Going into Seattle, the Ravens were viewed nationally as the AFC’s best team. After dropping a game to a team led by Tavaris Jackson, the country will rethink just how powerful this Baltimore team actually is heading down the stretch.
This is the problem with the 2011 Ravens and one that could ultimately define them, coming off big wins they fall flat against opponents that they should bulldoze over. The Ravens lost to the Titans in week two after pounding the Steelers 35-7 in week one, they did the same thing against the Jaguars and nearly dropped a home game to the Cardinals. After coming back on the road to defeat Pittsburgh, the Ravens hit the snooze button in Seattle and lost 22-17. Here are my thoughts on this terrible game.
David Reed’s bad day - I complimented David Reed last week for being a playmaker. I ignored the fact that he put the ball on the ground in Pittsburgh, I can’t over look his two fumbles this week. Oh and please be sure to add his stupid unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a kickoff.
Poor coaching killed the Ravens - I plan on writing about the Ravens piss poor coaching in full detail, but it also deserves a Quick Hits bullet point as well. Cam Cameron should be fired just for giving Ray Rice the ball five times. It’s asinine. Flacco struggled with accuracy and Cam still called 52 passing plays…actually 53, Ray Rice threw one too. John Harbaugh’s decision to challenge Marshawn Lynch’s fumble late in the fourth quarter killed a timeout when the Ravens needed them most. The Ravens can’t seem to get amped up about easy games, that’s got to fall on Harbs.
Hauschka out kicks Cundiff - I should have known it was going to be a bad day when Steven Hauschka matched a franchise record of four field goals in the first half. The former Ravens kicker booted one more in the second half. Current Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff, who replaced Hauschka, missed two field goals from over fifty yards after kicking a critical 52 yarder last week. Cundiff went 1 for 3 on the day.
Marshawn Lynch shredded the defense - I know this isn’t the Ravens defense of old, but I didn’t expect Marshawn Lynch to pound them like he did. Lynch carried the ball 32 times for 109 yards and a touchdown. He was critical is killing the clock in Seattle’s final drive and had no problem busting heads with future hall of famer Ray Lewis.
Losses like this are alarming. They should not happen and typically don’t to Super Bowl contending teams. The Ravens need some controversy to wake up against bad opponents. Ray Rice needs to come out screaming about his lack of involvement and John Harbaugh needs to take accountability for dropping an easy game.
Week 1 wasn’t really full of surprises if you read my article on who to start and who to bench. I’m here again this week to make sure you start the right guys, and to make sure you win. If your 1-0 then you might as well go to 2-0 and really have a nice jump on the season. If your 0-1, you can’t lose and start 0-2. That’s already a deep little hole to get out of.
This week I’m going to switch up the way I do this, and hopefully this is the way it will stick for the rest of the season. You can expect my article like this every single Thursday throughout the season. I plan on updating it and moving guys around as the injury reports change. So I’m going to take a look at each position and give you the guys that are good starts, decent starts, and bad starts. This way you can compare guys at a certain position to other guys on your team at that position. You don’t have to scroll down the page to find all of your guys at one position this way. The players are in order of the time that their game is being played and not by any sort of rank. READ MORE >>>
The NFL season starts tonight!!! More importantly, the fantasy football season starts tonight!!! Why else would any of us watch Cleveland vs. Cincinnati unless we have AJ Green and want to see what our rookie will do in his first game. For that reason, fantasy football is now bigger than the sport itself.
Do you have any questions about who to start over who in the first week? Let’s take a look at all the matchups and determine who are good starts, decent starts, and bad starts. Football is incredibly unpredictable, and it’s almost impossible to read splits the way you can with baseball. Because of that I can tell you all season long who will give you the best CHANCE to perform for you. Nobody can ever predict the day that Mike Tolbert rushes for 3 TD’s. It’s impossible. Keep that in mind. I base the starts on matchup obviously and I also look at how each player has done historically against the opponent. I also factor in who I think will win the game, and whether a team will be more pass or rush oriented in that game. Whether they are up or down on the scoreboard has a lot to do with their weekly values.
Decent starts: Jordy Nelson, Ryan Grant, Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas, John Kasay, Green Bay Defense
Bad starts: Donald Driver, James Jones, Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson, Lance Moore, James Starks, Darren Sproles, Garrett Hartley New Orleans Defense READ MORE >>>
Let’s play fill in the blanks. You know your year is bad when you fire you _________________ during the season and you injured ___________________ with former Ravens kicker Steve Hauschka.
The answers are “Head coach Josh McDaniels” and “kicker Matt Prater.” Aaron Wilson reported last night that the Denver Broncos have given Hauschka his latest gig in the NFL and that he is expected to kick against the Arizona Cardinals today.
Hauschka struggled with the Ravens and was replaced by Billy Cundiff, missing pressure kicks and converting just 10 of 15 field goals.
Hauschka does have a strong leg.
He has previous stints with the Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons and the Detroit Lions.
Ravens fans, aren’t you glad we’re not the _________________.
(“Broncos” in case you missed didn’t figure it out).
Last week we discussed the possible kicking candidates for the Baltimore Ravens in the 2010 season. You can cross one of those kickers off your list because today the Arizona Cardinals signed Jay Feely.
I was interested to read Jamison Hensley’s view on the signing, specifically when he said, “The Ravens now have the upper-hand in the free-agent market. The Feely deal takes the Cardinals out of the market for a kicker, and it leaves Neil Rackers and Shayne Graham still without teams. The Ravens could have their pick of either one.”
Or, they could have had their pick of one of the three.
Last year, the Ravens made the bold move of parting ways with Matt Stover with no real plan. They had a kicking competition, if you could really call it that, between two guys with no business playing professional football, Graham Gano and Steve Hauschka. To me, it appeared that the Ravens knew they didn’t want Stover, but had no plan for replacing him with an actual kicker.
But you know that story, Billy Cundiff comes in and saves the day. He booted five field goals in his debut against the Indianapolis Colts in Baltimore, talk about pressure.
Since the season came to an end, the rumors about Baltimore kickers have been swirling once again. Despite John Harbaugh’s comments during the season on bringing Stover back to Baltimore, no news about Stover has been reported. Instead, Baltimore has been in the market for some competition for Cundiff, or even a possible replacement.
This year, the kicking market had three viable candidates, unlike last season when, unfortunately, the Ravens decided to leave Stover looking for work. I’m hoping the Ravens have a plan this go around, that they won’t cut a guy if they don’t have a replacement and that they won’t tell the fans they’re holding a competition for a position between two guys that don’t belong in professional football.
But letting one guy go certainly doesn’t leave me feeling like the Ravens have the upper hand. What do you think? Who will we see kicking for the Ravens in 2010?
When John Harbaugh was hired as head coach before the 2008 season, his expertise was special teams. Naturally, Baltimore Ravens fans expected extremely good special teams play from the home team. In 2009, special teams play was solid, not special. Part of the reason for just solid special teams were injuries and a transition and place kicker. Matt Stover’s contract expired at the end of the 2008 and the Ravens went younger and cheaper. There will be improvement in 2010 and I don’t think Ravens fans would expect any less.
Kicker – Harbaugh opted to go with Steve Hauschka to begin the year as the Ravens starting kicker. Hauschka had a rough start to the year missing several field goals wide left. He possibly cost the Ravens two games within the first six. The most notable game, of course, was Week 6 against the Vikings when Hauschka pushed the game-winning field goal left dropping the Ravens to 3-3 before their bye week. For the last seven games, the Ravens signed Billy Cundiff. Cundiff shored up the kicking game and helped push the Ravens into the playoffs. For now, it is unknown if the Ravens will re-sign Cundiff, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Punter – Sam Koch was his usual, efficient self in 2009. Koch routinely pushed opponents far back in their own territory the entire season. However, Koch did have a punt blocked. His punt average was very close to his career average. I thought Koch did an especially good job being the holder for each of Baltimore’s kickers. Not much more to say about Koch except I think he will be fine next season and the Ravens will be happy to have him back.
Long Snapper – Matt Katula had an uneven season as the Ravens long snapper, to say the least. At the beginning of the year, Baltimore’s woes in the kicking game started with Hauschka, at the end of the season, the blame could be placed squarely on Katula. Katula had several bad snaps on field goals that Koch had to handle or forced the kicker’s timing to be off. In addition, on punts Katula routinely snapped the ball wildly to Koch forcing the timing being off. I will chalk this up to the tendinitis in his forearm and elbow and think he will have a bounce back season in 2010.
Kick Returner – The Baltimore Ravens used a variety of kick returners this past season for a few reasons. Chris Carr was a free agent acquisition before 2009 to solidify the nickel package on defense and to return punts and kicks. Carr wound up being average returning kicks and even cost the Ravens an opening game possession when he lost a fumble in Week 4 against New England. Eventually Lardarius Webb took over and excelled in that role. Webb was very good returning kicks even going the distance one time this season. Sadly, Webb’s season came to an end when he tore his ACL. With Webb out, Jalen Parmele took over. Parmele was very good returning kicks and may have locked down a spot as kick returner for 2010. After Webb and Parmele took over the kick return job, Baltimore’s field position improved and aided their playoff run. I don’t know what the coaching staff is thinking for 2010, but Parmele or Webb returning kicks won’t be a bad thing.
Punt Returner – Carr also was signed to return punts for the Baltimore Ravens. He started out very slowly fair catching most of the punts in the first half of the season, however, towards the end of the season, Carr was following his blocks and getting chunks of yards on returns. His development as punt returner was a good thing to see as he will be back in 2010 to return punts and hopefully make less fair catches.
The Ravens special teams is a very solid unit and should aim to even be stronger in the upcoming season. With Webb back the kick return game will be a strong point for Baltimore. Katula will hopefully be healed up and the kicking issues will be solved. I would expect the Ravens to sign Cundiff and have an undrafted free agent kicker to provide competition in camp. Koch will be back and have another solid season.
One of my favorite parts about going to a Ravens game against a team I hate is when I get to the stadium early, walk out to the opposing team’s tunnel, and scream things at the players I despise when the walk out onto the field.
Peyton Manning usually gets it bad.
However, like most Ravens fans attending this Sunday’s game I look forward to cheering Matt Stover any chance I get. I know he’s a Colt, but the guy was done wrong here in Baltimore and he deserves to be welcomed back.
At least, I hope that fans will welcome Matt back.
The guy has a career 83.9 field goal percentage, hasn’t missed an extra point since 1995, and has made more clutch kicks in his 219 game career than the majority of kickers in the NFL.
This season he’s 6-6 with a long of 40 yards.
If he were still around, I’d like to think that Baltimore would bring him home after they made the mistake of dropping him for the now-released Steve Hauschka.
I look forward to cheering on Matt Stover when he returns to M&T Bank Stadium. What do you think of the situation?
If you’ve been snoozing this week you missed out on some big news out of the Ravens camp. Here’s a brief summary of what’s gone down.
Hauschka cut, Billy Cundiff signed- The Ravens released kicker Steve Hauschka and signed 8 year veteran Billy Cundiff. We don’t know a lot about the new kicker, but John Harbaugh said the competition between Cundiff and Mike Nugent was close, though Cundiff won on kick offs.
C-Mac is back – Chris McAlister has found a new team. He signed with the New Orleans Saints this week.
Suggs out for Sunday – Terrell Suggs was hit low by Brady Quinn in Sunday’s 16-0 win over the Browns. The shot was controversial, actually it was straight up dirty, and John Harbaugh said Terrell Suggs will be out this week. ESPN reported that Suggs is out the rest of the season, though that was never confirmed by the Ravens
Ray Lewis upset at Quinn – Lewis was fined $25,000 for his shot on Chad Ochocinco, while Quinn hit Suggs low and was only fined $10,000. “To lose a person like that, there’s no dollar amount on that,” Lewis said.
Of course the last big story is that Matt Stover will be coming into Baltimore this Sunday with the Colts to face the Ravens at 1 PM.
It’s official, the Baltimore Ravens have cut kicker Steve Hauschka. Ozzie Newsome announced the release today after Hauschka missed the 38 yard field goal attempt in Cleveland.
There are clearly parts of the Ravens roster that just aren’t getting the job done.
Do you give up on them? Do you let them grow since the season is likely a wash anyway? Do you put the pressure on them?
It all depends on the player.
Frank Walker- Bye bye. Walker shouldn’t have made the team to begin with. Anyone that followed training camp knew right away what Walker was about. Lots of talk, little coverage. He’s quite possibly the worst part of the Ravens terrible secondary and was so bad that he was benched against the Bengals. He’s taking up a roster spot, which is one of the reasons Baltimore cut Matt Stover. Good riddance Frank.
Domonique Foxworth – Threaten. Two weeks ago I told you that Foxworth was a $28 million bust and I stand by it. He is the Ravens biggest flop since Willis McGahee. Too big of a contract for too little performance. Foxworth is the best of the bad secondary, but for the contract was given he’s not shutting down number one wide receivers.
Fabian Washington – Threaten/bench. Washington covers receivers by grabbing them. I’m convinced his method is to get penalized as many times as possible and it shows.
Trevor Pryce – Cut after season. Pryce has had a great run with the Ravens and an outstanding career, but he’s no longer getting the job done. He gets pressure one time per drive, he’s getting beat in single coverage and gives good quarterbacks too much time.
Kelly Gregg – Cut after season. It would have been a good story is Buddy Lee came back after the knee surgery and stepped up. That hasn’t been the case. He fits into the same category as Pryce, only worse. Gregg is hardly ever putting pressure on QBs and he can no longer stuff the run. He’s part of an aging defense.
Ed Reed – One more big loss and I’d shut him down. Ed might say he’s playing healthy, but come on. He’s undoubtedly playing hurt and if Baltimore wants to hold on to him for future years they need him to get healthy. Whether that requires surgery or just time to recover, Baltimore needs to do what they’ve got to do.
In his 4 PM press conference with the media, John Harbaugh didn’t instill a lot of confidence in Steve Hauschka‘s future with the Ravens.
“We think Steve’s going to be a really good kicker in the NFL. [We’re] disappointed with that kick and I think Steve is too. He can kick that ball a lot better,” Harbaugh said. “We’re not ready to say we don’t think he’s going to be a good kicker in the NFL yet.”
During the bye week the Ravens worked out free agent kicker Mike Nugent, who might be brought in if Hauschka is cut by Baltimore.
“He’s talented, he’s a great kid, he works hard. Let’s see what happens.”
The Baltimore Ravens. A team that on defense can’t stop the run or pressure a QB, has a kicker that can’t make a clutch field goals, and an offense that is stuck making up for all of their holes.
Here are my thoughts from the Ravens 17-7 loss to the Bengals.
Secondary woes yet again – Different week, same weakness. Domonique Foxworth might be the best cornerback on the team, but he gives too much room to good wide receivers and can’t tackle. Fabian Washington missed an interception in the first quarter and he was called for pass interference on a crucial 4th and 2. Dawan Landry was called for pass interference on a play that overturned a fumble in the first quarter. Ed Reed missed a couple tackles as well.
No pressure up front - I knew it would be a long day without Haloti Ngata, but Trevor Pryce, Kelly Gregg, and Terrell Suggs were virtually non-existent in this week’s loss. Carson Palmer was far too comfortable in the pocket. He was practically camping out during his first touchdown pass to Andre Caldwell. Let’s not forget that Cedric Benson rushed for 117 yards, his second 100+ yard game against the Ravens this season.
Defense killed Offense - Or something like that. In the first quarter the Ravens offense was on the field just 4 minutes 11 seconds. In the first half that total was just 8:26 compared the Bengals 21:34. It evened out a little more by the end of the game, but all day the Ravens offense was trying to make up for the D being on the field too long. They used 2 timeouts in the first quarter, and Joe Flacco forced two interceptions (could have been at least 2 more) while trying to make big plays. Flacco has thrown seven picks this season, two have been caught by the Bengals’ Johnathan Josesph. Baltimore’s offense converted one of their ten third downs.
Hauschka chokes again - Now listen. I’m in no way saying that the kicker blew the game. What I’m saying is that he’s had two pressure kicks and he’s missed both of them. You can’t miss a 38 yard field goal when you’re team is trying to drive back from a deficit. It’s alarming to me that Steve Hauschka missed a 44 yarder inside against the Vikings and now a 38 yarder in 50 degree weather against the Bengals.
Webb continues to impress – Lardarius Webb broke a return for 33 yards, but his role on defense was particularly important. He threw a big hit on Cedric Benson in the 2nd quarter, broke up a pass to Laveranues Coles, and played receivers close when Washington went down. While Chris Carr looked shaky, Webb looked solid in the secondary.
Ray Rice is a playmaker - He didn’t have enough time to show it today, but Ray Rice is the real deal. He scored the Ravens only touchdown and never gave up all day.
This isn’t a playoff team. In fact, I don’t see how they can win many more games at all if they play like this. The Ravens need to show up big next week, thankfully they play the Browns.
With a tough stretch of games glaring at the Ravens over the next couple weeks, Sunday’s game against the Broncos was virtually a must-win. And if the first snap of the game was any indication of how the game was going to play out, the Ravens had to like their chances of handing the Broncos their first loss. Jarrett Johnson blasted through the line untouched and absolutely leveled Kyle Orton, reminding fans of the similar hit Bart Scott put on Big Ben a couple seasons ago. That hit started a day of the most dominant and inspired defense the Ravens have played all season. They held Orton and the Broncos to just 200 yards of total offense, but most importantly kept standout wide receiver Brandon Marshall from hurting them down the field. The Ravens came out hungry and ready to play, and as a result, improved their record to 4-3 heading into Cincinnati next week.
The POG
The entire team dominated every facet of the game from start to finish, so there’s no possible way I could just pick one player for this award. The offensive balance was remarkable and the defensive pressure was suffocating, but the stats tell the real story. The Ravens offense was an eye-popping 11-for-18 on third downs against the league’s top-ranked defense, and they didn’t turn the ball over despite the Broncos owning a plus-7 turnover differential. In their previous six games, the Broncos had outscored their opponents 76-10 in the second half. The Ravens changed that fortune rather quickly by taking the second half kickoff to the house and continued the 24-7 outscoring onslaught to end the game. The defense only allowed the Broncos to cross into their territory three times the entire game and they only stepped foot in the red zone once.
The “Oh, S***” Moment
To be continued next week…
The “Way to Step up, Young Man” Award
Lardarius Webb may have made one of the biggest plays of the season, but it wasn’t without a little motivation from a seasoned veteran. Ray Lewis pulled Webb aside in the locker room at halftime and told him that he was going to run back the second-half kickoff for a touchdown. It was an unlikely prediction at the time considering the Broncos had only given up 10 points in the second half all season. But Mr. Motivator did what he does best and Webb responded with a 95-yard run back, the first touchdown of his career. Not only did Webb’s touchdown put the Ravens up 13-0, but it ended the second half invincibility that the Broncos seemingly had up to that point. You picked a good time to step up, Mr. Webb.
After dropping three straight, Baltimore is back in the win column and starting their November off right.
Here are my quick thoughts about the Ravens 30-7 victory over the Broncos.
Total Domination - Offense, defense, and special teams; the Ravens controlled all aspects of this game against a good, 6-0, Denver team. Our defense held the Broncos to just 7 points, while Baltimore reached the end zone three times.
Webb is a playmaker - As predicted, Lardarius Webb is exactly the guy the Ravens want returning kicks. He took one for a 95-yard TD to start the second half and in my eyes he should always be back there.
Well balanced offense – Even though they were held to just six points in the first half, the offense put together a good plan in my opinion. Ray Rice had 23 touches while Joe Flacco spread the ball to Kelley Washington four times, Derrick Mason four times, Mark Clayton three times, and Todd Heap three times.
Pass Rush = Better Secondary – Don’t think for a second that Domonique Foxworth and company figured things out. The Ravens rattled Kyle Orton, an over rated QB in my book, up front all day long. Particularly, Jarrett Johnson had a huge game by constantly hurrying Orton and sacking him once.
I’m still not sold on Steve - I’m glad to see Steve Hauschka drain three field goals today, but he was never put in a pressure situation. I think the kid has what it takes, but is still far too unproven for me to feel comfortable.
BS Calls – I’m in no way buying into the conspiracy theory, but a few calls/missed calls stuck out in my memory. Derrick Mason was clearly held on a critical third down, Michael Oher was called for a bogus unsportsmanlike conduct, and flags were being tossed in five seconds after plays. It in no way costed the Ravens or the Broncos the game, but it was frustrating the watch. This crew should go work baseball.
Going into Seattle, the Ravens were viewed nationally as the AFC’s best team. After dropping a game to a team led by Tavaris Jackson, the country will rethink just how powerful this Baltimore team actually is heading down the stretch.
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