Ravens Win 37-27: The Morning After

by Rexx on Nov 3, 2008 9:46 AM EST Comment 21 comments

Isn't it a heck of a lot easier to wake up on Monday mornings after a Ravens' win? It sure makes looking forward to posting on this blog a lot more positive, thinking on what good to write about, instead of just complaining. Can you imagine what the die-hard Browns fans are posting? From what I saw when I peaked in on their site after yesterday's game, it was anger and hostility. Funny though, the anger and hostility was not aimed at the Ravens, or even us fans, but at the Browns, specifically Romeo Crennel and Derek Anderson. Not surprisingly, there was little or no credit given to the Ravens for their 37-27 comeback victory yesterday. Rather, they continued to mock our team, saying how bad we were and we had ONLY beaten a terrible team (their Browns) twice and until we beat the Steelers, they still think we stink. I guess they just think they stink more than us, so beating them is no big deal!

However, this is the NFL. Now sitting at 5-3, the Ravens are smack dab in the middle of the playoff hunt with half the season completed. While we should not even mention the "p" word until after week ten at the earliest, you can't help but feel a certain level of confidence after sweeping the season series of a tough divisional opponent. Our five wins have all come at the expense of teams with losing records, but that can be deceiving if you look at who those teams beat. The Dolphins beat New England, San Diego, Buffalo and now Denver. Yet, we went into their crib and punked them. The Browns crushed the defending Super Bowl Champs NY Giants while handing them their only loss of this season so far. They also went on the road to Jacksonville and upset them, yet we put up 37 on them on their field. If you look at those angles, then the parity in this league should only make our 5-3 record look even better and more legitimate. With the Ravens fifth win in eight games, we have now won as many games this season as we did all of 2007, when we finished 5-11. Something tells me we will be drastically improving on that embarassing season.

What went right yesterday? Well, to be honest, I just don't have the time to list everything that pleased me. However, to fall behind by two touchdowns usually meant "implosion time" for the Ravens. Yesterday, I saw a focused team calmly go about getting back the first TD, then rely on the defense to get them the ball back. Their confidence soared behind their rookie QB, who never seemed to panic as he continued his incredibly quick growth as a NFL starter and candidate for Rookie-of-the-Year. Zero turnovers in three straight games while throwing sharp passes that we only dreamed of in Baltimore, as it is apparent that we have our QB of the future in the present. To me, one of the biggest signs of his poise and confdence came in the third quarter when we were inside our 20 yard line with a third down and 16 yards to go, now down by two TD's. Normally, you'd expect a short pass, draw play or worse, and then a punt out of the end zone as our downward spiral continued. Instead, Flacco rifled a bullet over the middle to his favorite target, Derrick Mason, for a 20 yard gain and a first down on our way to a TD to get back into the game. If Mason isn't one of the best possession receivers in the NFL, then pray tell me, who is better? Another long drive, capped by a 28 yard catch and run by Mason for the tying TD and we were back to even. A fourth straight three-and-out by our defense, assisted by some very questionable, conservative playcalling, not to mention a dropped pass by Braylon Edwards, and we got the lead on Matt Stover's third FG of the game. The nail in the coffin was the interception return for TD by T-Sizzle in a virtual replay of the exact same thing he did in Miami two weeks ago. Something tells me Suggs is going to get a hefty pay raise for next year by the Ravens, who have no intention of letting him test the free agent market.

With key starters on both sides of the ball injured and out for the game, the reserves stepped up and played huge roles in this victory. None was bigger than the rookie from Rutgers, Ray Rice, who ripped through and around the tough Browns run defense for 154 yards, easily a career high. He is surprisingly strong and hard to bring down for a relatively small RB, and showed the speed that transformed the Rutgers football program from a joke into a legitmate contender for the Big East crown during his time there. Combined with the bruising of backfield mate Le'Ron McClain, they made the absence of Willis McGahee virtually negligent. Wide receiver Mark Clayton seriously showed up for the first time this season since his opening day TD run on a reverse to help defeat the Bengals. He had 80 yards, but none more important than his first TD reception this season on a great diving catch in the first quarter. It's great to see how he can complement Derrick Mason when he's open. Unfortunately, Todd Heap again returned to invisible status, although his blocking seemed greatly improved on a couple of key runs by Rice. The offensive line opened huge holes for the RB's and provided enough protection for Flacco to find his open receivers. The Ravens heavy packages, which included overloading one side of the line with two tackles, seemed to overwhelm and flatten Cleveland's front line of defense, anchored by Shaun Rogers. Rogers is spoken of in NFL cirlces as one of the best DT's in the game, but I still wouldn't even consider trading Haloti Ngata or perhaps even Justin Bannan for him, the way they're playing.

Notice how the only Ray I've mentioned has been Rice, not Lewis? The defense gave up two TD's and two FG's, and it certainly could have been worse, if the Browns had stuck to the success they were having passing the ball. Instead, they stubbornly kept trying to run the ball rather than move it through the air, where they seemed to be widely successful, throwing to both Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow. Our secondary was depleted by injuries and both corners were having trouble keeping these guys covered. For whatever reason, the Browns played a lot like the Ravens in our losses, trying not to lose, rather than put us away by continuing to attack. As bad as the corners were, you've still got to understand that these guys are nickel or dime-backs, not NFL starters. We need our front line guys to get healthy or other teams won't be as cooperative as Cleveland was yesterday.

Special Teams deserves a special mention and not from a complementary angle. Their tackling was abysmal on both the kickoffs and punt returns. While Brendon Ayanbadejo had a couple of loud hits, the rest of the guys couldn't stay in their lanes and keep Cleveland's Joshua Cribbs from ripping off huge returns to set up the Browns' offense in great field position. The first return for TD after the Ravens went up 10-0 put them right back into the game after we were beginning to make this game look like a rout in the first quarter.

Overall, you've got to be stoked after this one. Going to Houston next week to make up the game postponed due to Hurricane Ike won't be an easy one either, if there are such things in the NFL. The Texans lost in Minnesota yesterday but had previously won three in a row. They'll look to get back on track and have one of the best big receivers in the game in Andre' Johnson. Unless the Ravens corners get healthy quickly, we're going to need another great performance like yesterday's if we expect to continue this streak, which then heads to the Meadowlands to face the Giants in two weeks before finally coming home to host the Philadelphia Eagles.

It's a long streak, but we're on our way after a crushing blow to the Browns' season and a series sweep of Cleveland. Now, we have to do the unthinkable, and that is to actually root for the hated Washington Redskins to beat the equally hated Pittsburgh Steelers tonight on MNF and put us in a first place tie in the AFC North, even though the Steelers hold virtually every tie-breaker at this point of the season.

Hard to say it, but "GO 'SKINS!!!

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To say the Steelers hold every tiebreaker is a bit of an exageration. All we need to do is beat them at M&T Bank Stadium. That game is a must-win, and I think we can do it. After that, then we can start using the ‘p’ word in positive fashion.

I must say, this win gave me more hope than I expected. This new team is capable of a lot of things the old team just couldn’t do.

by math_geek on Nov 3, 2008 10:24 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Even a win over Pittsburgh

doesn’t change things. Their losses so far are all to NFC teams while ours are to AFC teams. That is a huge advantage in the tie breakers. Odds are that it will be tough to expect to make the post season as a Wild Card, so we need help tonight and in the future, as well as TCOB when they come here.

Rexx

by Rexx on Nov 3, 2008 12:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Woof Woof

Where the dawgs at????

by DT711 on Nov 3, 2008 10:54 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Ehhh, equally hated steelers, naaa

Come on, yes its the deadskins, but they are our other maryland team. Sure, I cant stand seeing their fans happy about their team, but tonight we need our fellow down state NFC brothers. I like to think of the redskins as more of a disliking rather than a “hate.” I wish terrible things on the steelers, very terrible things, and I dont want to state them here cause I might get banned, but one involves an airplane and heinz field, ill stop now.

ANYWAY JOLLY OL’ PALS!

Well, Rexx, great write. Im promoting this one to the front page!!! HAHA.

As of right now, I am in awe at the way we are playing right now. I have always been aware of the talent that we possess on this team, but I did not see it all coming together this season. I looked to see Joe start off very shakey, which he did at times, but I did not expect him to be having games like he did yesterday. I think I can say we havent seen a QB with the type of calmness he has ever in this franchise history, except maybe for Dilfer (my boy, love that guy) and McNair in 06. But the difference Joe holds is that he is in HIS FIRST SEASON! OK, sure, almost every single Ravens fan was excited to see TROY SMITH be the starter at the beginning of the season, I did, thats for sure. He was young, athletic, had a certain swagger about him, and the locker room seemed to love him. But, this must have been a blessing for us, cause Joe has done more than I can ask for. Mason is the perfect type of receiver for him to start his career with, cause Mason never drops a good pass and Joe can rifle it on a 10-15 yard throw better then anyone in the NFL right now. Flacco is my hero, this morning, I ordered a purple #5 Jersay.

As for might mouse aka Ray Rice, WOW! What a Phucking running back we have. I dont give a flying **** if this was against the so called “shitty” browns, they have a top 5 d-line in the game, and we made them our bitch. 5’8" 205 pounds of fury running down that field, and god damn, does he have a juke move. Against Oakland last week, he put a hell of a move on I think his name is Morrison??? number 53 on the raiders, who is considered to be one of the better LB’s in the NFL. Yesterday on his 60 yard run, He made my very own Daquell Jackson look like someone who just got their ankle’s broken by Hot Sauce from the And 1 tour. That man is a Raven for real.

A quote I recently read asked Coach Harbaugh “You could not have expected 2 rookies to play like the way they are at this point in the season, can you?” Coach responded by saying “Yes we can, you are expected of this when drafted by the Baltimore Ravens.” That is amazing to hear, and to hear the things he had to say about the effort of our Boys in the locker room after wards, he sounded like he was about to cry, just like after your son scores the winning touchdown in the championship Reisterstown Mustangs game. (Yea, I brought that back.) I am absolutely amazed by what we were able to do yesterday.

I am not sure if everything will work out the way we want it to this year, but we have 4 more home games, and two games against losing teams on the road (Houston, Cinci). We win all of our home games and win 1 of those road games our more, this team could very well be looking at 10-6 or even 11-5. Over at the ~~Losers~~ Dawgs by Nature, I saw that the very very bitter fans said that they cannot see us going better than 8-8. This struck a little bit of a nerve in me, and I had to write a little something, but nothing derogatory.

Our five wins have all come at the expense of teams with losing records, but that can be deceiving if you look at who those teams beat. The Dolphins beat New England, San Diego, Buffalo and now Denver. Yet, we went into their crib and punked them. The Browns crushed the defending Super Bowl Champs NY Giants while handing them their only loss of this season so far.

Great point, Rexx. If we have not beaten a good team yet, why have some of the teams we have beaten beat some of the “top” tier teams in the NFL? Why cant they do what they did to the best phucking thing since sliced bread New England Patriots, LT and the amazing chargers over in cali? We just beat the team who gave the super bowl champs the People’s Elbow (WWF the Rock if you dont know).

Well, we are 5-3, with our fingers crossed that Shittsburgh gets a loss tonight. We have a lot of pride and momentum heading into Houston, and if we can keep riding this train, there is no reason why we cannot come back to Bodymore at 6-4 or really even 7-3. I am so happy to be a “Rat Bird” today, cause we just beat a team called the Browns and they wear Orange Helmets. Good luck with your DA guys, now can you see why we got rid of that worthless piece of life? Have a good afternoon Beatdown gang!

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 3, 2008 11:37 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I love that Harbaugh quote...

…and the expectation of excellence. Harbaugh has a long way to go, but I’m seeing a great coach in the making. He takes his job seriously, expects the most from our guys and is a great motivator. All in all, I think that he is much smarter than people realize. He understands that it is his job to motivate, and he has assembled one of the greatest NFL staffs that I have ever seen. It just feels like everything is coming together.

by BAL_Hawk on Nov 3, 2008 12:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ain't no ordinary Joe

How good does it feel to know that FINALLY, FINALLY, we have a QB that is becoming a franchise QB in front of our eyes. After Vinny, Stoney, Chris, Kyle, Tony B., Mr. Wrong, Scott Mitchell etc… we have picked up in the draft our own franchise QB. Sorry Troy, get used to holding a clipboard. Flacco, baring major injury, will go down as the best QB in Bmore since Bert Jones and Johnny U.

by ppdoc on Nov 3, 2008 12:30 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I love it

will go down as the best QB in Bmore since Bert Jones and Johnny U.

Its true, think about this. Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Joe Flacco. I see the trend. We just need to do a few more things to make this team the team that we all want. We are so close guys, so close. Just need to finish the season with what we have at the moment, which is not much in some areas, but it is working. LETS GO!

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 3, 2008 12:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

All great comments

We may have one of the smallest group of posters in the SB Nation, but as I said the other day, it’s quality over quantity for me. Compared to twhat I’ve seen around the league and especially on the Browns site, quality is sorely lacking. Glad to have you guys here making insightful comments. Pass the word and keep ’em coming!
Thanks again for all the posts!

Rexx

by Rexx on Nov 3, 2008 12:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

No Problem...

This is the first Ravens Blog I ever joined. I used to just stay on espn.com and wait for a good article about the Ravens to come up. (I waited a long time for those articles guys). Then eventually my account got deleted and banned because I wished death upon Rothisburger and said I hoped the whole steelers team came down with yellow fever. Good times. BUT THIS SITE ROX THEIR SOX!

Yea, so I went over the ~~Losers~~ Dawgs By Nature, and I was mildly surprised to not see too much bashing the Ravens. Most of what I saw was them killlllling their own team, Savage this, Crennel that, Edwards is garbage, DA likes little boys, Brady Quinn for President, etc. Some guys kept saying after the loss, they were “Grasping for Straws.” WTF does that mean?! They need to get some air? Or are they trying to find a way to slurp the mixture of Brownie blood and the creamie purple juices we left in their “Dawg” bowl?

Anyway, Yes, it was a great monday morning, opened up my closet, and of course the first thing to pull out was a Ravens Jersay, I was feelin the Purple Ray today, Since McGahee didnt play and Reed didnt do too much. I have seen the most Redskins and Steelers Jersays EVER today around campus. I walked up and shook the hands of the Redskins fan (dont get mad) and asked them to handle it tonight, cause today, us Marylanders all must come together to take down the dark side. And all the Steeler jersays I saw, I quickly made them see what number I wore, and would shout something very inappropriate about their family, heinz ward, ben, tomlin’s bug eyes, you get the point.

Gonna be a good night, I can already feel it. LETS GO!

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 3, 2008 2:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Absolutely!

I actually enjoy the low-key nature of Baltimore Beat-Down. While I can understand why you want to increase traffic, I greatly enjoy the quality of the posts and comments.

Rexx, thanks for keeping up with the site and the insightful posts. I know that it’s not easy when rude and belligerent fans unfairly criticize the site. As I have already said, I prefer the small crowd to those clowns over at DBN.

by BAL_Hawk on Nov 3, 2008 7:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Shows you how bad Billick was (yes one more shot at the Cult leader)

With five wins, like Rexx pointed out, we equaled the total number of wins for last year.
This team accomplished this with a:
1. Rookie Coach
2. Rookie QB
3. Rookie RB
4. Demolished DB’s
5. Loss of Ogden/New replacment
6. A weaker kicking game
7. New O-Coordinator WOW!

Billick had his 5 year project Boller (he can throw 50 yards from his knees), his sorry hand picked coordinators (little 10 pound wimpy yes men..and their sons.. one giant puss fest.) He had all “his” pieces (and no more injuries than we have now) and could only muster 5 wins with the leagues premiere defense.

In one year Harbaugh has put together a team of out of position/new position players and increased the teams confidence level 10 fold. We came back from 14 against the Browns- doesn’t happen with Billick. We came back on the Steelers forcing OT- doesn’t happen with Billick. We hit Clayton for a 49 yard TD- doesn’t happen with Billick dog house O. Mason gets 139 yards-doesn’t happen…As a matter of fact, I don’t think we beat the Bengals in game one without the creative play calling. On and on…

At 5 wins and a chance to be in 1st place tonight I’m elated. With Billick standing in fornt of a teleprompter on Espn, I’m even happier.

by raven on Nov 3, 2008 2:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Skins bomb..

The Skins stunk it up…bad that we don’t gain a game but good because it adds to AFC North cred. The fact that Flacco moved the ball 10X’s better than Campbell on Pitt is telling. If all is as it appears we should wax the Skins too. How about all the Pitt. fans in DC. What a bunch of sell outs..what do expect from DC and Snyder.

by raven on Nov 3, 2008 11:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

oh yeah..new Guitar Hero commercial is NIIICCE.

by raven on Nov 3, 2008 11:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

As for your "Ray Lewis" comment

Terrell Suggs said he was the teams inspiration @ Halftime to get their heads in the game. He gave him a shoutout out of the blue in an interview out of the game. So ill give him some credit

Life is nothing but Beats & Rhymes

by Matchz Malone on Nov 3, 2008 11:29 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

We'll take care of Pitt on our own..

paybacks are hell and screw DC and their racist name. If the Rays drop Devil (who we never see) why don’t the Skins drop Red-which are actuall visible human beings in our society. Pretty ignorant..but telling.

by raven on Nov 3, 2008 11:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

The Hogs Haven site had 2 people on it..and one started with “baltimore lost it’s team/ i didn’t know they had a team” crap….man, i can’t believe he wanted chase away 1/3 of his audience. I’m actually glad the Steelers buried them. AFC North Beatdown.

by raven on Nov 3, 2008 11:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Makes us look better

The Steelers dominating win, without Big Ben, shows that the NFC East may be vastly over rated. Dallas is in the dumps, and the ‘skins can’t handle the tough punches. If we weren’t dragged down by the Ohio teams, we’d be the toughest conference. However, no one wants to face the top two defenses in the NFL. We both beat the snot out of any other team, and each other!

Rexx

by Rexx on Nov 4, 2008 8:50 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

We better not let those Steel Town Dousches Take Over M&T

like they did to FedEx. If anyone is thinking of selling your tickets to that game, make sure you give them to Ravens fans…

by DT711 on Nov 4, 2008 2:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I never sell to strangers, Steeler fans, rivals, or any team who might represent in numbers…I did take a Chief’s fan once 4 years ago…If I was forced, I would probably let a Seahawk or Vikings fan go. BUT NEVER EVER A STEELER!!!! I’d eat my money first. I pushed to have the yellow coats removed from our security because it looked like Steeler fans in the stands and really showed bad on TV..They wear red now…maybe it was my letters : )

If you see a Steeler’s fan in your section (and there aren’t many these days) remember the seat and give the a-hole who gave it to him hell the next game. No excuse for that crap. It undermines a city. Washington lost a ton of national respect Monday night. Most of the time it’s the jackass business owners who have different boring people in their seats every week. I hate that crap. Their like out of place zombies. Getm’ outa here already. Nerve struck with this topic!

by raven on Nov 4, 2008 10:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

If they allow steelers fans in....

They should do it how they do it in college, section them off from the others. Instead of giving them a whole section of the stadium to wave their Dish Towels, they should have them in the very last seats in the top sections of the stadium, I believe they are in the section 500’s. So instead of having them in the good seats, give them all the very last seats and the very top of the stadium, im talking right up against the fences, and hope that the break and fall off. Can you imagine a little ring of Steeler fans going around the stadium? It might be better then having them on the 50 yard line lower section row 4 where they dont belong.

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 5, 2008 11:23 AM EST reply actions 0 recs