Ravens Rundown: Week1

[coordinator0]

I meant to get this up earlier, but I had to leave right after the game ended. Anyways, I think a weekly game recap thread would be good for the forum. Something separate from the game thread itself so the two discussions are easily distinguished. Other forums have something like a five up (good), five down (bad) things for every game but I think three is a good number. So without further ado...

This Was Good

1. The Defense. Duh. This was one of the more impressive defensive performances from the Ravens in recent memory. Yes, Dalton was bad. But Baltimore surely had a hand in making him bad and the awareness in particular impressed me. Aggressively looking to tip the pass and then getting heads up to see the ball. This is good, and has me hoping that it's a repeatable feat and not just a couple of lucky instances within one game. 

2. Terrance West. Have to give him credit, he did well today. Just enough vision and reactiveness to sneak past blocks and pick up positive yardage on a consistent basis. Even after the offense went into it's shell (not that it was a bad thing) after getting a big lead. West did well. Allen wasn't bad either although he had two more carries and nine less yards.

3. Justin Tucker. Hey, with me encompassing the whole defense in the first point there isn't much else left.  Justin made both of his kicks, and he will always be a positive as long as he keeps making them.

This Was Not So Good

1. Offensive Line. Yeah, we all expected this but if negatives are to be listed they have to be on the list. They weren't bad at all blocking for the run, fairly decent, but those passing sets made me cringe. Joe was able to get some nice, quick completions but any plays he let develop became troublesome. Luckily the defense put the team in a position to be able to constantly run the ball so Flacco wasn't exposed to the opposing pass-rush.

2. ILB Not Named Mosley. Onwuasor got a tip that led to an interception, but that was the only positive from that spot that I noticed today. Bad missed tackles from Correa and Onwuasor each were pretty obvious in particular. 

3. Woodhead and Smith Injuries. Can the Ravens get through anything without injuries? No, of course not. Woodhead was looking like a very nice weapon for Flacco early before his hamstring issue. Hopefully it's not long-term but that can be a tricky hindrance. Still, it's better than something structural. Smith was looking good on defense too before the ankle sprain. I'm not as optimistic about him returning sooner rather than later. That looked like a pretty serious injury and significant tearing in the ankle wouldn't be a surprise.

So what does everybody else have for this?

[wackywabbit]

Didn't really see much from the passing game, but Maclin making a play on a slant was nice to see. It still seems to be our best route. Brandon Marshall looked pretty bad on SNF, and he's a guy who might have gotten the same spot/deal we gave Maclin.

One thing that's annoying is that I still think Perriman when seeing a WR with 18 on the field. Don't know why he changed. 

[drd23]

1 minute ago, wackywabbit said:

One thing that's annoying is that I still think Perriman when seeing a WR with 18 on the field. Don't know why he changed. 

Didn't even realise that he changed numbers.  I'm going to guess its because Maclin wanted 18

[drd23]

This Was Good

1. Pass Defense - 4 INTs, a forced fumble and a lot more pressure is a great result in the most important aspect of defense in the modern NFL.  The reason I listed pass defense specifically, and not the defense as a whole is because of the 3 long runs we allowed in the first half 
2. Dean Pees - Credit where credit is due, I think he called a good game
3. Flacco surviving his first major hit - I don't know about you guys, but I was worried as to how Flacco would deal with big hits given his back injury.  It was good to see that his back didn't seize up 

This Was Not Good

1. Injuries - Goes without saying
2. The delay of game penalties and wasted time-outs - Obviously didn't matter too much today, but chances are we won't be able to afford to waste 2 TOs and take two other penalties because we can't get set and run a play quickly enough

I don't have a third bad thing that I can think of - I'd be nit-picking at best to come up with one

[berlin calling]

agree with most everything listed above. however, i need to add penalties as a negative.

this team just continues to play undisciplined all throughout, mind baffling.

Ravens were one of the most penalized teams last seaason and how many did they strike yesterday? 10-12ish?

this has to stop. in a closer game this will break their neck.

i also may add the presence of Greg Roman as a positive since it seems to have a positive influence on the game plan / execution on offense. MM just doesn't know how to run an offense, i cringe everytime i see this d*ckhead standing on the sideline looking like a big goof.

[Danand]

8 hours ago, wackywabbit said:

Didn't really see much from the passing game, but Maclin making a play on a slant was nice to see. It still seems to be our best route. Brandon Marshall looked pretty bad on SNF, and he's a guy who might have gotten the same spot/deal we gave Maclin.

One thing that's annoying is that I still think Perriman when seeing a WR with 18 on the field. Don't know why he changed. 

The thing that annoys me is, that when I saw 11 drop af pass, I thought we seem to lack the big receiver who can make the clutch catch over the middle as when we had Boldin.

[paraven]

9 hours ago, drd23 said:

Didn't even realise that he changed numbers.  I'm going to guess its because Maclin wanted 18

IM not 100% sure but I think Perriman Changed before we signed Maclin, Something along the lines of it was his number in college and wanted to start fresh after all the injuries. 11 was available since Aiken left. 

 

But yea I am not happy with Flacco's 120 yards of passing. Thats the only negative I saw (and this is solely because now we will hear the Flacco sucks trolls all over the radio for the next week) . I personally thought the O line held its own against a very good Bengals front  7. They wont be a top 10 unit in the league, but they should be somewhere in the middle. 

[Mancunian Raven]

36 minutes ago, paraven said:

But yea I am not happy with Flacco's 120 yards of passing. Thats the only negative I saw (and this is solely because now we will hear the Flacco sucks trolls all over the radio for the next week) . I personally thought the O line held its own against a very good Bengals front  7. They wont be a top 10 unit in the league, but they should be somewhere in the middle. 

He looked rusty to begin with, and misplaced a couple of balls. And there were one or two dropped passes. But he'll get up to speed soon enough.

His first game after having no pre-season, with an O-line that had three new starters, against a team with a good defense. None of that is conducive to the 300 yard, 2 TD games that a lot of fans seem to think is the baseline for QBs.

The Ravens quickly realised their defense had the Bengals under control, and once they put those two TDs on the board, there was no earthly reason to throw the ball again.

I was encouraged by the way the O-line enabled the running game, and I think that will continue to improve as they gel. West is not a great RB, but he'll do a very solid job behind that line. If Woodhead is out for a while. I'd like to see Campanaro get onto the field for some snaps as a scatback, because he has the elusiveness to really make the most out of screens and check downs.

[SalvadorsDeli]

12 hours ago, coordinator0 said:

 

3. Woodhead and Smith Injuries. Can the Ravens get through anything without injuries? No, of course not. Woodhead was looking like a very nice weapon for Flacco early before his hamstring issue. Hopefully it's not long-term but that can be a tricky hindrance. Still, it's better than something structural. Smith was looking good on defense too before the ankle sprain. I'm not as optimistic about him returning sooner rather than later. That looked like a pretty serious injury and significant tearing in the ankle wouldn't be a surprise.

 

The Woodhead injury worries me more, as I'm not sure Buck Allen can really replicate what Woodhead was supposed to bring and losing another Flacco security blanket could be costly. 

Disappointed to lose Smith but I'm at least excited to see what Tim Williams can do with the opportunity that this presents to him. 

[wackywabbit]

The Woodhead injury would be disappointing, but I was never expecting him too stay on the field 16 games, so it didn't bum me out much. I do hope it's not a season ender and he can give us a boost for another 2-3 games at the end of the season.

And yea, I'm going to beat on the "we need to add a RB" drum again. I wonder if waiting until after week 1 makes a move like Ryan Matthews more likely with guaranteed contract rules.

[berlin calling]

is anyone else concerned about our QB constantly throwing off his backfoot? i really do believe he made it a habit, and seems kinda shot mentally... just getting the ball out of his hands asap, overlooking receivers who actually get open sometimes (they do... rarely).

maybe i am reading too much into this but i'm not convinced he will be back to his old 2012 self ever again.

[DontTazeMeBro]

22 minutes ago, berlin calling said:

is anyone else concerned about our QB constantly throwing off his backfoot? i really do believe he made it a habit, and seems kinda shot mentally... just getting the ball out of his hands asap, overlooking receivers who actually get open sometimes (they do... rarely).

maybe i am reading too much into this but i'm not convinced he will be back to his old 2012 self ever again.

I'm not concerned about Joe(although I never am.) He missed all of camp. Looking a little rusty is to be expected. And I will never be worried about him mentally 

[beezee]

Joe has been throwing off his back foot for as long as I can remember.  He did it a lot during the SB run even.  It just so happened that during that run, we had WRs like Boldin who bailed him out and they looked like great plays.  It's just something we have to accept at this point.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

Woodhead and Za'Darius will be replaced with Buck Allen and Tim Williams, which I think ultimately won't be that bad of a change. Buck actually looked decent yesterday both receiving and running. I'm not sure if he can replicate Woodhead's agility and acceleration as a pass catcher, but he performed well in the past when asked to do that.

Obviously Tim Williams bring that twitchiness as an edge rusher we so desperately need, and I think he'll compliment our power rushers in Judon and Suggs well.

I still would like to see more of Onwuasor and less of Correa. He just looks so lost out there and cannot play in space. Onwuasor had one play, but overall I thought he was decent.

[berlin calling]

26 minutes ago, beezee said:

Joe has been throwing off his back foot for as long as I can remember.  He did it a lot during the SB run even.  It just so happened that during that run, we had WRs like Boldin who bailed him out and they looked like great plays.  It's just something we have to accept at this point.

never noticed. guess you have a point though.