Kirwan's Unsung Hero

[Moderator 3]

[b]John Matsko[/b]
Offensive line coach, Baltimore Ravens

Matsko came to the Ravens as they lost LT Jonathan Ogden to retirement and the team was going with a rookie quarterback. That is a formula for disaster. Matsko leaned on his 17 years of NFL line coaching experience to help build a new line in Baltimore. This week, in the 29-10 win over the Raiders, young QB Joe Flacco wasn't sacked and the Ravens ran the ball for 192 yards. Baltimore is a surprise to many at 4-3 and Matzko's offensive line has something to do with it.

[Sub-Zero]

it all starts in the trenches, and what's more impressive about this is that we have the youngest line the league. mad props to Matsko!

[Lets_Go_Joe]

very true... We all jump on the OL bc of penalties, but theyre insanely young, have 2 guys injured and still kept Flacco upright all game.

Hopefully he can continue his magic and we can get healthy and they can grow as a unit. The giants OL has played like every game 5 same guys for like 3-4 years consecutively, and they werent the best when they started, but now they know each other and work very good as a unit, which explains their running game, and Eli's improvement

[ravensalways]

THe oline does look like it's doing pretty well this season and knowing they are young is a good feeling because you know they'll get better.

[CTravenfan]

the o-line has been very good with the excpetion of the penalties but thats expected because of the age. keeping Joe from getting sacked is a great accomplishment, if we can keep him from getting hit i like our chances in every game we play this year.

[#1 D]

[quote name='CTravenfan' post='81285' date='Oct 28 2008, 05:02 PM']the o-line has been very good with the excpetion of the penalties but thats expected because of the age. keeping Joe from getting sacked is a great accomplishment, if we can keep him from getting hit i like our chances in every game we play this year.[/quote]

Yep, good to keep flacco on his feet and steadily gain confidence in the NFL level. i smellz a new superstar!!! i hope

[justifythegame]

Isn't he the guy that coached Jake Long last year? I know we had some coach like that.

Btw, the OL has improved because Terry is out of the lineup. That guy SUCKS! He shouldn't even be in the NFL. I know how huge the man is, but when it comes to playing T he has absolutely no SKILL whatsoever. He just stands there while the QB gets under pressure or gets overpowered easily. And Chris Chester is playing guard A LOT better than Yanda. I have no clue why the coach praised Yanda after saying he was out for the season, but if you actually watch the tape, Yanda isn't playing that great. Maybe during practice? I don't know, but it has never translated onto the field. Chris Chester was a 2nd round pick for us and never got a chance because the coaches always thought he was too small, but he comes in in the last two games and plays fantastic. He has cost us some penalties, but besides those mistakes, he has been playing his position well. Now i know why this guy was a second round pick, he actually has some skill! I know when it comes to OL, when you see a big guy, your gut tells you the big guy is the best option, but there is actual skill involved in playing Guard and Tackle. I hope Terry and Yanda never return to the lineup, because our lineup right now is giving Joe Flacco full protection the ravens have never had as a whole unit. In the last game alone, Flacco has time in the pocket like Brady gets. And we all saw what happened to the offense from there. All we need is to draft a RT in a draft to replace willie when he retires and we will have the youngest and a top 10 OL.

[macbrak]

Yanda and Terry look bad on paper but remember who they played against. Titans and Steelers etc. possibly not at full health. They didn't get the job done but I'm net ready to pronounce their replacements better just yet. Keeping the Fins and Raiders at bay probably isn't the best test of an OL.

But then again Terry et. all also had more TE blocking help.