REARVIEW MIRROR   BALTIMORE RAVENS 38  KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 24 September 13, 2009   Cam Cameron has a message for you. He’s not kidding about throwing the ball.     When the Ravens passed 58% of their preseason plays, most observers figured they were simply working on an offensive deficiency, and the regular season would bring a return to their familiar run-first mentality. After all, in Joe Flacco’s rookie season the team threw the ball just 43% of the time, while rushing 507 times for 2,027 yards —good enough for … Continue reading →

Rearview Mirror BALTIMORE RAVENS 20, ATLANTA FALCONS 3 September 3, 2009   Starters sit as Ravens roll to a 4-0 preseason finish.   Twenty of the Ravens’ twenty-two starters were sidelined for this game.   Now there’s a scary thought – scary but true, a consequence of needing to get through a largely meaningless final preseason game Thursday night in Atlanta. As such, the coaching staff elected to rest the starters and use the occasion to get a closer look at the back-ups.   Other than the inexperienced Tavares Gooden, Terrell … Continue reading →

REARVIEW MIRROR August 29, 2009   BALTIMORE RAVENS 17, CAROLINA PANTHERS 13   Ravens’ Stars Shine during Saturday Night Win.   For a solid decade the Baltimore Ravens played a singular brand of blue-collar football.  It featured a swarming team-defense designed to bend but not allow opponents to break the ten-point barrier.  Mix in a run-oriented offense to grind the ball down the field before trotting out their reliable placekicker and the formula worked. But outside of an occasional Ed Reed interception, it didn’t exactly endear the team to the … Continue reading →

BALTIMORE RAVENS 24 NEW YORK JETS 23 August 24, 2009   “I feel like I’m on a seven-on-seven period. This is the Ravens?” - Jon Gruden, ESPN telecast   For the second week in a row, the Baltimore Ravens shook off their run-first reputation and came out throwing, kept throwing, and came away with a victory over the New York Jets. Their second preseason game was a much closer contest than their week-one steamrolling of the Redskins but the Ravens prevailed, 24-23, as the final horn sounded.    While the … Continue reading →

August 13, 2009 On a muggy Baltimore evening at M&T Bank stadium, the Ravens opened the preseason in their visitor whites and promptly whitewashed a sluggish-looking Washington Redskins team, 23-0.  Baltimore showed some inconsistencies, understandably, but were otherwise dominant from start to finish – not just the final score but virtually every statistical category.    The Ravens racked-up 500 yards of total offense on 21 first downs, compared to 196 and 11 for the Redskins.  The team converted on third down at a better-than 50% clip, and had no turnovers.  … Continue reading →

One of the most enduring images of the 2008 NFL season was last October’s blow-up between former all-world Terrapin tight end Vernon Davis and Mike Singletary in his Forty-Niner head-coaching debut.    Flashback: Davis had just lost his cool and cost his team 15 yards.  Singletary pulled him, and sent him to the locker room. Afterwards he explained himself to reporters thusly, "I would rather play with 10 people and just get penalized all the way until we got to do something else, rather than play with 11 when I … Continue reading →

It’s time for the experts to weigh in with their draft grades.   Thank goodness. Because how can we be happy with the Ravens’ selections of Michael Oher on down through Cedric Peerman until we know what Todd and Mel think?   Soon their report cards will be in and the fans can voice their opinions, which usually comes in three flavors:   1. Ozzie is a genius 2. Ozzie is an idiot 3. Screw Len Pasquarelli   Afterall, there is nothing more polarizing than the NFL draft…with the possible exception … Continue reading →

  PITTSBURGH STEELERS 23, BALTIMORE RAVENS 14 January 18, 2009   There was Willis McGahee, lying prone in the middle of Heinz Field, practically motionless after a devastating hit. It was a terrible moment.    Trainers from both teams crowded around him, methodically detaching his facemask and preparing his stretcher.  Steelers and Ravens players knelt around him, their faces turned inward with angst.  Close teammates, like Ray Lewis, prayed. Ed Reed grabbed his hand.  As McGahee was wheeled off the field and into the tunnel a Steelers fan from above … Continue reading →

BALTIMORE RAVENS 13 TENNESEE TITANS 10 January 10, 2009   If there can be such a thing as a stunning victory, this was it.  Despite being statistically outplayed in nearly every way, the sixth seed Baltimore Ravens traveled down to Nashville and emerged victoriously in a heart stopping, breathtaking way as they shocked the Titans by the score of 13-10.   The score was a mirror-opposite of the Ravens 13-10 home loss to Tennessee in week five.  And it was opposite not just on the scoreboard.    Back in October … Continue reading →

BALTIMORE RAVENS 27 MIAMI DOLPHINS 9 January 4, 2008   The experts got this one right.  Going into this game it was difficult to find anyone outside of South Florida who expected the Dolphins to beat the Wild Card Ravens.   And so, when it was over, the favored Ravens had met every expectation and easily took care of business in Miami, beating the Dolphins 27-9 to advance to a second round playoff match-up against the AFC’s top team in the Tennessee Titans.   How the Ravens won was a bit … Continue reading →

The playoffs started a week early for the Baltimore Ravens—essentially—in this must-win contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Win, and the Ravens knew they would grab the sixth and final AFC playoff spot.  The Patriots had already beaten the Bills earlier in the day, so all the pressure was on the Ravens to pull out a victory.   Despite the fact they were playing at home, and facing a reeling Jacksonville team with a mirror-opposite 5-10 record, it would have been understandable if the Ravens came out and played tight.  First … Continue reading →

  BALTIMORE RAVENS 33 DALLAS COWBOYS 24 December 20, 2008   The Baltimore Ravens’ first ever trip to Dallas will go down in NFL history as the last game ever played in Texas Stadium.  It was a game that would send the Cowboys fans home disappointed, and send the Ravens home victoriously with a 33-24 win to run their all-time record against the Cowboys to 3-0.   Like everything in Texas, this game was big. Big enough to provide a little bit of everything, and a lot of contrasts.  That … Continue reading →

  PITTSBURGH STEELERS 13  BALTIMORE RAVENS 9 December 14, 2008   When the two top defenses in the NFL faced each other in Baltimore Sunday it promised to be a low scoring affair. The final outcome, a 13-9 Steelers win, fully lived up to that promise.   Prognosticators warned that special teams and turnovers would play a large role in the final result.  And that they did.  What few could have predicted however, or hoped for, was shoddy officiating. But in a game of inches Walt Coleman’s elderly officiating crew … Continue reading →

Baltimore Ravens 24  Washington Redskins 10 December 7, 2008   The Ravens shell shocked the Washington Redskins, grabbing an early14-0 lead that they never surrendered, while holding on for a 24-10 victory.    The talk before the game centered on the fact that the Redskins were making their first a regular season trip to Baltimore since 1978.  After the game, fans were talking about the Ravens first win on the national stage since before the 2006 season, snapping a seven-game losing streak.   When it’s the national stage it’s usually … Continue reading →

  BALTIMORE RAVENS 34  CINCINNATI BENGALS 3 11/30/08   Welcome to the Mark Clayton Show.    In a 34-3 win over the home-standing Cincinnati Bengals, the Baltimore Ravens dominated in every facet of the game, with a steady, workmanlike performance.   But it was Mark Clayton who shined brilliantly and stole the show with remarkable catches and a nicely thrown pass to Derrick Mason for a score.  More on his spectacular effort in a bit…   Other than Clayton’s explosive play, it was a grind-it-out win for the Ravens.  They completely … Continue reading →

  BALTIMORE RAVENS 36 PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 7 November 23, 2008   The feel of homecoming swirled throughout M&T Stadium Sunday, when the Baltimore Ravens hosted the Philadelphia Eagles.   And a happy homecoming it turned out to be for the victorious black birds, who had endured a month without home cooking during which they went an impressive 2-1.   Homecoming for head coach John Harbaugh meant squaring off against his former mentor, Andy Reid.  And for Ravens’ rookie quarterback Joe Flacco—the former South Jersey Touchdown Club Offensive Back of the Year … Continue reading →

  NEW YORK GIANTS 30 BALTIMORE RAVENS 10 NOVEMBER 16, 2008   Coming into this week’s game against the 8-1 New York Giants the Baltimore Ravens knew there were plenty of hurdles to overcome. The Ravens would have to outplay an opponent who experts were already calling the NFL’s best team.   And they would have to do so on the road, for the third consecutive week, this time in the notoriously cold and windy Meadowlands.   It’s rare for NFL teams to find themselves playing three consecutive road games in … Continue reading →

  BALTIMORE RAVENS 41 HOUSTON TEXANS 13 November 9, 2008   Mother Nature conspired to cancel the originally scheduled Week Two match-up between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans when Hurricane Ike rolled over Houston.   Eight weeks later in the make-up game it was the Ravens who rolled over the Texans en route to a 41-13 win.  The Ravens were convincing in every aspect of the game.  The victory was even more impressive given that it was their second consecutive road game and the 4th game away from home … Continue reading →

  REARVIEW MIRROR   BALTIMORE RAVENS 37 CLEVELAND BROWNS 27 November 2, 2008   Composure!   Despite falling behind 27-13 to the Cleveland Browns, the Ravens maintained their composure.  But how many Ravens fans were able to do the same?  Who maintained faith that a rookie quarterback could stabilize the offense, on the road, inside hostile Cleveland Browns Stadium? Who believed that a decimated Ravens secondary could stop the bleeding and withstand the final twenty minutes to preserve a comeback win?   And yet that’s exactly what the Ravens were … Continue reading →

Baltimore Ravens 29 Oakland Raiders 10 October 26, 2008   The Oakland Raiders made the cross-country trip to Baltimore, but it really felt more like they never showed up. The ragged Raiders never really tested the Ravens, who coasted to a 29-10 win, and pushed their record back over the .500 mark.   Oakland’s touted rookie running back Darren McFadden was a surprise scratch, due to an injury.  Given the Ravens strength against the run, and given the fact that three quarters of the Ravens secondary was out with injuries … Continue reading →