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Bungled in Baltimore

Patrick Delaney Written by Patrick Delaney, Thursday October 15 2009
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It really irks me that despite what the Ravens have said this week about not blaming the refs for their embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Cardiac Cats last Sunday, their comments REEKED of accusation. 

 

Let's review some of the comments:

 

"I felt like I went around him and batted the ball down," cornerback Frank Walker said. "But we haven't watched film yet, so I could be inaccurate. I really didn't think he was going to throw the ball because he was covered."

 

Yes, Frank.  You did go around him...about a second too soon.  Which, in "pass-is-in-the-air" time is an eternity too early.  Especially when the defense -- self admittedly -- has a reputation of being smash mouth...has a bad boy image...doesn't understand why refs would be looking for them to be knocking the helmets off of "vulnerable" receivers  (go to the 1:10 minute mark - compliments of E-licious) jumping up to catch uncatchable passes.  Get my drift?  And Frank has a history of SPITTING into opponents' faces.  What doesn't make sense here?  If it walks like a duck, and it smells like a duck, and it covers opposing receivers like a duck, it's probably Frank Walker.  Or Chris Carr.  Or Dominique Foxworth.  Case closed.  Don't even mention Ed Reed.  As the RRRF (Rock Ridge Raven Fan) says...and I agree...Reed is playing more hurt than he'll ever let on.  Probably because he knows how awfully terrible his surrounding cast is, and he has no choice.

 

Another comment that reeks of blame:  ""It really [stinks] to get penalized for playing physical football like that," defensive end-linebacker Terrell Suggs said. "I'm not sure if Ray hit him in the head. I'm not sure Chris Carr did illegal touching. I'm not sure if Frank Walker did illegal touching. In a game that close, I think it has to be 'Hands down, I got to call that.' "  Guess what?  Ray hit him in the head, Terrell.  That's why his helmet flew off.  And who says, "...did illegal touching?"  Suggs makes it out to sound like Chris Carr is a registered sex offender. 

 

I think the only Ravens defender who manned up to the putrid stench of that last Bengals drive was linebacker Jarret Johnson.  "You're going to have penalties," Johnson said. "What bothers me is the way we played against the run and the way we let the ball get downfield. The way we played against that run, I take that really personal. That's something we got to fix."  In other words, 'If we're going to committ ridiculously stupid infactions, we better be ahead by 20 points so it doesn't freakin' matter.'

 

Okay, enough about the secondary.  That was harsh.  Look at it from Cincinnati's perspective: 

 

They shut down our wide receivers.  Bracketed them...cut off the deep ball...not even a scent of a passing game.  It looked bad that we checked down so often to Ray Rice, but we had no choice.  Go back and watch the game and look how many times Joe Flacco's first reads were downfield and how many times he frustratedly (that's right...frustratedly) dumped it off.  The Bengals game ball went to defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and the team rallied around him.  Despite how you may think our team played...had that been the Ravens rallying around Greg Mattison after his wife just died unexpectedly, you could almost guarantee four sacks, three picks, one of which is a pick-six...or something like that.  In other words, give them some credit.  And some empathy.  Zimmer and his family need it. 

 

With that being said, let's focus on the two minutes of decent football we played:

 

Ray Rice's catch for what looked like a paltry three yard gain (not to mention a pummeling by three Cincinnati defenders) turned into one of the most electric touchdowns of the young season.  It was awesome.  It was further evidence that Rice is ready to live up to the hype bestowed upon him by all of the national media before the season.  Speaking of which - damn the national media putting us #1 in the power rankings a few weeks ago.  I bet they didn't knock on wood after they did that and it SCREWED us.  Let that be a lesson to all of ye Ravens fans...for the love of GOD knock on wood when the game is close and you elicit a positive comment in the fourth quarter!! 

 

And we'll finish this portion off with Ed "Nerve Impingement" Reed's interception for a touchdown that put the Ravens ahead in the early going.  It's unfathomable that it was his 13th......13th!!!!!!!!!!!!!...career defensive touchdown.  Utterly amazing.

 

Annnnnd...we're done talking about the good part. 

 

Personally, it wasn't the most enjoyable trip on Monday morning's 9:40am Southwest flight to Louisville, KY, to meet with a new client.  In case you don't know your Kentucky geography, the closest major NFL city is Cincinnati.  And we took the client out to dinner at a bar in the area equivalent to Baltimore's Power Plant Live on Monday night.  And Monday Night Countdown played in high definition at the bar in direct view of our table.  And the Bengal's tiger stripe flashed incessantly on the screen.  Ach!

 

With the past once again behind us (isn't the past ALWAYS behind us???), we're off to the twin cities to face an undefeated Minnesota Vikings team on Sunday.  Which, by some sort of scheduling gaffe, is the only stadium in the NFL in which the Ravens have yet to play in franchise history.  Unbelievably (at least to me), a LOT of local and national "experts" are picking the Ravens to win.  These are probably the same folks that predicted the Ravens to win last weekend by an average score of something like 32-10.  And yes, I was the one who said, "Um...it ain't gonna be that easy."  (From last week's post: "In the end, as my displaced California friend put it today - this game [against the Patriots] will hopefully only make them stronger.  We will certainly get a chance to see how they respond next week against the Cincinnati Bengals - who are not-so-surprisingly (at least to me) a relevant team again and tied with Baltimore for the AFC North lead.") 

 

Irrelevent right now.  Harbaugh has preached and maintained a focused team from day one of his tenure in Baltimore.  As evidenced by benching McGahee and cutting McAlister last year - two very unfocused players at the time. 

 

And as he will say to the team this week and as I will continue to reiterate in this space from week to week throughout the season - the ultimate objective is to go 1-0 this week.  Apparently, Brett Favre has great respect for Ray Lewis.  Let's hope the Ravens secondary has great respect for Favre and his bevy of receivers.  You know they're going to be set on stopping running back Adrian Peterson - just as the Packers were.  However, the Packers lost because Favre sliced and diced them on a national stage. 

 

The Ravens' defense needs to play within the rules of the game.  They need to play clean, hard, football.  Anything less and, despite the lobster and filet, it's going to be a rough flight home to an uncharmed city on Sunday night. 


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2 comments


0 up down 0
Patrick DelaneyPatrick Delaney, over 2 years ago said:

Let's hope you're right, Carl. For some reason, one of the big local stories this week is how much the Ravens have tried to simulate the dome-aided crowd noise during their indoor practices. If Joe Cool Under Pressure Flacco shows up, we could rock the Vikes' boat (and not the Fred Smoot boat, mind you).

0 up down 0
Carl HeneganCarl Henegan, over 2 years ago said:

I think that the Ravens are going to show up in a big way against the Vikings. By the end of the game Bret will be having second..oops i mean 32nd thoughts about coming out of retirement. Carl Henegan Owner and Operator of IGB at www.BetOnMySportsTeam.com