Preseason Game 2: Post Game Thoughts

[StingerNLG]

Welp. 1-1 in the preseason. Lots to still be happy about.

- McNair still looks good. Hey, you can't score on every drive. But 14 play drives make me happy! Points are points!

- Has Kyle Boller finally started to learn something? Is Steve McNair actually talking to him, helping him, showing him how to lead a receiver? 4/7 for 115 yards and a TD is an impressive showing for him.

- I love our receiving core. Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton are simply going to be difference makers on our offense. And where did DVD come from?? I had him bagging groceries this year alongside Clarence Moore. Way to play yourself back on the team dude.

- Go ahead, TRY to stop our running game. What, Jamal too much for you? Fine, here's MUSA SMITH!


Still some question marks:

- Ok, Boller looked impressive. Flash in the pan, or maybe some signs of progression? I'm not getting excited until I see this the rest of preseason. For all we know in Minnesota we could be back to hyper-Boller.
(BTW I am not putting this in to start a Boller debate here. Any further talk I am willing to take up to the QB Debate sub-forum).

- Mike Flynn has to go. How many QB's feet is he going to step on before we finally find a replacement? I swear he was even going to step on McNabb's foot before the night was through!!!

- The rest of the OL was doing fine until they remembered that they aren't any good. And our second team offensive line flat out sucked ass! 7 sacks total tonight on our first 2 QB's, and they were getting banged around all night long!

- One deep ball the whole evening?

[Ravens0587]

I was pissed we had so many penalties, after the first penalty i was thinking to myself, I hope this doesn't turn into a Detriot game

[ChrisQ]

When Mulitalo was interviewed by Goose, he said that McNair told them he expected to finish drives with touchdowns. That made me glad to hear some leadership going on.

As far as the defense, I have no qualms about that. They will come together and be great during the season. Also, McNair went 14-18 tonight and moved the chains plenty even though they didn't finish drives. At least now I feel like I can expect touchdowns once in a while instead of just hoping for no interceptions.
Still pissed off they didn't upgrade the o-line more, and not looking forward to leading the league in sacks this year :(

[StingerNLG]

Hey Chris. You and I are neighbors! I am in Hamilton myself.

[Ravens0587]

They showed stats at the half and it pissed me off

We had more rushing yards, passing yards, turnovers were even, time of possesion was like 22 minutes to 8

Yet the score was 10-3

and we had 6 penalties to there 1

[GreenWave52]

Well this was one of those games where we were battling the Eagles and the Refs. I was honestly happy that it was still as close as it was. If he starters had stayed in we might have won the game.

The starting O didn't score TDs, but they looked great moving down the field. Tonight they were better than the D, who gave up waaaaay too many critical penalites. The Eagles TD never should have happened. It was the perfect playcall but it should have been 4th down.

Musa Smith and Darling both impressed the heck out of me tonight. Devard is going to make this team and Musa will see more playing time than Mike Anderson.

Rex's schemes work great against 2nd stringers but I'm still not entirely sold on them against starting players. But the D looked pretty good when they weren't shooting themselves in the foot so maybe it will be alright.

Our o-line looked not great. However adding Ogden will improve things and Terry is getting valuable game experience.

Have I mentioned that JAMAL IS BACK!

Our WRs are nasty. Mason in particular. Heap was under used. McNair did well getting the ball to these guys and letting them make plays.

Thats all I can think of for now. I didn't really notice Ngata doing anything, but I think his knee is still bothering him.

[edreedisgod20]

Has Kyle Boller finally started to learn something? Is Steve McNair actually talking to him, helping him, showing him how to lead a receiver? 4/7 for 115 yards and a TD is an impressive showing for him.
Hard to tell. I firmly believe that everything wrong with Kyle is in his head. When he keeps his poise and doesn't rush his mechanics, his accuracy is fine. It's sort of a light switch thing - it can turn on and off without warning. We just gotta still hold out hope that SOMEDAY, that switch will go on for good. It certainly hasn't happened yet, and it may well never happen, but I still believe it's very possible.


Go ahead, TRY to stop our running game. What, Jamal too much for you? Fine, here's MUSA SMITH!
Forget it. It's gonna be impossible. Jamal looks great. Musa looks even better. Not enough? Mike Anderson ain't too shabby, either. Three power backs who will just break your will. And that's what I saw from all of them tonight. Whenever they got tackled, they made sure to lower their shoulder and make sure it hurt the defender more than it did them. And at the end of sixty minutes, we're gonna see a whole hell of a lot of arm tackles.


Mike Flynn has to go. How many QB's feet is he going to step on before we finally find a replacement? I swear he was even going to step on McNabb's foot before the night was through!!!
I don't know what in the hell to do with this guy. Stepping on quarterbacks and fumbled snaps are unacceptable, but otherwise... Flynn played pretty well tonight. That feels really weird to say, so I'm gonna stop now.


One deep ball the whole evening?
I have three words for you: ball control offense. We're gonna challenge the Steelers for the title of ball control poster boys this season, bank on that. 21:00 to 9:00 with the starters. 'Nuff said.

[PurpleRulz]

Great thoughts, Stinger.

Here is my two cents:


- We need a punter. I am sorry, but Koch and Araguz are not cutting it for me. (Wish we went harder after Dirk Johnson). Call Landeta or Richardson, pronto!

- Who says that Musa Smith is not a change of pace back?
- We were sloppy throughout the first half. It seemed as if everyone was overcharged. Lots of mental mistakes.

- McNair had another good showing as he moved the ball down the field and got how many 3rd down conversions? Now, we must learn to come out of the redzone with 7 instead of 3.

- The OL did some nice things in the first half. You have to consider that they were going against a very good DL. Considering, the OL did well. Adam Terry held up the leftside, but did get beat a couple of times. Terry does need some aggression. Flynn was getting blown up at center all night. We need Jason Brown to step up.

- Anyone notice that Jason Brown was third string center tonight with Thatcher Salay as the 2nd string? Not a good sign. Salay was getting owned up the middle.

- Have to give Boller props for a decent showing tonight. He got the ball in the right position for Darling to make that 46 yard reception. Boler also threw that TD pass perfectly to Darling. Considering he was getting knocked on his ass all night, Boller played well. 4 for 7 for 115 yards? That sounds Big Ben-ish.

- Big props to Darling on stepping up. Looks like our WR corp will be Mason, Clayton, Darling, and Williams.

- Folks, I am sorry, but PJ Daniels goes to the practice squad. The RB corp is set with Jamal, MA, and Musa (extend him, now!) I think Cory Ross sneaks onto the team somehow. Ross is ahead of Daniels by a lot, in my opinion.

- Ngata played like a rookie DT playing in his first live NFL game. My expectations were not high. With time and maturity, Ngata will be fine.

- Our DL depth is sick. A good player will get cut.

- Where was Pittman? I think he joins Daniels on practice squad. Prude has the dimeback locked down.

- Drew Olson will be a future Stain, if you know what I mean.

- Our defense was sloppy, as I said, but they are going to be dangerous. Our offense will actually cause the opposition to think, and that's a victory.

All in all, I think we performed admirably against a very good football team. You have to give the Eagles props for their 1st string OL, but their 2nd and 3rd string OL was owned by us. I even saw Max Jean Giles and Winston Justice get owned all night by us. Again, patience is the word when it comes to rookie and young OL. JOs do not come around often.

My two cents

[PurpleRulz]

I was pissed we had so many penalties, after the first penalty i was thinking to myself, I hope this doesn't turn into a Detriot game


That pass interference on Rolle was B.S. If anything, that should have been offensive pass interference. Rolle just defended the pass. I tell, these rules...

[StingerNLG]

- Drew Olson will be a future Stain, if you know what I mean.

Didn't Casey Willit today say on the radio that Drew Olson just can't get it together even in practice? Something about a reason for going undrafted?

Brian St. Pierre for the second time didn't impress me much either. You could see why they made him hand the ball off so much.



Folks, I am sorry, but PJ Daniels goes to the practice squad. The RB corp is set with Jamal, MA, and Musa (extend him, now!) I think Cory Ross sneaks onto the team somehow. Ross is ahead of Daniels by a lot, in my opinion.

100% agreed. In fact I think it showed more that Ross took a rookie mistake like a botched punt return, and not only on the very replayed punt get 20+ yards on the return, but then come in a run the way he did. I think Ross sneaks onto this team in a special teams role. But no way does he spell BJ Sams.

BTW I forgot about him. Once again it's nice to have someone that can catch the kick and make you feel like at any point he could break a huge run back.

[GreenWave52]

BTW I forgot about him. Once again it's nice to have someone that can catch the kick and make you feel like at any point he could break a huge run back.
We've come along way from the Lamont Frightful days.

[ChrisQ]

Hey Chris. You and I are neighbors! I am in Hamilton myself.

I'll try to remember to invite you to come over for an away game at some point. I usually have a couple buddies over, do a little tailgating on the grill out back and then get a nice fire going and watch the game:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/Kraq/Room1.jpg

[PurpleRulz]

Didn't Casey Willit today say on the radio that Drew Olson just can't get it together even in practice? Something about a reason for going undrafted?

Brian St. Pierre for the second time didn't impress me much either. You could see why they made him hand the ball off so much.




100% agreed. In fact I think it showed more that Ross took a rookie mistake like a botched punt return, and not only on the very replayed punt get 20+ yards on the return, but then come in a run the way he did. I think Ross sneaks onto this team in a special teams role. But no way does he spell BJ Sams.

BTW I forgot about him. Once again it's nice to have someone that can catch the kick and make you feel like at any point he could break a huge run back.


First, it is so much easier to use the quotes on this board.

I actually would not mind seeing Ross perform some KR while Sams perform PR. With us not keeping 3 FBs as in years past, we will have the extra room to keep 4 RBs, though Ross would kind of be a RB in name only and just lineup for a gadget play or two.

I am not saying that Daniels does not have it, but he needs some time. Of course, he may get snatched up by the Stains or the Jets.

[StingerNLG]

Nice Chris!! You have me out-Ravened. But I'll also have you over to watch some Ravens on this:

http://www.nlgaming.com/games/avsforum/mysetup-1.jpg

Nice to see someone loves their HDTV like I do. :)

[PurpleRulz]

Just to run to the defense of the OL, they did, once again, play a very good defense with a good DL. In evaluating what our guys did, you have to consider its opposition. You have to sometimes just give the Eagles props for playing very well. It is not about our OL sucking all the time. It could be a matter of talent from our opponent.

Case in point, the Eagles are supposed to have one of the better OLs, and I think our defense owned them on several plays. Our 2nd and 3rd string defense were owning Winston Justice and Max Jean Giles.

Now, if our OL was being manhandled by an average to above defense, then I'd be concerned, but there is no shame in getting beat here and there by an extraordinary defense such as the Eagles.

I think our guys should be applauded.

[StingerNLG]

Well, I can get with you on Mule, Vincent, and even Terry. Pashos was not horrible, but not great and still drawing penalties we don't need.

Mike Flynn proved tonight once and for all that the problem with QB's falling down on the snap is not their fault. It's one thing to make Anthony Wright and Kyle Boller trip. But when you trip up Steve McNair, that's when coaches have to finally realize maybe it's Flynn after all??

Hats off to the 2nd and 3rd string D. I'll try to get some video of them again this week. I feel very comfortable with guys like Franklin and Mike Smith coming off the sideline to rotate in.

[AZRAVEN]

I know one thing I got an education tonight, I've wondered all along why the Ravens kept Musa Smith around after that injury... Well, tonight I found out, that guy is awesome! I apologize for doubting you Musa. :179422:
I was not happy with the five penalties in the first half (that PI was bogus) but they seemed to right the ship later. I think with Ryan's defensive schemes we can expect a lot of penalties because they seem to get the players over amped at times.
Funny how when Boller gets stepped on it's his fault but if it's McNair then it's Flynn's fault all the way. :229031_confused2:
I like the long drives but sure hope we can put more points on the board out of them. I'd hate to see many games with the lopsided TOP we had in the first half and only have 3 freakin points to show for it.
But a win is a win is a win... I'll take it GLADLY!

[Drkraven]

That pass interference on Rolle was B.S. If anything, that should have been offensive pass interference. Rolle just defended the pass. I tell, these rules...Thankyou I thought the same thing, I did not like the penalties and thought 3 were totally bogus or should have been on the Eagles. Damn refs:141847_smmackbottom

[Raveninwoodlawn]

I, like most was very disapointed that we couldn't score after moving the ball seemingly at will.

I will say this about our offense...While the red zone offense still seems to be a serious problem and one that will handicap us if it isn't solved, for the first time in a long time, I felt that the opposing defense couldn't sop us from moving the ball...and taking a tone of time off the clock while doing it.

One think I think people are overlooking is that those long time consuming drives are REALLY going to help the defense stay fresh in the 4th quarter...I would look for those games where they ran out of gas to be a thing of the past.

Speaking of defense...that was pretty disapointing. They weren't horrible, but the penalties...ref's fault or not, you got to keep yourselves out of those positions.

[PurpleRulz]

I know one thing I got an education tonight, I've wondered all along why the Ravens kept Musa Smith around after that injury... Well, tonight I found out, that guy is awesome! I apologize for doubting you Musa. :179422:
I was not happy with the five penalties in the first half (that PI was bogus) but they seemed to right the ship later. I think with Ryan's defensive schemes we can expect a lot of penalties because they seem to get the players over amped at times.
Funny how when Boller gets stepped on it's his fault but if it's McNair then it's Flynn's fault all the way. :229031_confused2:
I like the long drives but sure hope we can put more points on the board out of them. I'd hate to see many games with the lopsided TOP we had in the first half and only have 3 freakin points to show for it.
But a win is a win is a win... I'll take it GLADLY!


1. And Musa is a UFA after the season.:mad: We have to keep him. He is one of those guys, now, that must stick around for our future.

2. I still don't get how Rolle got that PI call? He was behind the WR and looking back. If anything, the PI call should have gone to the WR.

3. Everything is Boller's fault. Did you know that the high cost of gas is Boller's fault? :179421:

4. In reading the quotes in this morning's articles, McNair even acknowledged that we must learn to "buckle down and finish those drives with points." You know, though, it is preseason and this is the time to work out those kinks.

5. I have to say that aside from the sloppy play last night, I have enough evidence in these two games to state that we are going to be a tough team to beat.

[RavenScallywag]

My thoughts (only got to watch the first half)

1. C'MON REFS! Real questionable calls...I still thought the McNair fumble should've been overturned.

2. I saw Pashos on one play move his leg back before the snap and I held my breath, thinking it'd be a false start...go figure, he HELD HIS BLOCK on that play. Most of the time, it seems like the OL and QB set up for a "drop 3-4 steps and be ready to throw the ball" offense, because our OL can only keep the pass rush off for 2 seconds. Granted, McNair is doing something with it, but I almost gasp sometimes given how quickly and close those DEs are coming

3. Would it be insane to say Musa Smith could be challenging for a starting spot next year? The guy is literally EVERYWHERE.

4. I tried to see Ngata's impact, but I couldn't really find anything standout. First game rust...

5. Dan Cody might not have put up a sack, but he was getting into the backfield pretty well. Also props to Mike Smith, who put up another couple tackles and a sack.

6. Why, oh why, must Araguaz be punting so well in games? At this rate, he'll beat out Koch and then revert back to his practice form.

7. Where is Drew Olson? no snaps for him?

[towsonraven]

Besides the concerns over the punting game, I am not going to much stock in last night's game. Both teams showed vanilla offenses and defenses as to not give away their playbook before the season even starts. We came out healthy and moved the ball. Hopefully, everything will be refined and ready to go by the time we kick-off in Tampa.

[StingerNLG]

That PI call was horrible. You can't call PI just because the receiver couldn't get by the defender and was setup for an interception. Both players were looking up at the ball, and it was a horrible call. I almost thought Oglesby's interception would be the same. I guess the refs learned nothing from the post-season last year.


Where is Drew Olson? no snaps for him?

I think the writing is really on the wall for Drew. I really would have been emotionally broken if I watched all the other QB's get playing time last night and I didn't. I think Drew could be cut pretty much at any time.

[AZRAVEN]

Well, I realize it was only a preseason game and we'll have to see how well Musa does in regular season before judging fully but I'd sure as the devil hate to see Musa take off like Priest did. Based on what I saw last night, against a solid defense, I definitely think he could well challenge for the starters spot by next season. Definitely takes Anderson's spot IMO.

[highwater]

That looked like the Musa Smith I saw at Georgia -- very encouraging. And both McNair and Boller looked good. I realize that we only scored three points in the first half, but McNair was still 14-for-18 and looked very solid. Boller looked much more composed than usual, no easy task considering the OL was getting him killed.

Which brings me to the downside of the night -- the OL in the second half was awful. Really, REALLY bad. Maybe it wasn't just the OL, maybe it was the pass protection in general including TEs and RBs, but whatever it was, it was pretty brutal. I am beginning to worry about our punting, too.

On the flip side, the DL in the second half was very impressive, especially against the run. Or maybe the Eagles backups were just really bad.

All in all, a nice game, as preseason games go.

[Losac]

Or maybe the Eagles backups were just really bad.
They seem that way. The difference in quality of play between the 1st and 2nd teams was huge. They are in big trouble if McNabb goes down.

[jonboy79]

- Who says that Musa Smith is not a change of pace back?


I think that is precisely what he will be this year. We will have a three headed monster. Jamal, early and often, MA in short yardage and goalline, and Musa on third and long. Noone should get tired. If we jsut keep making first downs on first and second so that MA and Musa wouldn't see the field then they can take turns spelling Jamal on 2nd and 5 and such. There certainly are worse scenarios then not seeing third and long or third and short. There is a problem wit hnever seeing the goalline formation, unless ofcourse we keep scoring too often from far out.

I agree PJ Daniels to the P.S. he doesn't have it yet.

[Greg]

C'MON REFS! Real questionable calls...I still thought the McNair fumble should've been overturned.
I don't see how, he hadn't even finished cocking his arm to throw, much less had it going forward. I thought that was a terrible challenge.

[Mobtown]

I don't see how, he hadn't even finished cocking his arm to throw, much less had it going forward. I thought that was a terrible challenge.

I agree, terrible and pointless.

[Raineman]

Scallywag brought up Cody. I think he VERY close to making a BIG difference. He was soooo close a few times, and never stopped getting after it. I think once he works out a few "rookie" things (I count this as his rookie year) such as the "speed of the game" thing and the "overpursue" thing that he will be deadly.

I am way pumped up about our running backs, and like the ball control offense a lot.

[RavenTD]

Whatever rehab Musa had.You better take notes and patent it.You could earn millions.Could be comeback player of the year?

Flags,get them out of the system in preseason.Get hollered at in the filmroom.
Learn from it.And don't pull that stuff again in the regular season.

I think the Ravens on the whole handled themselves well against a very good team.

Boller to DVD,man that was good to hear.Great for DVD to finally get the wraps off and show us what he has.

Bruise looks like your boy is coming good.[DVD].

[Raineman]

Also---Did anyone else notice the screens, or was I hallucinating?

[JohnDuBS]

I think the game was filled with easy correctable mental mistakes. McNair showed poise in the pocket. Our defense took some questionable calls. Especially the def. pass interfernce call. I didn't know beating the reciever to the ball meant a flag. I'd like to see Willams run with the 1st offense.