The Commentators:
Host: Larry Rosen
In case you didn’t know MASN has a block of Ravens shows it airs on Sunday mornings prior to kickoff. Seeing as how the season is not progressing as we had hoped I was hoping to get some insight from watching “Ravens Game Planâ€.
My first thought since this show was aired on the morning of a game was whether it was a review of the previous week’s game, a preview of the upcoming game or both. I was hoping it was a combination of both and it was. The gist of this show is host Rosen interviewing Rex Ryan and Rick Neuheisel. The title “Game Plan†makes me think this show would have more of a hard core edge for fans that really want to understand the details about Xs and Os and why certain plays worked while other facets of the game broke down. If you are looking for a show that dissects game footage and gets out the telestrator, you’d be disappointed as I was.
This program is basically just Rosen interviewing the coaches with a tiny bit of video footage tossed in for effect. When asking Ryan why the Cardinals were so successful using the no huddle offense the response was, “we just need to play harder and smarterâ€. Wow, cut the coach talk Rex I’m not sure I understand what you are saying. I was looking for more insight in to what the Ravens expected from Arizona and how the no-huddle forces the defense to adjust…no such insight was provided by Rosen’s questions.
Rosen quickly moved onto previewing the upcoming game vs. Cleveland and Ryan said the Ravens knew what to expect from Edwards, Winslow, Lewis and Anderson. Hmmmm…maybe you did Rex, but I’m not sure C-Mac did when he got torched on that 75 yard bomb.
The second half of the show featured Rosen and Rick Neuheisel. Rosen mentioned that Brian Billick had said the red zone issues came down to very small mistakes; but we never heard what those were from Neuheisel. Is it really a small mistake that Willis McGahee barely touches the ball inside the red zone…seems like a glaring mistake to my untrained eye. Neuheisel was quick to say the red zone production needs to improve but never elaborated on how or why. Here is a case where this show could have scored big with more video breakdown and comparisons of plays that worked to others that failed.
I am not sure when this show is taped but if it’s after Monday the NFL has all the official team stats updated and some graphics on how the Ravens compare to the league and their next opponent would provide some sorely needed value to this show. I didn’t learn anything new watching this program and I won’t be adding it to my weekly viewing list.
Grade: C-
