CAROLINA PANTHERS 27, BALTIMORE RAVENS 21
September 2, 2010
Ugly, ugly, ugly.
"It’s clear the fans don’t want four preseason games. It’s clear the players don’t want four preseason games. They tell me that all the time. You ask them that question and they’ll tell you. And we really don’t need it to make the game better.”
You’re telling me.
In June, when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made these remarks about the inferior quality of preseason football, he must have been gazing into his crystal ball, anticipating Thursday night’s 27-21 St. Louis Rams victory over a horrid Baltimore Ravens squad.
It was a nightmarishly bad exhibition of football by the Ravens, which did little to answer questions about the final make up of the 2010 roster. Few players did enough in this final preseason “tune-up” to prove they belong on among the final 53. Instead, the game quickly became a final preseason “tune-out” for thousands of television sets across the Baltimore area.
Paradoxically, the Ravens’ best play of the game may have also been their worst, and their worst play of their game turned out to be their best. Here’s how:
Trailing 14-0 in the first quarter, with the Rams driving for yet another score, linebacker Dannell Ellerbe swiped a Keith Null pass intended for Brandon Gibson, and raced down the right sideline for a touchdown, but not before holding the ball out in front of him and pausing to taunt the pursuing Rams. A highlight-reel interception turned into an embarrassment for the Ravens, and Ellerbe received a deserved tongue-lashing from his head coach on the sideline.
Then, as the final seconds of the first half ticked down, and with the Ravens driving for a score on the Rams one, a flustered Troy Smith dropped back to pass and deposited a dying quail into the waiting arms of linebacker Chris Chamberlin, who raced 83 yards the other way before a hustling Jalen Parmele pushed him out of bounds as the clock expired.
Bad is good. Good is bad. Mostly, it adds up to bad.
By sitting all 22 of his starters on offense and defense, head Coach John Harbaugh created room for excuses along with ample opportunities for marginal players to win jobs with the team.
What he mostly got was a long list of reasons for making roster cut-downs. Still, Harbaugh was quick to point out that these were his second stringers pitted against the Rams’ starters for over a quarter of play.
The reality is actually harsher. Harbaugh’s reference to, “twos” was a stretch, considering only a couple of players on each side of the ball Thursday night will actually make the final roster, much less the second units. For instance, the entire starting offensive line—Ramon Harewood, Joe Reitz, Bryan Mattison, Stefan Rogers, and Devin Tyler—appears to be a pretty good bet to miss the cut.
We’ll go through the individual performances, unit by unit, but suffice it to say that you won’t find any big winners coming out of this game. In fact, the Ravens24x7 game ball goes to…me…for sitting through this painful display of football, twice, in order to give you this report.
Quarterback: C-
We learned one interesting thing about Troy Smith. Out of the shotgun he actually performed pretty well, finding receivers and delivering the ball on time and on location. From under center, however, he was a near disaster, lacking timing and accuracy. It should give the third string quarterback something to work on, assuming the team keeps three quarterbacks. Smith also affirmed the fact that he can be dangerous with his feet, but needs work as a pocket passer. Statistically, his night looks better than it appeared to the naked eye, thanks to two rushing TDs. As a passer, he was 18 for 38 for 237 yards and two interceptions. It adds up to a 45.6 passer rating. He was at his worst in two minute situations, with a red zone interception and two indefensible sacks taken at the end of the game.
Running Backs: C+
Like quarterback Troy Smith, reserve running backs Jalen Parmele and Curtis Steele excel at some aspects of their games, but need refinement in others. For Parmele, he continues to struggle with pass protection As a ball carrier, had just seven yards on six carries, mostly running into the backs of ineffective blockers. Steele raised questions about his pass catching ability after a couple of drops… He demonstrated extreme shiftiness and balance while making tacklers miss, with six carries for 25 yards in total.
Wide Receivers: B
Aside from his second glaring dropped pass on the preseason, David Reed was probably the most impressive Ravens wide receiver, tallying the two biggest offensive plays on the night, with catches for 34 and 22 yards. When catching crossing routes he showed strong hands and nice wiggle after the catch. Demetrius Williams shook off a bum ankle to record two catches for 38 yards. He still looks like the best vertical threat available now that Donte’ Stallworth is shelved through the bye week. Justin Harper had a nice night as well, with four catches and 48 yards. But it was probably not enough to crack the roster. Marcus Smith sold a nice double move that was wasted by a poor Troy Smith overthrow. He still looks like an imposing red zone threat and special teams stand-out. The final roster decisions will be interesting.
Tight Ends: B
Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta were limited to three catches on the night. Pitta continues to show good hands, a ton of athleticism, and good upfield moves, while Dickson’s simply resembles a wide receiver with tight end strength. Davin Drew showed a little game. It’s unfortunate it comes a year too late to save his job in Baltimore, but he could catch on elsewhere.
Tackles: D
Devin Tyler struggled to do much of anything well. Eventually, against lesser opponents as the night wore on, he was able to pass protect a little better, but never mounted much push in the running game. Ramon Harewood, as has been his tendency, did good things and bad things. He was flagged for being offsides and a late hit, showing his lack of football experience. Athletically, he showed he can move his feet and push the pile. A worthy candidate for the practice squad.
Interior Line: C-
Bryan Mattison went backward. Figuratively (and literally) he was dumped unceremoniously into the backfield on one occasion. Mattison, Stefan Rogers and Joe Reitz did adequately as a unit pass protecting, but generated not much in the way of run blocking. Rogers showed he has the most talent of the three, but not enough to crack the roster.
Cornerbacks: D
Cary Williams had his poorest outing of the preseason, getting beat early by Danny Amendola on a simple down and out. After giving up too much cushion, Williams was later caught being grabby for an interference flag on a night the yellow flags rarely came out. Travis Fisher was decent in run support but was shaky in coverage, including getting beat in the corner of the end zone. Prince Miller from the nickel spot was better this week finding the ball, but was comical trying to time a blitz. He’s a work in progress who probably ends up on the practice squad after muffing a punt on special teams. Chris Hawkins played poorly and gave up the fourth Rams scoring chance. KJ Gerard was good in run support in limited action.
Safeties: C-
Haruki Nakamura has perfected dive-bombing ankle tackles and looks like he is moving faster than most everyone else on the field. Ken Hamlin made a pathetic effort on an arm tackle and looked generally disinterested. The sense is that he has resigned himself to not making the roster.
Linebackers: D
It was another week of inconsistency for this group. Across the board, they continue to lack recognition in pass coverage, even playing simple schemes. Jason Phillips stood out especially for being out of position on coverage. As a run-support linebacker, he may have had the best night of all the bubble players, with nine tackles to lead the team. Prescott Burgess had a similar outing, with poor pass coverage but very solid tackling – he might be the biggest and hardest hitting linebacker on the team not named Ray Lewis. His special teams ability is a plus. Tavares Gooden showed really poor coverage instincts and was constantly making half a good play by not finishing. Are we seeing a trend here? There are not a lot of all-around linebackers here, in an otherwise talented group. Dannell Ellerbe may come closest to fulfilling that promise. Besides his ill-fated interception, Dannell Ellerbe got knocked around a bit against the Rams however. Antwan Barnes was better with his hand in the turf rushing the passer than standing up as a linebacker. Edgar Jones put in a solid effort, his best showing of the preseason.
Defensive Line: D
This group did not look much like Ravens defenders. The Rams were constantly grinding five and seven-yard runs up the middle. Kelly Talavou was repeatedly knocked back, or to the ground. It was such a step back that it raises questions about his health. The most veteran player on the line, fifth year man Brandon McKinney looked much better at the point of attack, and more versatile than his brethren. Lamar Divens didn’t do much wrong, but didn’t win many battles either. Paul Kruger took advantage of some missed block showed very heavy hands. But he left the game early and changed into street clothes. Art Jones looked slow and needs seasoning, as is often the case with rookie defensive linemen.
Special Teams: C
By muffing a punt that KJ Gerrard had to fall on in the end zone for a touchback, Prince Miller severely damaged his chances to make the final roster. However, he did show talent on two other punt returns. Between the two kickers, Billy Cundiff was much stronger than Shayne Graham on kick offs. Jalen Parmele made a nice tackle on punt coverage and Edgar Jones stood out on kick coverage along with Burgess. Art Jones made a nice block on a kick return.
Coaching: A
John Harbaugh’s ripping of Dannell Ellerbe was a welcome sight during an otherwise unappealing game. Credit the coaches, too, for sticking with their vanilla game plan and giving themselves a chance to evaluate the bottom 20 players who came into this game competing for roster spots.
It’s too bad their patience was not rewarded with more stand out performances. After watching that fiasco it will be hard to argue with any of the final cuts.
