About Kyle Purkey

Kyle Purkey is a Senior at James Madison University currently pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Kinesiology focusing on Exercise Science with a Minor in Coaching Education. He is an aspiring football coach and works as a videographer for the JMU Football Team. Growing up in Carroll County, Kyle's love of the Ravens and football in general stems from watching Ed Reed make plays on Sundays. He is an avid weight lifter and Television enthusiast.

TALE OF THE TAPE: The final goal line stand

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Kyle Purkey

February 3rd marked the end of an era in Baltimore. Ray Lewis played his last NFL game and he walked off the field a champion after completing a goal line stand to defeat the San Francisco 49ers. Super Bowl 47’s final act gave merit to the fading phrase “Defense Wins Championships.” It’s not entirely true. Great teams win championships and the Ravens were a great team this season. Let’s take a look at Ray’s last stand: On First Down, the 49ers lined up in a Shadow formation with Kaepernick in … Continue reading →

TALE OF THE TAPE: Best buds bound to succeed Sunday

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Kyle Purkey

Last Thanksgiving, two men arrived at M&T Bank Stadium sporting Fu Manchus. Dennis Pitta caught his first of many touchdowns from good friend Joe Flacco and the Ravens beat the 49ers. On that night, it became clear that Flacco and Pitta had chemistry that could carry their team far. The connection between the Ravens QB and tight end will be ever important on Super Bowl Sunday. I expect the Ravens offense to use 11 personnel (1 Back, 1 Tight End) to try and spread out the San Francisco Defense. The … Continue reading →

TALE OF THE TAPE: Boldin wills Ravens to New Orleans

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Kyle Purkey

Anquan Boldin has been a prophet this postseason. Prior to rematches of devastating losses against Denver (in the 2012 Regular Season) and New England (in the 2011 AFC Championship) Boldin stated that the Ravens would make the result different. When pressed to elaborate, Boldin said only “We’ll win.” The Ravens have won three straight games this postseason due in large part to the efforts of the determined receiver. Though Boldin sometimes goes entire halves without being involved in the offense (first half vs. Indianapolis and New England), when he decides … Continue reading →

TALE OF THE TAPE: Big plays will send Ravens to the Big Game

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Kyle Purkey

Ravens versus Patriots for the AFC Championship. A year later and Baltimore’s team has a chance to prove themselves worthy of representing the AFC in the Super Bowl by knocking out the same New England team that crushed their dreams a year previously. Just a few weeks ago, many fans would have laughed at the thought that this years Ravens team could win two postseason games. The Ravens offense was struggling and the defense couldn’t close out a game. Fast forward to now and the Ravens offense is creating big … Continue reading →

The thrill of victory

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Kyle Purkey

It’s been more than 24 hours since the Ravens pulled off one of the memorable wins in NFL Playoff History and my heart rate is still through the roof. I tossed and turned in bed last night as I replayed Flacco’s 70-yard TD heave to Jacoby Jones in my head. How did we get here? No one wanted to see the Baltimore Ravens move past Peyton Manning on Saturday. Baltimore’s team was supposed to be a stepping-stone on the journey to #18 cementing his legacy. Ray Lewis couldn’t beat Peyton … Continue reading →

TALE OF THE TAPE: Beat Denver with fundamental football

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Kyle Purkey

Peyton Manning is a fantastic Quarterback. Bernard Pollard called him “a freaking computer” this week. When a fan thinks about his offensive prowess they may become overwhelmed. How can we possibly stop this man? The answer is simple. Ravens players need not press. Ed Reed cannot be caught out of position. Dannell Ellerbe cannot whiff on a tackle while going for the big hit. The Ravens must only play fundamental football, nothing special. Let’s take a look at some plays where the Ravens succeeded in the earlier matchup. On Third … Continue reading →

Tale of the Tape: Room to run against Indy

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Kyle Purkey

The Indianapolis Colts defense is not a stout unit. Opponents average 137.5 yards per game on the ground, as well as 5.1 yards per carry. In Week 16 the Kansas City Chiefs racked up 352 yards rushing but lost the game due to three turnovers. In Week 17 the Houston Texans averaged 5.1 yards per carry but only rushed the ball 20 times as opposed to 36 pass attempts. The Colts defense did a better job of limiting the big run plays against Houston but there was still room to … Continue reading →

TALE OF THE TAPE: Small adjustments, big results

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

The Ravens offense had one of their best performances in recent memory this past Sunday as they racked up 533 yards, 25 First Downs, and 33 points. Any Ravens fan could tell that there were some differences in the offense from past weeks. We’re going to look at two significant improvements on two different plays, one being player execution and the other being scheme and strategic improvement. Player Execution: On December 9th the Ravens traveled to Landover to face the Washington Redskins. Facing a 3rd-and-goal from the 11-yard line, the … Continue reading →

Baltimore Ravens Smart To Sit Ray Lewis

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

Ray Lewis will be back on the field at M & T Bank Stadium when the Ravens take the field for the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Lewis is apparently healthy enough to play but is playing it safe. The Ravens are smart to do this. The potential impact of Ray Lewis playing in Sunday’s game against the New York Giants did not outweigh the risk of re-injury and the Ravens were assured of a playoff berth no matter what the outcome of the final two regular season games. … Continue reading →

Film breakdown: Joe’s bad day – blame the offensive line

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

Joe Flacco is being torn down around Baltimore. I can’t tune in to the radio, turn on my TV, or read the Newspaper without seeing Joe being lambasted. If I took the opinions found on these media as the prevailing thoughts of the majority of Ravens fans than I would be sickened. Fans that may have been “Wacco for Flacco” at some point are now calling Joe stupid, slow, apathetic, and overrated. Let’s get a few things straight: Joe Flacco isn’t going anywhere. Joe Flacco isn’t the only problem with … Continue reading →

What are the Ravens’ chances?

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

It’s a situation we all know very well. Late in the season the Ravens went into a meaningful game that they should have won and they came away empty handed. It’s the same old story year after year, and it’s left me feeling dumb for believing anything would change and dumber for continuing to believe it will one day. You have different subsets of fans at this point. The eternal optimists, the Chicken-Little’s and the analysts. I have and always have been an optimist that analyzes the situation objectively. Objectively, … Continue reading →

Ravens need to spread Steelers out

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

Everything is lining up for the Ravens to put the whooping on the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, extending their AFC North winning streak to thirteen games. Big Ben will be on the sideline, as his “soft tossing” was not enough to prepare him for the Ravens rematch. Lamaar Woodley is out and ironically he has been on the wrong end of things since he hexed Ray Rice for walking off Heinz Field with one of the Steelers prized yellow rags on his head. Joe Flacco’s best friend Dennis Pitta, ala Tony … Continue reading →

(Game)day in the life of a Ravens fan: San Diego

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

Welcome Ravens fans, to an all too familiar emotional roller coaster known as a Ravens gameday. What you are about to read is the raw, unedited (okay, maybe a little edited), and real account of my November 25th Ravens- Chargers experience. 4:00 PM: I find myself hopelessly cheering for the Browns. It looks like they might win, but I expect Pittsburgh to pull out a victory in the end, like always. Flacco commercial comes on… I pray that his on field performance today is better than his acting. 4:05 PM: … Continue reading →

Harbaugh says Heinz Field is “home” for Ravens

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

One of my favorite things to do after a Ravens win is to watch RaveTV’s “One Winning Drive” program where highlights of the game are shown intertwined with behind the bench scene and sound. Usually there isn’t anything too revealing in these shows but something definitely intrigued me after this week’s edition. First, Terrell Suggs was shown boasting to cameras, “This is home for us. We love this f—ing place.” John Harbaugh then adds, “ It’s just like home. It’s home to us. It’s where we belong.” It’s no coincidence … Continue reading →

Offensive line play could be key to Ravens win in Pittsburgh

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

Despite injuries, age, and lack of talent, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense continues to be among the league’s best. Older veterans like Casey Hampton, Larry Foote, and Ike Taylor have continued their solid play in leading the defense to a number one ranking in total yardage. I don’t think anyone would deny that the Ravens have equal or even more talent on the defensive side than the Steelers. The Ravens defense suits up future Hall of Famers in Terrell Suggs, Ed Reed, and Haloti Ngata, yet the Ravens defense is struggling … Continue reading →

With Ben on the bench, Ravens focus shifts to Steelers running backs

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive system is relatively simple. The offense consists of power running plays, quick wide receiver screens, and bunch sets on passing downs. All of these plays are schematically easy to defend but there is one thing that makes the Steelers offense difficult to stop and that is the playmaking ability of Ben Roethlisberger. There are highlights upon highlights of Big Ben running around in the backfield, breaking out of sure sacks, and finding a wide-open receiver for a backbreaking third down conversion or touchdown. He is arguably … Continue reading →

Baltimore ready for Suggs’s homecoming

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

It’s been a while, Baltimore. Terrell Suggs is coming back to Ravenstown and the team is on top of the AFC North. Who could have honestly predicted this without some sort of desperation or bias? I remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard that T-Sizzle had torn his Achilles tendon while playing basketball and I’m sure other Ravens fans remember too. I sent an admittedly premature text message to my father proclaiming our 2012 Super Bowl hopes as dead. Of course as more information surfaced … Continue reading →

Ever slow to adjust, Ravens offense is own worst enemy

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns started about as good as anyone could imagine. The offense seemed intent on proving their worth on the road and hammered the Browns for two early touchdown drives that consisted of a 17:6 run-pass ratio including a 10:2 run-pass ratio on first down. It was smash mouth football and Ravens fans rejoiced. Unfortunately this renaissance was short lived as the offense struggled to move the ball before halftime and well into the fourth quarter. If you look to Ravens coaches and players for the … Continue reading →

Ravens Need To Be Better After Break

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

Remember Week One? Ravens fans were excited for the regular season unveiling of the new No Huddle Offense and looking forward to seeing which young Ravens defender would become a budding star in the absence of Terrell Suggs. The offense started off with a bang as Torrey Smith burned the Bengals secondary for a bomb. Although the defense started off slow, by game’s end Andy Dalton had added to Ed Reed’s Hall of Fame resume and Courtney Upshaw had recorded his first Ravens sack. All was well in Ravenstown. But … Continue reading →

Should Ozzie Shoulder Some Blame For Ravens Defensive Decline?

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Kyle Purkey

Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome, has long been regarded as an untouchable draft genius around Baltimore, but the Ravens sudden decline in defensive prowess has some fans pointing the finger in his direction. Newsome has picked multiple Pro-Bowl type defensive players over the years such as Haloti Ngata, Terrell Suggs, and Lardarius Webb but there is one position that has become devoid of elite talent in recent years. Ozzie Newsome has neglected to draft an Inside Linebacker since taking TCU’s Jason Phillips in the 2009 Draft. Since the Ravens inception, … Continue reading →