The Ravens season is not over, but at 4-4 and two games behind the Cincinnati Bengals, the road ahead will not be easy considering two games against Pittsburgh and one against the undefeated, Indianapolis Colts remain. Short of overtaking the Bengals knowing a tie would still put the Bengals ahead based on head-to-head competition, the Ravens then have to be at least the second best second place team – not an easy task given how many teams are competitive just past halfway through the season.
There’s little point summarizing their loss to Cincinnati. It was a bad loss that will hurt their chances down the road. Without Haloti Ngata, the defense was flat and unresponsive. Joe Flacco tossed two interceptions. Steve Hauschka missed a 38 yard “routine” field goal. Five offensive possessions ended with punts, two ended with interceptions. The Ravens made it to the “red zone” once leading to their only touchdown. They held the ball for 20:00 minutes while the Bengals time of possession was 40 minutes. There’s not much hopeful to be found mining the stats. The Ravens played a weak game in all departments though a competent team should be able to overcome allowing 17 points.
Finishing this week, Cincinnati, Indy, New England, and Denver will be division leaders with Pittsburgh possibly tied with Cincinnati or at worst tied for the best of second place teams if they would fall to 5-3, a record shared with San Diego. Those six teams would be the playoff field right now. Houston is 5-4 one half game ahead of the Ravens. Jacksonville and the New York Jets share 4-4 records with Baltimore. Miami and Buffalo are 3-5 the next step down. If the Ravens win two out of three in their games against Pittsburgh and Indy then run the table, they could secure a playoff spot. Any other possibilities put too much reliance on what other teams do to make anything a sure bet.
Here’s what remains and see just how tough the task ahead is:
11/16 – at Cleveland
11/22 – Indianapolis
11/29 – Pittsburgh
12/7 – at Green Bay
12/13 – Detroit
12/20 – Chicago
12/26 – at Pittsburgh
1/03 – at Oakland
Okay, there are three very tough games, but Green Bay is quite capable as is Chicago both with 4-4 records same as the Ravens. Then Cleveland, Detroit, and Oakland should be pushovers, right?
Don’t count on it.
First, as dazed and confused Mangini and the Browns appear, while the team is going nowhere, it’s every man for himself leading to rough house play and possible serious consequences – cheap shots, injuries, and one man shows. Besides that, when the Ravens go to Cleveland they are one of the most hated visiting rivals in all of sports. It was the evil Art Modell who stole the Browns and moved them to Baltimore. The feeling is not unknown to Baltimore fans who feel a certain kind of rage when Payton Manning and crew stop by for a plate of crab cakes.
Playing the Ravens is the Browns Super Bowl for the year. They win against the Ravens in Cleveland, it’s the fondest revenge driven joy those dog pounders can realize. The players have nothing to lose. They hate their coach. They hate being in last place. They hate being the laughing stock of the media. They hate hearing what’s said about them on Cleveland radio. They’re a mad bunch. They want to take their frustrations out on somebody. They’re allowed to be mean bad ass bullies in the context of a football game. They might play sloppy ball. They might rack up tons of penalties. They could lose the game by a huge margin, but they could also knock some clutch Ravens players off the field. It wouldn’t be the first time the Ravens visited Cleveland and had players ruined for the season. Jamal Lewis announced he will retire at year’s end. How motivated might he be for one last moment in the spotlight against the team that cut him lose?
The Ravens can’t dwell on Cleveland’s situation. They can’t feel smug that they’re playing a last place team. They have to ignore the headlines about turmoil throughout their organization. The Ravens must treat it as the next football game on the schedule that they must win regardless of what color jersey the other team wears.
The Ravens lead the league in yards penalized. They’ve also yield far too many pass interference calls. Nothing turns things in the opponent’s direction faster than pass interference on a deep pattern yielding half a field’s worth of yardage. Only once this year, against Denver, has the Ravens’ defense looked like a top level defense. Their secondary has been just plain awful while the line has been way too porous. The big play making talents of Terrell Suggs and Ed Reed appear neutralized.
The “organized chaos” of the Rex Ryan led defense appears to be just chaotic this year. Some of it is planning. Some of it is execution. Losing Bart Scott and Jim Leonard does not help especially seeing how Dawan Landry might still be shell shocked from his head injury a year ago seeming incapable of delivering the big hit. The Ravens must tackle not just push.
What’s up with special teams? For the few times they’ve looked brilliant, the rest has been pretty sick.
Ravens fans are frustrated as the Ravens played well enough to win with chances to win right up until the final minutes in their first three losses regardless of games where they were clearly outplayed, yet in week 9 after their best game of the year, they travelled to Ohio leaving their talent and spirit in Baltimore.
They’ll head to the other end of Ohio against a much weaker team. The instant they breathe a sigh of relief thinking it’s a lesser team, they’re screwed. Stay out of trouble with penalties, protect the ball, and beat the Browns. Sometimes teams in trouble make the simplest aspect of the game too complicated. The Ravens can’t fall into that trap because after their next trip to the Buckeye state, they’ll be hosting their most difficult visitors of the year, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. Have they ever figured out a Payton Manning team? What new ploys do they have this year that will see them do better than lose three times against Pittsburgh last year?
One more loss and run the table in the rest, and the playoffs remain in sight. Can they do it?
There’s little point summarizing their loss to Cincinnati. It was a bad loss that will hurt their chances down the road. Without Haloti Ngata, the defense was flat and unresponsive. Joe Flacco tossed two interceptions. Steve Hauschka missed a 38 yard “routine” field goal. Five offensive possessions ended with punts, two ended with interceptions. The Ravens made it to the “red zone” once leading to their only touchdown. They held the ball for 20:00 minutes while the Bengals time of possession was 40 minutes. There’s not much hopeful to be found mining the stats. The Ravens played a weak game in all departments though a competent team should be able to overcome allowing 17 points.
Finishing this week, Cincinnati, Indy, New England, and Denver will be division leaders with Pittsburgh possibly tied with Cincinnati or at worst tied for the best of second place teams if they would fall to 5-3, a record shared with San Diego. Those six teams would be the playoff field right now. Houston is 5-4 one half game ahead of the Ravens. Jacksonville and the New York Jets share 4-4 records with Baltimore. Miami and Buffalo are 3-5 the next step down. If the Ravens win two out of three in their games against Pittsburgh and Indy then run the table, they could secure a playoff spot. Any other possibilities put too much reliance on what other teams do to make anything a sure bet.
Here’s what remains and see just how tough the task ahead is:
11/16 – at Cleveland
11/22 – Indianapolis
11/29 – Pittsburgh
12/7 – at Green Bay
12/13 – Detroit
12/20 – Chicago
12/26 – at Pittsburgh
1/03 – at Oakland
Okay, there are three very tough games, but Green Bay is quite capable as is Chicago both with 4-4 records same as the Ravens. Then Cleveland, Detroit, and Oakland should be pushovers, right?
Don’t count on it.
First, as dazed and confused Mangini and the Browns appear, while the team is going nowhere, it’s every man for himself leading to rough house play and possible serious consequences – cheap shots, injuries, and one man shows. Besides that, when the Ravens go to Cleveland they are one of the most hated visiting rivals in all of sports. It was the evil Art Modell who stole the Browns and moved them to Baltimore. The feeling is not unknown to Baltimore fans who feel a certain kind of rage when Payton Manning and crew stop by for a plate of crab cakes.
Playing the Ravens is the Browns Super Bowl for the year. They win against the Ravens in Cleveland, it’s the fondest revenge driven joy those dog pounders can realize. The players have nothing to lose. They hate their coach. They hate being in last place. They hate being the laughing stock of the media. They hate hearing what’s said about them on Cleveland radio. They’re a mad bunch. They want to take their frustrations out on somebody. They’re allowed to be mean bad ass bullies in the context of a football game. They might play sloppy ball. They might rack up tons of penalties. They could lose the game by a huge margin, but they could also knock some clutch Ravens players off the field. It wouldn’t be the first time the Ravens visited Cleveland and had players ruined for the season. Jamal Lewis announced he will retire at year’s end. How motivated might he be for one last moment in the spotlight against the team that cut him lose?
The Ravens can’t dwell on Cleveland’s situation. They can’t feel smug that they’re playing a last place team. They have to ignore the headlines about turmoil throughout their organization. The Ravens must treat it as the next football game on the schedule that they must win regardless of what color jersey the other team wears.
The Ravens lead the league in yards penalized. They’ve also yield far too many pass interference calls. Nothing turns things in the opponent’s direction faster than pass interference on a deep pattern yielding half a field’s worth of yardage. Only once this year, against Denver, has the Ravens’ defense looked like a top level defense. Their secondary has been just plain awful while the line has been way too porous. The big play making talents of Terrell Suggs and Ed Reed appear neutralized.
The “organized chaos” of the Rex Ryan led defense appears to be just chaotic this year. Some of it is planning. Some of it is execution. Losing Bart Scott and Jim Leonard does not help especially seeing how Dawan Landry might still be shell shocked from his head injury a year ago seeming incapable of delivering the big hit. The Ravens must tackle not just push.
What’s up with special teams? For the few times they’ve looked brilliant, the rest has been pretty sick.
Ravens fans are frustrated as the Ravens played well enough to win with chances to win right up until the final minutes in their first three losses regardless of games where they were clearly outplayed, yet in week 9 after their best game of the year, they travelled to Ohio leaving their talent and spirit in Baltimore.
They’ll head to the other end of Ohio against a much weaker team. The instant they breathe a sigh of relief thinking it’s a lesser team, they’re screwed. Stay out of trouble with penalties, protect the ball, and beat the Browns. Sometimes teams in trouble make the simplest aspect of the game too complicated. The Ravens can’t fall into that trap because after their next trip to the Buckeye state, they’ll be hosting their most difficult visitors of the year, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. Have they ever figured out a Payton Manning team? What new ploys do they have this year that will see them do better than lose three times against Pittsburgh last year?
One more loss and run the table in the rest, and the playoffs remain in sight. Can they do it?
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