Ravens-Giants Postmortem
Talk about frustration. The Ravens vs. Giants game was the embodiment of it.
All of the qualities that the Ravens have shown thus far — the great run defense, and the well balanced offense, the resiliency — none of that was apparent on Sunday. The first half was one of the worst halves I think I‘ve seen the Ravens play this year. After the first drive died and then the Ravens were run over for the first Giants touchdown, I was hoping to see some sense of urgency. Yet there was none. It was as if the team was in a state of shock.
I know that one of Joe Flacco’s greatest attributes is his ability to remain calm under pressure but it would be nice to see some fire from the rookie in the huddle. The Ravens defense put on a display of how not to tackle someone. What’s the point of hitting someone if you don’t wrap them up? Sure it looks great on YouTube when you dive headlong at someone and they go down, but you aren’t going to bring down Brandon Jacobs or Derrick Ward by merely running into them, you have to wrap them up and drag them down. I didn’t see any of that from anyone in the first half. The whole defense is guilty. They looked bush league. It was sloppy.
Speaking of sloppy, when is John Harbaugh going to address the penalties? Every week the Ravens rack up double digits in penalties. Against the Giants they even made the illustrious achievement of jumping off sides twice on back-to-back plays. Inexcusable.
The Ravens are not out of the hunt for the playoffs yet but they are hanging on by a thread. If they play the rest of the season like they did against the Giants it won’t matter anyway. The team I saw yesterday can’t run with a true contender and until that changes, talk of making the playoffs is erroneous.
(photo from the New York Post)
Whats the point of making the playoffs if you have no upside against a team you would definitely have to meet at some point in the playoffs? The Ravens can’t stop their running game. We can’t run on their run defense. We can’t throw against them. We can’t kick field goals. They can throw all day on us. There is not one aspect of the game of football the Ravens excel at when compared to the Giants. Kinda makes the whole season seem somewhat pointless if you ask me. I dunno how the Browns pulled that win off.
the browns pulled that win off the same way miami pulled the win off last year against the ravens.
any given sunday a team can show up and just want it more than the other team.
or any given sunday one team can match up well against the other team.
i think the giants wanted it more AND matched up well against the ravens. frankly after watching their offensive line demolish us and their defensive line break us all day i don’t think there’s one team that matches up well to them in the nfc.
i think the eagles are a much better barometer for where the ravens are right now. they’re desperate and they have a dominant pass rush. we’ll see if the ravens are true pretenders or not next sunday.
keep the faith!
I agree with you Justin. So far this year, every true test the ravens have gone up against, they have failed.
They are doing a great job beating the teams they are supposed to beat. They just can’t get over that hump and beat the favorites.
I don’t agree that beating the Eagles will really mean all that much. The Eagles have clear gaps in their team as well. While it may be a good “barometer” for where the Ravens are, it does not mean they will make the playoffs.
You have to remember…My Bengals team pulled off a tie with with the Eagles this week. That doesn’t say much for the Eagles.
Yeah, but we’ve obviously got some gaps of our own. Beating the Eagles at least says we’re upper tier of the middle of the pack. Losing to Philly says we’re probably lower tier of the middle of the pack.
don’t get me wrong – i ain’t drinking the kool-aid that much.
i just don’t think that in today’s nfl you can completely jump ship after one loss at the end of three straight road games to arguably the best team in the nfl.
remember the steelers lost to the giants and colts also. good teams lose.
to me the eagles are a good barometer (the steelers lost to them as well if you recall).
also i can’t believe i just used one of my least favorite terms “drink the kool-aid”. ugh.
i don’t know what’s worse – using a term annoying local sports personalities use or referencing something from jonestown (watched that documentary last night and it made me ill).
You lost to the best team in the league on the road. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Must beat the Eagles though.
I hate “drink the koolaid” as well, mostly because it is the warcry that Drew brings with him to this site regarding the current and future state of the Orioles; synonymous with the awful ‘all hope is lost and nothing is getting better and everyone you know and love will one day die’ attitude.
I think at some point you have to ask: what’s better?
To be always optimistic and then disappointed when you’re wrong
or
to be always pessimistic and smug when you’re right?
The Ravens didn’t just lose to the best team in football, they got bullied. The Giants took the defense; the heart and pride of the team, and embarrassed it. That being said, these kind of games are inevitable in a season and the Ravens are still very much alive in the divisional race.
Though, it should now be clear to even the most delusional of Ravens fans that:
1. The defense, as a whole, is old and is tiring as the season progresses.
2. The injuries are a serious plague on both sides of the ball.
3. Flacco is still a work in progress.
4. McGahee is done.
5. Special teams is in need of an overhaul (namely the kick return game.)
This is a transitional time for a very young franchise and they’re handling it with surprising grace at 6-4.
Enjoy the ride.
By all conventional logic, things should be a lot worse.
Love your program Hugh. That Barbara Walters is a fox.
It’s not like the Ravens have some insurmountable problem that doesn’t plague any other team in the league. The Steelers are way more borked than we are injury wise. They have their own MacGahee in Parker, a completely unusable rookie RB on the IR, and Mewelde Moore. They have no one left on their offensive line, and Roethlisberger is one more hit away from permanent disfigurement. Yet at 7-3, they seem to be doing okay.
Addressing the age of the defense isn’t something that can be done in the interim for this club. In the next draft, I would imagine we will be taking a corner or two, a defensive end, a tight end, and a wide receiver. If we can utilize free agency successfully like we did with Walker and Washington this year, I don’t see it as being a problem. Flacco will do nothing but continue to improve his awareness and accuracy and judgement, something he has shown to have more than I could have ever expected him to have this year.
Houshka, the new kicker looks great. The offensive line is young and talented. The defensive linebackers are all amazing, Lewis looks like he was 24 years old again, Suggs is dominating…
All that being said, I’m not worried about the Ravens at all. Improvements can be made, but any team who can’t find improvements on their team isn’t trying hard enough.
I guess I should put this in the Hot Stove thread but I’m just friggin’ excited…
O’s sign pitcher Brad Hennessey.
Yep, they got him.
Evidently out-maneuvered a slew of teams for him.
MacPhail’s taking the day off tomorrow to celebrate.
Can’t say that I blame him.
Um, just a couple of minor league deals, Drew. I don’t really get being all sarcastic about it when it’s clear these are depth moves only. Fairly certain that’s not all that MacPhail’s going to do.
Well said, Greg.
As far as the draft goes, I’d like to see them go CB followed by WR. Although if Knowshon Moreno is available it would be interesting to nab him to tandem with Ray Rice.
Yeah, nothing like having a guy around who had a 7.83 ERA last year in 17 games with the Giants “for depth”.
Add to that the .189 hitting Donnie Murphy and I’d say we’re ahead on the MLB “depth meter” after four days of free agency.
MacPhail better spend some money by 12/31/08 or I’ll be hosting a
“Free Andy” gathering in early January.
Why, what’s the rush? Guys who sign February 10th are just as good as guys who sign November 10th (if talent is equal). I assume something happens earlier, but I’ll judge the offseason when it’s over and not before – just like I judged the season (which was a failure).
Something you guys seem to be failing to take into account here…
…It’s BASEBALL.
The only thing more boring than talking about baseball in the winter is watching it in the summer.
The “rush” is, mostly, a thought on my part that 80% of the really good players will sign by 12/31/08. That’s just an assumption. If I’m wrong, I’ll note that at the end of December. But my guess is if the O’s fart around for the next six weeks, they’ll lose out. I doubt very much that A.J. Burnett or Orlando Cabrera will be unsigned on February 10.
I’ll judge the off-season when it’s over too.
But I also reserve the right to chronicle the happenings as they take place.
Be careful Hugh.
That kind of attitude towards baseball might cost you your credential.
is hugh downz my long lost brother or what?
greg according to the announcers yesterday the ravens are the most injured team in the league. i think they said by far the most on i.r. anyway.
to me that’s not a bad thing this year. the organization can see who can play, who can’t, and who may be a cancer in the locker room around the younger players (and let a knee injury be their out).
i’m still a little surprised more hasn’t been said/written about the mccalister situation. i’d be surprised if we ever see him play here again. sad story in my opinion. that guy’s at least one of the top three athletes the ravens ever had.
I like Hugh Downz’s moxie. Another stalwart in the football threads to accompany BBM, perhaps?
I secretly know who it is, and he’s a long-awaited and welcome participant.
hugh is your first initial s? i don’t think it’s g but that would be cool too.
Donnie Murphy has less than 400 major league at bats, his .191 average is irrelevant. He’ll have more power and ability than Hernandez, Bynum, Cintron, Fahey, or Torres. I think that’s a good piece for our minor league depth. I’m talking about minor league depth, Drewski. If you would take the liberty to actually research these guys that you pass off as scrubs, you’d realize that Hennessey saved 19 games for the Giants with a 3.40 or so ERA before getting injured. It’s a typical low-risk, high-reward pickup from MacPhail, and this organization needs as many of those as it can get. AND it needs to spend on big name talent. They need to do both in order to be successful. Numbers, numbers, numbers. Get as many players with upside as possible. Haha, it’s pretty simple to understand, and every organization makes these moves.
It’s what, less than a week after the start of free-agency? Relax.
drew’s a much bigger fan of hater-ade than kool-aid isn’t he
I won’t be mad at MacPhail until Burnett and Tex are off the board and we don’t sign a decent free agent pitcher and unless I find out our bid was well above reasonable and someone like the Yankees way overbids for talent. For right now Tex is a free agent, Burnett is a free agent, Furcal is a free agent… no one has made any more progress than we have really. So… that’s really all I have to see. I can’t judge this offseason only 4 days into it.
Oh yeah.
I mean Drew’s right. These moves suck. If they were the only moves. But there’s absolutely no reason to believe that’s the case. These are just baseball moves. Restocking the farm, taking a few fliers… these are things that every team does every offseason and any baseball fan knows that.
i had a dream last night that drew was the orioles gm and his first move was to put wnst in the ring of honor for knowing everything wrong with the orioles all along.
then the team lost 142 games that season.
Ouch…
Drew is taking a beating. I feel for you Drew. You threw a valid opinion out there and ten guys bandwagoned (yeah, it’s a word) onto the “Drew Got Served” squad.
…that will officially be the first and last time that I will say “got served” in any format other than talking about food…
As for the Ravens, many people are talking about a barometer of where the team stands, and I personally don’t think it’s relevant. Teams change so much in the NFL from year to year, that this year serves about as much a barometer of the Ravens for next year as Drew’s assessment of the off-season for the Orioles. Damn…I just bandwagoned. (yeah, it’s still a word.)
Ravens fans should know this as well as anyone, I think. Wasn’t it the Ravens that went 13-3 one year and then turned around and went 3-13 the next, or at least something close to that? There’s so many factors that go into it, that it’s almost irrelevant to argue it.
The bottom line…The Ravens are not good enough to win it all (and in my opinion, make the playoffs) this year, and that’s all that matters at this point.
Word on the street is that the Yankees offered Burnett 5/80, which IMHO is lunacy.
16 mil a year. It’s the years, though, that make it ridiculous.
I fucking hate the Yankees.
Brad’s going for the “food metaphors” and “liberal use of the food metaphors tag” tags there. Good for him…keep fighting the good fight.
And if the Yankees did that, I’ll stop talking about how smart Brian Cashman is, because that is as far from smart as possible. It’s like using a gatling gun to open a can of soda (food metaphors!). Luckily, all those issues we all have with Burnett would be put onto the Yankees, but I defy anyone to stand up against Sabathia, Burnett, Wang, Chamberlain, and Pettitte. That is a monster rotation with basically four aces, if they can all stay healthy (and that isn’t a given with any of them, luckily). But if Burnett busts that’s an extremely heavy amount of cash to walk around with for 5 years.
FOOTBALL THREAD
You mean a new one?
nah i was just reclaiming it