BSL: Ravens fall in Chicago with OT loss; What did we see?
http://baltimorespor...go-ot-loss-see/
The Ravens are returning to Baltimore two games under .500, having lost 23-20 to the Chicago Bears in OT.
What did we see?
1) We saw a nice little 2 hour delay, as the Ravens learned first-hand why Chicago is called the Windy City. Seems likes maybe the start of the game could have been delayed? It looked like a bad HS field when they returned to action. It has to be noted that both teams had to play in the conditions, and deal with the delay. While it did give the Bears time to adjust to what the Ravens were doing, Baltimore did get to resume play with the 10 point lead. The field was horrible, but both teams had to deal with it, and adjust.
2) If the story of the day was the delay, the next biggest story was why the Ravens had a 10 point lead when the storm arrived. Baltimore’s defense was able to quickly get the Bears off the field, and on their first offensive drive of the game, Baltimore scored. It was great seeing Rice hit a hole with burst, and run down the field. It is a play that you can believe gave everyone – fans included – a lift. The Ravens finished that drive, when a nice block from Shipley led to Rice’s TD run.
2a) Rice finished the day with 131 yards on the ground. I spent a lot of the week stating it was time for a change to Pierce. Rice showed he is still the guy.
2b) Clark had a nice reception (the 500th of his career) on 3rd down during the Ravens 2nd series. On 3rd and 11 from the Bears 38, Flacco checked down to Rice. Rice made a guy miss, and picked up 4 yards. This put the Ravens back in FG range, and Tucker responded with a 52 yard FG for a 10-Ravens lead.
3) Before the delay, the Ravens defensive line was getting good pressure on McCown. An example being Canty’s 3rd down play on the Bears 2nd series. The biggest issue after the delay for the Ravens, was that they seemingly lost their ability to rush the QB. No doubt, footing was an issue.
4) After the delay, the Bears marched from their 10 yard line to a 1st and Goal situation. On 3rd down, the Ravens were charged with Pass Interference, giving the Bears 3 more opportunities. Corey Graham, and Jimmy Smith both made quality plays in that sequence, limiting Chicago to a FG. (10-3 Baltimore.)
4a) J. Smith’s emergence is occurring weekly at this point. Some very solid play. He did have to leave the game in the 4th Quarter with an apparent hamstring issue. Of course part of the part of the reason Smith had a lot of opportunities to make plays today, was that Chicago was not challenging Webb.
5) Mixed day for Flacco, with some up and down play.
5a) After the delay, Flacco did some nice work picking up yardage on the ground.
5b) On the Ravens first offensive play after the Bears initial FG, Flacco was picked off by DE David Bass. Bass would take the pick to the house, tying the game at 10. Rice appeared to miss his assignment on the play.
5c) Following the interception from Bass, the Ravens faced 3rd and 9 on the following series. Flacco dropped off to Rice, who picked up the 1st. Flacco then found Doss on the sideline with a strike for 16 yards. After a roughing the passer penalty on Peppers, Flacco found T.Smith for 12 yards over the middle. Rice again pounded between the tackles, gaining 7 yards. On 2nd and 3, Flacco found Smith for the TD. Beautiful catch, and throw in a small window. The Ravens went 80 yards for the lead. (17-10 Baltimore.)
5d) Flacco’s 2nd interception was just incredibly poor. It was 3rd and 16, and the Ravens were at their own 22. There were 67 seconds left in the half, and the Bears had Timeouts remaining. There was no reason to force an attempt there. The throw was into heavy traffic, and allowed Chicago to take over at mid-field with 1 minute left. The Bears would end the half with a FG, making it 17-13 Baltimore.
6) My guess is that the tape will show the Ravens offensive line had one of their better games, and that was in-part due to the ineffectiveness of the Chicago defensive line. Shipley getting push. Gradkowski even had a few positive plays. Yanda looked more like the Yanda you would expect. Not everything was perfect though. An example being when the Ravens were driven out of FG territory in the 2nd Quarter, when the Bears Julius Peppers overwhelmed Monroe, and threw Flacco to the ground. Going for it on 4th and 8 in the 3rd Quarter, Monroe was beat again, leading to Flacco being stripped.
7) The Ravens did not come up with points, but their 1st drive of the 3rd Quarter took up 1/2 the Quarter.
8) Coach Harbaugh’s 4th Quarter challenge did not seem to have much chance of being over-turned.
9) Early in the 4th Quarter, Chicago completed an 83 yard drive to take the 20-17 lead. The Bears converted two 3rd downs on the series. Forte capped the drive with a good effort the score. He was helped out by some poor tackling.
10) In the middle of the 4th, the Ravens defense looked to have come up with a 3rd and 9 stop from Elam on Forte. However, Dumervil was charged with pass interference allowing the Bears drive to continue.
11) The Ravens took over on offense with under 5 minutes left in the 4th, trailing by 3. On 3rd and 10 from the Ravens 22, Baltimore picked up a 1st down on a Chicago penalty. That was followed by a Rice run up the middle for 13 yards. On 4th and 4 at the Bears 44, the Ravens elected to go for it with 3:07 on the clock, and 2 Timeouts remaining. Clark made a 1 handed catch, reaching out to make the grab. That 14 yard catch took the Ravens to the Bears 30. Another 1st down was added when Flacco found Thompson with under 2 minutes left. An 11 yard run from Rice took the Ravens to 1st and Goal at the Bears 5. Unable to score on their 3 attempts (including a bad snap on 3rd down), Tucker kicked a FG to send the game into OT.
12) Chicago was charged with a penalty on their Kickoff to begin OT. This helped provide the Ravens with better field position when the Bears again kicked off. A nice run from Rice took Baltimore out to the 49. Flacco and Doss could not connect on 3rd and 5, causing the Ravens to punt.
13) On 3rd and 9 from the Bears 21, McCown and Jeffery connected for 14 yards. That was followed by a huge gain (43 yards) to Bennett, putting Chicago in FG territory. The Bears would kick the 38 yard FG for the win.
