It was a season that never seemed to get started.
It was a season that would never end.
It was both.
Expectations were shattered while frustrations ran rampant. Injuries and underachievement characterized the 2015 campaign to such a great extent that by the time the season finale was upon us the Baltimore Ravens were barely recognizable.
Only Marshal Yanda and Rick Wagner finished where they started along the offensive front. Only 1 of the top 4 receivers to start training camp was on the field yesterday in Cincinnati. The starting tight end was missing, as was last season’s Pro Bowl tailback.
And then of course there was no Joe Flacco. January Joe was nowhere around in January 2016. The Ravens’ Iron Man wasn’t behind center and he hasn’t been for the past 6 games.
If someone had told you in August that all of the above would be the reality of the Ravens 2015 season come January and Ryan Mallett, a featured player in Hard Knocks as a Texan, would be the team’s starting QB, a 5-11 record would hardly be a shock.
Nor were yesterday’s results…
THE GOOD
Ryan Mallett’s performance yesterday was up and down. First the up. Mallett again showed confidence and poise when directing the offense. He was clutch on third down leading the way to a very healthy 12 of 20 (60%) conversion rate. He also made some big league throws into tight windows. And his comfort level in Marc Trestman’s offense and consistency in getting his team to the line of scrimmage quickly were impressive…The offensive line gave Mallett time to throw. He was sacked only once on 57 drop backs, quite an accomplishment given the lack of a running game…Maxx Williams had his best game as a pro (6 catches, 53 yards) and was able to create separation downfield…Kamar Aiken was solid as he has been since Steve Smith, Sr.’s injury, chipping in with 5 catches for 76 yards to cap off an impressive season (75/944/5). Comparatively speaking Anquan Boldin seasonal stat line is 69/789/4…Kyle Juszczyk an underutilized weapon, made a tough catch in traffic to convert a key third down, adding YAC. He was also a big reason why the Bengals blitzes often failed, effectively picking up blitzing backers.
Lawrence Guy was strong at the point of attack chipping in with 5 overall tackles and 1 ½ sacks…Shareece Wright competed well and his tackling in the open field was efficient. He should be retained as a depth player in 2016 along with the returning Will Davis who was acquired from the Dolphins during the season for a 7th round pick…Jimmy Smith did well when assigned to AJ Green and you have to wonder why Dean Pees refuses to simply assign Smith to the dangerous wideout wherever he lines up. Overall Green was limited to 4 catches for 34 yards and a score, 3 of those catches occurred when Wright had coverage responsibility…The Ravens throttled the Bengals on third down (0 for 9)…Sam Koch (with a little luck) netted 42.5 yards per punt (4) and pinned the Bengals inside the 20 three times (17, 4, 6 yard lines).
THE BAD
Ryan Mallett forced some throws and was picked off twice. If Bengals’ defenders could catch it could have been much worse. The attempt to hit Buck Allen on a short out was insanely ill advised given the tight coverage from Vontaze Burfict who was the best player on the field yesterday. Burfict picked off that pass to Allen and gave the Bengals great field position for their opening drive in the second half. Mallett finished 30 of 56 for 292 yards, a TD and 2 INT’s for a passer rating of 59.5…Ryan Jensen was steamrolled far too often by Geno Atkins who was a major disruptive force to the Ravens running game…Trailing 21-9 at the 12:01 mark of Q4 while facing a third and 5 from the Bengals 28, Cincinnati brought the house and Mallett made the right decision to throw to the outside to Chris Givens who was facing soft, single coverage. Givens failed to cut off the route in the blitz situation. Givens has been given ample opportunity in 2015 and has failed…Chris Matthews dropped an easy catch that would have converted a key third down.
The stats show that the Ravens defense did well on third down. What those stats overlook are the inadequacies on second down when the Bengals converted 13 of 22 second down plays into first down, which would indicate that the Bengals and their oft-used jumbo package were productive on first down. Perhaps the Bengals noticed how the Ravens defended the back end against the Steelers and went heavy on Dean Pees’ scheme…Tackling by the Ravens linebackers was suspect and both CJ Mosley and Daryl Smith were too often caught up in the wash of the Bengals interior linemen who regularly found success at the second level…Kaelin Clay was awful returning punts and reminded me of the old electric football games. He ran up Brynden Trawick’s back so regularly that it looked like it was by design. I thought little guys in the NFL need to be fast. Clay is not.
THE UGLY
The Ravens screen designs are a disaster and usually end up with the quarterback dirting the ball. During the only one that was set up well in recent memory, Mallett failed to give Jeremy Butler an opportunity to make a play on the ball. His YAC, albeit for naught, was impressive as was the downfield blocking…Bad officiating once again reared its ugly head. Carl Cheffers’ crew missed a blatant pass interference call against Givens when Adam Jones had pinned the receiver’s left arm. Later they flagged Will Hill (who by the way has little ball skills) for DPI on a ball that was uncatchable. At the 9:11 mark of Q3 Cheffers marched off only 4 yards after an offsides penalty against the Bengals when the Ravens were in punt formation. It is that hard to count to 5?…Kendrick Lewis is just awful. He can’t cover, tackle or provide much in the way of run support. He and Webb are to blame for Jeremy Hill’s 38-yard TD run on 4th and 1 with 7 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and the Bengals holding on to a 14-9 lead…The Bengals averaged 5.4 YPC on 27 runs…The overall lack of playmaking ability and speed was blatantly obvious during this winnable game…The Bengals hardly look like a team that can contain the Steelers. The bet here is that their postseason struggles will continue and Marvin Lewis will still be looking for his first playoff win next season.
THE MEGAN FOX
During a game that provided little to smile about Justin Tucker was 3 for 3 in FGA’s, two of which were from 50 and 49 yards. But even Tucker’s day wasn’t exactly perfect. The onsides kick was cute but hardly effective. It was DOA, sort of like the Ravens playoff chances for the majority of the 2015 season.
The State of The Ravens presser is scheduled for Thursday at 2PM.
What would you like to hear Messrs. Bisciotti, Cass, Harbaugh and Newsome say?
