Ravens-Bengals Postmortem
There’s nothing like a sound division victory to top off a great Thanksgiving weekend. I hope all of you had a good one as well. We have to take this victory with a grain of salt of course, because the Bengals are absolutely terrible.
It’s sort of hard to watch Marvin Lewis, a man largely responsible for our last Super Bowl season, struggle as bad as he is. It all comes down to personnel, though, and this year with injuries and players not living up to expectations, the Bengals simply don’t have the personnel to contend. So when you beat a team like that you have to take it in stride.
Now having said that, this victory was a lot of fun to watch. Mark Clayton’s touchdown pass to Derrick Mason was worth sitting through the lopsided game in and of itself. Under Cam Cameron, the Ravens have actually developed an exciting offense. We can finally pull of the trick plays and long bombs. It’s fun to watch not only because we’ve been scoring, but because we’ve been making some amazing plays along the way.
The best part about having a good offense is that it allows the defense to open it up a bit as well. I’m sure that the veterans on this defense like Ed Reed and Ray Lewis appreciate the fact that they can finally get a breather when the offense takes over. The Ravens had the ball for almost 34 minutes, which translates to a well-rested defense. I’m sure Rex Ryan is also a little relieved now that he doesn’t have to play absolutely lights out and score on turnovers just to keep the Ravens in a game.
In short, it’s nice to have a somewhat complete team for a change. I still think we need a big-time receiver but we’ll have to wait until draft time for that. Until then it seems that when Mason is doubled up on, Clayton could be a reliable go-to option. The problem with Clayton is that he makes the spectacular and impossible catches but seems to drop the easy ones.
The other thing that worries me is that the Bengals seemed to have a lot of success against us in the pass rush and stopping the run in the first half. The Bengals have one of the worst pass rushes in the league and an awful run defense, and yet they still gave the Ravens’ front line a lot of problems. We seemed to correct the issue in the second half but I think that had more to do with the Bengals’ heart than the Ravens’ adjustments.
It worries me because we have a gauntlet of games coming up. In the games that the Ravens have lost this year, I think the linchpin has been that when Joe Flacco is continually pressured, the offense seems to fall apart.
I’d rather see the Ravens enter as division leaders instead of the wild card, but it’s nice to have options. The season is getting exciting now. The Ravens have already accomplished more than most thought this year and could still continue to defy expectations. The ride continues next week at home against those degenerates down 495. Until then …
(photo via)
Nice bye week, guys.
Now here comes your test.
Four weeks.
One against the steelers.
Need to win three if you lose to the steelers. You can afford to win only two if one of those wins is against the steelers.
This is where you guys find out if you have what it takes to make it to the playoffs.
The great thing about these final four weeks is that every game the Steelers and Ravens play have playoff implications.
The head-to-head match in Week 15 directly affects both teams in the event of a tie for the division. A Ravens win here, provided both teams win in week 14, would move both teams to 10-4 with both teams having beat each other once. A Ravens loss would likely be devastating to not just their division pursuit, but also the wildcard.
Similarly, the Steelers have one more divisional game against the Browns in week 17. If the Steelers lose both to the Browns and Ravens, they will likely have to settle for the wildcard. Beating both would assure their division title. However, a loss to the Ravens and a win against the Browns would lead into the “common opponents” tiebreaker in the event of a tied record with the Ravens.
Common Opponents
Giants – Both lost
Colts – Both lost
Texans – Both won
Titans – Ravens lost (+1 Steelers)
Jaguars – Steelers won (+2 Steelers)
Redskins – Steelers won (+3 Steelers)
Eagles – Steelers lost, Ravens won (+1) Steelers
Cowboys – Niether team has played yet
As of right now, the Steelers have a one game lead in common opponents over the Ravens.
Week 14- Cowboys @ Steelers, Redskins @ Ravens
Week 15- Steelers @ Ravens
Week 16- Steelers @ Titans, Ravens @ Cowboys
Week 17- Browns @ Steelers, Jaguars @ Ravens
Both teams are very capable of going 3-1 to end the season, but the real determining factor is Week 15 against the Steelers. If the Ravens don’t win that game, they might as well stop trying.
Two posts?!?! LOL
I guess no one gave a crap about this game!
Well, some of the comments for the game are under the Sunday post. Plus I think we’re still recovering from the holiday, and also (unfortunately) from the little comments section blowup we had here a couple weeks ago. I’m thinking things will work their way back to normal pretty soon.
Personally, I think the Ravens are pretty close to a lock at this point. I don’t know if they’re as good as the best teams, but they’re certainly playing as well as anyone. And that matters a lot, I think, in the stretch.
I’m very impressed all around. I’ll also have more thoughts soon when I do my latest playoff projections.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?id=3741335
How about a little national attention for Ngata.
On this subject but a few weeks old (I forget if I already brought this up here), did anyone see when Bart Scott was on PTI a few weeks ago. It was just after the Suggs/Hines Ward comments, so it was a while ago. But at the end of his 5 minutes, he said he had to give credit to Ngata as being the best Defensive Lineman in the league and challenged anybody to watch the tape and tell him otherwise. I thought that was pretty cool.
excellent article in today’s washington post about art modell’s hall of fame credentials (as linked by wnst).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/02/AR2008120201752.html
yet another thing i feel like i’ve had to try and explain to irrationally rabid ravens haters through the years.
of all the arguments contained in the article, to me these two are the ones i’ve most frequently used because they just seem so damned obvious:
“To his credit, and very much unlike the Irsay family (the owners of the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts), Modell magnanimously left behind the name Browns, as well as the team colors and its records, for the new Cleveland franchise. And it also should be said that the fans of Cleveland and Baltimore clearly benefited from a move that left both cities with magnificent new stadiums, and Baltimore with a team to call its very own once again.
“Ask yourself another question. If we’re penalizing him for moving his franchise, how is [it] that Al Davis, Lamar Hunt and Dan Reeves all managed to be voted into the Hall, despite shifting their teams to different cities as well?
can’t wait until the ray lewis eligibility shitstorm.
I don’t have any particular passion about Art Modell, but I will say that the argument against putting him in the Hall seems kind of pointless. I’ve got family in Cleveland and I know how deeply the anger runs out there, but it’s past time to let it go. The situation with the Browns moving here was jacked for sure, but come on. I say let him in for no other reason than the fact that he is universally regarded as a great humanitarian.
As for Ray Lewis, that should be interesting. I side with you, BBM, in thinking that he has atoned for his past off-field issues and deserves credit for not only putting them behind him but also staying completely clean in subsequent years.
yeah i mean the ray lewis thing is different. my issue with ray haters has always been when they try and claim he isn’t a great player.
i get why some people think he got off easy in atlanta, though i don’t necessarily agree with it. i’m also a sucker for redemption – i’ll cop to that.
but the art modell thing has become laughable and makes me happy every time we thump cleveland.
There are people who claim Ray Lewis isn’t a great player? You know I’m no fan but, man, it’d be insane to question the fact that he’s great.
Playoff preview post coming in a few…
Ray Lewis is not a great player. Average at best.
(I just didn’t want Big Ben to look like he was full of shit. LOL)
i don’t get it.
BBM says:
my issue with ray haters has always been when they try and claim he isn’t a great player.
Neal says:
There are people who claim Ray Lewis isn’t a great player? You know I’m no fan but, man, it’d be insane to question the fact that he’s great.
I said:
Ray Lewis is not a great player. Average at best.
(I just didn’t want Big Ben to look like he was full of shit. LOL)