Bill Belichick has been known to do whatever he can, within the rules or otherwise, to give his team a competitive advantage. He’s also not above working the system to exact a measure of revenge towards an adversary.
You may recall that Belichick was the Cleveland Browns head coach when Art Modell announced that he would be moving his team to Baltimore back on November 6, 1995. Just the season before, the Browns finished (11-5) and made it to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. The outlook for the team was promising.
But Modell fired Belichick after a tense (5-11) season that was undermined by the announced move, replacing him with Ted Marchibroda, an amiable fellow who Modell thought would represent a comfortable and familiar face to welcome Baltimore back to the NFL. You know, kind of like those nice greeters at Walmart with their smiley-face stickers. Are they still there? Asking for a friend.
Anyway, the pink slip bestowed upon Belichick didn’t go over well. Coach Hoodie believed that the firing undermined his career and he waited for an opportunity to get back at Modell.
On Monday Night’s ManningCast on ESPN2, Peyton Manning shared a story about how Belichick once stuck it to Modell. As the AFC head coach in the Pro Bowl back in 1999, Belichick had to choose a replacement player for the squad from a list of alternates. Among those alternates was Ravens linebacker Peter Boulware. If selected to the team, Boulware would receive a $1M bonus. Belichick recognized the opportunity and probably flashed a mischievous grin reminiscent of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
According to Manning, “[Belichick] picked Peter Boulware because he knew that Art Modell would have to pay Boulware a million-dollar bonus if Boulware made the Pro Bowl. Belichick hated Modell.”
Makes you wonder if such shenanigans go on today. Think about it. A competing head coach could add to another team’s cap with such bonuses to gain a slight competitive edge.
Work Ethic
During Monday’s Big Bad Morning Show on 105.7 The Fan, regular guest Mike Preston from The Sun seemed to question the work ethic of Lamar Jackson, suggesting that the Ravens QB needs to elevate his commitment by spending more time at The Castle.
Lamar has never been known as a workout warrior. He’s never been the first guy in the building nor the last to leave, even for pregame prep work. But when he’s on the field at practice or on Sundays, Lamar is a driven competitor and it’s that mindset, that desire to excel, which inspires his teammates and earns their respect – respect they clearly have for the franchise signal caller.
Wake Up Call?
Kyler Murray’s injury had to have been a huge wakeup call for Lamar. Murray is under contract – a very healthy, long-term contract. His devastating ACL injury will not affect Murray’s livelihood. But had that happened to Lamar, it would have placed any contract discussions on hold.
We’ve already seen Jackson pass on opportunities to scramble this season, presumably to not put his body at risk. Seeing Murray blow out his knee during a scramble – a non-contact injury, has to be weighing on Lamar’s mind. A difficult contractual season just became even more challenging.
Makes you wonder what the agents of Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert are thinking these days.
Justin Herbert with a social media throw
— Anthony Cover 1 (@Pro__Ant) December 12, 2022
Dan Orlovsky
The ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback has been a vocal supporter of the Ravens. He’s also been a harsh critic of Greg Roman’s route concepts in the passing game. He’s provided plenty of visual evidence to support the criticism but I had to wonder if perhaps the play he cites below is actually as bad as Orlovsky describes. I’ll let you make the call.
Hey @danorlovsky7, I get the criticisms of the #Ravens passing game. It has contributed to some gastrointestinal setbacks on Sundays. But on this particular play, is it possible that Greg Roman was attempting to clear out the right side of the field to allow Tyler Huntley to run? pic.twitter.com/l7XZ9Lc7MY
— Tony Lombardi (@RSRLombardi) December 14, 2022
Yesterday, during his weekly press conference, Roman addressed whether or not the scramble shown above was by design.
“When you play certain coverages that match and you take everybody on this side of the field and run them to the other side of the field, then there’s nobody left on that side of the field. So, if you have a quarterback that can run, that can be used as a weapon.”
So now you know, assuming of course you believe G-Ro!
Ravens Ponderings
Hey RavensFlock, question to consider – maybe you already have. If you had one fair market value deal to make and you had to choose between Lamar Jackson and Roquan Smith, who would get your contract?…The other day during a moment of reflection, I thought of Ravens training camp and how the team seemed to be emphasizing the back-shoulder throw. The play, executed so well by some of the game’s finer quarterbacks, looked like it had potential in Baltimore. Regularly throughout camp, Lamar connected with well-covered receivers by going to the back shoulder. What happened to it G-Ro?
Speaking of mysteries, why is it that the Ravens don’t use the still-premium wheels of DeSean Jackson? If there’s a Ravens receiver that is ever wide open, DeSean is the guy. He commands respect, still gets behind the secondary while loosening things up for players like Mark Andrews. Why is he even on the roster unless the plan was to do exactly that? What are the Ravens saving him for?…Another of my recent ponderings – DID YOU KNOW that Ronnie Stanley, J.K. Dobbins and Rashod Bateman have yet to step on the field at the same time, not even for a single play.
Ravens at Browns Tickets
Looking at my trusty FanDuel app, I see that the (9-4) Ravens are 3-point underdogs to the (5-8) Browns. Apparently the oddsmakers are more excited about the Browns than the fans of Cleveland.
Wow, I don’t think anyone in the @Browns “brain trust” would have envisioned hundreds of Deshaun Watson QB’d Browns-Ravens tickets reselling in the $9-10 range. pic.twitter.com/gT2SRxIpkl
— Buckeye Jerry (@JerryBuckeye) December 14, 2022
Ravens #Browns tickets for Saturday on sale as low as $8 on SeatGeek.
— Grant Puskar (@grant_puskar_) December 13, 2022
The forecast in Cleveland at kickoff on Saturday afternoon calls for temps of 33 degrees, 42% chance of flurries with a coating to an inch of snow and winds, WSW of 17 mph, gusting to 31 mph. The over/under is 37. With conditions like that, maybe I’ll play the under.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a play to make on my phone.
