Ravens Batter, Bruise Bengals

by Rexx on Dec 1, 2008 10:29 AM EST Comment 9 comments

I was going to title this story, "Ravens Batter & Fry Bengals" but thought as as coy as it was, it was a little too corny, even for this blog. However, the story was still the same, as the Baltimore Ravens did not overlook the Cincinnati Bengals one bit as they focused and put a classic beatdown on them, 34-3. The only thing that sticks in my craw was that the Ravens let their guard down late in the first half and allowed the Bengals to go all the way down the field for a last second FG to give them their only points of the game. I would have liked the statement it would have made to have the shutout.

I was hoping that we would not overlook this team, as it could have really looked bad and hurt our playoff chances if we let ourselves look ahead and got upset. That never happened as coach John Harbaugh said that we were not good enough to allow ourselves that luxury and that humbleness has paid off. There was so much good to come out of this game for us Ravens fans to look forward to, not just this year, but the future ones as well. Only a few questions, such as where was Willis McGahee and is there going to be an issue with this three headed running attack from him on playing time?

Joe Flacco is on ESPN right now, being interviewed over the phone by none other than Hannah Storm (yowser!). He is acting smooth and humble, not unlike his pocket presence. He's laying out all the cliches' though, and it's not the same without actually seeing the unibrow move as he speaks. He's giving credit to the other guys, especially the veterans, like a good rookie! Hannah is looking pretty hot at the SportsCenter Desk, in a blue v-neck top and perfect hair! (<---today's fashion police report!). Handled himself like a veteran in that little interview. Now back to my blog.

Mark Clayton had a career, Quadry Ismail-type of game (remember when Ismail had something like 270 receiving yards against the Steelers in Pittsburgh years ago!?). His throw was great to Mason, but his one handed catch has got to be among ESPN's Top Ten Plays. If he continues to be our big play, deep threat like he has become this year, perhaps the talk about needing a wideout might have to die down and we can just focus on the cornerback position. Hell, the way both Samari Rolle and Fabian Washington have played lately, we might just sit tight and take the best available player, regardless of position, or even trade back for more picks as we really don't have any glaring weaknesses lately. Times are tough when things are going your way. I know this was the Cincinnati Bengals but last week was a very solid Eagles team, at least defensively. However, we should match up very well with the remaining opponents the next four weeks, starting this coming Sunday where we should be able to take down the Deadskins, who lost easily to the the NY Giants, who are to me easily at the top of the NFL Power Rankings without any doubt at this point.

Thirty-five points a game the last two weeks is a pretty decent average. No one is calling us an offensively-challenged team lately, as we have scored over 30 points in four of the 12 games this season and are tied with Denver as the 10th ranked scoring team in the NFL, averaging over 24 points per game. Defensively, we are second overall, third against the rush, second against the pass and third in points allowed (15.8/game).

This is definitely a playoff team and one that no one will want to face come the post season. Right now we sit in the final Wild Card slot, behind the Colts and also one game out of the AFC North division lead, held by the Steelers by virtue of their 33-10 pounding the of hapless Patriots in New England, which surprised me. Now we host the Washington Redskins on Sunday Night Football, while the Steelers get to go home to host the high flying Dallas Cowboys. It would be a treat to watch Dallas go into Heinz Field and beat Pittsburgh and then go to the stadium and see the Ravens put a hurting on our Marion Barry-loving neighbors to the south! What a sweet day that would be, eh!?

So much love to spread around and I'll give out more props as the week progresses.Thanks especially to the guys who joined me on the Open Thread yesterday. You'll have to handle it without me next week as I'll be there in the cold carrying my big stick and screaming like a banshee (another Billick reference)!

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Couple Things....

- Willis McGahee: All this crap about how Willis is going to get upset because he didn’t get a carry yesterday, I think that is false. I think if this happened in the shitty city of Buffalo, it would be a huge controversy. However, he is on a team that he fits in with very well, having his Miami buddies. I do not think he is going to speak out negatively about Harbaugh saying that he is upset that he did not get a carry. Right now, we are going with the best runner for our current situation. There have been multiple times this year where Willis got 25 carries for 100 yards and Rice and McClain got 3-6 carries the whole game. We game plan for every week and Leron and Ray were our weapons this week. If you go to www.BaltimoreRavens.com and go to Coach’s post game conference, you will here him state that Willis is going to be a huge part of our December and that he WILL get many carries. So guys, relax, nothing is going to happen with Willis. He loves this team too much and is realizing that we are doing what is best for our team to win. Watch out for a fresh legged Willis McGahee in these last 4 games guys.

- Wide Receiver and Corner Back: Ok, I have to give credit to the outskirts on both sides of the ball the past few games. WR has been stellar lately and I am finally glad to see some other guys besides Mason getting catches. Heap has come around very well and Clayton has stepped up and became a very tough guy to cover ever since his breakout in Cleveland. However, we are still lacking a slot Receiver who can match up with a line backer. I feel that we still need a 6’3" guy who we can breed in the slot and when Mason retires as a Raven, have Clayton and our new guy at 1 and 2, with hope that we have another slot guy. I would love to see an offense where 4 different WRs can contribute (Thats not including Heap). As for Corner, great job on what they have done so far. If we do get rid of CMac, I am happy with Samari and Fabian back there. Fabian’s speed is great for some of the guys he matches up with and we havent seen Samari lose it for us since he has been back. But a corner for the future to take over Samari’s spot is still a need and it would add strength to our nickel and dime packages, where depth is lacking.

- The Steelers: Well, where do I start with these guys. Um, they are dominating the NFL. Their blitz package is simply incredible, and they are shutting down offenses. The fact that not one single team has gotten 300 total yards on them yet in these 12 games is insane. Our Defense is still up there with them, but they are getting to the QB better than anyone right now. Like come on, you have Randy fucking Moss, and you put up 10 points??? Are you serious? Their offensive line was one of the best last season and all of a sudden Harrison became the next LT against them. Yesterday would have been a huge if they lost, for the fact that they still have it a little tougher the rest of the season. I hope that T.O can get to them, cause we need it. And as for their week 16 match-up with the Titans, I am worried that Tenn will be sitting at 13-1 as the winner of the AFC South and will not play their starters. This would be terrible for us if Tenn kicked back and relaxed the rest of the season knowing they got their first round bye. I would hope that they would play 100% against them with the mindset that they may very well face this team in the AFC championship. I do not think the Steelers are a better team than the Ravens at this point. They caught us earlier in the season where we were still getting our feet on the ground, and still had to take us to OT. If they drop a game before our week 15 match-up in B-More, should be our division.

I may try to write an “Interesting Ravens Facts” Post sometime this week, as I have noticed a few things about our ratbirds that most people would not associate the Raven name with.

Lets focus on our neighbors this Sunday. I hope we wear the all black, and dont worry, we will show up on prime time. We have too many things going our way and the Deadskins are one of the most overrated teams in the NFL. Shut down Portis and make Cambell TRY to beat us. Wont happen, their pass rush is terrible, Flacco will have all day. But I will tell you what, for a team that has 20 pro bowl candidates, they should not be 7-5 right now. Come on, 20?? I can name 3 players at most.

by Mr MaLoR on Dec 1, 2008 11:29 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

20 Pro Bowl Nominees = 14 points last 2 weeks???
Don’t think s0o0o0o.

by iLL on Dec 2, 2008 2:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Realistically, the Steelers aren't blocking us

The Ray-vens are playing against Indy and NE now.

by fishoutawata on Dec 4, 2008 2:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ravens Unis

I heard that they won’t be wearing the all black unis the rest of the season, but since this game was moved to prime time, we’ll have to see. I hate the white jerseys and black pants, though. I like the purple better as it is our color!

Rexx

by Rexx on Dec 1, 2008 12:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yea I am not too big of a fan of the black and white.

If we are going to wear a white jersey, I would rather us go back to the white pants. I loved that away uni more than our black pants whte jersey. Too much like our ugly Uniforms we had back in the later 90’s.

by Mr MaLoR on Dec 1, 2008 12:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs