Yes it was Blake Bortles that the Ravens faced on Sunday and yes I’m aware he’s not Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Ben Roethlisberger or even Jay Cutler. But you can only play who’s on your schedule and when he played on Sunday, Rashaan Melvin certainly passed the eyeball test.
Pro Football Focus noticed as well, giving Melvin a +2.4 grade, the second highest grade among Ravens defenders.
It’s way early but judging from Melvin’s 24-snap baptism he seems instinctive – something no one will ever accuse Matt Elam of.
Here’s what Draft Insider had to say about Melvin as he entered the 2013 NFL Draft.
Positive: Opportunistic defensive back with nice size. Aggressive and quick up the field but also plays heads-up football. Voluntarily defends the run and screen passes. Fluid with a good change of direction. Explodes to the action out of his plant, possesses a closing burst of speed, and quickly locates the pass in the air. Keeps the action in front of him and shows skill in zone coverage.
Negative: Prefers to side shuffle down the field rather than backpedal. Lacks long speed.
Analysis: Melvin was a productive college cornerback who consistently made plays on the ball. He possesses the size and wherewithal to line up as a dime cornerback in zone packages at the next level.
Hopefully Melvin can provide competent play as the Ravens continue to scour the league’s personnel scrap heap for more warm bodies to help secondary coach Steve Spagnuolo deal with his dumpster fire.
Since Haloti Ngata has been on suspension the Ravens have accumulated 14 sacks and at least some of the credit has to go to Timmy Jernigan.
Jernigan was recognized by Eugene Monroe and Kelechi Osemele during training camp. When players single out other players, it is then time to take notice if you hadn’t already.
Jernigan is a disrupter and has a quick slap move similar to what Trevor Pryce once perfected. It helps him to create leverage and collapse the pocket. Opposing QB’s can’t step up and that creates opportunities for the edge rushers.
Ngata’s suspension provides the Ravens front office with a body of work to consider for Jernigan and that could heavily factor into Ngata’s contract, the remainder of which seems to be DOA, particularly in light of the team’s cap challenges that they’ll confront this coming offseason.
Ngata and his handlers clearly must be aware of this and that should light a fire under the Ravens multi-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle. A rested, inspired and perhaps somewhat desperate Ngata could wreak havoc on opposing offensive lines and certainly strengthen the Ravens postseason success provided they finish against the Texans and Browns.
@TimmyWade94 @RussellStReport And Ravens are 2-0 without Ngata due to adderall. Wait a minute. Is there a connection maybe?
— Gene Lindsay (@uelindsay) December 16, 2014
Not sure if you’ve seen or heard about the piece in Bloomberg’s Business Week but according to them, Super Bowl XLIX is in jeopardy due to the pending lapse of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (“TRIA”). Here’s an excerpt from BW concerning the TRIA:
TRIA was signed into law in 2002 in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, establishing a risk-sharing partnership between the federal government and the insurance industry that made terrorism insurance widely available to U.S. businesses—among them, organizers of sporting events. Without federal support, most insurers had been unwilling to offer coverage. TRIA was renewed in 2005 and in 2007. It is set to expire on Dec. 31 unless Congress renews it. With two weeks until the deadline, the clock is ticking.
I’m fairly certain that the Democrats who aspire to hang on to the Oval Office will be sure that the game goes on as scheduled. There are just too many tortilla chips and ad dollars at stake.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/bwwJvVUGxas[/youtube]
Week 16 will certainly be for scoreboard watching. Ideally for the Ravens the Steelers fall at home to the Chiefs while the Bengals crumble at the hands of Peyton Manning and the Broncos.
The Chiefs are (3-4) on the road this season losing 3 games by 7 points or less to credible opponents (49ers, Broncos, Cardinals) while beating a few as well (Bills, Chargers, Dolphins).
The Steelers haven’t exactly been stout at the cow pasture called Heinz Field. While they are (4-2) as hosts let’s not forget that Mike Tomlin’s boys have fallen to the “mighty” Tampa Bay Bucs (2-12) and New Orleans Saints (6-8) in Pittsburgh – the only NFC South wins against the AFC North in 2014.
The Chiefs have a solid running game and they can get after the passer. That’s a recipe for success on the road. I like Andy Reid’s guys this week to do a favor for former colleague John Harbaugh.
As for the Bengals all you need to know is that it’s an important game against a playoff team on national TV and that’s usually when Andy Dalton crumbles just like Scut Farkas did with Ralphie in Christmas Story.
As for the Ravens, more on that later this week but until then here’s something to consider…
- Texans’ backup QB Case Keenum is 0-8 as starter with 9TD’s, 6 INT’s, 78.2 QB Rating.
- Texans’ backup QB Thad Lewis is 2-4 as starter with 5 TD’s, 4 INT’s, 81.2 QB Rating.
Stop Arian Foster, assign Crockett Gilmore to literally be a thorn in JJ Watt’s side and by all means, pick Gary Kubiak’s brain.
Yes Virginia, Santa just might be coming to The Land of Pleasant Living a few days early!
