One week can make a world of difference in the NFL.
Just ask James Hurst.
The rookie LT went from one of the players of the game a week ago to goat after his head-turning performance against the Colts. And when I say head turning, I mean Hurst’s head was literally turned, as was his entire body in at least one pass-blocking breakdown.
Hurst struggled with his footwork and balance all afternoon. Lack of consistency in his footwork and positioning out of his stance was also a big problem for Hurst during training camp. Pernell McPhee wore him out one afternoon by consistently setting him up outside and then spinning inside when he overset too far wide.
OLB Bjoern Werner (who could have been mistaken for Robert Mathis) kept Hurst guessing by converting his speed rush to power and winning on the bull rush.
There is no reason to think that DE Michael Johnson (who the Ravens have struggled to block in the past) won’t try the same moves next week when he lines up over the rook.
Gary Kubiak needs to do a better job of helping Hurst out by keeping an extra blocker to his side and using more two tight end sets — Crockett Gilmore, anyone?
Speaking of using two tight ends to help control the edge rush, the Colts employed that strategy to perfection against the Ravens.
Give credit to TEs Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen for blocking at a high level – often without any help.
But Elvis Dumervil and Terrell Suggs should have been embarrassed by their inability to win those matchups on Sunday.
Lastly, here’s my take on coach John Harbaugh’s decision to go for a first half fourth-down conversion (the Ravens’ first trip into the red zone).
Given the flow of the game, he should have kicked the FG. It’s that simple.
According to Harbaugh, “I felt like it was going to be somewhat of a high-scoring game. It didn’t end up not being as high scoring as we thought because we kept them out of the end zone.”
This isn’t the first time Harbaugh has misjudged the flow of a game and became too aggressive because he thought his offense would need to keep pace with a prolific offense on the opposite sideline.
Remember the Green Bay game last year when he went for a first-half fourth down, couldn’t convert, and the Packers ended up pulling away in a pretty tight game?
With the way both defenses were playing on Sunday, points were at a premium. Not only that, but the offense did well just to put a drive together after starting at their own 4-yard line. This was after the offense had a fumble and two three-and-outs on the previous drives.
To come up scoreless in that situation was a killer.
