Ravens-Bengals Week One Recap
It was great to see the NFL back in action this weekend and finally get some answers to the questions circling this year’s Ravens squad. On the offensive side of the ball, it felt like a completely different team. The play calling, the personnel, the clock management — all of it felt new.
Probably because the two biggest components were working: the running game and the quarterback. Joe Flacco looked like a seasoned veteran behind center. Even from my seat in the nosebleed section, you could tell that this guy had confidence to spare. Le’Ron McClain shined as well, combining with Ray Rice to rush for 150 yards. The end around with Mark Clayton marching 48 yards for a TD? That play would not have been called last year and it worked well. The only 85 worth watching yesterday was Derrick Mason, who is as solid as ever. Our receiving corps did drop some key passes, though, which at the moment the biggest cause for concern. If Flacco is going to step up he needs the receivers to be on their game as well.
The defense was lights out. Terrell Suggs put to bed any questions concerning how prepared he is. It was great to finally see Ed Reed suit up as well. It really felt good to be a Ravens fan yesterday.
Now before I get away from myself, it has to be said: the Bengals are awful. For all of the hype they got in the off-season, they looked like they didn’t belong in the NFL yesterday. Not one of them. So as a Ravens fan I have to take yesterday’s successes with a grain of salt, but I’ll take them anyway. If they play like they did yesterday in Houston next week, I see no reason why we can’t begin this year 2-0.
Until then…
(photo by Associated Press/Nick Wass)
On a related note, I found this column from a Cincy paper to be rather amusing.
I also chimed in with some quick thoughts on this game in my latest Examiner post.
if flacco has a decent day against the texans (let’s say 19-30 for 224 yds, 2 td’s and 1 int) at what point do you name him the starter indefinitely?
i mean, he has some breathing room with troy smith’s recovery taking a while but i wonder if he has 94% of the locker room’s support like he does the fan’s.
it’s a good problem. i guess i just can’t believe we have a guy who looks like a damn quarterback for once and i keep rubbing my eyes to make sure it isn’t a mirage.
I’m real interested in next week. Our line looked unbelievable on Sunday, but the Bengals don’t really have a pass rush. I’m interested to see what are tackles can do against Mario Williams. Who starts at takle. Willie Anderson on the right? Gaither or Terry on the left? Or do you go the same as last week? If it aint broke…
I bring this up, because I think the success of Flacco in the short term has a lot to do with this. I think there are some elite QBs who could play well behind any line, but for a guy just starting out, trying to adjust to the speed of the game, I think its 100X more important to protect him.
That said, boy did he looked poised back there. Yeah, I’m pumped. Just hope that fans don’t go too crazy on him when he hits some growing pains.
Oh, and I’d think that if he has that decent day, that you should name him the starter. Don’t know if it will happen, though. Usually I say that you should never lose your starting job because of an injury (or illness), but Troy never did anything to positively claim that starting job in the first place.
Should be interesting, before week 1, I figured they’d beat the Bengals and lose to the Texans, but the Texans just got smacked, so I’m not sure yet. I’ll wait until later in the week to take my pick.
Wow…the Bengals looked really bad, huh? I guess it’s not much of a surprise given how the pre-season went. I’m not so sure I would say the Ravens looked good, but they clearly showed they were better then the Bengals.
So here’s my prediction for the year:
Baltimore: 6-10
Cincinnati: 4-12
**Marvin Lewis gets the ax by the end of the year. It’s time.
The key stat of the game:
0 mistakes by the rooke.
But seriously, how refreshing was it to see creative offensive plays, limited penalties, and good clock management?