14 replies to this topic

[Mike in STL]

http://baltimorespor...-good-bad-ugly/

 

Recap of today's action.

[SportsGuy]

First of all, this was a huge win.

As Branden said, you have to back it up next week in Buffalo but we will worry about that later.

As for today, the offense struggled in the first half and they only had 236 yards of offense...but they didn't turn it over and converted 50% on third down. They made some plays, particularly in the second half, at times when they needed to.

The defense was great all day. A big key to the game was the defense holding Houston to 6 points early...they were on the field a lot early and didn't give up anything big and kept the team in the game.

They did a decent job vs the run and was very good vs the pass...they were allowing Hou to get short passes but they kept everything in front of them and Houston didn't have any big plays today.

They held Hou to 3-12 on third down, which was obviously huge.

The Daryl Smith pick 6 was the momentum changer and then Doss had a great return for a TD...when Lechler out kicked the coverage.

Flacco didn't do anything spectacular today but again, played a solid game. He found Clark on some key 3rd downs in the second half.

The offense certainly missed Rice as they just didn't have playmakers out there outside of Smith making a few big plays...Brown and Stokley didn't really do anything today.

Pierce had 24 carries and ran hard but seemed to miss a potential to bounce some runs out or make cuts but the Houston Dline is good and the line struggled with pass blocking.

Watt was the best player on the field today...Ravens couldn't block him..at least legally.

Huge win overall though....gotta keep improving on offense as the season goes on though.

For those who didn't see it, the Ray ceremony was nice...many members of the ROH were there..he didn't dance but did give a speech..was very gracious and appreciative of the fans and the city of Baltimore.

[SportsGuy]

Btw...way too many penalties today..on both sides.

[bnickle]

I'll say this about Joe. He stood strong in the face of a lot of pressure today. A lot of bodys around him today, especially near his legs and he did a good job of finding some targets in the face of that pressure in the 2nd half. It's again, the kind of stuff that never shows up in a box score .I'll tell you one thing, If Brady had that much pressure in his face and that many bodies around him he would not have done as well as Joe did today. I've never seen such an overall great QB get so spooked in the face of pressure.

[bnickle]

Btw...way too many penalties today..on both sides.

Without a doubt. Ended up not mattering but the penalty that extended the first drive for Hou for 12 men was horrible. if they convert a TD there instread of a FG we might have seen a much different game.

[SportsGuy]

Without a doubt. Ended up not mattering but the penalty that extended the first drive for Hou for 12 men was horrible. if they convert a TD there instread of a FG we might have seen a much different game.

Yep...worst penalty of the game.

Like I said, a huge key to the game was the defense holding strong early.

[You Play to Win the Game]

I'll say this about Joe. He stood strong in the face of a lot of pressure today. A lot of bodys around him today, especially near his legs and he did a good job of finding some targets in the face of that pressure in the 2nd half. It's again, the kind of stuff that never shows up in a box score .I'll tell you one thing, If Brady had that much pressure in his face and that many bodies around him he would not have done as well as Joe did today. I've never seen such an overall great QB get so spooked in the face of pressure.

This was going to be my comment as well. Flacco was incredibly cool under fire all afternoon. Not easy to do.

[Cisc-O's]

Went to the game today it was a blast!  Awesome tribute to Ray.  Nice defensive, special teams, game and Torrey and Clark looked to be good.  Dickson had the one play where we got a penalty on and the air seemed to push him out of bounds what looked like a bigger gain then it should have been.   Defense was a huge. Jimmy Smith looked good from what I was seeing.  Webb was closing and a heck of a tackler for anyone, great for a CB. 

 

Whats going on with the Offense is it play calling or Flacco's decision making?  3 and outs are very predictable.   

[Mackus]

Joe made some bad throws early, but really threw the ball well later in the game, especially the 2nd half.  The long throw to Torrey Smith was a perfect, beautiful throw.

 

I didn't have many problems with the playcalling on offense.  The first drive it was smart to try and establish the run, and we wouldn't have gone 3-and-out had Flacco not had his worst throw of the day when he missed Brown wide open right in front of him.  The second drive seemed very conservative, but backed up to your own one isn't a bad time to be conservative.  I didn't like the playcalling at all on the 3rd drive where we actually picked up our first first down of the game (via penalty).  That's my only complaints, though.  They did what needed to be done after that point, and as others have mentioned, there isn't a ton you can do when your O-line is constantly getting beat by their D-line.

 

The game changed in the last few minutes, and who knows what would've happened if we didn't get those two scores.  Could've been completely different, but we got the big plays that were needed and then the defense had no trouble dealing with Houston once they became fairly one-dimensional (especially without Johnson for most of the 2nd half).

 

I'm not too worried about Buffalo next week.  Even on the road, that should be a win unless we really screw up.

[SportsGuy]

Buffalo has a lot of key injuries on defense and spiller got hurt today as well.

[NewMarketSean]

They were backed up in the end zone the first few drives, I guess that limits their playbook. But I thought the offense looked good in the second half and Flacco made some great throws. I feel like it could have been the kind of game Flacco takes over himself if the D and ST didn't score us points to take the lead.

Great win against one of the AFC's better teams.

[FlavaDave10]

1. Our defense is pretty darn awesome. That said, the Ravens have had trouble setting the edge.

 

2. As critical as I have been of one Jimmy Smith, I think it's appropriate for me to say that he has shut me up the past two weeks. He had a tough job today covering Hopkins, but he was up to the task.

 

3. The one thing about the offense that is concerning me is the run game. 2.6 YPC this year is completely unacceptable.

 

4. I think Harbaugh and the coaching staff have finally mastered the art of making adjustments. Ravens have looked much better in the 2nd half than in previous years.

[BSLMattJergensen]

Had no issues with the play-calling either. Had to play conservative to start to set up blocking assignments on Watt and company. Plus with so many playmakers on the sidelines (Rice,Pitta,Jones) the options were limited.They picked their shots and Torrey is showing that he up to the task of being a #1.

 

Defense was pretty impressive. Pressure. Three sacks but at least 7 hits on Schaub.They haven't given up a TD in 8 quarters.

 

Tandon Doss. Tandon Doss. Good for you man, good for you.

[SportsGuy]

What's interesting to me is that teams are still stacking the box against the run, despite the running game being poor.

 

In other words, they should be able to control our running game with 6 and 7 man fronts..at least, you would think so.

 

They are trying to open up the passing game and that needs to continue...We have got to get down to 6-7 man fronts and that is only going to happen if Joe opens it up, the WR provide threats, etc....

 

Not that he is anything special but not having Jacoby as another deep threat is hurting things IMO.

[Mackus]

What's interesting to me is that teams are still stacking the box against the run, despite the running game being poor.

 

This is a bit of a chicken/egg situation.  We've got all the same pieces aside from Birk in place for the running game.  I do think teams are gearing up to stop that and make Flacco and, more importantly, the receivers have to beat them.  Double team Torrey and load the box, then make the #2 WR and the TEs try to beat you.