Observations From The Game

[Ravens Beast]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1314334321' post='766730']
well played sir!

*edit*

Well played, sir!
[/quote]
I think you and I will be enemies forever sir.

[MiselisM]

Honestly, though I enjoyed a lot of the positive things tonight, nothing beats color commentary by Ray Lewis...

[Rugger92]

No one has mentioned Zbi's good cover performance or the interior defensive line getting good push and collapsing the Redskins line from the inside.

The special teams look to be the best in league

Laquan Williams will be turning heads sooner rather than later.

Kruger Kindle McPhee Mt.Kody will be a stud line to deal with in the very near future!

just my $.02

[-Truth-]

[quote name='colljb9' timestamp='1314334493' post='766737']

This is exactly what i said when everyone talked about trading foxworth...cary william and jimmy smith ARE NOT nick cornerbacks. They are 6 foot 1 and 6 foot 2, they are too big and its just too difficult for them to guard these guys like sanatan moss who is 5 foot 10. We are NOT deep at corner because we only have guys who can cover bigger physical wide recievers in williams and smith. Any wide reciever taller then 6 feet ill take either of those guys ever day...i want carr to get healthy and see how he plays in the nickle spot because i think he matches up very well in the nickle and played well last year
[/quote]
I agree. Williams was asked to cover Santana Moss and Anthony Armstrong. Both possess some serious speed, so I can't really blame him for giving up a step. Like you've mentioned, I think Carr will match-up really well with the opposing team's slot WR, so as long as he's healthy, I'm not worried.

[colljb9]

agreed, carr while not as fast as a guy like moss is quicker and able to turn with him...i mean hell we saw terrell suggs keeping but with sanatna moss when he was moving laterally on that one pass so even if moss caught it suggs was right there. Carr is good cant wait to have him back...packages with him and webb will be confusing because both can play slot and we could blitz one of the two. I cant wait to play the jets because we match up so well with their wide recievers. We also match up decently well with the steelers wide recievers...going to be exciting battles

[CustomUserName]

My take on the game

The line looked shaky, but that should be expected when everyone from the Center to the right were 2nd strings, and LT Oher will be moving to RT come the regular season. That said, Mattison looked very good and could be a potential starter when Birk retires.

The running game looked good. Leach can block and Rice and Williams compliment each other fine

Flacco looked pretty spot on (and at the very least greatly improved from last week).

Lee Evans was a great pick up

I hate to say this about my hometown boy, Torrey isn't ready for the NFL yet. Hopefully he can adjust to the NFL soon and be a weapon for us.

Our blitzes looked predictable. Yeah we got some sacks, but Beck and Grossman seemed to see right past them on two or three drives. I can only assume Rothlisberger will too.

I was also a fan of Doss' great catches and Williams nice punt return.

And of course, the highlight of the game was Flacco. The way he poured that cup of water on Lewis and lived to tell about it shows me he's ready to lead the team.

[LEE83]

Really a big fan of Ed Dickson
Can't wait to see Dickson Boldin and Evans up against pittsburgh

[funky141]

My obseravtions after a slow start.
The offense came around and looked good scoreing 34 points. Rice, Boldin and Evens will have a great 2011 season, they look outstanding so far.
The O-line still has issues pass blocking, thats gong to be a problem all year I think.
The defense looks slow and basically not good at all. The DBs got burned multiple times and Hightower ran over them. The Skins can't come into M&T Stadium and put up 31 points. This doesn't bold well for the 2011 season.

[ravensdfan]

The ugly:

Foxworth's return after injury. I'm not all about trading the man or cutting him if he would agree to a restructure.

Flacco's INT.

Smith's blown coverage.

T. Smith. Sadly.

The bad:

Outside of 2 isolated plays Zibi's performance overall.

Parmele. Just doesn't have the push.


The Good:

Flacco's bounce back after the INT.

Evans. This man was a steal for a 4th rd pick.

Rice. Always.

Smith yelling at Ed after his blown coverage. I just liked that guts and fire.

Smith then realizing he was at fault on the sidelines. And listening.

Allen. Beast here. Man is a Raven. Praying we don't cut this man.

L. Williams return run. Smart, smart run. Found his holes and waited for his blocks. This kid needs a roster spot.

Dickson. I think the tandem of Dickson/Pitta will be monster for us.

Boldin and Flacco finding some rhythm.

Doss. Wow. Impressed. I see he and D. Reed both getting playing time at the #3 spot.

Mattison. Has played solid C for us. Given Birk's knee issues, gotta keep him around.

Jah Reid. Improved yet again.

Ray Lewis commentary. Loved it!

Flacco giving Lewis a shower. Great stuff!

[757RavensFan]

I'm surprised no one mention Cory Redding's performance. He played extremely well last night.

[poedacrow]

The Bad...Going down 14 points early.

The Good...climbing out of a 14 point hole with some pretty good drives.

In addition, I don't think anyone has mentioned the one area where the Ravens have performed flawlessly; the kicking game. Cundiff and Koch have been outstanding. Cundiff is spoiling me...I'm beginning to think 44 yard field goals are a gimme!

[SecretAgentMan]

The good. Kindle, Jimmy Smith (common rookie mistake), Kruger, Jones, Mcphee, Evans, our tight end tandem, Ellerbe,Mattison
The Bad. Torrey Smith, Cary Williams,Ricky Williams,
The Ugly Oneil Cousins, didn't play.

[Ravensstrike4424]

[quote name='poedacrow' timestamp='1314361220' post='766999']
The Bad...Going down 14 points early.

The Good...climbing out of a 14 point hole with some pretty good drives.

In addition, I don't think anyone has mentioned the one area where the Ravens have performed flawlessly; the kicking game. Cundiff and Koch have been outstanding. Cundiff is spoiling me...I'm beginning to think 44 yard field goals are a gimme!
[/quote]

well on your kickoff comments,it is starting at 35 yard line,so its a given that it will be at least in back of the end zone,if not in the stands,but Cundiff is a good kicker

[poedacrow]

[quote name='Ravensstrike4424' timestamp='1314362042' post='767015']

well on your kickoff comments,it is starting at 35 yard line,so its a given that it will be at least in back of the end zone,if not in the stands,but Cundiff is a good kicker
[/quote]
yeah...that new rule is taking some of the steam out of Cundiff's kickoffs and making all the kickers look like heroes...I think he had 40 something touchbacks last year under the old rule.

[CNC]

[quote name='Mr. Irrelevant' timestamp='1314361417' post='767001']
The good. Kindle, Jimmy Smith (common rookie mistake), Kruger, Jones, Mcphee, Evans, our tight end tandem, Ellerbe,Mattison
The Bad. Torrey Smith, Cary Williams,[b]Ricky Williams[/b],
The Ugly Oneil Cousins, didn't play.
[/quote]
I beg to differ Ricky Williams LAID OUT Orakpo on that play. He didn't get alot of rushing yards, but A. I think the line on Week one wuld help us out and B. He is awesome in pass coverage

[Twistidfunk]

great comments on here.

I think the thing that stands out to me the most is our o-line. The o-line last night is not our week 1 o-line. We played pretty well and put up points so I can only imagine what it will be like come week 4 or 5 when we have it all figured out.

One more quick thought on the DB's. Ravens fans are never going to be satisfied at this position this season but one thing is we have depth and that is important. I liked Carr over Wilson last season and I still think Carr is a great DB. He reminds me of Jim Leonard. Very smart and reliable. I liked what I saw from Cary Williams, that guy came out of nowhere, I swear. Foxy is clearly not ready and Jimmy Smith scares me! I am sure Ed Reed will sit him down though. That was a major mental breakdown on that TD to Moss.

Hail to the Deadskins baby. Always nice to see them lose and even better at the hands of THE RAVENS!!! haha

[UxbridgeRaven]

Having just watched the game again, firstly I think it was a pretty good warm up for week 1, the Redskins give some similar looks to the Steelers defensively and after a slow start we did O.K. The bomb to Evans showed that we'll keep teams honest in a way we haven't been able to for a while and the little slant he caught on 3rd and 6 was maybe my favorite play of the game, when a team brings pressure, that's hard to stop. Dickson looks like a real mismatch for any linebacker and will open things up in a way that Heap struggled to at times. Tandon Doss' hands are ridiculous and it looks like Q will get a chance to do what he was brought here for. Torrey Smith was disappointing, but the depth is there to allow him time to work on those hands and he is regularly getting separation from some pretty good corners.

The O-Line was average at best, but bearing in mind only 2 out of 5 first choice guys were in there (and only 1 at his likely starting position) average isn't a place to be and suggest if guys get healthy we could actually be pretty good and we're more than an injury or two away from being terrible. Oher had a couple of mental lapses, but some of the pressure came when they brought more rushers than we had blockers, when it comes down to play calling and a hot route being open.

The run game was decent and could be really good once the O-line comes together, particularly as we look like the passing game should mean teams will find it hard to keep 8 in the box as often as they did last year. Anthony Allen looks like he could develop into a really nice complimentary back to Rice. Very disappointed to see Parmele cough up the fumble like he did, considering how long he has been in the league now, I'm not sure there's much more to come. While he'll probably make the team, I think he's right on the fringe.

The secondary didn't look great, particularly in the slot, but I think that's why Chris Carr was resigned. Webb really did not look comfortable when he was called on to anything except blitz from there. Foxworth doesn't look close to game shape and while I don't think he'll go to PUP he looks a few weeks away. Pollard looks good. Jimmy Smith's blown coverage was a bad one but I don't think he'll let someone run past him like that again once he sees the tape.

The front 7 excites me, still seems to be coming together, but the depth we look to have is great so many different looks we will be able to throw at teams. I thought we collapsed the pocket really well. Redding was probably the stand out. Seems ready to start this season how he ended last season when I thought he was playing really well, the fact he's under any pressure from a 5th round pick is unbelievable. Pernell McPhee looks to be the steal of the draft. JJ looks healthier and as a result more athletic than he did last year and Sergio Kindle made a really nice open field tackle on third down.

Tyrod Taylor might be competing with McPhee as the steal of the draft, I know he's going up against 2nd and 3rd teamers but you can only play what's in front of you and he's doing it well. I don't see anyone on the market that I would bring in as a number 2 over him right now and while that might change before the start of the season, I have no problems with him as a number 2.

Special teams look good and a special word for Laquan Williams who with that punt return (which was technically pretty great) might have done enough to make the roster.

Overall I think we have one of, if not the deepest squads I can remember in Baltimore and I don't envy the coaches having to cut it down to 53. Wouldn't suprise me at all if at least a couple of guys we stash on the practice squad find themselves jobs on rosters elsewhere.

[jus'_crAzy]

Our top 2 rookies almost ruined my night.

Jimmy, get your head back into that playbook! How the crap do you confuse Cover-3 with Cover-2?? If he just looked to his right before the snap, he'd see that we were in a Cover-3 shell. Ed deep middle on 3rd and long usually means Cover-3, rookie!

And Torrey. I don't blame him at all on the reverse, but all he got last night were drops on his stat sheet. Kid's gotta get his head right.

[757RavensFan]

I don't know why some are saying Ricky Williams had a bad game. You have to remember he was getting most of his rushing attempts against the Skins 1st team D. Rice didn't have many rushing yards against the 1st team D either. The skins rush D is pretty good. You can't overlook his blocking ability. He's definitely better at pass blocking than Rice.

[hawkprey]

How are we saying Foxy and Williams looked bad? They only had 2-3 passes thrown on them. That's not bad for preseason.

[1/28/01]

[quote name='hawkprey' timestamp='1314366183' post='767096']
How are we saying Foxy and Williams looked bad? They only had 2-3 passes thrown on them. That's not bad for preseason.
[/quote]

I appreciate your positivity, but Foxworth looked horrid. I'd venture to say he gave up every ball thrown his way!

[hawkprey]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1314367370' post='767131']
I appreciate your positivity, but Foxworth looked horrid. I'd venture to say he gave up every ball thrown his way!
[/quote]

But you don't see the balls not thrown his way. Of course if they're thrown his way, his receiver is open. But how many plays was he out there without giving up anything?

[BadgerVid]

As a Lee Evans fan from just about the first time he stepped on the field in college, I would just like to say "Thank You" to the Ravens for finally using Lee as he should be used...or, at least, showing every indication that they will. The years in Buffalo were just too painful to watch.

I expect about 60 catches and around 1100 yards from Lee this year...and I think it is possible that he will lead the Ravens receivers in yards, with Boldin leading the team in catches. Flacco and the Ravens coaches seem to have already figured out what the Bills QBs never did...that you don't wait for Lee to "look open" before you throw...put the ball where he has a chance to get it, away from the defender, and he will beat the defender to the spot.

[Gtown Purple]

What I liked:

1. Commitment to the running game
2. Rice's one handed catches
3. Lee Evans stretching the field and catching a beautiful td on a 9 route
4. qb pressure

What I didn't like:

1. Lack of blocking at times, especially on the Smith reverse.
2. Oher whiffing on Orakpo and getting Flacco slugged
3. Foxy looking shaky in coverage
4. Smith muffing a coverage

[1/28/01]

[quote name='hawkprey' timestamp='1314367457' post='767133']

But you don't see the balls not thrown his way. Of course if they're thrown his way, his receiver is open. But how many plays was he out there without giving up anything?
[/quote]

I hear what you're saying, but it would be near impossible (or at least very time consuming) to do what you suggested, so all we can go off of is what we DO see. What I saw last from Foxworth last night was scary! Not only was he beat, but he wasn't even close to the receivers. Just as an example, I kept saying to my buddy last night how when Cary Williams gets beat, he tends to be draped on the WR, just didn't get his turned around fast enough. That can be worked on. And this is coming from one of the Ravens eternal optimists (me)!

[RavensAllTheWay]

CONTINUITY on offense is the problem. We saw some of it last night, but that's the last step. Protection was inconsistent. There were times when Joe had a very clean pocket, and there were times where people, particularly Oher and Reid, just got straight beat. We need Yanda and Birk back.

I thought the running game was off last night. Rice had 13 rushes for 72 yards and a TD. But watching the game, I did not get the sense that we were opening up holes at all. Ricky had 6 rushes for 13 yards. I completely disagree that Parmele hasn't made an impact at all this preseason because he did the first two weeks, but not last night, and Allen is clearly ahead for the number 3 spot imo. Parmele may very well not make the final roster.

Last thing on offense, we need to figure out what to do on all out blitzes. All preseason, we've been faced with 3rd down, all outblitzes and haven't had a hot. That must change quickly. Maybe we have a plan for those situations and aren't showing our hand, but considering we've never seemed to have it, it looks like a huge problem.

Defense. The secondary was just bad last night. Webb, Foxworth and Cary all gave up their share of completions. Jimmy gave up one or two, including the blown assignment on the Moss TD. Hopefully Carr can get back in and prove people wrong. Much like the Eagles game, I got the sense watching that we couldn't stop the run at all. Then I looked at the numbers and the Redskins averaged under 4 yards per carry. Still though, the Hightower long TD run was inexplicable.

Last thing on defense, PLEASE GET OFF THE FIELD ON THIRD DOWN.

That's my take.

[hawkprey]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1314368761' post='767160']
I hear what you're saying, but it would be near impossible (or at least very time consuming) to do what you suggested, so all we can go off of is what we DO see. What I saw last from Foxworth last night was scary! Not only was he beat, but he wasn't even close to the receivers. Just as an example, I kept saying to my buddy last night how when Cary Williams gets beat, he tends to be draped on the WR, just didn't get his turned around fast enough. That can be worked on. And this is coming from one of the Ravens eternal optimists (me)!
[/quote]

Of course he wasn't playing close to the receivers. It was zone coverage and the WRs got between him and the safety. Those were plays were credit to the WR for understanding zone coverage.

My point is the only plays of him you DO see is when he's getting thrown on - which is rare. I can only remember 2 plays where that happened. And he played what, the entire first quarter?

Remember how Jimmy made a mistake and let up a touchdown? That's something Foxworth wouldn't do because he's a vet. But people still want to say Jimmy is better because he'll gain experience. Well guess who already has it!

[PuRock]

[quote name='Gtown Purple' timestamp='1314368481' post='767156']
What I didn't like:

1. Lack of blocking at times, especially on the Smith reverse.
2. Oher whiffing on Orakpo and getting Flacco slugged
3. Foxy looking shaky in coverage
4. Smith muffing a coverage
[/quote]

Luckily a lot of those things you listed should get better:

[b]1)[/b] O-Line is being shuffled like crazy. More the half of our starters aren't even playing yet. But this could take some time to adjust. Which isn't good news against the Steelers.
[b]2)[/b] Moving him to the Right Side should limit this from occuring at least on Flacco's blind side.
[b]3)[/b] Foxy is just in his first game back since his major knee injury. He'll improve with time when the confidence comes back.
[b]4)[/b] Smith is a rookie, and is prone to rookie mistakes. Its tough for rookies in more complex coverage schemes. He'll get the hang of it.

[1/28/01]

[quote name='hawkprey' timestamp='1314369175' post='767174']

Of course he wasn't playing close to the receivers. It was zone coverage and the WRs got between him and the safety. Those were plays were credit to the WR for understanding zone coverage.

My point is the only plays of him you DO see is when he's getting thrown on - which is rare. I can only remember 2 plays where that happened. And he played what, the entire first quarter?

Remember how Jimmy made a mistake and let up a touchdown? That's something Foxworth wouldn't do because he's a vet. But people still want to say Jimmy is better because he'll gain experience. Well guess who already has it!
[/quote]

I am for keeping Foxworth, 100%. I just didnt like what I saw from him last night!

[hawkprey]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1314369243' post='767177']
I am for keeping Foxworth, 100%. I just didnt like what I saw from him last night!
[/quote]

That's funny, I liked what I didn't see from him last night! [img]http://content.boards.baltimoreravens.com//public/style_emoticons/default/wink.png[/img]