had other ideas. Koch took the snap and ran 9-yards to convert a fourth-and-six to give the Ravens a first down on the Cowboys 13-yard line.

Two plays later, Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason hauled in a Flacco pass to extend the Baltimore lead to 16-7. After the teams traded early fourth quarter field goals, Dallas receiver Terrell Owens cut the Ravens lead to 19-17.

The Ravens decided it was time to perform a little Texas two-step to finish off the Cowboys and two-step the Ravens did indeed. With just 3:40 remaining in the game and the Ravens offense trying to kill the clock, Willis McGahee took a hand-off from Flacco and promptly ran 77-yards for the longest touchdown run of his career.

McGahee, who had not had a run longer than 17-yards that season prior to the touchdown, gave the Ravens a 26-17 lead. However, if the operator of the Texas Stadium scoreboard thought he had put the final points on the boards’ 38-year history, he was very badly mistaken.

The Cowboys managed to storm back down the field on QB Tony Romo’s arm. With 1:36 left in the game, Romo found his favorite target, Jason Witten, for a 21-yard TD pass. The score made the situation uncomfortable for the Baltimore offense, as they would need to get a first down to close out the Cowboys and Texas Stadium.

They would get a little more than the required 10 yards needed in order to take a knee and run out the clock. In fact, fullback LeRon McClain took a Flacco hand-off and promptly skirted 72 extra yards for an 82-yard touchdown run. McClain made history on the final TD at Texas Stadium.

The Ravens leading rusher during the season, whose longest run of the 08 season was 28 yards, scored the longest rushing TD by a visiting back in the stadium's 37-year existence. The win moved the Ravens to 10-5 and after defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars the following week, clinched a playoff berth.

The Ravens became only the third visiting team since 1996 to beat an NFL team closing out its old stadium.

No.11 November 6, 2011: Flacco One More Time in the Steele City:

Entering the 2011 season NFL pundits and experts said Joe Flacco could not beat the Pittsburgh Steelers with Ben Roethlisberger playing QB. After all, Flacco had never beaten the Steelers with Big Ben under center.

Not only did Joe Cool clear this hurdle during the 11’ season but he did twice, as the Ravens swept the Steelers for just the second time in franchise history. In the first meeting to kick off the season in Baltimore, Flacco threw three touchdown passes, Haloti Ngata led an inspired defense that forced a team-record seven turnovers, and the Ravens rolled to their most lopsided victory in a hotly contested series that began in 1996 with a 35-7 win.

If this were a list of 30 games, this one may be somewhere between 21 and 25 but the second game between the teams in Pittsburgh proved to be Flacco’s coming out party and makes the list as the last regular season game before the playoff games round out the top 10.

Behind three Billy Cundiff field goals and a Ray Rice four yard touchdown run, the Ravens led the Steelers 16-6 heading into the fourth quarter. This game was being broadcast on NBC’s Sunday Night Football and was not going to end as the dud it appeared to be in the first half.

Ben Roethlisberger saw to that personally during the fourth quarter. Trailing by 10, Rashard Mendenhall scored from 1 yard out to pull Pittsburgh within 16-13. On the next Ravens possession, deja vu set in as James Harrison swatted the football ball out of Flacco's hand and William Gay from the Steelers recovered.

Only die hard Ravens fans could stomach to watch from that point because all of them knew what was coming next. They knew because just the year before in Baltimore Troy Polamalu did the same thing to Joe Flacco eventually allowing the Steelers offense to score the go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter and once again snatch victory from the beak of a Ravens win.

On this night, Roethlisberger needed just six plays to find Mike Wallace in the end zone to give the Steelers a 20-16 advantage with just 5:08 to play. Things looked even worse for the Ravens when Flacco threw three incomplete passes and the Ravens were forced to punt back to Pittsburgh with only 4:30 to play.

The Ravens defense held but the Steelers offense managed to kill a little clock and after a Roethlisberger, third and five pass fell short to Rashard Mendenhall, Pittsburgh punted to the Ravens eight-yard line.

If Joe Flacco was going to prove he was growing into the upper echelons of the NFL QB ranks, then he was going to have to take his offense 92-yards and do it in just 2:24. He was also going to have to rely on his receivers to help him. Of course, Anquan Boldin would not let No.5 down but rookie Torrey Smith would be the wild card. Smith was having an up and down year and an up and down game.

Smith’s night began night began with a penalty that wiped out a long Baltimore touchdown and got worse when he dropped two critical passes but it would end a lot better than it started. Flacco began the drive completing four of seven passes for 53-yards. By this point, the ball was just across midfield at the Steelers 49 yard line.

From there, Flacco was not great but he was poised in completing three more passes for 23-yards to get the Ravens to the Steelers 26 yard line with .28 seconds to play. A filed goal was no help trailing by four and running the ball was not an option against the Steelers stout defense.

If the Ravens were going to win, then Flacco’s arm was going to be the reason. However, Joe Cool threw two quick incompletions and now faced third and ten.

With the Steelers defense showing and then bringing the blitz, Torrey Smith lined up wide right, as Flacco read Steelers D-coordinator, Dick Lebeau’s call perfectly. Smith, the speedy wideout from Maryland, had single coverage and ran right past William Gay following the snap. Flacco did not miss the throw. He laid the ball perfectly into his arms and as Smith fell to the Heinz Field turf with the game-winning touchdown, Flacco and the Ravens offense celebrated triumphantly.

There was a flag in the end zone but the call was defensive pass interference on Gay. Following the wild celebration and a Billy Cundiff extra point, it was the Ravens who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on this night with a 23-20 win.

Flacco finished with 300 yards passing and Baltimore, who moved to 6-2 on the year, swept the season series from the rival Steelers (6-3) for the first time since 2006. "This Steelers-Ravens game is a game for men," Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. "This is a game for big men. You've got to shine bright in this game if you want to win this game. And nobody shined brighter than Joe Flacco in this game."

No.10 January 13, 2002 & January 4, 2009: Fish Food for the Ravens (Two for One Deal)

STARTING THE TITLE DEFENSE:

Grbac and Billick win first Miami playoff game

While many of the Ravens regular season victories have been huge throughout their 16 years, every win in the playoffs is bigger than any regular season win. Many may argue that point using the theory of what came first, the chicken or the egg. I say if a team loses a big regular season game, they usually have the chance to bounce back. Lose in the playoffs, and your team is done for the year. Also, I'm giving you a two-fer on this one and I promise, all of the really important ones are yet to come.

The Ravens have met the Miami Dolphins twice in the post season, and while both games were blowouts so to speak, they still came in the playoffs. The first of those two playoff meetings came in January 2002 as Baltimore traveled to Pro Player stadium on Wild Card Weekend to begin defense of their Super Bowl title.

The Dolphins led 3-0 after the first quarter, but that was it for Miami as the Ravens scored 20 unanswered points to knock the Dolphins out of the post season. Although the Ravens defense returned many from their 2000 team that won the Super Bowl, they were not quite as good. However, they did hold the Dolphins offense to just 151 total yards for the contest.

Jamie Sharper, Peter Boulware, and Anthony Mitchell all sacked Miami QB Jay Fiedler. Ravens cornerback Duane Starks intercepted Fiedler, as Miami turned the ball over three times to the Ravens.

Despite the average play of Ravens QB Elvis Grbac, Baltimore still managed 347 yards of offense, with 214 of those yards via the ground. With Jamal Lewis out for the year with a torn ACL, he suffered in training camp, veteran Terry Allen and Jason Brookins combined for 198 of them. Grbac did connect on a 4-yard TD to Travis Taylor and Allen scored on the ground from the same distance.

The Ravens would go on to lose the following week in Pittsburgh, ending the defense of their Super Bowl title.

THE ROOKIES WIN THEIR FIRST:

The Ravens would need to return to Miami in order to win another playoff game but it would come almost seven years to the day of their last playoff victory.  The Ravens had not won a postseason contest since beating Miami in the above game. This time the Ravens came to town with a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback. While John Harbaugh had his team prepared to play, Joe Flacco managed the offense well during his first ever playoff victory. He let the Ravens do what they did best back then, win with defense.

Flacco and Harbaugh get second playoff win in Miami as rookies

Flacco was only 9-for-23 for 135 yards and one rushing TD, but he committed no turnovers and let the Ravens' defenders control the game, and control the game they did.

With the score tied at three in the second quarter, Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington threw a terrible pass downfield into double coverage. Pennington's intended receiver, Ted Ginn Jr. fell down allowing all world safety Ed Reed to make an over the shoulder catch interception. After the interception, Reed, as he usually does, began the long drawn out process of returning it for a touchdown.

He headed toward the left sideline, eluded a tackler, reversed his field, and sprinted for the right corner of the end zone, scoring and completing the pick six only after Terrell Suggs leveled Pennington at the 5-yard line. That made the score 10-3 and the Ravens never trailed again in the game.

Things got much worse for Pennington and the Dolphins offense from that point. The Ravens' intercepted Pennington four times, including another by Reed, and forced five turnovers total during their 27-9 triumph.

The five turnovers and four interceptions tied a playoff team record, both coming in the 2000 AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XXXV.

No. 9 January 10, 2009: Ravens Stun the Nashville Faithful Yet Again

Stover with the winner

For the second time in their franchise history, the Tennessee Titans had the inside track to the Super Bowl with home field advantage as the No.1 seed, and the for the second time, the Baltimore Ravens derailed those chances by beating the Titans in Tennessee.

If the Titans organization, and their fans, were still sick over their 2000 playoff loss to Baltimore, then they must have been looking for the tallest building in Nashville to leap from following this loss.

Despite out gaining the Ravens, 391-to-211 in the game, Baltimore not Tennessee would advance to play for the AFC Championship. The two teams traded first quarter touchdowns, Chris Johnson scored for the Titans, and Derrick Mason on a 48-yard pass from his rookie QB, Joe Flacco, tied the score.

One of many Titans blunders

The Ravens hung around but the Titans allowed them to by committing bad penalties and failing to convert on numerous chances in Ravens territory. Tennessee, a plus 14 in turnover margin while winning the AFC South, wasted a half-dozen scoring opportunities with errors. One came when former Titans CB and now Ravens DB, Samari Rolle intercepted Collins at the Ravens 12. Another was Collins' fourth-down fumble in Baltimore territory, which the quarterback recovered. The third was LenDale White's fumble at the Baltimore 17 in the final minute of the first half.

Baltimore led the league with 34 takeaways during the season and won the turnover battle the previous week in a 27-9 wild-card victory at Miami. They did so with authority in this one as well. Perhaps the biggest Tennessee turnover came with about nine minutes to play when Alge Crumpler fumbled near the Baltimore goal line. Fabian Washington recovered, preventing the Titans from taking a late lead.

The biggest play of the game may have been one that should have never happened. After the Titans tied the score at 10, Joe Flacco converted a big third down pass play to tight end Todd Heap for a first down in Tennessee territory. It was this play that set help set up Matt Stover’s game winning 43-yard field goal with 53 seconds left in the game.

However, the play clock had expired by a couple of seconds, but referee Terry McAulay failed to blow the play dead. He tried to offer an explanation following the game, but nobody in Nashville wanted to hear it.

helmet"When [the clock] hits zero, which is high here, [the back judge] goes to the ball," McAulay said after the game. "So there is going to be a natural delay from zero to getting to the ball." On the next third down, Flacco connected with Mark Clayton for an 8-yard pass, which was a yard short of the first down but set up Stover for the game winning kick.

The 13-10 win was unexpected by many Ravens fans but greatly welcomed. In a scene reminiscent of the 2000 playoff victory in Tennessee, a few thousand Ravens fans flocked to BWI Airport to welcome the team home from Nashville later that evening.

You will not have to wait long for part 4 in this  series. Log onto Fanspeak.com on Saturday to see which games came in at No.8,7,6 and 5. Be sure to join myself and Fanspeaks resident NFL expert, Stephen Shoup, next Friday night at 8:30 p.m. for the return of the FRIDAY FOOTBALL FRENZY.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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by alanzlot

Ravens Have "A" Draft For The Future

April 29, 2013 in Free Agency, NFL Draft, Super Bowl XLVII

The Ravens entered the 2013 NFL Draft not only as the defending Super Bowl Champions, but almost as needy as a team that finished the 2012 season with seven wins and out of the playoffs, at least when it comes to the defensive side of the football.

The Super Bowl champions entered Thursday’s first round with, AFC high 12 picks, and based on what they lost in free agency, the Ravens had to have a repeat of the success of past drafts. Known for his draft acumen and acute working of the free agent system, Ravens General Manager and Vice President of operations, Ozzie Newsome and his highly touted scouting department needed to be at their very best heading into one of the deeper drafts in recent years.

Top 3

Although this draft did not have a marquee name, it did possess the quality of depth that teams with good scouting departments could thrive on for years to come. Baltimore’s defense lost six of 11 Super Bowl starters, in addition to pass-rushing specialist Paul Kruger (who did not start the game).

Three of the four starting defensive backs are gone, as are three members of the front seven. Included in the missing for next season will be what many considered the heart and soul of the Ravens franchise for the past 16-years, No.52, future Hall of Fame linebacker, Ray Lewis.

Though free agent QB and Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco returned, the offense was not unaffected. Baltimore traded away veteran WR Anquan Boldin, who could have easily been the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII and the quarterback of the offensive line, veteran center Matt Birk, who retired.

All told, eight of the nine most veteran Ravens from the Super Bowl team are no longer on the team that hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy less than three months ago in New Orleans. No defending Super Bowl Champ had ever lost more than five starters heading into the following season, and it is likely that no defending SB Champ lost two-guaranteed future Hall of Famers, as the Ravens did.

That’s where the Wizard comes into play. GM Ozzie Newsome, Eric DeCosta (Assistant General Manager), Joe Hortiz (Director of College Scouting) and as many as 19 other members of the Ravens scouting department are considered amongst the best in the business and entered this draft salivating at its possibilities.

Newsome entered this draft much differently than he did the last time the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000. Ozzie vowed following the Super Bowl in N.O., that he would not make the same mistake he did when the Ravens won their first Super Bowl 13 years ago in Tampa.

Following that championship, Newsome signed many of its veterans to contract extensions or restructured them in order to keep that team’s nucleus together. The moves left the Ravens with a team that got old and very costly, very quickly. Although the Ravens would, return to the playoffs in 2001, these moves hurt the team’s chances to build a consistent contender.

Following the 2001 season, the Ravens would visit the postseason just twice during the next six seasons, eventually leading to a 5-11 record and the firing of Coach Brian Billick following the 2007 season.

Head Coach John Harbaugh was a big proponent of not keeping this Super Bowl winning team as it was and said so during an interview in March when he said, “The worst mistake you can make is trying to hold a team together”. "It's impossible."

Newsome spoke to reporters last week before the NFL Draft and spoke of the plan the team has had in place for quite some time. “What happened after we won the Super Bowl, that’s something that Steve, John and I probably started talking about in October, November, as to what the team was going to look like in 2013,” Newsome said. “It wasn’t that one day we woke up and decided that we were going to let a lot of really good football players walk away and play for other teams, but we had a plan in place. We had to allow the plan to unfold.”

When asked specifically about the heavy turnover his team has suffered, Newsome said, “The plan unfolded after we won the Super Bowl, which makes it really, really nice, but it also makes it really, really tough when you go to battle with guys, and then you have to see them walk away from your organization, because we have to prepare for ’2014, ’15 and ’16,”.

“Steve (Bisciotti) has put the four of us in charge of making sure that we remain a competitive football team, even over the course of that, “Newsome said.

The Brass

Through the years, the cornerstone of the Ravens success has been the NFL Draft. Ozzie has already done a nice job in free agency with acquisitions like Elvis Dumervil, Michael Huff, Chris Canty and Marcus Spears.

As the draft approached, Newsome and his staff felt pressure to have another “A” type of draft. After all, this was an unprecedented experiment by a front office that has done and tried almost everything in their quest to be one of the league’s best. Never before had a Super Bowl champion lost this many starters.

However, if history was any indication, this was the type of draft the Ravens would dominate, especially considering the amount of picks they owned. Since moving to Baltimore in 1996, the Ravens have had 17 drafts and selected 17 players in the first round. There have been 30 different players earning 53 combined Pro Bowls, several All-Rookie honors, multiple Defensive Player of the Year Awards and two Super Bowl MVP honors.  Of those 30—-16 are homegrown players – 15 drafted and one signed as a rookie free agent.

Of the 22 players who started in Super Bowl XLVII, 12 were drafted and two were signed as undrafted rookie free agents. Heading into the 78th NFL Draft, 22 players out of the Ravens’ 23 draft choices since 2010 are currently on the team’s 2013 roster.

One of the adjectives used to describe the Ravens last season, especially their defense was “aging”. However, if there was one thing the Ravens have accomplished so far this offseason it is that they got younger. The six oldest players from the 2012 team are gone, defensive back Chris Johnson, at 33, is currently the oldest Raven on the roster at more than two years older than the second-most-senior player, fullback Vonta Leach.

They continued getting younger this weekend as they added value picks at positions of need and as usual, appeared to stay true to their draft board. The Ravens board is one of the few in the NFL that does not use the NFL Central scouting system.

This past weekend, the Ravens used their own scouting system to add 10 picks to the 39 draft choices they have made since John Harbaugh assumed head coaching duties in 2008. Not since 2008 have the Ravens added so many players during the Draft. During the past five drafts, Newsome, Harbaugh and company have selected 23 offensive players and 16 defensive players. This past weekend the gang added six more on defense and four more on offense.

There is always a ton of scouting reports and analysis on draft prospects. Here is a combination of what some of the top scouting sites had to say about the Ravens draftees, as well as my own analysis. Over the next three days I will breakdown and eventually give my grade for the Ravens 2013 NFL Draft.

Here is the Ravens breakdown of their top three selections.

Big Hitter

Round 1, Pick 32 (32): Matt Elam, S, Florida:

Height/Weight: 5-foot-10, 205 pounds:

School: Florida

Position: Strong safety

With Ed Reed signing with the Houston Texans and Bernard Pollard being cut, the Ravens lost their two starting safeties from the Super Bowl team. The signing of versatile safety Michael Huff eased the pain a bit but the Ravens had to have one in this draft and not just any safety would do.

The last time the team was coming off a Super Bowl championship (2001), Baltimore stood pat at the 31st and last spot during the first round, coming away with Arizona State tight end Todd Heap, who became the club's all-time leading receiver. On Thursday night, amid a flurry of trade activity involving late-round teams and stunning falls from grace for some top prospects, the Ravens again ended up in a unique position to select one of the players they coveted the most, Florida safety Matt Elam.

Although many expected Newsome to select of one of the inside linebackers, he chose Elam instead.  As a resident of the Sunshine State, I have watched Elam’s career blossom in the “Swamp” and if ever there was a player that fits the mold of the Raven Way, it is Elam. With that said, the pick still raised a few eyebrows and amped up feelings of need as the “inside” of the defense still felt naked.

Even Fanspeak’s resident draft expert, Stephen Shoup will tell you that building the front seven is how you build a defense. This is not a knock on Elam but merely a concern for what many fans felt was more of a need, especially with Lewis retiring and Ellerbe taking his talents to South Beach.

Newsome was confident and firm in selection, even ecstatic and could not hide his joy when talking about the pick. "[Elam] was the highest-rated player on our board. He is one of the better tacklers we've seen play the position. Whether he makes the starting lineup right away depends on the coaching staff, but he could be a special-teams presence right away for us."

NFL.COM SAYS:  Elam is a hard hitter and produced one of the best highlight reels of any draft prospect.  A two-year starter in Gators' secondary entered the college ranks as the top high school safety prospect. His older brother Abe Elam has paved the way for Matt to make it in the NFL. He was a two-way player in high school, but Elam made the transition to safety shortly after focusing on special teams during his freshman season in 2010.

NFL DRAFT SCOUT SAYS:  He is athletic, instinctive and quite physical, Elam demonstrated the ability to walk up into the box and be a force near the line of scrimmage while also dropping back into coverage as a single-high safety when coaches called for it — showing off the type of versatility NFL teams are demanding from today's hybrid safeties.

WEAKNESSES:  Lacks preferred size for the position. Too often loses out on 50-50 balls, being forced to attempt to rip away at the hands of the receiver as he attempts to come down with the catch. Highly aggressive downhill tackler who can come in too hot and lose control, leaving cut-back lanes.

Tends to lead with his shoulder and will leave his feet to make the lights-out hit, resulting in some ugly lunges and misses. Good, not great lateral agility and can get left grasping at air. The same good, not great lateral agility shows up in coverage where Elam can lose positioning against slot receivers, though he does have a nice burst to close quickly.

Elam has twice had run-ins with police regarding minor in possession offenses involving alcohol (July 2010, July 2011).

RAVENS.com WEAKNESS: Elam is one of the higher profile prospects at his position due to his onfield emotion and energy when lining up big hits in the open field. The junior thrives when his number is called, and Elam was very visible since he frequently lined up in the box at strong safety. However, when looking beyond the splash plays, Elam lacks urgency and can be seen standing around while others make the play. That combined with his tendency to launch himself at ball carriers rather than make form tackles might have caused some scouts to be a bit apprehensive.

PICK GRADE: B+ (I like Elam as a player for the Ravens,  just not at this point.. Still think Ravens could have traded up to get him or taken a player like S.C. safety D.J Swearinger later in round. Thought this was a big chance to take leaving so many inside linebackers on the board. In the end it worked out but there was a risk here)

PROJECTED ROLE FOR GAME 1: Starting safety alongside Michael Huff

Arthur Brown to man the middle

Round 2, Pick 24 (56) (from Seahawks): Arthur Brown, LB, Kansas State:

Height/Weight: 6-foot, 242 pounds

School: Kansas State

Position: Inside linebacker ("Will," or weak side)

This was the pick I expected the Ravens to make when they chose Elam. This is also the pick that epitomizes the expression, “Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good”.

Once the Ravens traded up in round two with the Seahawks, and all of the other top rated linebackers were gone, including some of the not so top rated linebackers, I exhaled and cheered all at one time. This pick made the Elam selection look even better and this is the pick I point to as the future of the Ravens defense.

Jeff Reynolds of The Sports Xchange had this to say. “One linebacker becomes an All-Pro…Arthur Brown of Kansas State got little press in Manhattan and isn't yet a headliner, but he'll make like NaVorro Bowman and go from overlooked rookie to most wanted in short order. Brown can play inside or outside linebacker and his experience stopping the run and in coverage showed scouts he'll play all three downs with the kind of verve coaches want from their defensive captain. This isn't a knock on Manti Te'o or Alec Ogletree as much as a nudge to the limelight for Brown.”

RAVENS.com SAYS: Brown has similarities to the man he's looking to step in for, future Hall of Famer Ray Lewis. Both linebackers are known for their impressive sideline-to-sideline speed, but fell down draft boards mostly over concern about their small stature. Brown is somewhat undersized as a middle linebacker, but he had the speed to cover tight ends, running backs and slot receivers coming over the middle of the field. This is the first time in franchise history that the Ravens have an opening at middle linebacker, and the spotlight will be on Brown from the time he arrives in Baltimore. Handling that pressure and expectations will be critical for him to settle in and succeed during his rookie season.

NFL SCOUT SAYS: Instinctive, physical defender who, other than his lack of ideal size, ranks among the surest prospects of the 2013 draft. Possesses excellent key and diagnosis skills. Often takes his initial step toward where the play is designed to go before the quarterback has finished taking the snap. Possesses explosive, active hands to quickly slip blocks and plays with excellent leverage, bending at the knees to consistently get under the pads of would-be blockers and pushing them aside to make the play in the hole. Very good balance to avoid cut blocks and when knocked to the ground; remarkably quick in popping back up. Very good sideline-to-sideline speed, which could allow him to remain at inside linebacker in the NFL. Drops back into coverage fluidly, demonstrating not only the athleticism but the awareness to handle this responsibility in the NFL. Times his blitz well with the snap, showing the flexibility to slip past blockers, flatten out and close on the quarterback.

NFL.com Overview: The brother of the Philadelphia Eagles' 2012 seventh-round draft pick, running back Bryce Brown, transferred from Miami (Fla.) to see the field more regularly. It didn't take long for Arthur to make an impact at Kansas State and became the Wildcats' most consistent force on the defensive side of the ball during his tenure in Manhattan. Some will question his size, but Brown plays much bigger than his frame suggests due to strong hands and a physical attitude on contact. He projects as either an inside linebacker or weak-side prospect in the NFL.

WEAKNESS: The knock on Brown is his size. He is a little less than 6’1” and weighs about 240-pounds. They say he has a tendency to take on blocks with alternating shoulders, putting him in excellent position to slip off and make tackles but also could be jeopardizing the long-term health of his body, especially considering his relative lack of size in the first place. Stands out on tape for his size, physicality and open-field tackling, but has not proven to be much of a playmaker over his career, posting "just" three interceptions and not a single forced fumble over his collegiate career. Struggles while at Miami open up concerns about how well he will handle the jump to the Ravens while stepping in for a legend in the process.

It is obvious Nolan Nowrocki did not write Brown’s weaknesses and thank God, for that but if that is the biggest weakness that can be found on him; the Ravens are in good shape. I will say this, without Brown in the second round; the Ravens would have struggled to gain a grade better than a “B” in this draft. While I like the Ravens draft as a whole, not getting a young premier linebacker in this draft when so many were available could have been catastrophic.

Brown has developed into a natural leader, who is confident in his abilities. "I come in with a strong drive. I'm a player that possesses great instincts and athletic ability. I'm a downhill, hard-nosed type player." Brown told reporters. As much as staying true to your board is a positive, this could have been a situation where it turned out to hurt the Ravens.

I agree with many that say Matt Elam had to be selected considering the lack of depth at safety in this class but consider this; while the Ravens had many holes to fill, replacing Ray Lewis, as well as Dannell Ellerbe was the main objective and I will not move from that stance.

Without Brown, or a player like Kevin Minter, or Manti Te’o in the fold, this could have been a disastrous draft, at least at the top of the board. The good news is, there would have always been next year for the great Ravens scouting department,  the bad news, without Brown, the Ravens may have been selecting a lot higher next season, as they continued to look for No.52’s replacement.

In my opinion and I may get an argument from a few people on this one but Brown has better NFL potential coming out of college than did Panthers linebacker and reigning defensive rookie of the year in the NFL, Luke Kuechly.

Drafted last season by the Panthers with their ninth pick in the first round, the former Boston College star led the league with 164 tackles during the regular season and recorded eight pass deflections, one sack, two interceptions, and three fumble recoveries. The next closest tacklers to Kuechly (NaVorro Bowman & Chad Greenway) had 148 takedowns.

PICK GRADE: A+ (Great player, great value)

PROJECTED ROLE IN GAME 1: Starting inside linebacker

Brandon Williams

Round 3, Pick 32 (94): Brandon Williams, DT, Missouri Southern:

Height/Weight: 6-foot-1, 335 pounds

School: Missouri Southern State

Position: Defensive tackle

Williams was best described as the best defensive lineman in the country that does not play for a major college. The Pro Football Weekly draft preview guide listed him as the second-best player in the country at his position, trailing only Ohio State product Jonathan Hankins.

Being a three time All-American is rare at any level of football but Williams was one to accomplish that feat. The Associated Press placed Williams on one of their three Little All-American teams (third in 2010, second in 2011, first in 2012) as one of the top players in Division II, III, or NAIA.

Williams showed glimpses of talent while playing every game as a true freshman for the Lions, starting three contests and making 38 tackles, three for loss and 1.5 sacks. He missed the 2009 season due to an injury, but exploded on the scene as a redshirt sophomore, earning those All-American honors and first-team All-MIAA accolades with 50 stops, 17 for loss, and nine sacks despite starting just the final seven games after starting the year coming off the bench.He started nine of the teams 10 games in 2011, racking up 16 tackles for loss and eight sacks. Williams has also tipped 12 passes at the line during his first three seasons. In 2012, Williams was named the MIAA defensive player of the year with 68 tackles (16.5 for loss), 8.5 sacks, and five forced fumbles. "He's smart," Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh said of Williams. "He's tough. He's a tremendous athlete. He moves well for a big man and we're excited to have him.

Williams is expected to push veteran Terrence Cody, whom the Ravens have openly expressed disappointment in and is recovering from offseason hip surgery, as well as free-agent pickup Chris Canty for the nose guard spot.

"We will have a nice little rotation at defensive tackle,” Harbaugh said. "Haloti bumps inside a little more now than he did in the past, because we added Marcus and Chris. We have really bolstered our front seven big-time.  I just think we are going to be deep. DeAngelo [Tyson] is still in the mix there. We are going to have a nice rotation upfront. It’s going to be a very formidable group up front."

The matchup’s problems he helped create also led to his being the only defensive tackle in all of college football to limit runners for negative yardage. He held opposing ball carriers to minus-58 yards during his career.

This is another player that simply put, is cut right from the Ravens mold. "There were other players we liked that we were going to take with the pick [if Williams was gone]," Newsome said. "These picks have definitely addressed our needs in the middle of the defense."

STRENGTHS

NFL.COM SAYS:  Presents a low center of gravity and strong upper body to push consistently push man-up blockers into the backfield. Gets hands on his man fast, extends his arm to get leverage and can hold his ground. Uses his hands to swim or rip past blockers into the backfield. Also wins gaps by attacking a shoulder or out-quicking his man with a first step. Moves down the line adeptly while engaged to flow with plays. Flashes the agility to jump over trash inside and move well in a stand-up rush position despite his thick lower body. Directs teammates on their responsibilities before the snap. Lines up at five-technique, nose and everywhere in-between.

NFL DRAFT SCOUT SAYS: Broad-shouldered and bulked up, especially in his upper body. Possesses the upper-body strength to shove opponents into the backfield and disrupt plays before they even have a chance to begin. Has enough short area quickness to slice through gaps. Possesses longer arms (32 3/4) than expected given his stout frame, which he uses well to keep offensive linemen off him. Strong, heavy hands. Experienced playing on the nose, defensive tackle and out wide as a five-technique defensive end and has the length and awareness to be similarly versatile in the NFL. Good recognition of screens and draws. Surprisingly light feet and balance to move laterally through the trash and shows enough phone-booth quickness to close. Good strength and aggression for the pull-down tackle. Gets his hands up in passing lanes to provide quarterbacks with narrow lanes and has good hand-eye coordination and timing to tip passes. Enjoyed an impressive week of practice at the Senior Bowl.

Of course, every player has weaknesses and one of the biggest question marks surrounding Williams is whether he will, or can adjust to the NFL from a small school.

WEAKNESSES

NFL.COM SAYS: Does not make a lot of plays outside the box because of average effort and closing speed. Inconsistent at finding the ball, lowers his head at times trying to win gaps, allowing himself to get ridden out of plays. Slow to spin off blocks, and double-teams can move him. Must prove himself against stronger linemen, also that he has the stamina to be more than a rotational player.

NFL DRAFT SCOUT SAYS: Weaknesses: Possesses a disproportionately top-heavy build and a thinner than ideal lower body, which makes him less effective as a run-stuffing presence than he might appear "on the hoof." While active for his size, is not a quick-twitch athlete capable of providing a consistent pass rush in the NFL. Possesses only phone-booth quickness and lacks sustained speed, effort to travel far. Must do a better job of keeping his hands active, as he too often remains blocked when his initial bull rush or first step are handled. Missed the 2009 season due to injury.

RAVENS.COM SAYS: Williams has the size and athleticism to thrive in the NFL, but the jump to the AFC North from Missouri Southern State is steep. He dominated in college, but now he's going to be facing guys his own size, and will not be able to rely solely on his physical gifts to force his way into the backfield and disrupt running plays. Williams will join Haloti Ngata, Terrence Cody, Chris Canty, Marcus Spears and DeAngelo Tyson in a rotation and competition in the interior of the defensive line. He'll be able to learn from the veterans, who could help him made the adjustment to the professional level.

PICK GRADE: A
PROJECTED WEEK 1 ROLE: In the defensive line rotation, eventually replacing Terrance Cody in the middle.Tomorrow I will break down the following picks:

Round 4, Pick 32 (129): John Simon, DE, Ohio State
Round 4, Pick 33 (130) (Compensatory Selection): Kyle Juszczyk, FB, Harvard
Round 5, Pick 35 (168) (Compensatory Selection): Ricky Wagner, OT, Wisconsin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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by alanzlot

2013 NFL Draft Perfect For Ravens Draft Wizard(s)

April 25, 2013 in NFL Draft

By Alan Zlotorzynski: With the 2013 NFL Draft just hours away, it must feel like Christmas at the Castle in Owings Mills Maryland. The state of the art practice facility is where the current Super Bowl Champion, Baltimore Ravens, conduct their organizations business and are currently locked down in their draft war room.

They are led by Vice President of Operations and General Manager Ozzie Newsome—-But you can just call him “The Wizard”.

The Wizard and his staff are licking their chops for a draft that seems to be loaded with players that will make organizations like Baltimore better and deeper heading into the 2013 season.  This is a draft without marquee players but is filled with players that will be a part of marquee teams.

Marquee teams like the Ravens and 49ers, who battled in February’s Super Bowl and happens to own a combined 25 picks in this draft. In other words, there is no Andrew Luck or RG3 to take a bad to mediocre team to the playoffs as a rookie next season. However, there are enough players to help good teams like the Ravens, who lost a ton in free agency, recover quicker than normal.

In order to know what the Baltimore Ravens will do tonight, it is equally important to know the very rich draft history of this franchise and the process of how Newsome and company conduct their business. The Ravens draft history has to be considered one of the best in the NFL since the team arrived in Baltimore in 1996.

With The Wizard in charge, the Ravens have proven through the years that they possess one of the top front office and scouting staffs, not just in pro- football but also in all of professional sports. Since moving to Baltimore in 1996, vice president Ozzie Newsome, have had 17 drafts and selected 17 players in the first round.

For starters, the Ravens do not belong to the National Football Scouting group, which provides member teams a list of and reports on players eligible for the draft. Instead, Newsome, along with Eric DeCosta (Asst. G.M.), Joe Hortiz (Dir. Of college scouting),  and a confirmed 19 full-time members of the personnel department, which does not include the coaching staff, work year round on a proven scouting system that has produced picks, which have earned an amazing 53-combined Pro Bowls, several All-Rookie honors, multiple Defensive Player of the Year Awards and two Super Bowl MVP honors.

The Ravens have had 30 different players earn Pro Bowl honors since the team’s inception in 1996. Of those, 16 are homegrown players – 15 drafted and one signed as a rookie free agent.

The secret to Newsome and the Ravens success has several key components. The staff has continuity, loyalty and longevity. Most of Ozzie’s staff has been with the team since the franchise started in 1996 or has graduated from the “20/20” club.

The “20/20” group includes members who started with the Ravens as young assistants and grew into evaluators with more input. The term “20/20” refers to hiring “20-year-olds for $20,000.” “Actually, the guys started when they were a little older than 20 and for more than $20,000, but that’s what we call them,” said Newsome.

According the Ravens Draft Day Press release guide, Baltimore’s personnel department includes six area scouts, two pro personnel evaluators, who focus on college talent at this time of year, and additional support staff to handle the load.

Eric DeCosta, who has himself turned down opportunities to become a General Manager in the NFL and is the likely successor to Newsome says, “We do a lot of cross-checking. A number of us look at everyone, and then we have the area scouts look at certain players from other regions so we get multiple grades and opinions on all the players.”

Once the Ravens define a player as a “draftable” talent, John Harbaugh and his staff are assigned to add more study, which could include visits and workouts with some of the players. “Another advantage we have is that many of us have worked together or known each other for a while, so we scout the scouts and coaches,” Newsome says. “We may have a scout or coach who has proven he really knows how to spot talent at a certain position. That opinion carries more weight when we’re finalizing the board.”

Newsome encourages all scouts and coaches to have strong opinions. “We have very open dialogue. We want everyone’s opinion, especially from the scouts who have looked at the players the longest. I think another strength of our room is that we respect and listen to each other,” Newsome says.

Newsome always talks about taking the “highest-rated player on the board” when it comes time to select a player. The Ravens’ history proves that. When they had a Pro Bowl left tackle with Tony Jones, Baltimore selected Jonathan Ogden, a future Hall of Famer and 11-time Pro Bowler who was the first pick (fourth overall in ’96) in team history.

When they had Pro Bowl players like Priest Holmes and Shannon Sharpe, the Ravens selected Jamal Lewis and Todd Heap in the first round. “When we have grades that are even, we sometimes select the player in the area we have the greatest need,” Newsome notes. “But, our confidence in our staff and the process we use make draft days easy, exciting and fun. The hay is in the barn, so to speak. The hardest work is done year round prior to the draft.”

The 2013 NFL Draft does not have the glamour and glitz of past drafts but it has a ton of depth and depth at positions the Ravens have plenty of needs.

The Super Bowl champions own 12 picks in the NFL Draft, the most in the AFC and second only to NFC Champ, San Francisco.  Based on what the Ravens lost in free agency, and despite the moves in free agency to replenish some of those positions, Newsome and his staff may look to use every one of those dozen selections during the next three days.

Baltimore’s defense lost six of 11 Super Bowl starters, and pass-rushing specialist Paul Kruger, who did not start the game but led the team in sacks this season. In fact, from Week 10 to the Super Bowl, no one had more sacks than new Cleveland Browns’ pass rusher Paul Kruger (12). Kruger, who posted as many sacks as Mario Williams and Jared Allen combined, had 4.5 sacks during Baltimore’s playoff run.

Three of the four starting defensive backs are gone, as are three members of the front seven.  On offense, WR Anquan Boldin was traded to the 49ers and veteran center Matt Birk retired.

The Ravens did a nice job filling some of those holes during free agency, as Newsome inked some quality talent at even better quality cap friendly deals. The Ravens signed Elvis Dumervil to replace Kruger. Dumervil had 11.5 sacks with Denver last year and versatile safety Michael Huff, formerly of the Oakland Raiders.

The additions of DT Chris Canty and DE Marcus Spears will also help ease the pain. Canty and Spears are widely considered to be a part of one of the best team drafts in the past 10 years, when the Dallas Cowboys selected both players in 2005. Spears was the20th selection in round one and Canty was picked in the fourth round, 132nd overall.

PLENTY OF HOLES TO FILL:

Inside linebacker seems to be the consensus as the biggest need for the Ravens. The Ray Lewis retirement did not catch the Ravens off guard but Dannell Ellerbe signing with the Miami Dolphins did. Future Hall of Famer Ed Reed is now a Houston Texan and Newsome cut Bernard Pollard, who played in 94 percent of all defensive snaps last season. Back-up safety Sean Considine is also gone via free agency.

While Lewis and Reed battled injuries during their final two seasons in Baltimore, when on the field, the Ravens won with consistency. No.52 and No.20 were the only two players on the Ravens defense to play all 333 postseason snaps (including penalties) during Baltimore’s Super Bowl run.

While much of the offense returns intact, at least in terms of the skill position players, the loss of Boldin and Birk will force the Ravens to draft a WR and center at some point during the next three days. They are also uncertain what the future holds at left tackle.

KRUGER AND ELLERBE

Bryant McKinnie came on to play the position to perfection in late December and during the Super Bowl run but he has not been offered a contract to return and Michael Oher, who the Ravens drafted in the first round (23) in 2009, has never looked comfortable protecting Joe Flacco’s “Blind Side” when he played there. Kelechi Osemele may be able to make the transition but drafting a Tackle, in an offensive line rich draft seems like a no brainer for Baltimore.

In order, the needs have to be Inside Linebacker, Safety, Tackle and Wide Receiver.

There are several scenarios the Ravens may explore tonight and trading up in round one is definitely an option since the Ravens own the most picks of any AFC team. There are four inside backers that are widely considered first round talent.

LSU Linebacker Kevin Minter, Kansas State’s Arthur Brown, Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o and Georgia’s Alec Ogletree, who may be the first ILB off the board, are rated as the top prospects for the position.

Newsome and his staff are not only great at evaluating talent but they are masters at reading the board ahead of them. Meaning, Newsome and his staff can with a great deal of success evaluate whom other teams will be selecting.

You must also not forget to factor in “The Raven Way” when evaluating your talent.  The Raven Way is a hardnosed style of football. It is playing for the guy next to you, being ready to perform as the next man up and playing with heart, soul and above all—–a blue-collar toughness. A toughness that players like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed embodied during their days here and players such as Joe Flacco (who has never missed a start), Ray Rice and Terrell Sugggs are likely to carry on.

While a player like Manti Te’o embodies those characteristics of the Raven Way, I believe he was exposed a bit during the BCS National Championship game against Ozzie Newsome’s Alma Matter, Alabama.

I do not think the Ravens are sold on Te’o for the long haul. It is important to keep in mind that the player the Ravens do select is going to be considered the man replacing a legend. Replacing Ray Lewis is impossible but comparisons will be made and No.52’s shoes are the ones the great fans of Baltimore will look for this individual to fill.

This will be the defensive equivalent of Andrew Luck replacing Peyton Manning, or Brian Griese replacing John Elway. Sometime successors have success as Luck did last season and Aaron Rodgers did replacing Brett Favre in Green Bay. But sometime they fail miserably as Jay Fielder did in Miami after Dan Marino called it quits.

Te’o may be better off in Baltimore than if the Chicago Bears select him at No.20. At least the pressure would be somewhat less, as he will also be replacing a legend in Brian Urlacher in the Windy City and he will be doing it 90-minutes from where he played his college football at the University of Notre Dame.

The Vikings or Colts could select Alec Ogletree. That leaves Kevin Minter and Arthur Brown and it comes down to which player best is perceived as a better fit in the Ravens aggressive 3-4 style of play. Arthur Brown is technically an outside backer, while Minter is listed as third best inside backer in Fanspeak.com’s NFL Draft Guide rankings.

ESPN/Scouts Inc. grades Minter at 86 and Brown at 83. The scouting report on Minter strengths read, cerebral defender. Shows very good anticipatory skills to project where the ball is going, demonstrating the burst and agility to beat offensive linemen to the ball. Shows good effort to slip blocks, demonstrating a quick swim move and hand-slap to shake free, as well as a spin move.

Aggressive and shows little regard for his own body, jumping into the pile. Isn't often a textbook hitter but consistently gets his man to the ground in the open field, showing good upper body strength for the drag down tackle. Uses his hands well to strip away at the ball as he is making the tackle.

Times the snap well as a blitzer and closes quickly. Reads the quarterback's eyes nicely when in pass coverage and has a feel for what is happening around him. Enough lateral agility and speed to cover backs. Passionate player with a high-revving motor.

The first weakness listed is the one I believe has the Ravens looking at Arthur Brown over Minter. He is not the physical thumper that some teams prefer in the middle and may lack the sheer athleticism to handle the switch outside vs. NFL speed. Prefers to elude or spin away from blockers rather than physically taking them on and shedding and when he is locked up, Minter struggles to get free.

While Minter is a stud, these weaknesses could pose a problem in the Ravens defense. The weakness report goes onto say, “while he wraps his arms around runners' legs for the sure stop, he isn't a consistently explosive hitter who'll strike fear into ball-carriers. Has been surrounded by an awful lot of speed in Baton Rouge and does not appear to have elite speed, himself. Can be beaten to the sideline and relies on angles, vision and effort, rather than speed to track down ball carriers when in pursuit.

A big part of the Ravens draft philosophy is the division they play in and the AFC North can ill-afford to have a player that fails to strike fear into ball carriers hearts and having a lack of speed in today’s NFL may be too much of chance to take for Newsome.

BROWN SHOULD BE THE PICK:

Arthur Brown

Jeff Reynolds of the Sports Xchange recently wrote about Arthur Brown, “One linebacker becomes an All-Pro…Arthur Brown of Kansas State got little press in Manhattan and isn't yet a headliner, but he'll make like NaVorro Bowman and go from overlooked rookie to most wanted in short order. Brown can play inside or outside linebacker and his experience stopping the run and in coverage showed scouts he'll play all three downs with the kind of verve coaches want from their defensive captain. This is not a knock on Manti Te'o or Alec Ogletree as much as a nudge to the limelight for Brown. “

Brown’s strengths are exactly the type of strengths the Ravens are looking for.  One report says he is an Instinctive, physical defender who, other than his lack of ideal size, ranks among the surest prospects of the 2013 draft.

Brown possesses excellent key and diagnosis skills. He often takes his initial step toward where the play is designed to go before the quarterback has finished taking the snap. Possesses explosive, active hands to quickly slip blocks and plays with excellent leverage, bending at the knees to consistently get under the pads of would-be blockers and pushing them aside to make the play in the hole.

Furthermore, Brown has very good balance to avoid cut blocks and when knocked to the ground; remarkably quick in popping back up. Very good sideline-to-sideline speed, which could allow him to remain at inside linebacker in the NFL.

This is the part that Ravens fans saw a dramatic drop off in from Ray Lewis during the past few seasons. Brown drops back into coverage fluidly, demonstrating not only the athleticism but also the awareness to handle this responsibility in the NFL. Like Dannell Ellerbe, Brown times his blitz well with the snap, showing the flexibility to slip past blockers, flatten out and close on the quarterback.

As for his weaknesses, Brown has obvious size concerns, though he plays much bigger than he looks. The report reads that Brown has a tendency to take on blocks with alternating shoulders, putting him in excellent position to slip off and make tackles but he could be jeopardizing the long-term health of his body, especially considering his relative lack of size in the first place.

He has not proven to be much of a playmaker over his career, posting "just" three interceptions and not a single forced fumble over his collegiate career. Struggles while at Miami open up concerns about how well he will handle the jump to an NFL team further from home.

Brown is listed at almost 6’1” and 241-pounds. If you are very concerned about his size, it may be important to keep in mind that Ray Lewis was listed at 6’1” and 245-pounds entering his final season with the Ravens.

Brown is one of the players whose draft stock is seriously climbing. CBS Sports has Brown going as high as No.20 on two mock boards. Mike Mayock does not have Brown or Minter being selected in round one. But to me, the Ravens will either select Brown or Minter and if Brown is within their grasp and they need to use one or two of their 12 picks to ensure they get him, then do not be surprised to see Newsome trade up to do so.

The Ravens rarely trade up in round one and are more likely to do what they did last year when they traded down into the second round to obtain Courtney Upshaw.

PROTECTING THE INVESTMENT:

According to Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun, another late scenario has the Ravens trading way up in the first round to obtain Tackle Lane Johnson. Johnson has been consistently rated as the third-best Tackle in this draft behind Luke Joeckel and Eric Fisher.

Many of the experts have predicted Johnson will go in the top 10 picks, but the Ravens might trade up for him at a reasonable cost. The Ravens have some options because they have 12 picks. According to scouting reports, Johnson is athletic, durable and the pro scouts like his demeanor. He plays with the nastiness of a defensive lineman.

Lane Johnson

After dishing out a $120 million contract to Joe Flacco, the Ravens may be thinking it is wise to protect that type of investment.  According to the Preston Report, veteran Bryant McKinnie is still an option for the Ravens, but they prefer to have a player with more stability at left tackle, which is the most glaring weakness on offense. Michael Oher is not the answer and do the Ravens want to risk Joe Flacco’s current streak of 93 consecutive starts including the playoffs by allowing Kelechi Osemele an opportunity to adjust during the season.

McKinnie has remained relatively quiet this offseason, but when he has spoken, he has often stated he wants to come back as a starter, not a backup.

So let us make it official, here is my prediction on what the Ravens will do in about six hours.

The Ravens will likely stand pat and draft Arthur Brown if he is available. If they feel, he will be gone by the 32nd pick but still around at No.23, (the Colts may want Brown at 24), look for Baltimore to trade up with Minnesota, who has two first round picks to make a deal and take Brown at 23.

PREDICTIONS THROUGH FOUR ROUNDS:  

Round 2 (pick 62): If the Ravens do not have to trade up in the first round to get a quality ILB, I look for them to make a move up in round two to ensure they get D.J Swearinger, Safety, South Carolina. Captain of the South Carolina defense and a four-year starter, few college safeties hit as hard as Swearinger, according to NFL.com’s scouting report. He would be a nice fit in Baltimore but the Redskins will want him too and they finally have a pick at No.51.

Could the 49ers repay the Ravens for giving up Boldin for so little by trading the 34th pick? Although it may be over drafting Swearinger, it fills a big need and I promise you he is on Newsome’s board.

dj swearinger

Round 3 (Pick 94): OL David Quessenberry, San Jose State: FROM NFL.COM, Quessenberry is around 300 pounds now after coming into college at around 240 pounds. He is still going to need to gain the necessary upper-body and leg strength to handle NFL defensive linemen, but the 2012 first-team All-WAC pick should win over scouts with his impressive overall skill set. Quessenberry may be able to stay at tackle at the next level, but might be a better fit for offensive guard.

Round 4 (Pick 129) Chris Harper, WR, Kansas State (keep an eye on Ryan Swope as well): Harper is 6’1 and 230-pounds, he is a converted quarterback, and does any of this sound like a certain WR that was recently traded away?  NFL.com says, “His size/speed combination is impressive. Cornerbacks trying to press him at the line see his quickness and pure acceleration down the sideline. On crosses, sells the outside routes before planting his foot to get inside position. Harper uses his size to his advantage, often shielding defenders. He also possesses a very strong set of hands that he uses to out-muscle smaller defensive backs. Very adept at catching the ball off his frame. He is also very tough to bring down with the ball in his hands.

Round 4 (Pick 130 Compensatory) OL Barrett Jones, Alabama: He drops to the Ravens because of his Lis-Franc injury. Some even have him falling to the fifth round but name the award, and he won it playing at Alabama. In 2010, he was All-Southeast Conference at right guard. When the need arose for him to play left tackle in 2011, he performed so well that he won the Outland Trophy as the nation's best lineman. Last year, he moved to center – and won the Rimington trophy as the nation's top center. He also played on three national championship teams – 2009, '11 and '12. In addition, what meant the most to him was being voted captain by his teammates in 2012.

Please join Alan Zlotorzynski and Stephen Shoup tonight at 8:00 p.m. as they bring you the 2013 NFL Draft of the Fanspeak Radio Network. The guys will break down and evaluate every pick made tonight. 

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by Matt Pearce

Super Bowl XLVII Recap

February 11, 2013 in Observations, Super Bowl XLVII

Exactly one week ago, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII.  Since it has been one week, it is time to look at some important things that occurred.  The play of Joe Flacco has already been looked at here.

Ravens Coaching
The Baltimore Ravens coaching staff did a good job preparing for this game.  The team came out strong and was able to execute what we can assume was the gameplan.  Two key moments for the coaching staff stick out from this game.

First, was the power outage during the game.  For 34 minutes, the lights on half of the stadium went out.  This allowed the 49ers to recuperate and come out attacking.  Before the power outage, the Ravens led 28-6.  After the power outage, the 49ers outscored the Ravens 25-6.  The coaching staff obviously didn't do enough to keep the players ready to play.  The 49ers were able to get their players ready to play.  Maybe the players were thinking that this game was already decided due to the big lead, I don't.  But what I do now is that the team wasn't the same after this stoppage of play.

In my opinion, the best decision by the coaching staff was to take a safety with about ten seconds left in the game.  The Ravens were up by five points and had the ball on their own 8-yard line on a 4th and 7.  Instead of just punting the ball away, P Sam Koch took the ball and ran around in the endzone.  He was able to run off eight seconds before the 49ers figured out what was going on and pushed Koch out-of-bounds.  This made the Ravens have to do a free kick and the coverage unit was able to stop the return as time expired.

So, instead of allowing a possible blocked punt or a punt return for a touchdown on a short field, the Ravens played it safe.  It is easier to defend a return when the returner is fielding the ball from farther away from the endzone.  More importantly, it ran off eight seconds which guaranteed that the return would be the last play of the game.  If the 49ers had any return, they would have been able to throw a hail mary pass or, if they got a good return, would have been able to run a regular play.  By taking the safety, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh played the odds perfectly and set up the Ravens victory.

Bernard Pollard
One the first play of the game, Pollard re-broke six ribs.  According to the Ravens website, Pollard broke initially broke these six ribs one multiple occasions in the season.  The first three were broken when OLB Courtney Upshaw hit him during the week 2 game against Philadelphia.  Two more broke when CB Chykie Brown hit him in practice in November.  Lastly, Pollard broke the sixth when S Ed Reed hit him on the first play of the game in week 14 against Washington.

Pollard was able to play through the pain but he wasn't his normal self.  He looked weaker in pass coverage all game long.  Obviously, the injury isn't serious and he will be ready for next season with plenty of time to spare.

Haloti Ngata
Just like Pollard, Ngata got injured in the game.  However, Ngata's injury was more serious and, had a bigger impact on the game.  Ngata left the game with a knee injury and never returned.  It has been confirmed that Ngata only sprained his knee, so there will be no effect on his play next season.

In game, this effected the Ravens big time.  As soon as he went out with the injury, the 49ers were able to run the ball more effectively.  This is one of the reasons why the 49ers had much more success in the second half on offense then they did in the first. If Ngata, hadn't got injured the 49ers wouldn't have been able to run as well since Ngata is one of the top run stuffers in the NFL, let alone the Ravens best.

Underrated Play Of The Game
Certain plays like the touchdowns and the defensive stop at the end of the game get all the publicity but, there are still great plays that go unmentioned.  In this game, the underrated play of the game was a 3rd and 1 pass by the Ravens.

More specifically, it was a 3rd and 1 pass to WR Anquan Boldin with under nine minutes left.  Originally, the Ravens called for a run play but, Flacco audibled once he saw how the 49ers lined up on defense.  He called for a back shoulder fade to Boldin, who was in one-on-one coverage. On the route, Boldin was covered very well and it was a tough throw to make.  However, Flacco placed the ball perfectly and Boldin was able to hold on for the catch.

This play put the ball on the 49ers 40-yard line and one play later, the Ravens were in field goal range.  This field goal, by K Justin Tucker, put the Ravens up by five points with under five minutes left in the game.  If this pass is dropped or falls incomplete, the 49ers would only have been down two points, which means instead of having to score a touchdown at the end of the game, they would have only needed a field goal.

Underrated Player Of The Game
This goes to LG Kelechi Osemele.  I said, if the Ravens stop 49ers DE Justin Smith, they will win the trenches on offense.  Osemele did just that for the Ravens.  He was able to single team Smith which allowed more blockers to go to other pass rushers which neutralized the 49ers defensive front.

Player Of The Game
Last, is my player of the game award.  I think that the voters got this right when the gave it to Flacco.  He played an excellent game going 22-of-33 for 287 yards and threw 3 TDs.  Without Flacco's performance they wouldn't have won this game.  Coming into the game, the only real threat I saw to Flacco winning the award (if the Ravens won the game) was LB Ray Lewis.  If Lewis had a big impact on the game (i.e. forcing a big turnover), the voters might have given him the award because this was his last game in the NFL.
Runner Up:  WR/KR Jacoby Jones

Joe Flacco

Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco throws a pass.

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by Matt Pearce

Win In The Trenches, Win The Game

January 31, 2013 in Super Bowl XLVII, What to Look For

Super Bowl XLVII is being dubbed as the "Harbowl" because of brothers John and Jim Harbaugh being the head coaches of the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers respectively.  While this is a good storyline, it won't exactly determine who will win this game.  These two teams played last season on Thanksgiving night in Baltimore and the Ravens won 16-6.  Both teams are similar to those teams from 2011 but, there are still many differences.  In this game, the key will be winning the battle of the trenches.

1.  Offensive Line
The biggest reason the Ravens are in the Super Bowl, in my opinion, is the offensive line.  You can argue other things like the defense stepping up, Ray Lewis announcing his retirement, and Joe Flacco but, without the offensive line, Flacco wouldn't be playing as good as he has.  Without Flacco, the Ravens wouldn't have made it this far so, the offensive line is a big deal.

Throughout the postseason, the offensive line has given up only four sacks in three games.  In the regular season, they allowed thirty-eight sacks in sixteen games.  This comes out to 2.38 sacks per game.  Sacks isn't the whole story though, as the line was allowing constant pressure during some games which gave Flacco no chance to complete was pass.  In fact, in the game against the Denver Broncos in week 15, the line allowed eighteen hurries, ten knockdowns, and three sacks (not counted as knockdowns) on forty pass attempts.  In their matchup in the Divisional Playoffs, the Broncos only had one sack and never had much pressure.

The reason for this sudden change was a change in the line itself.  Starting LG Jah Reid was injured for the Wild Card game against the Indianapolis Colts.  This forced a complete reshuffling of the line.  Normal LT Michael Oher went to RT, normal RT Kelechi Osemele went to LG, and backup Bryant McKinnie went to LT.  McKinnie started at LT last season but was forced to the bench when the Ravens drafted Osemele. Before the next game, against the Broncos, the Ravens placed Reid on injured reserve which locked in this lineup for the rest of the playoffs.

On to Super Bowl XLVII, the line will face a tough matchup with the 49ers who finished the regular season 3rd in total yards allowed and 2nd in points per game.  The biggest challenge will be for the left side of the offensive line.  Left tackle McKinnie will go up against Defensive Player of the Year candidate Aldon Smith who has 19.5 sacks this season.  Right guard Marshal Yanda will face All-Pro DE Justin Smith.  One stat in favor of the Ravens is that neither has recorded a sack since week 14 against the Miami Dolphins.  The reason for this is Justin Smith then missed some time with a triceps injury.  This shows that without Justin Smith, Aldon Smith is an "average" pass rusher.  Even in their two playoff games, Aldon Smith has no sacks and Justin Smith has been playing injured in those two games.

Since Yanda is an All-Pro guard, the Ravens will hope he can handle Justin Smith one-on-one.  This then allows more attention to go to Aldon Smith with McKinnie probably getting some help from a tight end or a running back.  If Yanda can handle Justin Smith, it frees up the whole offensive line.  It means on run plays C Matt Birk and LG Kelechi Osemele could double team NT Isaac Sopoaga and lets FB Vonta Leach get to the second level and take out one of the 49ers All-Pro ILBs in Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman.

The key for the Ravens offensive line is to stop Justin Smith.  If they can do this with just Marshal Yanda then it will free up other lineman to block linebackers and the rest of the defensive line.  Anytime you can get offensive lineman on linebackers in the run game, it is good.  In the passing game, if the line can hold up, Flacco should play similar to how he has so far in the playoffs.

2.  Joe Flacco
Speaking of Flacco, he has big responsibilities in the game.  This is his chance to show the world that he is an elite quarterback like he said before the season.  So far this postseason, he has been elite going 51-of-93 for 853 yards with 8 TDs, 0 INTs, and a QB rating of 114.7.  His passing yards, touchdowns, interceptions, and QB rating are all the best for QBs in this postseason.  

Beyond the stats, he has gone into Denver and beat MVP candidate Peyton Manning and went into New England and beat Tom Brady.  Not only did he beat both, he outperformed them and now he finds himself in New Orleans for the Super Bowl while they watch from home.

The best part of Flacco's game this postseason has been the deep passing game.  On passes to wide receivers Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin, Flacco is averaging 16.7 yards per completion.  During the regular season, the 49ers were good at stopping the deep pass but, in the playoffs, they have regressed and quarterbacks are 10-of-15 for 264 yards with 3 TDs, 1 INT, and a QBR of 100.  If you want to see a full chart for this click here.

Expect the Ravens to come out passing against the 49ers.  Against the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, they came out running and it didn't work.  In the second half, they started to pass the ball and this second half performance won the game for them.  Don't expect the Ravens to abandon the run game though as they will need it for play-action passes and the Ravens always seem to lose when they don't run the ball.  As always, they will use Smith to take the top off the defense and then use Boldin and TE Dennis Pitta across the middle of the field.

Joe Flacco

The Ravens will need one more good game from QB Joe Flacco to win the Super Bowl.

3.  Stopping the Run
When the 49ers played the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Playoffs, the Packers couldn't stop QB Colin Kaepernick or RB Frank Gore.  In the NFC Championship Game against the Atlanta Falcons, the Falcons were able to stop Kaepernick from running but couldn't stop Gore.  If the Ravens want to win, they will have to at least contain both of them.

Coming into this game, the Ravens defense is on fire.  They have given up 14 points per game in the playoffs and have only allowed four touchdowns.  Despite the Ravens not having played a good running teams in the playoffs, they have a few advantages over the Packers and the Falcons in stopping the 49ers run game.

The best defense to run for stopping the option, which the 49ers will run, is the 3-4, which the Packers use but not the Falcons.  However, the Packers defense has consistently been awful over the last few years.  The Ravens run the 3-4 defense and, they have the right personnel to stop the outside runs.

Rookie outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw has been one of the best run defenders at his position all season long.  Therefore, expect him to play a little bit more than usual on Sunday.  When you think of Terrell Suggs, you think of a pass rusher, not a run defender.  However, Suggs has become a good run defender over the last few years and it has become the most evident this year.  Due to all of his injuries limiting his pass rushing ability, Suggs has become a better run defender.  Paul Kruger also will play at OLB for the Ravens but he is mainly a pass rusher so he won't be talked about here.

The outside linebackers in a 3-4 defense are the most important players in stopping outside runs, which is mainly what Kaepernick does.  Since the Ravens have a pair of good outside linebackers, the should be ok in this part of the run game.  They also showed this in their week 14 matchup against the Washington Redskins.  While the Ravens lost, they were able to limit QB Robert Griffin III to 34 yards on 7 rushes before he was hampered by a knee injury.  Therefore, it is Gore that the Ravens will have to really worry about.

The outside linebackers will have to set the edge for runs and probably will be assigned to Kaepernick on the option plays.  This means that the rest of the front seven will be responsible for stopping Gore.  This is what the Falcons couldn't do and the Ravens could fall in the same boat. The nose tackle position has been very inconsistent for the Ravens this year with not very good production.  This allows lineman to get blocks on the linebackers which can spring the running backs free.  This is never good for a run defense as it allows constant runs of five yards or more.

A way to fix this is putting normal DE Haloti Ngata at NT but this all but eliminates him from rushing the passer which he is so good at. Therefore, the Ravens will have to stick with Ma'ake Kemoeatu and Terrence Cody at NT.  Them, along with DEs Ngata, Arthur Jones, and Pernell McPhee will need to get push and take on blockers to disrupt the runs and allow the linebackers to run free and make tackles.

Expect the Ravens to have schemed up a decent way to stop this high powered run game of the 49ers.  However, 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman are great offensive minds which means they also will have schemed up something.  This means it will come down to execution and who can make plays.

4.  Pass Rush
Containing Kaepernick isn't the only thing the Ravens outside linebackers will have to do, they will also have to generate a pass rush when the 49ers pass it.  It will be a tough challenge for the Ravens pass rushers as the 49ers line has only given up two sacks this postseason but, they did give up forty-one sacks in the regular season which ranks tied for 23rd best in the NFL.

The Ravens, on the other hand, recorded thirty-seven sacks in the regular season, tied for 15th best, and have six sacks in the postseason.  In the game against the Patriots, they recorded no sacks but were able to have constant pressure.  Rushing the passer isn't all about sacks, most of it is getting enough pressure to force the ball out of the quarterback's hands before he wants to throw it.

Playing the 49ers, the biggest problem with getting pressure is the threat of Kaepernick to scramble and pick up chunks of yards.  Therefore, don't be surprised if the Ravens have either a linebacker in the middle of the field spy Kaepernick or just tell the edge pass rusher to contain on certain plays.  This should limit the scrambling ability of Kaepernick on pass plays.

On to specific players, OLB Paul Kruger had been quite a tear since week ten against the Oakland Raiders.  He had a total of ten sacks in nine games starting with that game.  His streak finished after a 2.5 sack performance against the Colts in their Wild Card game.  He has been shut out in the last two playoff games though.  The Ravens will need Kruger to regain his late season form to get pressure on Kaepernick and disrupt the 49ers passing game.

On the other side of the line will the Terrell Suggs.  Suggs has overcome a torn achilles and a torn biceps to be able to play this season.  In the regular season, Suggs was only able to record two sacks in eight games.  In the postseason, however, Suggs has two sacks, both against the Broncos.  Suggs will need to be in top form as the 49ers have a great offensive line, plus he will have big responsibilities in the run game.

While Kruger and Suggs will rush from the outside, Haloti Ngata, Arthur Jones, and Pernell McPhee will rush Kaepernick from the inside.  Of those three, McPhee has turned his game on recently.  Against the Patriots he batted down two passes including one that resulted for an interception.  In the previous game, he had a strip sack of Peyton Manning.  McPhee had been limited by injuries all year but now, he seems to be back in form.  Jones had 4.5 sacks in weeks 12-14 but has no others on the season.  Ngata, has been a force inside when healthy and, he seems to be in good health right now.

As stated above, who ever wins in the trenches will win the game.  So, it might not be as fun to watch as a high powered passing offense, like the Patriots, but the battle in the trenches will be great to watch as there will be some great matchups and, most importantly, it will determine the game.

Paul Kruger

Ravens OLB Paul Kruger will be a key player in Super Bowl XLVII.

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by Matt Pearce

Four Ravens With Super Bowl Experience

January 27, 2013 in Super Bowl XLVII

With the Super Bowl being one week away, we should look at what experience the Ravens will have in New Orleans.  The Ravens have four players who have played in the Super Bowl before and their head coach along with both of their coordinators have been to the Super Bowl.

The first, and most obvious of the Ravens to play in a Super Bowl, is LB Ray Lewis.  He is the only player on the Ravens team with a Super Bowl ring.  Lewis got his ring in Super Bowl XXXV where the Ravens beat the New York Giants 34-7.  This is the only other time the Ravens have made it to a Super Bowl and Lewis is the only player left from this team.

In the game, Lewis only had 3 solo tackles, 2 tackle assists, and 4 pass defensed.  However, Lewis still was able to win the Super Bowl MVP. The reason that Lewis won the MVP was he was the leader of a defense that allowed no points (the Giants returned a kickoff for a touchdown). In fact on ESPNs Super Bowl MVP page, it just says "Led a dominant Ravens defense" under why he received the award.  Every MVP except one, Super Bowl XII, has the players statistics.  During that season, Lewis was also the Defensive Player of the Year and he led arguably the best best defense in history.

Ray Lewis

Ravens LB Ray Lewis was the MVP of Super Bowl XXXV.

In his post game press conference, Lewis said "I told Shannon Sharpe [TE] and I told Jamal Lewis [RB]: Give us 10 points and the game is over. That's not boasting. If you give us 10 points, game over.  You go down against our defense, you're in a whole lot of trouble.  We've dominated people like that all year.  And they didn't score on us.  Make sure you quote that.  They didn't score on our defense."  As you can see, Lewis was very proud of his, and the defense's accomplishments.

The next Ravens player who has made a Super Bowl is fellow LB Brendon Ayanbadejo.  Ayanbadejo was part of the Chicago Bears when they made it to Super Bowl XLI.  The Bears lost to the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 29-17.  Ayanbadejo only played special teams for the Bears and recorded 1 tackle during the game.

Starting WR Anquan Boldin was part of one of the most unexpected Super Bowl runs ever.  He played a key part in getting the Arizona Cardinals to Super Bowl XLIII.  In the regular season, the Cardinals went 9-7 and many people believed they didn't belong in the playoffs at all.  The Cardinals run was ended by the Pittsburgh Steelers as they handed the Cardinals a 27-23 loss on an improbable touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds left.  Boldin had 8 catches for 84 yards including a 45 yard catch. For that season, Boldin had 89 catches for 1,038 yards and 11 touchdowns in the regular season.

Last is backup S James Ihedigbo who played for the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI which was last year.  Despite the Patriots losing 21-17 to the New York Giants, who like the Cardinals went 9-7 in the regular season, Ihedigbo played a decent game.  He had 5 tackles as one of the starting safeties.  However, Ihedigbo was covering Giants WR Victor Cruz on his touchdown catch.  At the end of training camp this year, Ihedigbo was cut and the Ravens quickly signed him.  By beating the Patriots twice, including the AFC Championship Game, Ihedigbo has is revenge and now is going for back-to-back Super Bowl victories.

On the coaching side of things, offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell was the Colts QB coach/assistant head coach when they beat  Ayanbadejo and the Bears in Super Bowl XLI.  This experience should be helpful during preparation for the Super Bowl over the next week.  Since he was also the assistant head coach, Caldwell would have had more responsibilities than a regular QB coach.

Defensive coordinator Dean Pees has been to two Super Bowls with the Patriots.  The first was Super Bowl XXXIX where he was the LB coach and the second was Super Bowl XLII as the defensive coordinator.  The Patriots won the first Super Bowl but not the second.  The loss in Super Bowl XLII wasn't exactly on Pees because his defense only gave up 17 points.  They did give up 14 points in the 4th quarter but, coming into the game, the Patriots would have been happy giving up 17 points as their offense was one of the best in history.  However, the Giants were able to stop this high-powered offense.

Head coach John Harbaugh has been to the Super Bowl once when he was the Philadelphia Eagles special teams coordinator.  The Eagles faced the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX and as we already know, the Patriots won.  The Eagles special teams didn't give up any touchdowns and the longest return they allowed was only 26 yards.  It definitely wasn't Harbaugh's fault that the Eagles lost.

Now, what does this mean for the Ravens?  It means that they have some experience in all aspects of the game.  On offense, they have Boldin, a veteran receiver and a key players, and the offensive coordinator in Caldwell.  On defense, they have Lewis, a great leader, and coordinator Dean Pees.  Both Ayanbadejo and Ihedigbo play special teams so they will bring experience to that part of the game.  It is good that the three most important coaches all have been to the Super Bowl as they have already been through this before.

The San Francisco 49ers don't have the same experience at the top of their coach staff as head coach Jim Harbaugh went to Super Bowl XXXVII as the Oakland Raiders QB coach and neither offensive coordinator Greg Roman and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio have been to a Super Bowl.  The 49ers do have more players who have played in Super Bowls as they have five players with Super Bowl experience.

It will be interesting to see how experience ends up impacting the game.  It is interesting that the teams combined will only have a  total of nine players with Super Bowl experience which is probably a recent low.

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Picture of Matt Pearce

by Matt Pearce

Ravens Advance To Super Bowl XLVII

January 22, 2013 in Observations

In a rematch of last years AFC Championship Game, the Baltimore Ravens outlasted the New England Patriots by a score of 28-13.  At halftime the score was 13-7 to the Patriots.  Once the second half started the Ravens had a new offensive scheme, pass the ball.  This worked as it led to 21 second half points.  The defense rose to the occasion and shut the Patriots out in the second half.  In the first half, the Ravens were out played but, in the second half, the Ravens outplayed the Patriots.  Before this game, the Patriots had won 71 games in a row under head coach Bill Belichick when leading at half, including a 67-0 record when the quarterback is Tom Brady.  Now the Ravens will head to New Orleans to play in Super Bowl XLVII.  They will have the San Francisco 49ers who are coached by the brother of Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh.  The game will take place on February 3rd and kickoff is at 6:29 pm Eastern time.

The Red Zone
The Ravens play in the red zone, on offense and defense, is what won them this game.  On offense, they made it to the red zone four times and, scored four touchdowns.  This offensive efficiency can make an offense almost unstoppable, as long as they can actually get to the red zone. On defense, they allowed the Patriots to make it in to the red zone four times but, they only scored one touchdown.  The Patriots also got to the Ravens 24 and 22-yard line but, the Ravens were able to force interceptions both times.  This red zone defense describes this years Ravens defense.  They are not the best in the league anymore however, once the other team makes it to the red zone, they dig in and stop the offense. It is very hard to lose a game when you have these two stats on your side.

Joe Flacco
For Flacco, it was almost like two different games.  In the first half, he went 6-of-12 for 81 yards with 0 TDs or INTs.  This isn't bad quarterbacking but, it also isn't how an elite one plays.  In the second half though, he went 15-of-24 for 159 yards with 3 TDs and 0 INTs.  For the game, he went 21-of-36 for 240 yards with 3 TDs and 0 INTs.  His QBR was 80.2 and his QB rating was 106.2 compared to Tom Brady's QBR of 45.1 and QB rating of 62.3.  Brady also threw 2 INTs.  So, for the third time in as many games, Flacco has outplayed Tom Brady and, two of these games have been the AFC Championship.

As stated above, the Ravens offensive strategy in the second half changed.  In the first half they had been doing a lot of run plays, especially on first down.  The offense just looked really conservative in the first half.  At halftime, there were some changes as the Ravens came out throwing in the second half.  In fact, Flacco accounted for 70% of the Ravens offense in the second half.  With this change, the offense started to move the ball.  Soon they had taken a 14-13 lead and they never looked back after that.

On to more game specific things, Flacco never really got the deep ball going as his longest completion of the game went for 26 yards to Anquan Boldin.  The lack of a deep passing game can be attributed to the weather as it was very windy on the field with the wind at around 20 mph if I remember correctly.  All of Flacco's touchdown passes were good but the one that stood out to me was the first to Anquan Boldin.  The first was a play action jump ball.  After the fake, Flacco threw the ball up where only Boldin could get it.  Flacco also had one rush attempt where he scrambled and picked up 14 yards and a first down.

Joe Flacco

Ravens QB Joe Flacco celebrates throwing one of his three touchdown passes against the Patriots.

Ray Rice
Starting with his performance in the passing game, Rice had 3 catches for 22 yards on 4 targets.  Of these three catches, two of them went for first downs.  The most memorable was a 15 yard screen pass.  The Patriots originally had the screen covered but, Rice got away and Flacco threw it.  Rice broke three tackles on his way to the first down.  Now to the run game.  While Rice had 19 rushes, he only ran for 48 yards which is an average of 2.5 yards per carry.  Three of these rushes went for first downs.  One was a 5 yard run that put the ball on the Patriots 2-yard line after he ran for eight yards the play before.  Another of his first downs was a short run on a 2nd and 2 which put the ball on the Patriots 3-yard line.  The last of his first downs was a 3rd and 1 run with five minutes left in the game which helped run more time off the clock.  Along with his 48 rush yards, Rice also had a rushing touchdown.  He only went for two yards but, he broke two tackles on the way.  The play called for Rice to run up the middle but, like most of the game, there wasn't running room in the middle.  So, Rice bounced the run outside to the left and scored. The only negative from Rice is he had a false start on a 3rd an 8 from the Ravens own 29-yard line.  This was early in the game so it can probably be accounted to nerves.

Bernard Pierce
While couldn't get much going on the ground, Pierce had much more success.  On 9 carries he had 52 yards.  Three of these carries went for first downs.  One of them was a 2nd and 5 run for nine yards which put the ball on the Patriots 22-yard line and another was a 3rd and 2 draw that he was able to bounce outside for a gain of eleven, the longest rush by any running back in the game.  Pierce also had 1 catch for 8 yards.  This also went for a first down; it was a 2nd and 8 swing pass that just barely was enough for the first.

Torrey Smith
Unlike the Denver game, Smith wasn't able to catch a deep pass but, he still had an impact on the game.  Most of his catches were in the intermediate range due to the wind.  He had 4 catches for 69 yards on 9 targets.  He had three of these go for first downs.  The first was a 25 yard catch on play action on a 2nd and 6 which put the Ravens on the Patriots 15-yard line.  The second was a 2nd and 14 conversion that went for 23 yards.  Lastly, he had a 16 yard catch on a first down.

Anquan Boldin
This was another record setting game for Boldin.  With his two touchdown catches, Boldin became the Ravens all-time postseason receiving touchdown leader.  He had 5 catches for 60 yards with 2 TDs on 8 targets.  All of these catches came in the second half and only one wasn't a first down or touchdown.  One of these first down catches was a 3rd and 9 for 26 yards and the other was on 2nd and 10 that put the ball on the Patriots 10-yard line.  Boldin's first touchdown was on the first play of the fourth quarter.  The other touchdown (the first was discussed with Flacco), was on a 2nd and 4 and was for 12 yards.  Boldin lined up in the slot and ran a seam route, Flacco threw it up and Boldin caught it for another touchdown.

Anquan Boldin

Ravens WR Anquan Boldin celebrates a touchdown with WRs Torrey Smith (left) and Jacoby Jones (right) nearby.

Dennis Pitta
For the second game in a row, Pitta had 55 receiving yards.  This week he did it on 5 catches with 7 targets.  Three of these catches went for first downs, one for a touchdown, and the other was in the red zone.  Starting with his first down catches, Pitta had a 3rd and 4 catch from deep in Ravens territory, a 2nd and 10 catch for a gain of over 20 yards, and a 2nd and 4 catch that put the ball on the Patriots 13-yard line.  His touchdown was on 2nd and goal from the 5-yard line and was a quick pass.  Lastly, his other catch occurred on the play before his touchdown.  It was first and goal from the ten and he went over the middle.  Pitta caught the ball and took a big hit but still was able to hold on to the ball.  On the negative side, Pitta had a diving catch go right through his hands on a 3rd and 8.

Offensive Line
Yet again, the offensive line performed great.  They only gave up two sacks for a combined loss of five yards which is nothing in terms of sack yardage.  The first sack was given up by LT Bryant McKinnie on a 3rd and 6 from inside the Ravens own 10-yard line. The other sack was more of a coverage sack and Flacco was starting to scramble so it wasn't really the fault of the offensive line.  It only went for a loss of one so it was basically a failed run play.  None of the offensive linemen were called for a penalty which is very impressive.  In the run game, they got some movement but for the most past, there never were any big holes to run through.  Of the offensive line can protect Flacco like this for one more game, they could be tough to beat in the Super Bowl.

Haloti Ngata
Ngata may have only had four tackles but, for a defensive lineman in a 3-4 defense, that is good.  One of these tackles was a run stop for no gain.  The part of the game that Ngata was the best at yesterday was rushing the passer.  Ngata finished with three of the Ravens seven QB hits (they didn't record a sack but seemed to have a fair amount of pressure).  On a 4th and 4 play from the Ravens 19-yard line, Ngata had pressure with Terrell Suggs which caused Brady to throw the ball away.  Once the Ravens made this stop, it seemed like the Ravens were going to win and make it to the Super Bowl.  This play is an attribute to Ngata's speed as Brady had an open field in front of him but didn't run because he probably wouldn't have made it.  Ngata also had pressure on another play which caused a throw away.  The last play where Ngata caused a throw away was with two minutes left.  Ngata had pressure which caused Brady to throw the ball away.

Pernell McPhee
So how does a defensive lineman without a tackle make it here?  Simple, deflect two passes (including one that leads to a touchdown) and say that you have discovered Tom Brady's flaw.  First, McPhee batted away a pass in the fourth quarter that Dannell Ellerbe was able to intercept. After this interception, with seven minutes left in the game, it seemed like the game really was over as the Patriots never got the ball back until there were two minutes left.  The other pass deflection came with under two minutes left in game.  On to him discovering Brady's flaw, McPhee says "He throws all of his balls low."  When asked about how Brady has been so successful despite this McPhee said "He just throws it fast and he always gets good pockets.  But I tried to stay in front of him after watching film and knowing where he likes to go and how he likes to do it.  So that was my best advantage, just get my hands up."  This strategy clearly worked for McPhee as he had his two pass deflections at the line.

Pernell McPhee

Ravens DE Pernell McPhee batted down two passes at the line-of-scrimmage.

Ray Lewis
As usual, Lewis recorded double digit tackles with 14 but, according to Pro Football Focus, only two of those were defensive stops (runs for little or no gain).  Lewis was flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit which was the right call even though it was pretty obvious that he didn't mean to do it. Lastly, after the game, Lewis fell to the ground and started saying "Hallelujah."

Dannell Ellerbe
Starting with pass coverage, Ellerbe gave up three catches for one first down.  With about seven minutes left in the game, Ellerbe intercepted Brady off of McPhee's tip.  This came the next play after Wes Welker caught a 56 yard pass.  The last positive for Ellerbe was a pressure on Brady which caused a bad deep pass that ended up going out-of-bounds.  Also on this play, Ellerbe was able to take down Brady.  On the negative side Ellerbe was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty after slapping a Patriots offensive lineman when a play was over. Ellerbe was retaliating to a late block but, you can't do that in the NFL and he was flagged, even if his slap barely was anything.

Terrell Suggs
While Suggs is though of as a pass rusher, he is actually quite a good run defender and this was on full display yesterday.  Suggs had two run stops for no gain including one on a 2nd and 1.  In the pass rush department he wasn't able to record a sack (like all of the Ravens) but, still had at least two pressures.  The first was on the 4th and 4 with Haloti Ngata as already discussed.  The other was with under two minutes left where he hit Brady as he threw causing an incompletion.

Walking off the field, Suggs was overheard saying "Tell them to have fun at the Pro Bowl. Arrogant f—ers" and "These are the most arrogant pricks in the world starting with Belichick on down."  He also said "That's funny, ever since SpyGate they haven't been able to win" though I don't know if he said this one to reporters or if he was overheard like the other two.  He did respond to reporters saying "All BS aside they are a hell of a ball club … They have the right to be arrogant."  While he may believe this, there is no reason to say this but, on the positive side, he didn't come out and say it to the media, he was just overheard.  Either way, the Ravens don't need publicity like this, especially after these two controversial things about the Patriots.

Bernard Pollard
It seemed like Pollard was all over the field going full speed all night.  He finished with 9 tackles, 1 pass deflection, and 1 forced fumble.  In the run game, Pollard had a run stop for a gain of two yards.  In pass coverage, he only gave up one pass.  On a blitz he was able to bat down a pass at the line-of-scrimmage.  This batted pass came on 1st and goal from the Ravens two-yard line.  On a 3rd and 4 from the Ravens 19-yard line, he had great coverage and forced an incompletion.  Pollard had a big hit on a receiver but was called for a helmet-to-helmet hit.  However, he led with his shoulder on the play and his shoulder hit the receiver on his head so I am going to call this one a bad call.

Lastly is the play we all remember, his hit and forced fumble on Patriots RB Stevan Ridley.  Pollard hit Ridley hard and they both lowered their heads on the play so it was a helmet-to-helmet hit but since it was a running back it isn't a penalty.  Ridley was unconscious before he hit the ground and on his way down, the ball came out of his hands and was recovered by DT Arthur Jones.  Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said "That [Pollard's hit] was the turning point of the game. A tremendous hit, football at its finest."  This play goes in line with Pollard's history with the Patriots.  In 2008, it was Pollard that hit Brady when he tore his ACL.  In 2009, it was Pollard that Welker was trying to avoid when he tore his ACL.  In 2012, it was Pollard that injured Rob Gronkowski ankle which limited him in the Super Bowl.

Bernard Pollard

Ravens S Bernard Pollard goes in for a tackle.

Cary Williams
Williams had a solid performance last night only giving up four completions and one first down.  He also had a deflection on a 3rd and 2 that went right to Paul Kruger but, since the deflection took a weird bounce off of Williams, Kruger dropped it because he wasn't expecting the ball to come to him.  Lastly, Williams intercepted Brady in the end zone with 1:06 left in the game.  After this interception the Ravens just took a two knees and the game was over.

Corey Graham
Like Williams, Graham gave up four completions, however, three of his went for first downs and the other was for the Patriots only touchdown of the game.  The touchdown was on a 3rd and goal from the one.  After the play, Graham and Chykie Brown were upset because they didn't communicate well after the Patriots motioned a receiver over.  This led to Welker being open for the touchdown.  Graham was also beaten on the first drive on a 3rd and 2 but Welker dropped the pass.  On a pass that Welker didn't drop, Graham was beat deep for 56 yards.  He bit badly on the double move leaving Welker wide open.  Ending on a positive note, Graham had a run stop for a loss of one on a 3rd and 2 which forced a field goal by the Patriots.

Jimmy Smith
This game was the first time in a while that Smith received substantial playing time.  Brown started as the nickel corner and then Smith took it over.  By the end of the game it seemed like they were being rotated.  This could have been part of the game plan to put Graham on Welker instead of Brown doing that.  This would mean that Graham would be in the slot.  Since Smith is better on the outside than Brown, he would come in when in nickel.  This is just a speculation so it will be interesting to see who is the nickel corner in the Super Bowl.

John Harbaugh

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh celebrates the Ravens win in the locker room.

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by Matt Pearce

Dannell Ellerbe Questionable

January 19, 2013 in Injury Reports

Ravens

Dannell Ellerbe

Ravens starting ILB Dannell Ellerbe is questionable with ankle and back injuries.

Out
CB Asa Jackson (thigh)

Questionable
LB Dannell Ellerbe (ankle and back)
FB Vonta Leach (knee and ankle)
RB Bernard Pierce (knee)
WR David Reed (thigh)

Probable
RB Anthony Allen (head)
WR Anquan Boldin (shoulder)
CB Chykie Brown (shoulder)
DT Terrence Cody (ankle)
C Gino Gradkowski (head)
DT Arthur Jones (thigh and knee)
LB Ray Lewis (triceps)
LB Albert McClellan (shoulder)
DE Pernell McPhee (thigh)
DT Haloti Ngata (knee)
S Bernard Pollard (chest)
S Ed Reed (shoulder)
CB Jimmy Smith (abdominal)
WR Torrey Smith (back)
LB Terrell Suggs (achilles and biceps)
G Marshal Yanda (shoulder)

Patriots

*Note*  Earlier this week the Patriots placed TE Rob Gronkowski on injured reserve.

Probable
CB Marquice Cole (finger)
DE Chandler Jones (ankle)
OL Nick McDonald (shoulder)
DE Trevor Scott (knee)
RB Danny Woodhead (thumb)

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by Matt Pearce

Joe Flacco vs Tom Brady

January 19, 2013 in What to Look For

In what is a rematch of last year's AFC Championship Game, the Ravens will travel to Foxboro to face the New England Patriots.  These two teams played in week three and the Ravens prevailed 31-30.

1.  Quarterback Battle
A few years ago, when the Ravens and Patriots played, the main thing to watch was the Ravens defense going against Patriots QB Tom Brady. Now, with the way Ravens QB Joe Flacco has played, it is Joe Flacco vs Tom Brady.  Over the last few games, Flacco has stepped up to help the Ravens win.

So far in the postseason, Flacco and Brady are the top two quarterbacks based on a few statistics.  In QB rating, Flacco is first and Brady is second.  Out of the quarterbacks who have started a playoff game this season, Flacco and Brady are the only two to throw for zero interceptions. When you look at passing yards per game, Brady is first and Flacco is second and the only other quarterback  who is averaging over 300 yards per game is the Texans Matt Schaub.  Lastly, Flacco has thrown for five TDs which is two more than anyone else as five people, including Brady, have three touchdowns.

Now to the game, it very well could come down to the last drive, just like the last two times they have played.  In the regular season, Flacco led the Ravens down the field for a game winning field goal.  In last years AFC Championship Game, Flacco led the Ravens on a late drive but, Lee Evans dropped the game winning touchdown pass and then Billy Cundiff missed a short field goal to send the game to overtime.  In this sense, Flacco has the advantage but, you never know what Brady would have done if he had the ball on the last drive.  Also in the last two games, Flacco has outplayed Brady.  Flacco has gone 50-of-75 for 688 yards with 5 TDs, 2 INTs, and a QBR of 68.1.  Brady went 50-of-77 for 574 yards with 1 TD, 2 INTs, and a QBR of 78.8.

This game will come down to which quarterback plays the best and, it could come to whether one of these two can lead their team to a game winning drive.  Also, in the last two games against each other, Flacco and Brady each completed 22 passes and then 28 passes.

2.  Passing Game
While I just talked about Flacco vs Brady, we still need to take a look at how Flacco can perform great this week.  The Patriots ranked 29th in total passing yards and passing yards per game.  In their only playoff game this year, the Patriots gave up 343 pass yards.  In the postseason, most of Flacco's good performance has come from the deep passes.  He has averaged 10.75 yards per attempt so far this postseason.  Expect, the Ravens to try and use Torrey Smith to take the top off of the defense and then get the ball underneath to Anquan Boldin and Dennis Pitta. Smith had 127 yards on 6 catches with 2 TDs in the earlier matchup.  Boldin had 4 catches for 48 yards and Pitta had 5 catches for 50 yards and 1 TD.  Since the Patriots have proved they are susceptible to the passing game, expect the Ravens to attack that way early, and often.

Joe Flacco

Ravens QB Joe Flacco will need to outplay Patriots QB Tom Brady for the Ravens to win this week.

3.  Defense
While this may seem very broad, it is still an important topic.  Despite Brady being an elite quarterback, the Ravens are 2-2 in their last four games against him.  The main reason for this is the defense being able to contain Brady.  Brady hasn't been as effective as usual do to the defensive scheme.  Since the Ravens have played Tom Brady enough, they have been able to figure out something that works against Brady. Simplifying it, there are two ways to attack Brady.  The first is to blitz him and the other is to sit back in coverage.  In theory, blitzing works because Brady will have less time to throw but, if Brady identifies the blitz, he will change the play to get the ball out fast enough.  Dropping back in coverage would work in theory because it would be harder to find an open receiver but, you are only sending three or four rushers after Brady which will usually not be enough to get significant pressure.  This then gives Brady the time to find an open receiver because the secondary can't cover a receiver forever.  Therefore, you have to pick your times to blitz and try and confuse Brady.

4.  Ray Lewis and Ed Reed vs Tom Brady
Tying into confusing Brady is Lewis and Reed as it will be up to them to try and confuse Brady.  Lewis is the defensive leader and it will mainly be his responsibility to get people to line up and confuse Brady.  When Brady does audible, it will be up to Lewis to change the defensive alignment. For Reed, it is his job to switch the secondary assignments.  Combined, Lewis and Reed have enough experience to be able to get the Ravens in a good defense to defend against Brady.

More specifically to Reed, he will be the main player stopping the Patriots from passing deep.  Last week against the Broncos, Peyton Manning never even tested Reed in coverage which is very rare.  Based off this picture, Brady is very aware of what Reed can do but, expect Brady to attack Reed with a few deep passes as Reed no longer has the range he used to have.

Ed Reed

Patriots QB Tom Brady has great respect for Ravens S Ed Reed.

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by Matt Pearce

Ravens Stun Broncos in Double OT

January 13, 2013 in Observations

In the first double overtime game since the 2003 divisional playoffs, the 4th seed Baltimore Ravens beat the 1st seed Denver Broncos 38-35 in the 4th longest game in NFL history.  The 35 points given up by the Ravens are the most in franchise playoff history.  On the offensive side, the Ravens had an amazing 479 yards of offense.  Coming into the game, almost nobody gave the Ravens a chance to win but, they came together as a team to win this one.  The Ravens will play in the AFC Championship game on Sunday at 6:30 ET on the road against the winner of the Patriots Texans game today.

Coverage Units
If the Ravens lost this game, most of the blame would have gone to the punt and kickoff coverage units.  On the first punt of the game, they allowed Broncos returner Trindon Holliday to go 90 yards for a touchdown.  On the return, there was one Ravens player on the far side of the field (from a TV perspective), other that P Sam Koch.  Holliday just took the punt down the far side of the field and scored.  Brendon Ayanbadejo missed a tackle and Holliday was gone.  Giving up a punt return for a touchdown is one thing but, having about nine players on the wring side of the field is another.  Some of them should be their for contain but not nine of them.

They weren't done after allowing that punt return either.  To start second half, the Ravens kicked off.  Holliday took the ball out of his endzone and ran it 104 yards for a touchdown.  On this play, Holliday just found a hole and made the most of it.  He touched but, there wasn't a good tackle attempt on the return.  With these two plays, Holliday had the longest punt and kick return touchdowns in NFL postseason history.  After these two plays, Holliday never really had a good opportunity to return a punt or kick because the Ravens did the right thing and kicked away from him.

Referees
I just want to make a quick note about the referees.  Throughout the game there were questionable calls that went against both teams.  They also took a long time to make some decisions and what to call.

Joe Flacco
In the regular season matchup against the Broncos, Flacco had a QBR of 0.4.  This week, Flacco led a late comeback to tie the game in regulation and then played good in overtime.  With this win, he now has five playoff road wins and will play in his 3rd AFC Championship game in only five seasons.  Starting with the stats, he went 18-of-34 for 331 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 1 fumble, a QBR of 65.3, and a QB rating of 116.2. Throughout the game, Flacco's snap count was good as he was able to get the Broncos to jump offsides at least three times.  He was also aware enough to snap the ball when the Broncos had twelve men on the field.  Part of the Ravens gameplan was to throw the ball downfield and Flacco was able to do this.  He was able to accomplish this by averaging 18.4 yards per completion.  Early in the game he had a perfect deep pass to Torrey Smith for a 59 yard touchdown.  A little bit later, Flacco overthrew Smith who had a few steps on his man again.  This also would have been a touchdown.  In overtime, he had a great pass to Dennis Pitta on 3rd and 13 for a first down.  On the negative side, he fumbled a snap at midfield and the Broncos were able to recover it.  With four minutes left in OT, he had an interception dropped near midfield.

The play that impressed me the most was the 70 yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones with 31 seconds left in regulation.  Not only did this tie the game up, Flacco did a great job on this play.  It was a 3rd and 3 and as soon as the ball was snapped, Flacco was under pressure from the outside.  Due to this pressure, Flacco stepped up in the pocket and threw it about 55 yards in the air.  This was a great play because Flacco rarely steps up into the pocket and makes a pass.  This is the sign of an elite quarterback.  If you watch Peyton Manning, you will notice that he steps up in the pocket most of the time when he feels pressure.  This is a great thing to be able to do as a quarterback.

Overall, Flacco's performance is the sign of an elite quarterback.  He was able to led his team on a game tying drive with about one minute left, on the road, against the number two defense in the NFL, in the playoffs.  He was also able to outperform one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, Peyton Manning, who finished with 2 interceptions and 1 fumble.

Joe Flacco

Ravens QB Joe Flacco celebrates his game tying touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones.

Ray Rice
After fumbling twice last week, Rice turned in a great performance.  On 30 carries, Rice was able to gain 131 yards and 1 touchdown.  It seemed like most of his carries came in the second half and overtime.  At one point in overtime, almost every first down play was a run to Rice.  Of his 30 rushes, 3 of them went for first downs (by my count).  The first of these was the Ravens first 3rd down conversion in the game.  The second of these was a 32 yard run that put the Ravens inside the Broncos 5-yard line.  On the ensuing 3rd and goal, Rice was able to run for the touchdown from one yard out.  This touchdown gave Rice his five career postseason touchdowns which is a Ravens team record.

Anquan Boldin
Boldin continues to be a first down machine for the Ravens offense.  He had 6 catches for 71 yards on 11 targets.  Of his 6 catches, 5 went for first downs.  One of these first downs was on the final drive in the 1st half.  Another first down was on the first drive of overtime.  Every time the Ravens needed a first down, Flacco would look for Boldin.

Torrey Smith
While Boldin is a first down machine, Smith is the big play receiver.  He had 3 catches for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns on 6 targets.  Each of his catches was for a touchdown or a first down.  The first touchdown was for 59 yards on 2nd and 2.  Smith went deep and just ran right past Broncos star CB Champ Bailey.  This touchdown was needed because the Broncos had just returned a punt for a touchdown.  This touchdown is the 2nd longest passing play in Ravens postseason history.  The second touchdown was with 36 seconds left in the 1st half.  Smith went deep on Bailey again and again scored on him.  Flacco threw the ball a little behind to try and give Smith a better opportunity.  Smith was able to stop his momentum and catch the ball while Bailey couldn't.  With his second touchdown, Smith became the first Ravens player to have two receiving touchdowns in a playoff game.  In overtime, Smith was able to draw a pass interference on a 3rd and 5 play on the Ravens first drive.  This drive didn't result in points but it helped in the field position battle.  Throughout the game, Smith was beating one of the best cornerbacks in the game, Champ Bailey, on the deep passes.

Jacoby Jones
Before his 70 yard touchdown catch, Jones wasn't having a good game.  On a kickoff, he wasn't able to catch it properly and after he got the ball, he was only able to get the ball to about the 6-yard line.  Even worse than this, was his drop on 3rd and 5 with 3 minutes left.  Flacco put the pass right in hands and Jones dropped it.  After the Ravens couldn't convert the 4th down play, it looked like the game was over.  However, Jones more than made up for his drop with his 70 yard touchdown catch with 31 seconds left.  Before this play happened, the Broncos had a 97.2% chance of winning according to ESPN Stats and Information.  On the play, Jones was able to run past the cornerback and the safety took a bad angle and run under the pass.  Once Jones caught it he had a free run to the endzone.  Other than that play, he had 1 catch for 7 yards on 4 targets.

Jacoby Jones

Ravens WR Jacoby Jones catches his game tying touchdown.

Tight Ends
In the first meeting between these two teams, backup TE Ed Dickson was injured and didn't play.  This meant the Ravens couldn't run many two TE sets.  These week he was healthy and the Ravens ran many two TE sets.  Dickson had 3 catches for 29 yards on 4 targets.  Two of these catches went for first downs.  Starter Dennis Pitta had 3 catches for 55 yards on 5 targets.  He had three first downs including one on the final drive in the 1st half and a 3rd and 13 from their own 3-yard line in overtime.

Offensive Line
There aren't enough good things that I can say about the offensive line after that game.  The biggest key on offense was the offensive line.  The line stood up to the challenge and gave Flacco lots of time to throw all game long.  They allowed 1 sack but that was a coverage sack as Flacco just couldn't find anyone to pass to.  In the running game, they opened up holes all game long.  While the longest run was only 32 yards, there were lots of runs for about 5 yards.  The line was only called for one penalty and that was a false start on LG Kelechi Osemele.  The other guard, Marshal Yanda, was very impressive because of two plays.  The first was Rice's touchdown run.  Yanda pulled and took out his guy, pushing him down into the endzone.  This block allowed Rice to score.  The other play was the last play of the first OT.  Rice ran the ball and was being held up but, Yanda came over and pushed the pile for about 2 yards which was enough to get the first down and, more importantly, put the Ravens in field goal range to win the game.

Pernell McPhee
McPhee's name was only called once yesterday but it was for a great play.  On a 3rd and 11, McPhee, as well as a few others, was able to get pressure on Peyton Manning.  McPhee was able to hit the ball out of Manning's hand.  The Ravens recovered this fumble at the Broncos 37-yard line.  McPhee finished with 2 tackles but, this play was huge for the Ravens as they hadn't been getting any pressure on Manning.  In fact, in the 1st half, the Ravens didn't get any pressure on 22 passes but, in the 2nd half, they had 10 pressures on 24 passes.

Terrell Suggs
Let's continue with the Ravens who had sacks.  Suggs had the Ravens other two sacks.  The first was a complicated sack of Manning.  On the play, Manning fumbled and it looked like the Ravens recovered.  However, it looked like Manning's knee was down on the replays that were shown.  This didn't even end up mattering because both Suggs and Cary Williams were called for illegal use of hands to the face.  The call on Suggs was ticky tack and there never was a replay to show what Williams did.  Despite all this, Suggs still got credit for a sack and a forced fumble.  This was the first time that Suggs ever sacked Manning.  The second sack came on a 3rd and 4 on the Broncos drive after Rice scored his touchdown.  Suggs pushed his lineman back right into Manning.  In pass coverage, Suggs gave up one completion.  Suggs was able to finish with 10 tackles and his two sacks were the first for him since week 12 against the Chargers.

Terrell Suggs

Ravens LB Terrell Suggs celebrates one of his two sacks against the Broncos with teammate DE Pernell McPhee.

Paul Kruger
While Kruger didn't get a sack yesterday, he still had pressure and recorded 2 QB hits.  One of these was on the Broncos first offensive play in overtime and the other was on the play were Manning threw his last interception, which set up the Ravens to win the game.  This second pressure was very important.  Kruger forced Manning to scramble out of the pocket and Manning then tried to throw across his body but, it was intercepted. On McPhee's sack, Kruger had some pressure and was able to recover the fumble.  In the run game, Kruger had a run stop for a loss of one.  In the passing game, he gave up one completion and was able to blow up a WR screen.  He forced Manning to just throw the ball into the ground on this play because Kruger was right in the way.

Dannell Ellerbe
Like the last few weeks, this was another solid game for Ellerbe.  He allowed 4 catches for 1 touchdown.  The touchdown came when he had to lineup at cornerback because of the Broncos formation.  Therefore, you can't exactly blame Ellerbe for this as he never has to play out there.  He was able to breakup a 2nd and 5 slant route which would have been a first down.  In run defense, Ellerbe stopped a 2nd and 1 run play for no gain with 2 minutes left in overtime.  Earlier in the game, he was called for a facemask on a play where his hand just grazed the helmet of the ball carrier.  Ellerbe finished with 9 tackles and 1 pass defense.

Ray Lewis
When you look at the box score, one stat that sticks out is the 17 tackles that Lewis had.  This is an amazing total, especially for a 37 year old linebacker.  Lewis is giving it his all to make it back to the Super Bowl for one last time.  When in pass coverage, Lewis gave up 3 completions for 1 first down.  He was also called for a pass interference call.  However, the pass interference probably was better than what would have happened if the receiver caught the ball as there was an open field behind Lewis.  Lewis made one great play in run defense.  He broke through the line and stopped the running back for a loss of 3 yards after Courtney Upshaw slowed him down a little.  Most importantly, Lewis was able to get the defense to stop the Broncos and not let them run the clock out at the end of the 4th quarter.  Even though they gave up a first down almost right away, they didn't give up another and gave the offense about one minute to score.

Corey Graham
If you had to pick a defensive MVP for this game, it would be Graham.  This is because of his two interception.  First though, lets talk about the other things he did.  He allowed 3 completions for 1 touchdown.  The touchdown was just a great pass by Manning and there really wasn't much that Graham could have done.  Graham blitzed a few times and on one of them, he was able force Manning to throw the ball away.  Now on to the interception.  The first came on a 3rd and 7 and was Manning's second pass of the game.  Chykie Brown had good coverage on the play and was able to deflect the ball right to Graham who then went untouched for a 39 yard touchdown.  This gave the Ravens a 14-7 lead only 5 minutes into the game.  His interception for a touchdown is the fifth in Ravens playoff history.  The second interception was just as important as the first. There was 51 seconds left in the first overtime. Kruger's pressure forced Manning out of the pocket and Graham was able to step in front of Manning's pass.  Since there was no return, the ball was at the Broncos 45-yard line.  With the second interception, Graham became the 6th player to have a two interception game in the past five postseasons.  Interestingly, he becomes the 3rd Raven to do this in the same span along with Ed Reed and Lardarius Webb.

Corey Graham

Ravens CB Corey Graham intercepts a pass and this sets the Ravens up at the Broncos 45-yard line with 51 seconds left in the first overtime.

Cary Williams
All four of the passes that Williams allowed went for first downs.  He also had two penalties that gave first downs to the Broncos.  The first was an illegal hand to the face and the other was a holding call.  The holding was on a 3rd and 3 and negated a good pass breakup by himself.  A positive for Williams was a nice hit that broke up a pass.

Chykie Brown
As said above, Brown had great coverage on Graham's interception return for a touchdown.  In pass coverage, Brown allowed 2 catches for 1 first down.  The only other thing of note was that he was called for a helmet-to-helmet hit when his helmet hit the receiver in the facemask.

Ed Reed
All throughout the game, Reed's name wasn't called much.  However, that was actually a good thing for the Ravens, and not because Reed isn't good.  The reason is that Manning wasn't passing it downfield very much.  Almost all of the Broncos passes were either in the short or intermediate range.  Manning obviously didn't want to test Reed in such an important game.  Other than this, Reed was late coming over on Knowshon Moreno's touchdown run and missed an tackle on Demaryius Thomas's touchdown catch.

Justin Tucker
Now Tucker has his first game winning kick in the playoffs.  He kicked a 47 yard field goal in the second overtime to win the game for the Ravens.  This was the 4th longest overtime field goal in playoff history and was the longest kicked by a rookie.  Tucker said that in warmups, he made a 67 yard field goal.  During the break between the first and second overtime, Tucker went out to take a few practice kicks because the Ravens were close to getting a field goal.  I have never seen this happen before and according Mike Pereira, there is no penalty for this but, referees are told to not allow this to happen.  These practice kicks were important to Tucker because they helped him gauge the wind in the stadium.  After the game, when asked about the game, Tucker said "Nobody wavered, we were all confident in each other."  The decision to keep Tucker over veteran Billy Cundiff looks even better now.  Nobody knows what Cundiff would have done in the same situation but, his miss in the AFC Championship game last year would have had to be in the back of his head.

Justin Tucker

Ravens K Justin Tucker celebrates his game winning 47 yard field goal.

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