[News] Game Recap: Bengals 23, Ravens 16

[blkninj01]

Just to make the point that the very last play that ended the game, Bengals had 2 outside rushers that crashed right in untouched and Flacco did not have time to do anything but take that sack. Has anyone else noticed that we did not blitz or run any stunts on defense the entire game. We lined straight up and played a basic man to man or zone defense. Nothing to even try to fool the Bengals.

[Ravens07]

The fact that we held a lead in this game is really impressive. The fact that we fumbled it was par for the course. Our defense did that all year last year. I'm a little confused as to why the offense didn't run the ball more and throw more screens. We were successful in both areas. Forsett was getting 6.5 ypc. Being down 15 points is no reason to throw 60 times.

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

Bright spots

Forsett looked good once the offense started to heat / wake up.

Flacco looked good once the WR's / TE's started holding onto the ball.

Bottom line It took the offense too long to heat / wake up.

[TheConquerorWorm]

Just to make the point that the very last play that ended the game, Bengals had 2 outside rushers that crashed right in untouched and Flacco did not have time to do anything but take that sack. Has anyone else noticed that we did not blitz or run any stunts on defense the entire game. We lined straight up and played a basic man to man or zone defense. Nothing to even try to fool the Bengals.

Yanda got blew up on that play. It was obvious from when they lined up that the Bengals were sending the blitz. Flacco HAS to recognize that. 

 

You have to have a really good secondary in order to blitz. We don't, therefore no blitz. Plus in our style of defense, we "blitz" with Suggs & Dumervil - they just didn't get it done today.

[Purple Dawg 96]

Learning zone blocking one year and a new Offense the next has its SET BACKS! Giv cincy sum credit but it wont last! Go Ravens!

[RavensBoy69]

Let's be serious...we beat ourselves PERIOD! Let's look here if Tucker would have made his field goal and we would have put one up before half instead of joe and the circus show, and then that means we would hot have had to go for two on the one touchdown we could of put up a pat. That means we could have tied it up and sent it to overtime, not to mention the int that joe threw, we will never know what that drive would have been. All of that aside it is only week one the O started to flow in the second half and it is only week 1, if we beat the steelers Thursday we are 1-1 and we are tied for first in our division as long as the bengals lose their second game. I enjoyed smitty and our o-line today, looked way better then last year. Go Ravens!

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

Ravens players and coaches you owe us fans one now. Get your act together and get it done Thursday night against the Steelers and you owe us a win at the Bengals home later this year.

[GangofRavens]

If any NFL qb throws 62 passes, you'd be able to cherry pick a few mistakes.  Overall, he played well enough to put up a lot of points and win if there weren't so many drops.  That pass to Jacoby while getting smashed by Burfict was amazing, but it went right through his arms. Torrey had a perfectly thrown deep pass go through his palms. Steve Smith dropped 4 1st down passes.  Owen Daniels dropped a 1st down pass. There were a couple plays where the receiver slipped or stumbled. In almost every drive when the offense was struggling, there was a perfectly thrown pass that bounced off a receiver's hands.

And your point is what...everybody screwed up? I agree.

[Zeus]

Yeah we had a lot of drops that is for sure. I am not as angry about the vanilla play calling as much as I am with Pees not making adjustments for Bernard swinging out and being wide open. Bernard was not covered very well at all and those passes to him on several third and longs kept a lot of drives alive, which lead to several FGs. Pees should have made adjustments to get him covered, so yes, he gets some blame today. You take away one of those FG's and this game would have went into OT.

Agree.

[RavensBaltimore]

The fact that we held a lead in this game is really impressive. The fact that we fumbled it was par for the course. Our defense did that all year last year. I'm a little confused as to why the offense didn't run the ball more and throw more screens. We were successful in both areas. Forsett was getting 6.5 ypc. Being down 15 points is no reason to throw 60 times.

Most of the screen passes got stopped for a minimal gain. Fosett averaged 2.8 yds/catch.  Once the offense got going, throwing short, quick, passes with a few runs and deep throws mixed in was working, so there was no reason to stop doing that.  That's why Flacco had so many attempts.  The playcalling was good.  Even when the offense was struggling, receivers were still getting open, they just couldn't catch it.  

[RavensBaltimore]

Just to make the point that the very last play that ended the game, Bengals had 2 outside rushers that crashed right in untouched and Flacco did not have time to do anything but take that sack. Has anyone else noticed that we did not blitz or run any stunts on defense the entire game. We lined straight up and played a basic man to man or zone defense. Nothing to even try to fool the Bengals.

I remember 2 3rd and long plays where we blitzed.  The Bengals threw a screen pass and picked up the 1st down both times.  Also, besides Jimmy Smith, I don't think Pees trusts his corners enough to blitz often.

[Jfravens]

Its not only Pees and Chikye's fault, Flacco Played horrible, he couldnt get the Offense Going, This is Ravens History Great Defense, Average passing game, Great running game.

btw My respect to Justin Forsett been supporting him since he came here, Wow.

[RavensBaltimore]

And your point is what...everybody screwed up? I agree.

No, my point is that a couple mistakes out of 62 throws doesn't mean that Flacco didn't play well.  Overall, he played well enough to put up a lot of points and win the game if there weren't about 7 dropped 1st down passes.  I thought I already said that.

[robbie29]

It's the first game, so nobody should be in panic mode. However, with the exception of Forsett's solid performance, it appears that nothing has changed since last year. The defense gave up a huge play late in the game. Like the entire 2nd half of last season, there was ABSOLUTELY NO pressure put on the opposing QB. The offense scored less than 20 points. Receivers dropped too many passes. Flacco threw WAAAAAY too much (seriously- 62 passes?!), the O Line allowed 3 sacks and 7 QB hits. I hate to sound pessimistic, but seriously- virtually nothing appeared to be fixed from last season. Even special teams regressed- Tucker missed a FG and Jones dropped a punt which could have spelled doom even before Green's 77-yd TD catch. Come on Ravens- you've got 4 days to iron out the kinks before you take on yet another tough division opponent. Get the lead out.

[Zeus]

Steelers are going to have fun with us

[robbie29]

Steelers are going to have fun with us

If the Ravens bring the same game plan that they brought today, then yes- unfortunately I think you're right.

[krnraven]

Defense played well considering the spots they were put in sans one play. Bummed like the rest of you but I'll chalk this one up to growing pains. We got to win Thursday.

[lights15a]

As long as they keep Flacco this is what we have to get use to.Dont care who disagrees your blinded We have to get a better QB then Flacco

[Rat]

This may not sit well, but I believe that the only real issue is that we gave up on the run game and just started to throw......once we got Forsett running (second half) our offense showed signs of life....

My point is, all we heard about the new offense is that it will establish the run.....just like we did in pre-season. This loss is on the coaching staff......why did we stop trying the run? It was clear that Pierce was ineffective.....why wait till the fumble to change.....?

Love our coach and his staff, but the facts seem to me, obvious. IMO

[rmcjacket23]

As long as they keep Flacco this is what we have to get use to.Dont care who disagrees your blinded We have to get a better QB then Flacco

Well, we aren't going to, so if I were you, I would get used to it and not waste your breath complaining about it. He's basically locked onto this roster for a MINIMUM of three more seasons, including this one.

A QB change is far, far, far, far, far, from happening, nor does a reasonable person think its warranted.

[lights15a]

No, my point is that a couple mistakes out of 62 throws doesn't mean that Flacco didn't play well.  Overall, he played well enough to put up a lot of points and win the game if there weren't about 7 dropped 1st down passes.  I thought I already said that.

No Flacco did not play well. What other QB in the nfl would have handled 8 seconds left on the clock like Flacco did......No one

[lights15a]

Well, we aren't going to, so if I were you, I would get used to it and not waste your breath complaining about it. He's basically locked onto this roster for a MINIMUM of three more seasons, including this one.

A QB change is far, far, far, far, far, from happening, nor does a reasonable person think its warranted.

And fools like you and there money are soon parted

[joekster10@mac.com]

Two years ago this was Ray Lewis' team. It then became Joe Flacco's team and after one full season the team is a good reflection of Joe. They played today with little emotion or intensity as both sides of the ball took long periods off, seemingly uninterested . There are more issues with this team then Xs and Os. They have an uninspired leader and play uninspired football. The last play of the first half perfectly symbolized how focused Joe was. I expect this season to be a continuance of last season's follies.

[lights15a]

Two years ago this was Ray Lewis' team. It then became Joe Flacco's team and after one full season the team is a good reflection of Joe. They played today with little emotion or intensity as both sides of the ball took long periods off, seemingly uninterested . There are more issues with this team then Xs and Os. They have an uninspired leader and play uninspired football. The last play of the first half perfectly symbolized how focused Joe was. I expect this season to be a continuance of last season's follies.

Unlike some on here i agree with you

[rmcjacket23]

This may not sit well, but I believe that the only real issue is that we gave up on the run game and just started to throw......once we got Forsett running (second half) our offense showed signs of life....

My point is, all we heard about the new offense is that it will establish the run.....just like we did in pre-season. This loss is on the coaching staff......why did we stop trying the run? It was clear that Pierce was ineffective.....why wait till the fumble to change.....?

Love our coach and his staff, but the facts seem to me, obvious. IMO

In their defense, think about what's happening in the game...

We had a total of six drives in the first half. 3 of them we never got a first down, including the Pierce fumble. We didn't even get to the Bengals side of the field until the second quarter missed FG. So by the time the half is over, where we hadn't proven we could throw the ball, catch the ball, or run the ball effectively, we are already down 15 points to a team that had absolutely no problem moving the ball down the field on us (though we obviously held up well).

I certainly have no issue going pass heavy when you're down two TDs in the second half.

By my count, prior to the 2 minute drill to end the 1st half (when we are clearly throwing), we had 13 passes and 8 runs. I believe those 8 runs netted 21 yards, a 2.5 yards/attempt clip.

In summary, we gave up on the run because it never got started and the score and pace of the game dictated that we need to run less. Ironically, we ran more in the 2nd half than the 1st, and for far more success (12 attempts, 70 yards in second half).

[rmcjacket23]

And fools like you and there money are soon parted

I suggest you very, very, very quickly become aware of how an NFL salary cap works, and in particular, what happens when you give somebody like Joe a large contract. You might THINK cutting him is an option (and you are mostly alone in that regard), but financially speaking, its simply not.

These guys ain't baseball cards...

[lights15a]

I suggest you very, very, very quickly become aware of how an NFL salary cap works, and in particular, what happens when you give somebody like Joe a large contract. You might THINK cutting him is an option (and you are mostly alone in that regard), but financially speaking, its simply not.

These guys ain't baseball cards...

Im not dumb like you ....I know how it works But i would cut my loses to win games

[Bohica5]

We crushed so many of their guys we were practically playing their 3rd string...................and still couldn't win......

[rmcjacket23]

Im not dumb like you ....I know how it works But i would cut my loses to win games

If you knew how it worked, then you wouldn't think the way you do. Because cutting Joe doesn't mean just cutting Joe... it means cutting other players as well.

Why? Because the moment you cut Joe, a LARGE chunk of his prorated money that is scheduled to come off the books in future years comes off the books in whatever year you choose to do it. The moment you cut him, basically anytime in the next two seasons, his salary cap number goes UP, not down. It costs more against the salary cap for him NOT to be here than for him to be here, which is why he isn't going anywhere.

All of this, of course, disregards the fact that there is nobody available or likely to be available that would be an improvement on him, nor does the draft have anybody realistic that we could get that would be a lock to be better.

Hence the reason why there's no shortage of teams in this league who spend a decade looking for a Joe Flacco-caliber QB... and they STILL can't find one.

[Fastynart]

This is the norm, Ravens fans. Flacco killed us, with the stupidest play ever seen at the end of the first half, then with the last two plays of the game. He is the same Joe, inconsistent as heck. Before, we had a mighty defense to bail him out. No longer. Today's loss was his and his alone. Those three plays cost us the game, end of story. Now, Pittsburgh is coming. It is gonna be ugly.