CINCINNATI BENGALS 15, BALTIMORE RAVENS 10
SEPTEMBER 19, 2010
For the second straight week, the much-anticipated Baltimore Ravens offense mustered just ten points against a strong defensive secondary.
And again this week it was offensive turnovers—four interceptions by Joe Flacco—that erased any advantage that their penalty-prone opponent handed to them. In two games, the Ravens’ opponents have committed 23 penalties, compared to just ten for Baltimore.
And, just like their week-one contest against the New York Jets, the Ravens defense stiffened when repeatedly put in poor field position, holding opposing offenses to no touchdowns in two games.
A week ago that was enough to beat the Jets. This week it was too much to overcome, as the Cincinnati Bengals managed to put fifteen points on the board thanks to five Mike Nugent field goals to beat the visiting Ravens, 15-10.
Playing after a short week of preparation, and a second consecutive road contest, the Ravens appeared sluggish and out of synch, particularly quarterback Joe Flacco and his new receiving corps.
The Bengals often put seven, eight or even nine defenders in the box against the Ravens tight formations to stop Ray Rice and the running game while challenging Flacco and his receivers to beat their secondary. But the new-look Ravens offense was not up to the task, including managing just 77 first-half yards.
It didn’t seem to matter what the Ravens did schematically on offense, as the Mike Zimmer coached Bengals defense had an answer throughout most of the game. Bad match ups, bad performances, or bad karma—whatever the case, the Carson Palmer-led Bengals continue to find ways to beat the Ravens, including sweeping Baltimore in 2009.
Credit the Bengals for finding ways to get the job done. But question the Ravens offense, which has yet to live up to the preseason expectations.
Quarterback: F
Other than one drive to start the second half, which included a 31 yard touchdown throw to Derrick Mason, Joe Flacco looked confused and indecisive. Forced outside of his comfort zone consisting of out patterns and check downs, Flacco was terrible seeing and using the middle of the field. That has now become “the book” on Joe Flacco. Until he improves between the hash marks, he won’t be viewed as a top-flight NFL quarterback. He threw four interceptions on the day, his career worst, finishing 17 of 39 for 154 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions. That amounts to a pathetic quarterback rating of 23. When not throwing picks, he simply missed open receivers – notably Derrick Mason down the right side without a defender within twenty yards—or overthrowing open receivers (see Mason again and Dennis Pitta). Despite his reputation for being poised, he appears to be struggling with fundamentals when asked to throw from the pocket. He looked smoother moving his feet and throwing on the run.
Running Backs: B
Despite facing a defense designed to keep him in check, Ray Rice made the most of his opportunities. He had sixteen rushing attempts for 87 yards, including a long of 30. He also caught four passes for another thirty yards. He continues to be very difficult to stop in the open field. Rice also chipped in with a devastating comeback block on the 6’2” 325 lb DT Pat Simms as Flacco was scrambling past the first down sticks. Willis McGahee had just three rushing attempts but did look more decisive running the ball this week. Le’Ron McClain touched the ball just twice but was an effective lead blocker.
Wide Receivers: C
The Ravens receivers did a poor job of establishing inside position on Bengals defenders. TJ Houshmandzadeh had a very poor outing in his return to Cincinnati, dropping three balls and getting flagged while trying to get into proper position at the snap. Derrick Mason was open more often than he was thrown to and had the best day among this group with his route running. Anquan Boldin appeared to be frustrated by the defense, or more likely his quarterback, and managed just 35 yards on five catches.
Tight Ends: B-
All three tight ends played, and each was productive in spurts. The best play among this group was a completion to Ed Dickson on a drag route, with a nice stiff arm on linebacker Rey Maualuga to rumble for 17 yards. That was followed by a catch by Todd Heap for another 19, which propelled the opening drive of the second half. Heap finished with 4 catches. Dickson did have trouble on the line of scrimmage as a blocker, which dumped Ravens runners in the backfield on more than one occasion. Dennis Pitta was a better blocker, but less of a downfield threat, catching just one ball and getting rocked by Johnathan Joseph for a one yard pick-up.
Tackles: B
Although they were given a lot of help, Michael Oher and Marshal Yanda provided good pass protection. Neither was dominant in run blocking, but they did make some good kick-out blocks and played well as a unit with the guards. Oher consistently finished his blocks. Yanda began moving the pile more as the game wore on.
Interior Line: A
This group was vastly improved from a week ago. That was particularly true of Chris Chester, who had a fantastic day filling in for Marshal Yanda at right guard while the team waits for Jared Gaither to return. Chester was very mobile, and displayed very good hip movement when finding his man in space and turning to engage. While he was not bull rushed as often as in week one, he showed that he, along with Ben Grubbs, are very good at pulling and blocking on traps in tight spaces. Matt Birk at times was pushing the pile forward. As a group, they were very effective at picking up blitzes and inside stunts.
Cornerbacks: A-
Ravens cornerbacks were feared to be the weak link on this team, but they held an excellent receiving corps in check for the most part. Carson Palmer threw for just 167 yards and a mediocre 60 quarterback rating. Fabian Washington, along with Josh Wilson on the left side, was excellent covering Chad Ochocinco, holding him to four catches and under fifty yards. Chris Carr continues to play better than advertised after being pressed into service on the opposite side. He finished with seven tackles and four passes defended. Failing to push Terrell Owens out of bounds to give up a long gain was his only negative play. Lardarius Webb made his first return after recovering from a torn ACL, and was a bit tentative covering the veteran Bengals receivers. As the nickel, Lakewood, Ohio native Haruki Nakamura was effective on covering rookie slot receiver Jordan Shipley, and showed toughness getting back on the field immediately after getting roughed up.
Safeties: C-
Both Dawan Landry and Tom Zbikowski dropped interception opportunities that would have been difference makers in the game. Landry’s drop at the three allowed the Bengals to survive and kick a field goal. Zbikowski could have given the Ravens offense the ball on the Bengals thirty, instead, he was back fielding a sixty-yard punt to put the Ravens back on their end of the field. Both safeties played the run well and were in on seven tackles. They also made it difficult for the Bengals to throw over the middle.
Linebackers: B-
Ray Lewis started poorly, unable to avoid interior linemen Kyle Cook and Nate Livingston on a few Cedric Benson runs up the gut and he also allowed Benson to juke him and run past for a first down. As the game wore on and the score tightened, Lewis played better, finishing with a team-high ten tackles and was a physical presence in pass coverage. Jarret Johnson was asked to do a lot as he moved around the field with mixed results. A couple negative plays included being overpowered at the line of scrimmage trying to hold the edge on a sweep, and being slow to get back in coverage against tight end Jermaine Gresham. But he also had some positive plays blowing up runs and applying blitz pressure. Jameel McClain and Dannell Ellerbe were steady, but not spectacular. Tavares Gooden left early after appearing to injure a shoulder after failing on a special teams tackling attempt.
Defensive Line: A
This unit played very well together. Haloti Ngata was all over the field, blowing up blocking assignments up front, penetrating into the backfield to disrupt plays, or hustling to chase down Terrell Owens from behind after a twenty yard catch down the middle. Cory Redding and Kelly Gregg were steady scraping down the line of scrimmage to bottle up runs, although Redding was flagged for an offsides call. Brandon McKinney was very effective coming in fresh in a reserve role. Trevor Pryce was limited, but did show tremendous hustle from his knees to wrap up Carson Palmer. Terrell Suggs was very effective holding the edge; his best play came in the second half recognizing that a crack-back block from Gresham was coming, and fighting outside to stop a pitch to Benson. This group should only get better when Terrence Cody comes back next week, presumably, from meniscus surgery.
Special Teams: C+
Jalen Parmele had some excellent kick returns, although he appears to run in a very upright posture as a returner and it nearly cost him when he was hit and fumbled the ball, which Pitta recovered. Sam Koch was constantly placing punts inside the ten. Billy Cundiff consistently sailed kicks deep into, or out of the end zone, and his field goal late gave the Ravens what appeared to perhaps be enough for an ugly 10-9 win that wasn’t. Tom Zbikowski had a little trouble judging punts, but was sure handed, including a ball over his head and another angled to the sideline. He made nice moves on a twenty yard return. David Reed again showed up with a fantastic tackle as a gunner after the Ravens punted from deep in their own end. However, the kick coverage unit surrendered a devastating sixty-yard return with the game on the line.
Coaching: C
Cam Cameron made adjustments at half time, finding plays that helped Flacco get the ball out more quickly without having to read the whole field. That allowed the team to come out and march the ball down the field to take the lead. But after that, there were no answers from the sideline. The Ravens played with poise and discipline again this week. But none of it was enough to overcome Flacco’s poor outing, or questionable officiating.
Officiating: F
Gene Steratore’s crew had as bad a day as Joe Flacco. Three of the five penalties that were called against the Ravens were simply wrong and contributed heavily to the Ravens loss.
The first was a block in the back call on Ken Hamlin on a punt return when he put his hands out, but did not push Morgan Trent as Trent dove to make a tackle. The second was a tripping call on Ray Lewis who was blocked and rolled into Carson Palmer for a sack. The most egregious error however, was a roughing the passer call on, who else, Terrell Suggs as he was cleanly planting a shoulder into Carson Palmer’s chest, and wrapping him up while the two fell to the turf.
In his explanation Steratore did not raise the possibility of a late hit, rather he determined that Suggs’ tackle had “slammed” Palmer to the ground, which suggests a new standard for sacking quarterbacks by allowing them to be hit, but not knocked down. Or perhaps Steratore was applying the 2005 Mike Carey standard: recall Suggs had been tossed from a game against Detroit in 2005 because referee Carey detected “malice” on Suggs’ part.
The calls brought to mind the substandard officiating from October of last year when the Ravens visited New England. During a game-losing Patriots’ drive Haloti Ngata was flagged for grazing Tom Brady’s helmet and Terrell Suggs was flagged by Tom Brady—with affirmation by referee Ron Winter—for nearly bumping Brady’s knee.
Beyond the bad calls, Steratore’s crew simply seemed as confused as Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense, huddling to discuss calls that shouldn’t require discussion, such as an illegal formation call on Andrew Whitworth near the two minute warning. They also misidentified a Houshmandzadeh motion penalty as being against Anquan Boldin.
The Ravens have a full week to lick their wounds and finally play a home game, as a much less threatening division rival, the 0-2 Cleveland Browns, come to town next week.
