Recapping The Ravens Regular Season

[eandb17]

Just like you all, I am extremely excited right now. There is no better time then right now to recap a fantastic regular season with a week by week recap.

1) vs. Steelers WIN 35-7: I'm sure everybody remembers this one, Flacco gets over the hump and Ravens are crowned by many Super Bowl champions after week 1. 1-0

2) at Titans LOSS 13-26: Just like that, the Ravens are knocked back to earth. Many question who the real Ravens are and if they can actually produce consistently all season (cough cough NFL Network.) 1-1

3) at Rams WIN 37-7: Wow, we actually scored 37 points in a game, jk. This week was Torrey Smith's coming out party which I'm sure nobody needs reminding of. For now, the Ravens have reestablished themselves as the kings of the AFC North. 2-1

4) vs. Jets WIN 34-17: A Monday night meeting against two great defenses and two questionable QBs; however Flacco shined in primetime and once again, the NFL was on notice. 3-1

5) BYE

6) vs. Texans WIN 29-14: Being at this game, it was interesting. Throughout the course of the game, the man next to me went from hating Cam Cameron while we were losing to praising him after we took the lead. Either way many were sure now the Ravens were the Packers of the AFC. 4-1

7) at Jaguars LOSS 7-12: Ugh. 4-2

8) vs. Cardinals WIN 30-27: Best second half effort of year. The disappointment of being down 24-6 at half was immediately erased by the fantastic play of Flacco and the offense in the final 30 minutes. A historic comeback to say the least that leaves us extremely confident heading in the big ketchup bottle. 5-2

9) at Steelers WIN 23-20: When Torrey Smith dropped the touchdown pass in our game-winning drive I'm pretty sure most of Baltimore cursed at the T.V. However, what better way to make it up than making in amazing catch in the back of the end zone to beat our biggest rivals and solidify ourselves as the AFC North leaders and in turn set us up for a bye. Yeah, no big deal. 6-2

10) at Seahawks LOSS 17-22: Looking back now, this was the start of the Seahawks hot streak which makes this loss a little better, but it was still extremely disappointing. I think that we went to Seattle assuming we would win automatically, boy were we wrong. This was eye opening though as it would be the start of a four game win streak. 6-3

11) vs. Bengals WIN 31-24: This game proved more about the Bengals than the Ravens to me. We were expected to win this game and we did. The Bengals however proved that they are not a pushover. From this game, I think it was official that the AFC North was the best division in football. 7-3

12) vs. 49ers WIN 16-6: The Har-bowl. Brother vs. Brother. Defense vs. Defense. This game put the Ravens back on the national radar due to our outstanding pass rush. If Sizzle wins Defensive Player of the Year, you can redirect it back to this game when he was officially in Beast Mode. 8-3

13) at Browns WIN 24-10: This game made me so happy because it had been a while since we won a game we were supposed to win handily. That accompanied with a Lardarius Webb punt return TD made this a great day for Ravens fans. 9-3

14) vs. Colts WIN 24-10: Weird game with some questionable play calling, but overall a win is a win. Nothing more here, a game we were supposed to win. 10-3

15) at Chargers LOSS 34-14: Phillip Rivers exposed our secondary. This game showed me just how important Lardarius Webb is to our defense. Sure, we still probably wouldn't have won if he had started, but Rivers absolutely picked us apart. Fortunately, he was the only one all season to be able to do so. Hopefully, this won't be our fate vs. a Brees, Brady, Rodgers, etc. 10-4

16) vs. Browns WIN 20-14: Phil Taylor deserved the game ball this game. We started off extremely strong, but conservative play calling and dropped passes led to a near loss. In the end though, a win is a win and we finished the season 8-0 at home. 11-4

17) at Bengals WIN 24-16: This game is the one where the Ravens came full circle. It started off with amazing offense centered around Ray Rice and stout defense. Then it looked as though the Ravens our lead would slip, but we showed we had LEARNED FROM OUR MISTAKES. It seems that Seattle, Jacksonville, San Diego, Tennessee actually helped us in the end. Sizzle forced a clutch a fumble and Ray Rice put the game out of reach. 12-4 AFC North Champs / #2 Seed.

If we can follow this Week 17 formula there is nothing stopping us from heading to Indy and winning the Lombardi trophy. If you are still reading this thanks for reading. Sorry it was so long. I'm just so excited right now. RAVENS SUPERBOWL CHAMPS 2012.

[codizzle]

I'd rather follow the week one formula

[Sizzlebshu]

good season review and good job to our team for getting their job done. They earned a nice rest before the playoffs

[Gordo52]

Nice post, its been our best regular season ever! I look foward to worrying about Brees/Rodgers in superbowl

[K-Dog]

9ers was the game of the season in my opinion

[bpytnjr58]

Looking back at the four losses the Jacksonville game really stings but there is always one game that haunts a team at the end.

[JohnJohnson]

I don't really like the week 17 formula, at some point that's not gonna cut it. We got an early lead, and once we had it we refused to take any risks. We ran on every first down, and only when the Bengals got back into the game did we decide to use play action. You have to be unpredictable. When they're expecting you to play conservatively and run on every first down, that's when you hit them with a play action dagger. When you get behind and they expect you to start passing most of the time, draw the linebackers in with runs out of single back or even shotgun. Week 1 we were put in good situations by the defense, and our offense was unpredictable and never relented. In our losses and in games where we blew leads, our offense became stale and predictable. Running clock is not a priority with more than a quarter left in the game, someone needs to drill this into Cam's head.

[adam713]

Nice job putting these together! Agree with the quick assessments on most of these games expect x Jets.

In Week 4 vs. the Jets, Flacco did not shine at all. The defense scored 3 TDs, 3 fumble recoveries, 2 sacks, and 1 Int. Flacco on the other hand threw 0 TDs, threw 1 Int, and fumbled the ball for a turnover. That was probably one of Flacco's worst career games with that performance and only had 160 some passing yards.

Ray Rice also had 1 TD and Bill Cundiff kicked 2 short FGs.

[Alexir]

yeah, Flacco was horrible against the Jets. That was 2 great defenses getting picks for 6. or scoops for 6.

[1/28/01]

Jets game - Flacco shined in prime time? Yikes! That was an atrocious game by Flacco and the offense!!

Edit - okay, didn't see the two posts above me. Agree with what they said, ha!