The Ravens dominated the Browns and are more than ready for the undefeated Colts! Well they didn’t really dominate so much, but they did shut them out. No matter how the shutout occurred can you remember a time when the town has been less excited after a shutout? I cannot.

Are the Ravens ready for the Colts? I honestly don’t know. This season has had so many ups and downs it’s hard to figure out how the team will play on Sunday. Some weeks the offense hasn’t shown up, other weeks the defense has been terrible so it’s hard to predict the effort we will see Sunday.

Even though it was the lowly Browns the Raven’s defense did what they had to do to shut down the Browns offensively. The Browns couldn’t run or pass the ball. Does that mean they can shut down the Colts offense? Not at all, but at least they stopped the run – something they couldn’t do against the Bengals the week before.

The offense is what worries me. The Ravens scored one offensive touchdown against the Browns, a team which is in the bottom of the league in yards allowed and close to the bottom in points given up. That isn’t a good sign before a game where you know they will have to score points to stay in the game.

The Ravens will have a new kicker this week after releasing Steve Hauschka earlier this week. Hauschka seems like a nice guy but I cannot blame the team for letting him go. The season is far from over and he seemed to have no confidence in his ability. And while there was plenty of blame to go around in the Vikings game, if Hauschka makes the kick at the end of the game this whole season looks different. 6-3 would be a lot better and safer than 5-4.

All in all I don’t have a lot of confidence that the Ravens will win this game, but I have hope. I also worry that they can win one of their next three games, which I think is crucial to keep their playoff hopes alive. Again, I have hope though.

One thing I really don’t want to happen Sunday is for the game to be decided by a late kick (or miss). I’d hate to see new kicker Billy Cundiff line up to kick with the game on the line and I’d hate to see former Raven Matt Stover kick against us with the game on the line. Both scenarios would be interesting, but nerve racking!

Enjoy the game!

This entry was written by ExtremeRavens member Spen.

Game balls and more recap to come tomorrow… but just one thing I have to say.

I sat by the Bronco’s tunnel this afternoon, in fact, just a few rows up the right side of it. And I watched a doozy of a game play out before my eyes.

And when it was all said and done, as the Broncos and Ravens were shaking hands across the field, and fans were streaming out of the stadium, Brandon Marshall showed his true colors. Ravens defensive back (and former Bronco) Domonique Foxworth saw Marshall exiting the field towards the tunnel quickly and quietly. Foxworth put a skip in his step to try and keep up with Marshall, calling out to him. Marshall clearly heard Foxworth, he motioned rudely several times over his shoulder. When Foxworth finally caught up with Marshall at the tunnel, Marshall hardly even turned his head, threw Foxworth’s hand from his shoulder, and disappeared.

Classy move, Marshall. You were shut down by a defense that was clicking on every cylinder all game long. Your former teammate played a wonderful game against you. Man up and just say it, “I got beat. Way to go, Fox.”

The Ravens might want a ‘big play’ receiver. I want no part of Brando Marshall.

Mid-season vacation… ahhhhhhhhh.

Though, nothing like a Sunday without football to make you realize (a) just how much you miss it and (b) just how much you can get done without a three-hour break starting at 1pm.

The Ravens get another fun test this week, the undefeated Broncos led by Josh McDaniel, former Patriots assistant.

It’s funny though, most local media outlets have been using the bye week to discuss the Ravens playoff chances instead of the upcoming game. I guess it’s hard to do two weeks of preparation coverage. And it’s probably not very interesting.

But here’s the scoop, short and sweet. The key to the Ravens making the playoffs is… winning more games. It’s the simple. Three game losing streaks aren’t going to do it. Losing, period, isn’t going to do it.

We can start breaking down the playoff scenarios when they actually make sense. For now, it’s easy. The Ravens are tied for 8th in the AFC at 3-3. Only six teams from the AFC will make the playoffs. Win more games than the other guys.

Tadaaaaaaa.

Through 6 games this season, Ray Rice has proven to be a beast for the Ravens. Take a look at the numbers.

1st in the league in total yards with 766 – more than 127 per game.

9th in the league in rush yards with 441 – and one of only three in the top 10 with more than 6.0 ypc, one of only 2 in the top 10 with no fumbles.

1st in the league in receiving yards by a RB with 325.

And all this despite averaging fewer than 18 touches per game. 18! In fact, in three games this season he hasn’t even touched the ball 16 times total.

So what’s it going to be… Ray Rice’s nickname?

ESPN has a piece up today by Jeffri Chadiha about the emergence of centers as the new stars of NFL offensive lines. It’s an interesting read, and the Ravens feature prominently throughout the article. It includes a good few notes from Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome on how the 3-4 is changing offensive play in the league, but other Ravens players and coaches feature as well. Check it out here.

But one of my favorite pieces of the read is the first few paragraphs about former Ravens center, now with the Rams, Jason Brown. It tells the story of Brown going into his meeting with the Rams during free agency and touts not only Browns playing ability, but his poise and professionalism off the field.

Jason Brown’s briefcase was the first indication that he was going to be all business when he made a free-agent visit to the St. Louis Rams in March. The team knew the 26-year-old center had everything they coveted for the position: agility, intelligence, leadership ability and a sturdy, 6-foot, 3-inch, 328-pound frame. What they couldn’t have anticipated was his meticulous preparation.

After pulling a legal notepad and a ballpoint pen from that briefcase, the Baltimore Ravens free agent interrogated the team’s officials like a defense attorney bracing for a career-making day in court.

Scribbling notes furiously and firing questions rapidly, Brown drilled head coach Steve Spagnuolo and general manager Billy Devaney on every possible topic. He wanted to know the vision for the team and the best schools for his children. He asked why certain coaches were hired and how he could jump-start his community work.

Brown was a stand-up guy for the Ravens for his time here and is clearly continuing that in St. Louis. It’s nice to catch up with former favorites every once in a while.

The article ends with a discussion of Brown and new Ravens center Matt Birk, and how big of an impact both have had in developing the Ravens offensive line over the last few seasons.

So remember Rex Ryan and his vaunted defense? The one everyone here is crying to get back… the one with Bart Scott and Jim Leonard… the one that Greg Mattison isn’t man enough to inherit? Yeah, that one. Well, Rex and his D just got schooled by Miami’s Wildcat with Chad Henne at the helm.

And not just once. Not just twice. But three times over in the fourth quarter when it mattered most. Surprising in part because just last year Rex Ryan and the Ravens dominated the Dolphins in Miami twice, and the Wildcat was declared extinct.

Everyone’s vulnerable. It’s about making adjustments. The Ravens problems, but they have plenty to work with. It’s just not guaranteed. It takes time, it takes effort. There is a learning curve. Have patience.

Joe Flacco had his worst game of the 2009 season on Sunday against the Bengals. While he completed more than 70% of his passes, only 4 of those completions went to receivers. Flacco also threw two interceptions, one on the Ravens final offensive play.

It wasn’t an awful performance, but it was not the Joe Cool performance Ravens fans have become accustomed to.  For the second week in a row, Flacco threw an interception in the red zone – wasting a Ravens scoring opportunity. Last week, miscommunication with Mark Clayton caused Flacco to throw a ball outside while Clayton went inside. This week, Flacco rushed his opportunity and failed to read CB Jonathan Joseph cutting underneath Todd Heap’s route.

That opening drive by the Ravens was their best of the game – though it came apart in its final plays with a false start on center Matt Birk and an unnecessary timeout. Early in the drive, Flacco completed 4 of 5 passes and the Ravens were moving with some consistency.

After the interception, however, Flacco and the offense really lost their focus. Flacco seemed timid when it came to throwing downfield and to his receivers; he rushed his reads and settled for the check-down too often. And unlike last week in New England, where Flacco seemed to be the offense’s general, this week we saw Flacco flustered and apparently outmatched.

Not many people are talking about Flacco’s play in this game; it’s been too easy to blame the defense for blowing a late lead. But Flacco had a subpar game.

The good news is that Flacco is still this franchise’s best chance to win. Flacco can and will provide for this offense. He just needs to settle down again and find the calmness that earned him the nickname Joe Cool. He can make any throw you need him to, if he is patient enough to make his reads and trust his line.

Stupid Penalties: 40%

Second straight week the Ravens can thank themselves and their absolute lack of discipline for their problems. The officials were not good, but that’s not an excuse. The Ravens apparently didn’t learn anything from last week’s game in New England. I’m still a bit baffled by Steve Tasker’s relentless defense of the officiating – the Frank Walker pass interference and Chad Ochocinco lack of interference calls were particularly questionable, and Tasker failed to even acknowledge the possibility. Meanwhile, the Ravens gave away first downs and yards, play after play. [Is defensive illegal formation even a penalty, by the way?]

Stupid Players: 30%

Missed tackles. Missed coverages. Leaving holes wide open. Dropping passes. There are no excuses for the Ravens pathetic play today. As much as players and fans may want to be upset at the officials,  the Ravens came to the game today with no emotion and no heart. Half the game, I wasn’t even sure the defense wanted to be there – the secondary was consistently out of position and failed to find the ball while the front seven struggled to find their zones.

Stupid Gameplan: 20%

Noticing a trend yet? This whole game was stupid by the Ravens. I’m not sure what Cam Cameron’s offensive game plan was today. It’s become more and more clear to me that the offense simply does not have a steady game plan. In early games we dismissed the funky offensive style as “taking advantage of weak opponents,” but in two straight losses to good teams, there has been no “settling” of the gameplan. There were stretches where the Ravens looked far too conservative. At other times the Ravens looked far too aggressive. At no point did the Ravens offense look like the force it had been for the season’s first four weeks.

(Stupid) Disappearing Players: 9%

Derrick Mason. Willis McGahee. Kelley Washington. Terrell Suggs. Kelly Gregg. Fabian Washington. Le’Ron McClain. Were any of these guys even on the field today? Did McGahee even get a touch? Did Mason? Washington and McClain each had a moment or two… but I don’t even remember seeing Washington on the field more than two or three times.

Stupid Steve Tasker: 1%

Okay, so maybe he had nothing to do with the Ravens losing, but he certainly had a lot to do with me not enjoying the game. Gus Johnson is bad. Steve Tasker is just dreadful. I’m not sure how, but he’s actually gotten worse since the Ravens earlier games. Do they even show up before Sunday?

The Bengals-Ravens first half redefined my definition of sloppy football in every single aspect… and this is supposed to be a game for the lead in one of the NFL’s strongest divisions.

This wasn’t “hardnosed, hard-hitting” football. It was just ugly.

The Ravens: Look lost defensively, especially in the secondary. With the exception of a number of mistakes by the Bengals, the Ravens defense has been steamrolled. Cedric Benson is bowling guys over. Offensively, the Ravens looked equally confused – not used to running the ball, awkward throwing the ball.

The Bengals: Actually playing well, but making silly mistakes everywhere. Carson Palmer’s interception was a great play by Ed Reed by a bad play by Palmer. On special teams, the Bengals still can’t even snap the ball properly and have been leaving points all over the field (lucky for the Ravens).

The Officials: Jeff Triplett has never impressed me and his reputation isn’t getting better. At least there haven’t been silly flags, but there have been lots of weird mistakes – including (1) not overturning the Clayton fumble (it was a fumble) and (2) not putting the ball on the right yard line after the review. I’m also not sure, but it looks like the Bengals left guard is moving early on every play…

The Announcers: Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker are taking the title “space cadets” to a whole new level. Apparently we’re watching the Ravens, Bengals, Dolphins, Steelers, Patriots and Browns… demolition derby style. Not to mention just bad calls, bad analysis and not paying attention to what’s happening on the field. It took Tasker 5 minutes to realize the officials had ruled Clayton down by contact.

Ok… everybody now… halftime, hit the lockerroom, get a breather, get your head in the game and get back out there. Andddddddd BREAK!

I was browsing ESPN’s coverage of the NFL this weekend and, of course, the Bengals-Ravens game upcoming, when a short paragraph caught my eye.

“The Ravens are actually the worst pass defense this year against No. 1 receivers, although they end up eighth in pass defense DVOA overall because their pass rush and coverage of other wide receivers have been so strong. The Ravens have given up touchdowns to Vincent Jackson, Randy Moss and Dwayne Bowe — and No. 1s (those three and Braylon Edwards) have a 73 percent catch rate against the Ravens (compared with the league-wide catch rate for No. 1 receivers of 55 percent).” (ESPN Sunday Countdown, Contributed by Aaron Schatz of FootballOutsiders.com)

[In the words of Mythbusters, CAUTION! Stat analysis to follow!]

Schatz is using completion percentage (catch rate) to #1 receivers to evaluate the Ravens success. But that catch rate is just a bad stat. Here are final numbers for the #1 receivers in the Ravens four games so far…

• Vincent Jackson: 6 catches, 141 yards, 1 TD
• Dwayne Bowe: 4 catches, 40 yards, 1 TD
• Randy Moss: 3 catches, 50 yards, 1 TD
• Braylon Edwards: 3 catches, 35 yards, 0 TD

With the exception of Jackson, who absolutely lit up the Ravens secondary with help from Philip Rivers, the Ravens have been pretty exceptional against #1 receivers. If the catch rate is high, but the completions rate is low, that points to the fact that QBs just aren’t throwing to their #1’s against the Ravens. Thinking back to Sunday against New England, I don’t remember Moss seeing more 4 balls thrown his way. So while the catch rate for Moss might be 75%, his final numbers were still very average.

Bottom line: I’ll take a high catch-rate with low thrown-to totals every day, especially against #1s. To me, this signals that the Ravens have been especially good against #1 receivers. Maybe it’s because the Ravens are doubling them up, maybe it’s because the Ravens are game-planning well. Either way, the ball is not finding the #1 very often. And that’s a good thing for Baltimore.

When you look at the catch-rate stat this way, it turns the above argument on its head. Opposing QBs are avoiding their #1 receivers against the Ravens (Tom Brady threw to 9 receivers, the Browns to 8). And they are actually completing more passes for more yards to back-ups and check-downs. QBs are getting the ball off, and getting yards. And that leads me to believe, and anyone who’s watched the Ravens will agree, that the pass rush has actually been weaker than expected.

So, to ESPN Sunday Countdown and FootballOutsiders.com… watch the games, not the stats. Football is not a ’statistically perfect sport’ the way baseball is.

And to the Ravens? Continue to control #1’s (here’s looking at you, Chad Johnson). The others won’t do much damage.