The Win, The Sweep, and The Bye
by vlad755 on Jan 2, 2012 10:43 AM EST
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PrintOutstanding! The Ravens came into a very hostile environment and matched the Bengals blow for blow. Right out of the gate, the Ravens let everybody know that they came to play, were not going to roll over like past road games and take everything the Bengals could throw at them, and then some.
Cincy clawed back, and hit the Ravens with everything they could. Baltimore absorbed the body blow and fought threw it. While the Bengals are a young and up-and-coming team, the Ravens set the tone early and then held on for the victory.
The Good
Ray Rice. Not one, but two homeruns. He is the best all around running back in the NFL. He played best when it counted the most this season.
Now, if I mention Rice, I have to give the big fella some love- Vonta Leach. He proved once again why I dubbed him the "human No. 2 pencil" because he just erases people. Maualuga is going to have nightmares about Vonta.
Flacco. He made the passes he had to make and he moved around in the pocket to extend plays. If receivers would learn how to not drop passes, Flacco would have had an even prettier statistical day.
The TE's. Collectively they had a very good game. Pitta with a TD on a sweet Flacco pass that was dropped in the bucket and Dickson holding onto the ball when he almost got de-cleated.
Cam. Called passes when he had to and called runs when required. No issues with the gameplan or play calling.
Cary Williams. Looking like the good Cary Williams today on pass defense.
Webb. The guy is rapidly becoming a shutdown corner. Having a Pro-Bowl season and like Rice, playing best when it matters most.
Suggs. Forced fumble and a sack. He is your 2011 DPOY.
The Bad
The O-line penalties and New England not losing last week or this week. That's it.
The Ugly
Takes a holiday in celebration of the bye and home playoff game.
This bye is sorely needed by the Ravens. Boldin should be back and hopefully any other nagging injuries should be healed.
This team has risen to the occasion when it mattered the most. Undefeated at home and swept the division -first time for both. Say it loud and say it proud, "AFC North Champs!"
Cannot wait to see who is going to come a callin' in two weeks. In front of the home crowd, healed and rested, the Ravens should be loaded to bear. Given the impressive victory in Cincy, you have got to believe this team can make it to Indy.
The opinions posted here are those of the administrator of this blog and his loyal readers. They are in no way official comments from the team, and should not be misconstued as such, even though he thinks he could do just as well or even a better job!
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Agreed...
Well put. We need the break to rest and recuperate. Next, we will dominate. This is going to be a fun run. Get healthy all and get ready to roll to the Superbowl! Go Ravens!
I'll give you a pass on the bad & ugly ...
for your good intentions. But Special Teams SUCK. Just hope this doesn’t come up and bite us in the ass during the playoffs.
Also – while Cam called a good 1st half – the 2nd half play calling was atrocious and Cam became way too conservative way too soon. Take away the game saving TD run by Ray Rice, 21 plays netted 58 yards.
"the croaking raven doth bellow for revenge."
Hamlet, William Shakespeare
by Fandemonium on Jan 2, 2012 11:09 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
I Completley agree with the Cam comment. Although we won, we always do this. We always find a way to get our opponents against the wall, but we never stick the dagger in when we should and even could. If we don’t keep our foot on the gas against the top offenses in the playoffs we’ll be in trouble.
We forced a 3 and out to start the second half and upon getting the ball back, a scoring drive would have essentially ended the game right there. Need to start sticking it to teams every drive instead of getting a decent lead and coasting to finish out the game.
"Don't throw it, don't throw it, don't throw it. I know y'all going to throw it, they going to throw it anyway. I wouldn't throw it. Don't do it." - Ed Reed
You say tomato, I say tomahto. You say Six, I say Sweep.
by WestminsterRaven on Jan 2, 2012 11:23 AM EST up reply actions
Completely agree, and while I hate Cam and believe he should be given a ticket on the first train outta town after our run finishes, he’s not alone. It’s pretty standard in the NFL to only use as much force as necessary. The only team/coach that ALWAYS plays a full 60 minute game of aggressive offense is Belichick. He seems to be the only coach with an actual killer instinct and a no prisoners attitude. A lot of that can, of course, can be attributed to having Brady as QB and being able to, essentially, put up points at will. But even with Brady, coaches like Cam would still play it safe. It’s the NFL. It’s the play it safe league.
Cam Cameron - the creator of the Prevent Offense™, and best-selling author of "150 Short Runs Into the Line on 3rd and 10"
re: Big Ben - "God can have his soul. His ass is mine." - Terrell Suggs
by GrumpyOldBird on Jan 2, 2012 11:51 AM EST up reply actions
Cam did try to add more points but u cant be aggressive inside your 5 yard line. Lee Evans dropped a bomb which would’ve led to more points. Its easy to see when Rice carries the ball we win. Flacco has the ability to win a game for us but Cam has learned through multiple losses this season that we have to get Rice the ball. This is how it should be, this is for the best.
by Raven_all_day on Jan 2, 2012 11:55 AM EST up reply actions
Win or lose
Cam has to go. Not having enough confidence to let Joe pass on that third down put the Bengals in position for a miracle Hail Mary when a pass/first down never would have allowed the Cincy offense to get the chance.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Jan 2, 2012 12:03 PM EST up reply actions
I agree I want cam gone regardless, but he was right in not passing in that situation. If he throws a pass on 3rd and it’s incomplete they get another 30 to 35 seconds on the clock and that’s a ton of time for them to drive. We have a top defense and even though they were a little gassed you got to run that clock down and play defense. If they can drive 80 yards in a minute they deserve to win.
On Ed Reed:
"I’ve told him to his face many times, ‘You’re the greatest safety ever to play the game,’"
"We all learn from each other, but we all learn most from him."
- Troy Polamalu
off topic
i’m really upset by this “NFL FAN!!!” bears guy who starts screaming at me every single time my mouse accidentally passes over this obnoxious vicks ad.
I love it knowing that there are a handful of Ravens fans in this area who despise the fact that Joe will be our QB for the next 10 years. --Mr. MaLoR
Firefox/chrome + Adblock plus
Its 2012, nobody views ads anymore
by kryptonianjorel on Jan 2, 2012 3:16 PM EST up reply actions
Re: Cam
A different take on yesterday’s game, especially the second half. I actually have no problem with the conservative play calling. I never really felt in jeopardy once we went up 17-zip so IMHO conservative was the way to go. We did enough to win and in Week 17 of the NFL with either playoffs on the line or home/bye versus immediate road turn around, that is what you need, nothing more.
If Cam had decided to open it up a bit more, with the extremely windy conditions, what happens if Joe throws a pick-6 or two? First, all the Joe haters come out in full force and then Cam gets thrown under the bus (rightfully so) for not handing the ball to Rice.
Not to bring up painful memories, but last year’s playoff loss to the squeelers: if we just hand the ball off to Rice like we should have, who knows how the world would be different today. Give Cam credit for yesterday: he did not make the same mistake he made in P-burgh last year.
At the end of the day, I still believe Cam has to go (and please, no Norv as that would just be Cam Part Deux), even if we win it all. Cam may be doing better lately, but I think overall it is just not working between him, Joe and the offense in general. Everything just seems “clunky” for lack of a better term. A new scene may do wonders for Cam; and Joe & Co. need some fresh eyes and some new ideas to continue to grow and evolve.
"A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring."
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."
"God's whiskers! Your face is as hideous as the demon's in my storybook!"
"I never expected to see the day when girls would get sunburned in the places they do today."
"It's big for a reason."
For Pittsburgh fans, that's Pope, Twain, Rostand, Rogers and Megamind
Well said and completely agree. There were a few times in the 3rd I thought we should have been more aggressive, but when we were backed deep and late in the game I had no problem being conservative in those situations. I’m with you that I think Cam has definitely been a lot better as of late, but with that said I still think it’s best for us to part ways.
On Ed Reed:
"I’ve told him to his face many times, ‘You’re the greatest safety ever to play the game,’"
"We all learn from each other, but we all learn most from him."
- Troy Polamalu
Like i said before If Cam does go then I hope the ravens check out Mike Sherman .
The guy seems like he would be a perfect fit as the ravens offensive coordinator, check out his history .
Very well said. I think my frustrations with Cam this time around are because of what’s at stake now that we’re in. We are set up nicely and I don’t fully trust Cam. He hasn’t proved this season (with the exception of Pitt x2, St, Louis, SF) that he can shut the door on opponents and have a great gameplan for TWO full halves of football.
If we end up facing NE, it even NO or GB, we’re going to have to put up points efficiently and often, and most likely play without a lead at somepoint. His “same script, different Sunday” game plans have me feeling nervous.
"Don't throw it, don't throw it, don't throw it. I know y'all going to throw it, they going to throw it anyway. I wouldn't throw it. Don't do it." - Ed Reed
You say tomato, I say tomahto. You say Six, I say Sweep.
by WestminsterRaven on Jan 2, 2012 2:30 PM EST up reply actions
Alright after a difficult end to 2011 personally, it is nice to get a bye week and sweep the division.
I keep hearing more and more people talking about Cam needing to go and I like hearing that. Its a shame that unfortunately, we will make it deeper into the playoffs if not the SB because that might lessen the chances of Cam heading somewhere else. As everyone else has noted, we do a decent job of scoring for 30 minutes but we love to seemingly punt every drive in the second half until the opponent has either tied us or has gotten the lead. Maybe its an issue of trust in Joe or just Cam being nice to get himself another head coaching gig out there, but its something that has almost screwed us a few times this year and might be the end of our playoff trip if we play a sucky, then really hot NE team.
I know I’ll get a ton of flack, but where the hell has Reed been all season? He’s missing tackles, 2 or 3 seconds slow on every play, and just looking like a scrub out there on most occasions. Maybe I’m just seeing things, but its almost like teams arent even afraid to throw in his direction anymore and they dare him to do something if the WR catches it in front of him.
All in all, I am really excited by the way we won the game against Cincy. That was a team that was healthy, prepared and needed to win and we did a great job of stopping them when we needed and moving the ball when we needed. I predict that the Steelers get past Tebow and the Broncos with relative ease and we get to stomp them in the playoffs. I actually hope we play them and no other team. Given how beat up they are and how geared we are to beat them again, I think that game ends with a blowout and even other Steeler fans have agreed with me on that one.
Unfortunately, I think we have some serious issues with NE and the way they are playing right now. We can get a lead on them in the first half, but I think we struggle mightly in the second half when NE knows how to get it done. Its an interesting game, but one I don’t think we win given the way both teams are playing right now. It should be an interesting playoffs here in the AFC and I’m excited to see how it plays out.
Monkey Feces for OC!
I Hear What
You are saying about NE, but I think we can beat them. Their defense is a liability, and Brady has had trouble with our defense as of late. I like our chances against NE; I like our chances against NE about as much as any other teams chances, if not more. Despite NE being really good right now, I believe we are a match-up nightmare for them. For example, for as good as NE’s TE’s are, and they are damn good -the best TE duo in the league by far, I believe the delta between our duo of TE’s and NE’s defense vs. their two TE’s and our defense is much greater even with Ray-Ray’s coverage “issues”.
About Reed: some folks have floated a theory that he may be saving himself for when it really counts. I think he could sit out in our first playoff game and we would still win. What will be interesting is if he all of sudden “turns it on” in the AFCG and the SuperBowl. If we were to face NE in the AFCG, we would need the Reed of old. And obviously against the Packers.
"A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring."
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."
"God's whiskers! Your face is as hideous as the demon's in my storybook!"
"I never expected to see the day when girls would get sunburned in the places they do today."
"It's big for a reason."
For Pittsburgh fans, that's Pope, Twain, Rostand, Rogers and Megamind
About Reed: some folks have floated a theory that he may be saving himself for when it really counts.
I’ll go a step further and say that in my opinion, it’s obvious he’s been saving himself. The missed tackles have been nothing short of ugly, but I think that in a playoff situation, with him knowing that he could be playing his last game at any moment, he’ll lay it all on the line. He wasn’t out there to pad stats this season. He was out there to make sure the secondary held together, the young guys progressed, and he would be able to contribute when we need him most.
I love it knowing that there are a handful of Ravens fans in this area who despise the fact that Joe will be our QB for the next 10 years. --Mr. MaLoR
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