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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

Predicting Ravens Schedule (First Half)

April 22, 2013 in NFL SCHEDULE

By Alan Zlotorzynski: On Thursday night, the NFL announced the schedule for the 2013 season and aside from the opening night debacle for the Super Bowl Champions, the Baltimore Ravens have been saddled with a very manageable schedule.

In terms of strength, the Ravens own the fifth toughest in the league, but a deeper look inside shows the Ravens will have an opportunity to play the tough part in the friendly confines of M&T Bank Stadium where head coach John Harbaugh and his newly minted Super Bowl MVP signal caller are almost unbeatable.18_ScheduleAnnouncement_news

Since taking over in 2008, Harbs and Joe Flacco are a cool 33-7 at home and 21-19 on the road. Aside from the usual cast of AFC North characters, the Steelers, Bengals and Browns, the Ravens will host the Texans, Packers, Jets, Vikings and Patriots.

According to last season’s finish, these teams posted a combined record of 72-54 (.578), which has the Ravens playing the fourth toughest home schedule. Where this gets easier, or at least if you believe strength of schedule is a solid stat in April, is when the Champs take to the road.

Away from the Charm city, the Ravens, of course will make return trips to The Burgh, Cincy and Cleveland. They will also visit Denver, Buffalo, Miami, Chicago and Detroit. These teams did not do as well as the ones visiting Baltimore. The combined record of the Ravens scheduled road teams was 63-65 (.492).

This is tricky to predict when you consider the following factors. First, the Browns made a significant impact in the free agent market this offseason and have former Ravens pass rusher and leading sacker from last season, Paul Kruger. What may offset a split with Browns and possibly the Bengals is the fact that the Steelers did not get better, not yet at least. In fact, losing Mike Wallace and many of their veteran leaders are forcing many to argue whether Pittsburgh is the worst team in the North heading into 2013.

I even heard a diehard Steeler’s fan recite that horrible word, which many stalwart franchises never seem to use but the Steelers may not be able to help—–rebuild.  Don’t bet on it Ravens fans, the Steelers still return one of the best secondary’s from a defense that ranked first in the league in 2012. Losing players such as James Harrison and Mike Wallace may hurt the Steelers in the short term but it always worked out for Big Ben and company somehow. Pittsburgh has been one of the best organizations through the years when it comes to addition through subtraction.

The Dolphins figure to be improved and the entire NFC North will be tough. The Lions should be vastly improved over a 4-12 record, and it is possible that the division could send three teams to this year’s playoffs. Factor in playing a first place schedule and the schedule while manageable, is no cupcake.

Unlike last year, the Ravens do catch a few breaks this season. Their bye week is right in the middle of the season during Week 8 and twice this season, Harbaugh’s troops will have 10 days to rest, with only one of those games, at home vs. the Steelers on Thanksgiving night, coming on four days’ rest.

The Ravens longest road trip is only two games and that happens twice in the first eight weeks of the season. They travel to play Buffalo and Miami in weeks four and five and then the travel to Pittsburgh and Cleveland in weeks seven and nine but the bye week prevents the Ravens from feeling like they have been gone two weeks in a row. They play four of their final six games at home but play the Lions on a Monday night in the Motor City before returning home to play the Patriots on a Sunday night the following week, in late December.

In all, I think there are far more pros than cons to this year’s schedule. You will not find a cross-country trip to San Diego sandwiched between two games vs. the Steelers. You will also not see the Ravens play four games in 17-days to kick off the season, thank God!

With that in mind, here are my predictions for the Baltimore Ravens 2013 schedule, game-by-game:

Week 1- Ravens at Denver Broncos Thursday Sept 5 (8:30 NBC)

The Ravens, thanks to "Dem O's" open on the road.

The Ravens, thanks to "Dem O's" open on the road.

This game will forever be known as Bird-gate, in that only one of the “Birds” in town were able to open their gates in Baltimore for a game on this day. As we all know, those Birds wear orange with their black. However, the game is in Denver and that is OK Ravens fans, even if the Ravens come home to face Cleveland 0-1.

Which they will by the way——be 0-1 to start the season. While it is true that the “fax” surrounding new Ravens pass rusher Elvis Dumervil’s arrival in Baltimore may never be known, he will have revenge on his mind as he tries to sack Peyton Manning. Nevertheless, the Ravens won there in January and Dumervil is one of 22 for the Ravens that will take the field that night. Denver will have all 22 players looking to serve up a little revenge of their own and when you factor in opening night in the NFL and many new players on defense for the Champs, this may start well but may look ugly by night’s end.

 

Denver 34 Baltimore 17

Ravens Record (0-1)

One more thing about this game. The Ravens had to travel to play the Broncos at some point this season. This was the best possible choice for them to do so. Week 1 games are always full of mistakes and almost never crisp, which could work in Baltimore’s favor. That is why it may look good early but get ugly late. At least the Ravens will have a min-bye with 10-days off until they host the Cleveland Browns at the big ATM in their home opener.

Week 2 Sept.15 Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns (1:00 p.m. CBS)

Joe Flacco’s record in Week 1 since taking over the starting job in 2008 is 5-0. He has averaged 241 yards with eight touchdowns and tossed only two interceptions with an average QB rating of 106.2. Week 2 has been an entirely different story. Flacco has been horrible and that is putting it mildly. He is 2-3 and has averaged 180 passing yards with five touchdowns and 10 interceptions. To put that into perspective, Flacco has thrown almost 18-percent of his career interceptions in Week 2.

The Jekyll and Hyde show is in reverse this season. The Champs celebrate their championship flag rising with the Ravens crazies by blasting the Brownies, as Flacco shows why he was worth at least a portion of his $126 million contract.

Ravens 41 Browns 21

Ravens Record (1-1)

Week 3 Sept. 22 Ravens vs. Houston Texans (1:00 p.m. CBS)

This is going to be the first of few homecomings this season for the Ravens as Ed Reed comes home to face his old team. The fans of Baltimore will love and gush all over No.20 but Flacco and Company have the capability to expose their former teammate. Unless Reed found a fountain of youth, Flacco is one of the best at doing what Reed can no longer defend with consistency, the deep ball.

This will be all about No.20

This will be all about No.20

The Texans had a league-high nine Pro Bowlers and skill position players at the top of several statistical categories. Wide receiver Andre Johnson finished second in the NFL with 1,598 receiving yards and Running back Arian Foster was sixth in the NFL with 1,424 rushing yards and led the league with 15 rushing TDs. In addition, defensive end J.J. Watt led the NFL with 20.5 sacks and was named Defensive Player of the Year.

Still yet, the Texans are missing that “something” they need to get over the hump. I can assure you it is not a 35-year old safety (born Sept 11) with constant neck and shoulder problems. Houston delivered quite a blow to a down and out Ravens team depleted with defensive injuries in Week 7 last year. The Texans thumped Reeds old team by 30 points in Houston. The Ravens have not forgotten and John Harbaugh is sure to remind them all week leading up to the game.

With less than a minute to play and the game tied, Flacco hits Torrey Smith with a long completion as he catches Ed Reed creeping, sound familiar——-Justin Tucker makes Reed pay even more and while the Ravens do not win by 30, they will win the game. Reed flies back to Houston on Owner Bob McNair’s private jet—end of story.

Ravens 27 Houston Texans 24

Ravens Record (2-1)

Week 4 Sept. 29 Ravens at Buffalo Bills (1:00 p.m. CBS)

It is entirely possible that Buffalo is playing with a rookie quarterback by this point in the season. I can see no reason why the Ravens do not finish the first quarter of the season with a win in Buffalo and record of 3-1. This will be the Ravens and Bills sixth meeting with Buffalo winning the only meeting between the two teams in Western NY.

Rian Lindell kicked four field goals and Marshawn Lynch scored on a one-yard TD run to spoil Willis McGahee’s warm homecoming, 19-14 back in Week 7 of the 2007 season. This loss would mark the beginning of the end in the Brian Billick era. Including this loss, the Ravens would lose nine straight games, winning just once more all season. Billick was fired shortly after the season ended, as Baltimore finished 5-11. No worries on this day, as Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce steal the show against a defense that was 31st vs. the run last season.

Ravens 30 Buffalo Bills 10

Ravens Record (3-1)

Week 5 Oct. 6 Ravens at Miami Dolphins (1:00 p.m. CBS)

Ellerbe with 35 million reasons to smile

Ellerbe with 35 million reasons to smile

Homecoming, or at least playing against your original team part two for the Ravens, as they take their talents to South Beach to play Dannell Ellerbe and the Miami Dolphins. I do not buy for one second that the Ravens were caught off guard in losing Ellerbe. If he were as great as his contract is paying him, then he would have been a starter two years ago in Baltimore. Do not misunderstand me, I like Ellerbe I agree with Trevor Pryce when he said Ray Lewis should give his Super Bowl check to Ellerbe for his play in the big game compared to Lewis’, who looked beat on just about every snap. However, that check was for $88,000 (loser got half of that amount) and not $437,500, which is what Ellerbe will be getting from Miami after every game for signing a five-year $35 million deal. The Ravens will need to be careful here. The Dolphins are an improving team and could land in the playoffs if a few things go right for head coach Joe Philbin this season. Do not forget they have former Steelers receiver, the speedy Mike Wallace, who gave the Ravens, fits at times.

Baltimore has had mixed success in south Florida. They are 2-0 there in the playoffs winning 27-9 in 2009 and 20-3 in 2002. However, the Ravens have just one regular season win in Miami in five tries. Their most notable loss occurred there during the nine game losing streak in 2007. Led by head coach Cam Cameron—that’s right—the former Ravens offensive coordinator, the Dolphins entered the Week. 15 contest winless on the season (0-13). However, the game went into overtime after Billick’s team surrendered a 10-point halftime lead and lost in the extra session. Matt Stover missed a 26-yard field goal to win the game and on the ensuing drive, the Dolphins would earn their first—and only win of the 2007 season. They did so on the arm of legendary Dolphins QB Cleo Lemon. He hit Greg Camarillo with a quick slant across the middle and Camarillo out ran Ed Reed to end zone for a 64-yard touchdown and the win. The Dolphins celebrated as if they won the Super Bowl and the banging heard on the Ravens sideline was the final nails being hammered in to Brian Billick’s coaching coffin in Baltimore.

Luckily, for the Ravens Cleo Lemon has been out of the league since 2008, as that win represented 33.3 percent of his career total. Instead it’s Ryan Tannehill and I like the Ravens chances here considering the Dolphins are coming off a short week after having played the Saints on Monday Night Football. It will be another close one but I like Flacco to outduel Tannehill for the “W”.

Ravens 24 Miami Dolphins 20

Ravens Record (4-1)

Week 6 Oct. 13 Ravens vs. Green Bay Packers (1:00 p.m. FOX)

Let’s not kid ourselves here; Aaron Rodgers comes to town with a little chip on his shoulder, intent on outperforming Joe Cool in his own backyard. I can see the FOX promos now, Rodgers and the Packers visit M&T Bank Stadium to take on Joe Flacco and the Super Bowl Champs.

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman made their first appearance at M&T last December when the Ravens opened up a can on the Giants. FOX’s top team will be back for this one and it should be a good one.

Flacco Vs. Rodgers on FOX

Flacco Vs. Rodgers on FOX

The Packers will need to get a running game during the rest of this offseason to help Rodgers but I see a potential second loss for the Ravens here. They will not go 15-1 this season and losing to the Packers is no crime. Three of the Ravens four meetings have taken place at Lambeau Field, with the last one in December of 2009. The Ravens lost that contest, 27-14. Aaron Rodgers threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns, while Flacco was not at his sophomore best. Joe Cool threw for 137-yards and three interceptions. While I expect Flacco to be much better this time, this will be a shootout and Rodgers will once again prevail.

Green Bay Packers 37 Ravens 31

Ravens Record (4-2)

Week 7 Oct 20. Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers (4:25 p.m. CBS)

The Ravens and Steelers get this rivalry back to normal in this one and what I mean by normal is splitting the regular season games with the home team winning. You may not like losing two in a row but it comes on the cusp of the bye week.

547464_106111116228266_678355869_nYes, the Steelers are not as talented as they were two years ago but they are the Steelers and this is one of the best rivalries in the game and records are tossed out the windows in these games. You know how we keep referring back to 2007 in this piece, the 4-11 Ravens beat the 10-5 Steelers to end their nine game slide that season.  The talk shows in Baltimore will be blowing up on Monday as the Ravens enter the bye week at only 4-3. Flacco will be not worth the money, it was the players in the October 2012 near mutiny that were right, and Harbaugh is losing his mind.

It will be all of the usual ready to jump off the ledge stuff that Ravens fans spew when the hometown boys lose a few in a row.

The bottom line is, the Ravens used the first seven games to get their defense in sync and their offense on the same page, as OC Jim Caldwell is in his first full season calling plays. Three points have decided eight of the previous 10 regular season games between these two teams, and four points decided another; this one will be no different.

Pittsburgh Steelers 17 Ravens 14

Ravens Record (4-3)

Week 9 Ravens at Cleveland Browns

The Ravens return from the bye week where head coach John Harbaugh is 5-0 during his stay in Baltimore. The Ravens beat the Browns 25-15 following the bye week last season. The win helped settle down a fan base that wasn't happy after the Ravens entered the off-week following a 30-point loss to the Texans. A win here in Cleveland could very-well do the same thing after I have them losing two in a row before the bye this upcoming season.

If the Browns draft a quarterback early in the 2013 NFL Draft, as new team owner Jimmy “Flying J” Haslem wants them to, it is likely the Ravens could be facing their second rookie of the season in Week 9. Current Browns QB and card-carrying AARP member, (just kidding) Brandon Weeden is not the short-term answer and at 30 years old by the time this game kicks off, the future either. The Ravens enter the 2013 season having won 10 in a row and based on my prediction from Week 2, make it 11 heading into this contest. Following a Ravens win in this contest, we can call it a “Dirty Dozen”. Besides, with Pro Bowl kicker Phil Dawson gone, who is going to score the points against the Ravens?

Ravens 30 Cleveland Browns 14

Ravens record after the first half of the season, 5-3

Log onto Fanspeak.com on Tuesday to read the Ravens second half of the season schedule breakdown. Will Flacco and company finish better than 10-6 or will they even get to 10 wins. I have the answers. You can also check out my Ravens draft special on Wednesday when I tell you why Ozzie Newsome may actually do something he rarely does on draft day to get his man. Trade up! Be sure to check back to see who are the possible trade partners are for the Wizzard.

 

 

 

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Picture of Matt Pearce

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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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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by Matt Pearce

All Ravens Probable

January 11, 2013 in Injury Reports

Ravens

*Note*  Earlier today the Ravens placed G Jah Reid on injured reserve and activated CB Asa Jackson.

Jah Reid

Earlier today the Ravens placed G Jah Reid on injured reserve.

Probable
WR Anquan Boldin (shoulder)
WR Tandon Doss (ankle)
LB Dannell Ellerbe (ankle)
LB Adrian Hamilton (illness)
FB Vonta Leach (knee and ankle)
LB Ray Lewis (triceps)
LB Albert McClellan (shoulder)
DE Pernell McPhee (thigh)
DT Haloti Ngata (knee)
RB Bernard Pierce (knee)
S Bernard Pollard (chest)
S Ed Reed (shoulder)
WR David Reed (thigh)
CB Jimmy Smith (abdomen)
WR Torrey Smith (back)
LB Terrell Suggs (biceps and achilles)
G Marshal Yanda (shoulder)

Broncos

Out
CB Tracy Porter (concussion)

Probable
WR Trindon Holliday (ankle)
OT Ryan Clady (shoulder)
S Jim Leonhard (thigh)
OT Orlando Franklin (knee)
S Mike Adams (knee)
G Chris Kuper (ankle)
WR Matt Willis (knee)

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by Matt Pearce

Ravens Advance To Face Broncos

January 7, 2013 in Observations

In a very emotional Wild Card matchup, the 4th seed Baltimore Ravens defeated the 5th seed Indianapolis Colts by a score of 24-9 in what was Ravens star LB Ray Lewis's last home game.  Lewis will retire at the end of the season.  With this win the Ravens final record at home when Lewis plays is an amazing 81-36-1.  That works out to be a winning percentage of .686, to put this in perspective that is an 11-5 record if it was for one season.  On the offensive side, the Ravens set a single-game playoff team record for total yards with 441.  This win marks the 5th straight year that the Ravens have made it to the divisional playoff round.  Next week the Ravens will travel to Denver to face the 1st seed Broncos on Saturday at 4:30 pm ET.

Joe Flacco
With the way the defense was playing today, Flacco did exactly what he had to do to win this game.  The defense may have allowed 419 yards but, they only allowed 9 points which made Flacco's job way easier.  All he had to do was not lose the game and, he did better than that. Completing 12-of-23 passes, Flacco threw for 282 yards, 2 TDs, a QBR of 89.5, and a QB rating of 125.6.  His 52 completion percentage may not look good but, he was able to throw for 282 yards on his 12 completion which is an average of 23.5 yards per completion.  Flacco did have an interception dropped early in the game but this was his worst play.  On his touchdown pass to Dennis Pitta, Flacco did a good job of escaping the pressure and finding Pitta.  Throughout the game, Flacco was able to throw the deep ball well and was lofting it in very well, especially to Anquan Boldin.

Ray Rice
This was a very uncharacteristic game for Ray Rice.  In the regular season, Rice only had one fumble and that was against the Steelers in week 11.  Against the Colts, Rice fumbled not once, but twice.  Both of these fumbles occurred inside Indianapolis territory, once at the 15 and the other at the 40.  Thankfully for the Ravens, and Rice, neither of the fumbles led to points for the Colts.  These fumbles led to backup Bernard Pierce being used more in the game than the gameplan probably called for.  Rice finished with 15 carries and Pierce had 13.  On Rice's 15 carries, he went for 70 yards.  In the passing game, Rice only had one catch on 4 targets but, it was a very important catch.  It was a screen pass that went for 47 yards and put the Ravens at the Colts 2-yard line with under 1 minute left in the 1st half.  On the next play, FB Vonta Leach ran in for the touchdown.  Overall, Rice will need to hold on to the ball if the Ravens want to make it far in the playoffs.

Ray Rice

Ravens RB Ray Rice fumbles the ball.

Bernard Pierce
Pierce was the beneficiary of Rice's fumbles.  These fumbles allowed Pierce to be in the game and, as usual, he made the most of it.  He ran for 103 yards on 13 carries with a long of 43 yards.  Of his 13 carries, 4 of them went for first downs.  One of these was a nice 18 yard run that put the Ravens inside the Colts 10-yard line.  His other great run was the 43 yarder.  It was a 3rd and 1 run to the right side.  he received a few good blocks and was off to the races.  With his play, Pierce keeps showing that he could be a starting running back in the NFL.

Torrey Smith
If you go by the box score, Smith didn't have much of an impact on the game but, in fact, he did have an impact.  The box score says he had 2 catches for 31 yards on 4 targets which is pretty uneventful.  One of these catches was for a first down and, it was a leaping catch for 22 yards. I still find it hard to see how he was able to jump high enough to catchup the ball.  Smith was able to get another first down by drawing a pass interference at the Colts 15-yard line.  Thats not all, Smith also had some good block, which is rare for a wide receiver.  On Rice's screen pass, Smith was blocking way downfield and had his guy engaged all the time until Rice passed him.  This downfield block allowed Rice to get to the 2-yard line.  The other good block by Smith came on Pitta's touchdown catch.  At around the 5-yard line, Smith blocked his man which allowed Pitta to get into the endzone.

Anquan Boldin
One word to describe Boldin's performance: record-setting.  Ok that may be cheating but, he still had a great game.  Before the game, Boldin felt he was going to have a great game.  He went up to Flacco and said he felt like 200 yards today.  How big of a day did Boldin have?  Well, he set the Ravens single-game receiving playoff record with 145 yards.  This 100 yard game is only the 3rd time a Ravens receiver has gone over 100 yards in the playoff.  The last Ravens receiver to do this?  Anquan Boldin.  All of his 145 yards came in the 2nd half of the game despite having 2 targets in the 1st half.  These 145 yards in the 2nd half are the most in the playoffs since Jerry Rice had 157 in Super Bowl XXIII.  Boldin had 5 catches for those 145 yards which is an average of 29 yards per catch.  Of these 5 catches, 4 went for first downs, and the other went for a touchdown.  One catch was on a 3rd and 19.  Boldin went deep and caught a 50 yard pass.  He ran an out and up on another play for 46 yard where Flacco placed the ball perfectly over Boldin's shoulder.  Boldin's touchdown catch was for 19 yards.  It was a jump ball and the cornerback had his hand on the ball but, Boldin still corralled the ball.

After the game, Boldin said "I just wanted to go out and give everything,” Boldin said. “I think everyone in this locker room wanted to make sure this wasn’t our last game. I think we all have a goal in mind and we’re focused in on that goal. The only way we’re going to get there is if we go out there and give our all on the field."  He also said "I was real motivated [today],” Boldin said. “I’ve said it before, I came to Baltimore to win a championship. That’s my goal."

Anquan Boldin

Ravens WR Anquan Boldin goes up for a pass that he will catch for a touchdown.

Tight Ends
While both tight ends for the Ravens may have combined for 3 catches, all of these catches were important.  Lets start with the starter, Dennis Pitta.  He had 2 catches for 27 yards.  One of his catches was a 7 yard first down.  The other was a 20 yard crossing route that went for a touchdown.  Ed Dickson only had 1 catch for 24 yards.  This catch was the Ravens first, first down of the game and got the Ravens rolling on offense.

Offensive Line
Overall, the offensive line played well, especially when you consider the Ravens never used this line during the regular season.  Due to starting LG Jah Reid being out, the line go shuffled up.  Normal RT Kelechi Osemele went to LG, normal LT Michael Oher went to RT, and Bryant McKinnie came in at LT.  The line only allowed 1 sack for a loss 13 yards.  On this play, the pass rusher was never blocked on a play action pass.

On Pierce's 18 yard run, both C Matt Birk and RG Marshal Yanda had great blocks.  Yanda pushed his man 10 yards downfield and Birk probably blocked his man 7 yards downfield.  Yanda also had a great block on Pierce's 43 yard run.  Pierce ran behind him and Yanda blocked his man down (to his left).  Along with Oher's great block to the outside, this springed Pierce for the big gain.

Speaking of Oher, that play was probably his best of the game, as the rest goes downfield.  He twice allowed pressure which caused Flacco to throw the ball away.  Penalty wise, he was only called for one.  It was a 2nd and 10 on the Colts 15-yard line and Oher was called for a false start.

McKinnie had a great game.  He played good enough to question what the line will look like next week.  Obviously is Reid can't play, it will stay like this.  If Reid can play, it will be interesting to see if the coaches go with this line because it played so good or if they go with the normal line.

Paul Kruger
One word to describe Kruger's performance: domination.  Recently, Kruger has been on fire and the playoffs did nothing to stop that.  With his 2.5 sacks yesterday, Kruger now has 10 sacks in his last 9 games after only getting 1.5 in his first 7 games.  These 2.5 sacks don't give enough credit to Kruger for how he played.  There were two other instances when Kruger failed to bring down Andrew Luck for a sack.  After the first time this happened, Kruger made up for it later in the drive with his first sack.  It was a 3rd and 5 on Ravens territory on the drive after Rice's first fumble.  Kruger was able to knock the ball out of Luck's hands.  Pernell McPhee was then able to recover the fumble.  His next sack was his half sack were he split it with Corey Graham for a loss of 6.  Finally, his last sack was on a 3rd and 10 where he just ran right past the offensive lineman.  This was for a loss of 8.  If this isn't enough, Kruger had pressure on almost every pass play, and finished with an amazing 5 QB hits, exactly half of the Ravens total for the game.  On one of the few plays that Kruger dropped into pass coverage, he was able to knock down a pass.  The only negative note for Kruger was an offsides penalty on a 2nd and 10.  The Ravens will let this slip though due to his amazing performance, whats even more impressive is both of his solo sacks came on 3rd down.

Ray Lewis
I think it was fitting for the Ravens to not give up a touchdown in Lewis's final home game.  He will be remembered for being a great defensive player and for leading one of the greatest defenses ever.  Therefore, giving up no touchdowns is the perfect end.  It is also fitting that Lewis led the team with 13 tackles.  He played all 87 snaps and had one great play that made everyone remember what made him great.  On the snap, Lewis knifed through the offensive line an stopped the running back for a loss of 1.  This is exactly the type of play Lewis would make all the time a few years ago.  In pass coverage, Lewis allowed four first downs on four passes.  He was also helped out by a dropped pass.  One play that he will never live down was his dropped interception.  Haloti Ngata tipped the ball at the line-of-scrimmage and it went right to Lewis.  Somehow, the ball hit Lewis right in the hands but he wasn't able to catch it.  After the game, he blamed his arm brace for the drop.  But, this game wasn't about his performance.  It was about his last game in Baltimore.  To give out one last memory, Lewis went in on the final kneel down of the game.  This marked the first offensive play he has ever taken part of.  Even better, after the snap, Lewis did his introduction dance for one last time in the middle of the field.  You can see his final introduction here and the dance at the end of the game here.

Ray Lewis

Ravens LB Ray Lewis does his pre-game dance for the last time.

Dannell Ellerbe
Over the course of the season, Ellerbe has shown he is a great blitzer, and nothing changed yesterday.  On a 3rd and 7, Ellerbe flushed Luck out of the pocket on a blitz.  Luck had to try and run for the first down and he was stopped well short.  The next example of this was on a 2nd and 10. His pressure forced Luck to try and throw the ball away.  Since the ball didn't make it back to the line-of-scrimmage, Luck was flagged for intentional grounding.  This caused a loss of down, loss of 16 yards, and took 10 seconds off the clock because there was only 22 seconds left in the half.  Lastly, Ellerbe blitzed on a run play and tackled the running back for a loss of 2 yards.

Cary Williams
Williams only gave up 3 catches yesterday but, 2 of them were for first downs.  The first was a 3rd and 4 which put the Colts near midfield.  The other first down completion was much more important.  It was the play after Ellerbe forced the intentional grounding.  The penalty put the Colts out of field goal range.  As they were just on the edge of field goal range before, they needed to get about 25 yards to get a field goal.  This is exactly what Williams allowed setting up a 52 yard field goal which Adam Vinatieri made.  On the positive side, Williams had an interception on a 4th and 1 very late in the game.  Corey Graham tipped the pass and Williams was there to catch it.  However, on the return, Williams was chased down by Luck which has to be embarrassing.

Corey Graham
As stated above, Graham tipped a pass on a 4th and 1 inside the Ravens 20-yard line with time running down.  Other than this, Graham also had a half sack with Kruger for a loss of 6 yards.  Graham allowed 3 passes for 1 first down.  The one first down was for about 20 yards with 30 seconds left in the 1st half.

Ray Lewis (52) Jacoby Jones (12) Torrey Smith (82)

Ravens LB Ray Lewis does his dance for one last time after the game while teammates Jacoby Jones (12) and Torrey Smith (82) look on.

Chykie Brown
The two most memorable plays for Brown were penalties, never a good sign.  He was called for an illegal contact on a 2nd and 10.  The other penalty was on a punt return.  He was called for a hold which lost the Ravens 16 yards.  On defense, he gave up 1 pass for 1 first down.

Ed Reed
Even Ed Reed got into the pass rushing.  He blitzed on a 3rd and 9 and tipped a pass on the Colts first drive.  Just like his good friend Lewis, Reed dropped an interception.  Luck was under pressure and just trying to throw the ball away but he never saw Reed.  Reed jumped in front of the receiver.  He did everything right, except catch the ball, which is kind of important.  He just straight up dropped it.  It was a diving catch but, the Ed Reed of a few years ago makes the play.

Bernard Pollard
Just like Brown, Pollard was called for two penalties but, these two are a little more controversial.  The first was a "blow to the head of a receiver."  On this play, you can clearly see that Pollard led with his shoulder.  Its not like his shoulder hit the receiver either.  His shoulder hit the receiver in the arm and chest.  The only part of Pollard to touch the receiver's head was his facemask and the facemask barely grazed the helmet of the receiver.  This is just another example of the bad helmet-to-helmet calls throughout the NFL right now.  On the next play, Pollard was called for a taunting penalty after the play against the Colts bench.  After the game, Pollard said a Colts assistant cursed at him and then a player shoved him.  While the Colts shouldn't have done this, Pollard shouldn't have reacted.  After each of these two plays, the stadium united with more "bulls***."  Unfortunately, I couldn't find the video this time.  Other than penalties, Pollard broke up two key passes.  The first was a 3rd an 2 play where the Colts receiver already had the first down but was hit right away by Pollard.  The receiver dropped the ball and it was ruled that he never had full possession of it.  The other play stopped another first down.  Pollard also finished with 4 tackles.

Ray Lewis

Ravens LB Ray Lewis takes a victory lap to thank the fans after the game.

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Picture of Matt Pearce

by Matt Pearce

Ray Lewis Probable

January 5, 2013 in Injury Reports

Ravens

Questionable
WR Tandon Doss (ankle)
S Bernard Pollard (chest)
OT Jah Reid (toe)

Ray Lewis

Ravens LB Ray Lewis is probable in his last home game.

Probable
LB Ray Lewis (triceps)
RB Anthony Allen (head)
TE Billy Bajema (head)
WR Anquan Boldin (shoulder)
LB Dannell Ellerbe (ankle)
CB Chris Johnson (thigh)
DE Arthur Jones (thigh)
FB Vonta Leach (knee and ankle)
LB Albert McClellan (shoulder and thigh)
DE Pernell McPhee (thigh)
DT Haloti Ngata (knee)
OT Kelechi Osemele (knee)
RB Bernard Pierce (ankle)
S Ed Reed (shoulder)
CB Jimmy Smith (abdomen)
WR Torrey Smith (knee)
LB Terrell Suggs (biceps)
G Marshal Yanda (shoulder and knee)

Colts

Out
G Joe Reitz (head)

Questionable
S Tom Zbikowski (knee)
OT Winston Justice (shoulder)
RB Delone Carter (ankle)
C A.Q. Shipley (knee)
NT Antonio Johnson (ankle)

Probable
LB Robert Mathis (no injury)
C Samson Satele (ankle)
LB Pat Angerer (illness)
LB Jerrell Freeman (thumb)
QB Andrew Luck (knee)
CB Teddy Williams (knee)
LB Dwight Freeney (no injury)
DT Kellen Heard (illness)
OT Bradley Sowell (illness)
DE Cory Redding (quadriceps)

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