A Week 11 Bye has its advantages. It gives the Ravens an opportunity to assess their 2014 body of work and fix the things that are broken as they prepare for the all important backstretch of the season with an eye towards a ticket to the postseason dance.
In the AFC there are currently five teams NOT in first place that have (6-4) records. Only two will potentially get their tickets punched.
The combinations of “what-ifs” are nearly infinite and really it’s wasted time to try and figure it all out with 6 weeks of the regular season remaining. A more simplistic approach to the balance of the schedule, and really the preferred approach, albeit cliché-ish, is to win one game at a time and keep pace within the division.
Here’s a look at the remaining schedules of the four AFC North combatants:
Equally as cliché’-ish is to say that the best approach to remaining standing in January is to simply win your division by taking care of your own business. And to that end, here are a few things that the Ravens must clean up beginning on Monday night.
1. A-Gap: The Ravens haven’t had answers when teams blitz over center particularly when they empty their backfield (personally I dread when they do). The team fails to get to the line of scrimmage in a timely fashion leaving little time to make pre-snap adjustments. It has been a cluster and a killer to many drives.
2. Wounded Animal: In the wild when animals are wounded they become aggressive in order to compensate for their weaknesses. The Ravens, wounded by a weakened secondary, should borrow a page from nature and do the same defensively. They need to do all they can to make opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable and that means showing multiple looks characterized by post snap unpredictability.
3. Cobwebs: Will the real Lardarius Webb please stand up! The Ravens highest paid corner needs to deliver consistency down the stretch if the Ravens are to have a chance. It’s time to dust off the old Spidey suit and be the player he was in 2011. Is that still possible?
4. Senior Moments: During the Ravens last 3 games Steve Smith, Sr. has average 4 catches for just 29 yards and has not found the end zone. During the 7 previous games Senior averaged 92 yards per game and hit pay dirt four times. The Ravens need to re-ignite the feisty receiver and perhaps the best way to make that happen is to get Torrey Smith and Michael Campanaro more involved.
5. Shoulder Rub: A couple of seasons ago the Ravens seemed to be developing some rhythm with the back-shoulder throw. If properly placed and timed the play is extremely difficult to defend. Watching games around the league this weekend served as a reminder of this missing play from Joe Flacco’s arsenal.
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NOTES
I have to admit that I had no idea who Titans’ TE Chase Coffman was until Jay Glazer’s report focusing on the horrific cheap shot Coffman delivered to unsuspecting Ravens’ intern Tony Coaxum following Danny Gorrer’s game clinching interception of Zach Mettenberger. This former 2009 third round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals has bounced around with four teams with 6 catches for 60 yards to his credit. He has yet to score during his underachieving 4 active seasons in the NFL. Here’s hoping that the stink of your cheap shot artistry never leaves you!
The Ravens head to New Orleans during Week 12 to face a Saints team that has lost their last two games, both at home. But the Saints are a different team under the bright lights of primetime television when playing in the comfy confines of the Superdome when the sun goes down. Maybe there’s some truth to those vampire tales.
On October 26th the Saints took it to the Packers, the league’s hottest team right now, by the score of 44-23 on Sunday Night Football making it their 14th straight prime time victory in The Big Easy. Take a look at these impressive results on the big stage dating back to 2009.
Jay Cutler’s struggles apparently inspired ESPN’s Kevin Seifert to take a close look at the inconsistent gun-slinger’s contract which makes him 2014’s highest paid player. The examination of Cutler’s contract inspired a look at some comparatively “onerous” contracts, one of which, according to Seifert, is Joe Flacco’s. Here is what Seifert reported:
Relevant terms: Flacco’s cap figures are reasonable in 2014 ($14.8 million) and 2015 ($14.55 million), but then jump dramatically in 2016 ($28.55 million) and thereafter.
Analysis: In reality, Flacco leveraged the Ravens’ Super Bowl victory in 2013 into what likely will be two paydays in a three- or four-year period. It’s conceivable that the Ravens could carry a $28.55 million cap number in 2016, but it’s more likely they’ll need to extend his deal again either at that point or certainly by 2017, when his cap charge will be $31.5 million. Here’s the catch: If the Ravens wanted to cut Flacco in 2016, he would consume $25.85 million in dead money against their cap that season. The end result is that to maintain cap health, the Ravens likely can’t cut Flacco in 2016 or sit on his current deal. They’ll have to give Flacco more upfront money — and possibly an overall raise as well — whether or not his play merits it.
Getting this right, assuming they can, will be a daunting task for Ozzie Newsome and Ravens capologist Pat Moriarty.
But they only have themselves to blame for the negotiating corner they’re painted in.
How they eventually handle it could have far reaching affects on the team’s future.
