QUARTERBACK: B
Steve McNair was outstanding in the first half making great decisions with the football and delivering excellent passes. He was poised and managed a nice pacing and rhythm for the offensive unit and used play action well for the second consecutive week. He was smooth using boots and delivering the football on time while on the run. He showed patience in allowing routes to develop and he hit his hot reads well when the Bengals blitzed. However he was a bit sloppier as the game went on beginning with the botched 2 minute drill at the end of the first half. With 36 seconds to go in the half the Ravens had the ball on their own 43 yard line. They handed the ball to Musa Smith for the first down presumably to get another set of plays. With two timeouts remaining after converting the first down the Ravens didn’t get another play off until there were only 14 seconds to go in the half. By the time the incomplete pass landed there were only 8 seconds left and the Ravens needed another 20 yards to give Matt Stover a chance.
In the second half McNair wasn’t quite as careful with the football and nearly had a pick six to Bengals’ CB Jonathan Joseph and then late in the half he was nearly picked by Dexter Jackson while trying to force a ball into Mark Clayton. Either could have been game changing plays. Perhaps the Ravens offense and McNair need to finish what they start and continually apply the pressure on opposing defenses.
RUNNING BACK: C+
Give Jamal Lewis a B+ for effort and a C- for execution. Don’t be surprised if the Ravens don’t include Musa Smith more into the offense along with Mike Anderson. Lewis left yards on the field again but while his field vision is certainly sub par his determination is not. Instead of bouncing outside when space presented itself Lewis chose instead to plow into defenders. He should be more interested in taking on DB’s sealing the edge instead of DT’s in traffic. It appears as though Ovie Mughelli is the preferred choice at fullback over Justin Green as long as the Ravens stay with the power running game. He was decent leading the way for Jamal. Smith did a nice job of picking up chunks of yardage on obvious passing downs.
RECEIVERS: B
Mark Clayton had a career high 8 catches and it looks like he’s found a home in the slot when the Ravens employ 3 receiver sets. He has a knack for sitting down in the right soft spots to help McNair move the chains. Derrick Mason get props more for his defensive work than his play at receiver. His strip of Jonathan Joseph arguably saved the game for the Ravens on an ill-advised sideline pass in the fourth quarter. Todd Heap seemed to get open at will and finished his catches nicely. He went up high to catch the first pass of the day from McNair to set the tone on the Ravens opening scoring drive. Demetrius Williams demonstrated strong hands in traffic and is making a case to become a bigger part of the offense while moving the chains twice on third down plays.
OFFENSIVE LINE: B+
Steve McNair had all day to throw and was not sacked or hurried once. The offensive line provided space for Jamal Lewis even in rather obvious running situations, particularly on the left side with Ogden and Brown. Mike Flynn seemed to hold his own against the mammoth Sam Adams (not to be confused with Sam Adams Light) although his shotgun snaps are a bit off the mark at times, one of which prevented the Ravens from advancing further into Bengals territory and ultimately forcing a punt. This coupled with their inability to convert a third and one at the Bengals 7 in the third quarter keeps this unit from an A grade.
DEFENSIVE LINE: B-
Trevor Pryce had one of the Ravens two sacks and also hurried Carson Palmer on another occasion. Kelly Gregg turned in his usual solid performance and was sound scraping down the line of scrimmage while supporting the run. Curiously Justin Bannan and his high motor weren’t part of the defensive tackle rotation. Even more curious was Haloti Ngata’s absence from the field on a fourth and one attempt on the play just prior to the Palmer to T.J. Houshmandzadeh TD in the second quarter. Terrell Suggs was quiet while rushing Palmer but supported the run well.
LINEBACKERS: C+
Bart Scott was at times disruptive rushing up the gut on Carson Palmer. Adalius Thomas had a couple of QB hurries and a sack (albeit of the coverage variety) and hustled to make plays in pass coverage. Ray Lewis was solid in pass coverage and also attacked Rudi Johnson successfully while moving laterally. While taking on Rudi Johnson or his lead blocker Jeremi Johnson head on, he wasn’t as successful. Lewis continues to struggle shedding blocks head on. On a whole this group was relatively quiet.
SECONDARY: B
Given the Bengals success against the Ravens in the past in using Chad Johnson, Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry one would have to conclude that the Ravens secondary took care of business. Although admittedly you have to wonder why the Bengals didn’t take more shots downfield given the Ravens propensity to give up big plays this season. Thank you O.C. Bob Bratkowski. Samari Rolle rebounded in coverage and protected against the big play while giving some cushion underneath. Chris McAlister played very well accept for a broken down coverage on the 71 yard play to Chris Henry. Earlier in the game McAlister was flagged for a very questionable pass interference call. To his credit he kept his composure. Ed Reed was nailed with a pass interference penalty on a deep throw to Chad Johnson. There was contact both ways and the officials should have compromised on a 5 yard chuck penalty and an automatic first down instead of the big reward to Cincinnati. Reed was more active at the line of scrimmage and made a shoe string tackle on Rudi Johnson behind the line on a run blitz. Dawan Landry was relatively quiet and stealth and that’s a good thing when facing the explosive Bengals. Ronnie Prude was solid as the nickel but he did get away with a pass interference penalty on the Bengals next to last possession.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Sam Koch was solid for the most part but flubbed a 35 yard punt in the fourth quarter when the Ravens really needed him to nail one. Overall on the day he averaged 45.5 yards on 4 punts including two inside the 10. The Ravens punt return team struggled as P Kyle Larson led the way to a 43.5 yard net average on his 4 punts. The Ravens kick coverage team held the Bengals to less than 20 yards per return on the 7 Matt Stover kickoffs. B.J. Sams after the Bengals pulled to within 6 with 4 minutes remaining had a clutch return of 33 yards to the Ravens 42 behind an excellent wedge led by Justin Bannan. The return helped the Ravens maintain a field position advantage. Nice strip by Mike Smith on the game’s very first play to help set the tone of the afternoon. And then there’s Matt Stover to help any special teams’ grade…
COACHING: OFFENSE B-/DEFENSE B-
For the second consecutive week Brian Billick had the opposing defense on its heels with a nice mix in play calling. The direct snaps to Mike Anderson while not that effective, planted a seed of doubt in the minds of the Bengals and suggested that predictability would not be part of the offensive mix for the Ravens. And that is exactly how things went along until they stumbled at the 1:06 mark of the first half with a very poorly designed and executed hurry up offense. They did anything but hurry and left two timeouts on the scoreboard. The end of the second half was even more perplexing than the first half, taking delay of game penalties and a few Steve McNair knees when without a first down it was mathematically impossible to run out the clock. Hey Vic Fangio, where you there yesterday? And why not a Matt Stover field goal? Stick the dagger in coach. Last time I checked Stover hadn’t missed a field goal since the Reagan Administration. Well maybe not but you get my point..
Defensively the Ravens opened attacking like rabid dogs and then settled back into a basic cover 2 utilizing a base 4-3 defense much of the time. That seems to stymie the Ravens athleticism and their attack mentality.
OTHER NOTABLES AND QUOTABLES: CBS failed to zoom in on Chris Henry’s right foot as he tight roped the sideline. A more powerful zoom lens might help guys…No Dan Cody again? Is he now a red-shirted sophomore?…The Ravens had possession for 37:24, the Bengals 22:36. … Ravens ran 69 offensive plays to Bengals’ 50, many from a no huddle offense. … The Bengals converted just 1 of 10 third-down plays…Is T.J. Houshmandzadeh’s helmet slam eligible for tonight’s Jacked Up segment on ESPN?…Ravens v. Atlanta could very well be the Sunday Night game in 2 weeks.
