What is going on with the Ravens? Can’t stand prosperity? Can’t carry over a big win to the next week against lesser competition? The Ravens lost again, on the road, to another crappy team that, on paper, has no business staying with the Ravens after the 1st quarter. I’m still ticked about Sunday and I don’t know quite what to write. I don’t know how to write this column without sounding like a whiney bitch. But here goes….
What I know:
v John Harbaugh has said this week that he has “no problems” with Cam Cameron’s play calling. Well, I really think you should, John. Nobody else in the league mistakes Joe Flacco for the ole’ gunslinger, Brett Favre, and neither should you or Cameron.
v The Ravens play best when the pass/run ratio is closer to 50-50. The 82%-18% pass run ratio in the Seattle game didn’t come close! Against the Seahawks the Ravens ran 54 passes and only 12 run plays.
v The Ravens will not win when their best playmaker gets 5 rushes for 27 yards. That’s right, Ray Rice carried 5 lousy times for 27 equally lousy yards.
v After all those pass attempts, the longest Ravens pass completed went for 19 yards.
v The Defense doesn’t get a hall pass, either. They made a retread QB like Tavaris Jackson look like a competent quarterback. Which is what happens when you don’t get an iota of a pass rush on him.
v The Defense is also not making the big plays. The Ravens closed to within 5 points of the Seahawks with 5 minutes and 57 seconds left in the game. Billy Cundiff kicked off into the end one for a touchback. And the Ravens offense never saw the ball again.
v It has to rankle fans that Stephen Hauschka, who the Ravens cut in 2009 when he couldn’t make pressure field goals, had 5 in this game. What happened to Billy Cundiff, who was banging them through the uprights from 50+ yards in warm-ups?
STUDS
None. I can’t think of one player or team unit who distinguished themselves in this game.
DUDS
Among the many Ravens who are Dud material, David Reed stands out and probably misplayed his way off the 53 man roster. To begin with, he doesn’t like to get hit and he runs with his head down straight into the pile. Bad habits for a return guy. Then, in a game in which he fumbled twice (leading to 6 Seahawks points) and earned an unsportsmanlike penalty, he exasperated John Harbaugh to the point where Harbs was (rhetorically) asking for a new return man. Except rhetoric had little to do with it. Here’s my translation: Reed, as soon as I find a replacement, you’re headed to the waiver wire.
BOTTOM LINE
Maybe I’m whining so much because if the Ravens had taken care of business against inferior competition we would be at least 8-1 and sitting pretty. Maybe the Ravens like to make it hard on themselves. I have to lean on what Bill Parcells once said. You are what your record says you are. And it looks like, at this point, that the Ravens are a pretty good, but not great team. Just one of several in the AFC, as a matter of fact.
However, since no AFC team, be it the Pats, Steelers, Bengals, or Texans, has distanced themselves from the conference pack, there is still time for the Ravens to play up to their talent level and our expectations.
With the Bengals and the 49ers on the immediate horizon, they have to.
This Week
Cincinnati comes to town for a game many of us figured would be a slam dunk at the beginning of the year. How does that preseason strength of schedule number look now? What a garbage stat. They are not playing like the Bungles. The only blessing is that former Ravens nemesis Carson Palmer is no longer the quarterback and Ochocinco, T.J., and T.O. are not there to embarrass our secondary. The Bengals come in with the 5th ranked defense, playing what is now a poison pill for the Ravens offense – a 4-3 lineup. Cincinnati is winner of 3 out of the last 4 Ravens matchups, and 5 out of the last 8. The Ravens offense is stagnant and the defense is not making big stops or getting turnovers. Sounds like there’s Trouble in River City, right?
Nope. Amazingly, the line for this game is -7 Ravens. Even more amazing is that Ravens fans should believe it. For the second week in a row, the Bengals will play a Big-Boy defense, this time on the road. For the Purple and Black, there’s nothing like a little home cooking to get right with your football soul. T-Sizzle, Ray, and the gang will come out steaming. Andy Dalton will not have a good day. We’re overdue for some turnovers and some Ray Rice-a-Roni, big time. (Right, Cam?)
Ravens 24 Bengals 13
Note: All stats courtesy of NFL.com, and Advanced Football Stats.com Additional content from Wikipedia and ProFootballFocus.
