Ravens retired early, gave game away to Patriots in 23-20 loss

The Baltimore Ravens gave a lot of hope and excitement for this 2010 season based off of off-season actions, but so far, many fans have been none to pleased with the 4-2, 2-1 record.

Coming off two big games–one being a huge 17-14 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a touchdown throw to T.J. Houshmandzadeh with 32-seconds left in the game in week 4, and eating the Denver Broncos alive in week 5 winning 31-17—Baltimore fans should be more than happy with their team.

But nonetheless, every talk show Sunday afternoon and Monday morning was full of fans bashing the Ravens and their performance after the Ravens basically gave away week 6’s game against the Patriots as they fell 23-20 in overtime.

The first three quarters of the game, the Ravens seemed that they would walk away with the win as they navigated the field in uncharted territory–not an easy feat at Foxborough, one of the hardest fields to travel to.

The Ravens were ten up for at least half of the game and in the third, with the score 20-10, the game should have been a slam dunk.

Key words: should have been. In the fourth quarter,

Baltimore fans no longer wacco for Flacco

The Ravens met their division rivals Sunday afternoon and lost in another sloppy game to the Cincinnati Bengals 15-10.

With such a high-powered offense, there was not a lot to brag about in this game. Was the Bengals defense that good? That does not account for QB Joe Flacco not looking comfortable or fluid this game or last weeks against the Jets.

Many fans out there the past few days have been crying to “bench Flacco” and to “bring in Bulger.” Many Baltimoreans are not happy with losing and the fact that Flacco threw four interceptions against the Bengals and another against the Jets—five picks just two games in makes Baltimore very unhappy.

These errors were costly in yards, turnovers and production as Flacco, very uncharacteristically, completed only 48.1 percent of his passes for 402 yards in the past two games (he was 13/34 for 85 yards on Sunday).  He only threw for one TD, but had five interceptions and a fumble.

“Hey, four interceptions is too much,” Coach John Harbaugh, who plans on keeping Flacco as his starter, said Monday. “It’s not just the QB…Joe will be the first to tell you he wants to play better. So, I’m not going to stand up  here and single one guy out.”

True statement the offensive line couldn’t pass protect and Baltimore’s promising offense just could not seem to get open against Leon Hall, Pacman Jones and Johnathon Joseph, or when they did would fail to catch the ball.

However, there were many times that Flacco

NFL week one games: Recap

Football season is officially here as the first Sunday of the season has come and gone.

In case you might have missed some of the games, here is a quick recap of each game to keep you up to speed.

Steelers vs. Falcons

The team we love to hate played a pretty tentative game Sunday afternoon against Atlanta, who also seemed hesitant. The game was a slow, FG kind of game. Both kickers even were having an off day as Pittsburgh’s Reed was 2-4 for the day, including a missed FG going into halftime with 17 seconds to go (the ball would hit the post and bounce away).  But the Falcons were on the same page as the Steelers; despite Falcons QB Matt Ryan throwing a strong pass down the middle late in the second  quarter, Atlanta can’t get a TD to pull ahead. Kicker Bryant does make it through the posts this time (he missed an earlier 46  yard attempt) to tie the score at 3-3 going into the second half.

In the end, with “mighty mouse” Hines Ward and Redman making big catches and picking up a few yards to help the once third string QB, Dennis Dixon gave the Steelers the advantage to win.  Late in the fourth quarter,  Lofton and Bierhmann take down Dixon, making it seem like the Falcons could pull away; but an interception by Troy Polamero led the Steelers to another FG attempt which Reed misses, going too far to the right with the 40-yard attempt, sending the game into overtime.

But it was Mendenhall who took the game away from Atlanta in overtime with a TD; final score 15-9.

Falcons player to keep an eye on: Roody White, who had 13 catches and 111 yards.

Titans vs. Raiders

With the Titans, you can’t hold back RB Chris Johnson and QB Vince Young for too long. The Raiders rallied against Tennessee for a good while in the first half, or so it seemed. Passing yards for the Raiders in the first half was a -8, while the Titans were at 85. Both not impressing, especially when the Titans RB, Johnson averages about 125.4 yards a game and had 36 going into the second half.

But N. Washington drew first blood with the first TD of the game which propelled the Titans later to win against Oakland 38-13.

Both QB’s, Young and Campbell, played rookie-esq. If  either team wants to improve, their leaders need to step up their own game a little better.

2010 NFL power rankings

Tonight it all begins:  football season.

Kicking off first is returning Superbowl Champions, the New Orlean Saints and the Minnesota Vikings.

Before the season gets started though, here is a quick rundown of some of my power rankings of all 32 teams based off of pre- and off- season performances, the top 15 with descriptions:

1. Saints. They might still have a Superbowl hangover, but in tonight’s season opener, they stand to be hte seventh champions to win that first game. With Drew Brees leading his team and Reggie Bush ready to put his about to get stripped Heisman trophy past behind him, the Saints are still as strong as ever and not to be seen as a one and done team.

2. Ravens. Maybe you can call me a little biased. But the Ravens started working one week after they lost in the post-season last year adding new additions in the forms of coaches and players. Baltimore has always been known as a defense heavy team, but with Anquan Boldin, Donte Stallworth and now T.J. Houshmandzadeh on their roster, Baltimore is going to see their leader, Joe Flacco, use more than Ray Rice, who is also NFL,one of the best running backs in the league.

3. Jets. Sure, we all call them the “Northern Ravens” down here in Charm city, but you have to hand it to Rex Ryan and his men.I am not a big Mark Sanchez fan–but he works well with his teammates and they also put a lot of work in their off- and pre-season. The first Monday night football game against Baltimore and the Jets is going to start the season off to a great start.

4. Colts. There is no denying this team is going to be a deep threat for every other team in the NFL. Peyton Manning is one of the best QBs out there based off his intelligence and athleticism. The Colts work well together as a team and seem almost impeccable.

5. Bengals. Who doesn’t know about the Bengals off-season pickup? The question is, can the two biggest attention whores in the NFL share the lime-light? Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and T.O. are going to be a dangerous threat to every other defense out there. During pre-season match-ups, TO seemed to be able to play well with his new team. Maybe all he needed was a friend to tell him to “play nicely with others.”

Bad Fan-menship

Starting at the end of the season, but what better time to analyze and be a critic on a season after it is over? NFL finished its first postseason weekend and has four teams that are to move on to next weekends divisional championship games….do all of them deserve to move on? And do the four other teams that got first round byes belong as the best out of the 32 teams in the league?

That question is one that I think many people, despite who their team is, forget to remember. All those players on every team are the best of the best football players in the country. To downplay any teams efforts as say “they came out and played like s***today, that is the only reason the other team won” is ignorant. Even if a team is having a very bad losing season (in this season’s case, that would be the Lions or Browns)…people need to remember that these players still beat the ridiculous odds to get to where they are. The coaches are the crème of the crop. All this critiquing and downing teams is simply bad fan-menship, whether it is your own team or not.

I have noticed this all season, but once again today, after Baltimore’s big win in their first postseason game this year against the New England Patriots, all I saw and heard were comments about how the Pats didn’t play well and Tom Brady acted like he wanted to throw the game away, so that is the only reason the Ravens won. Yes, Brady looked like a Rookie QB, not the “comeback player of the year” (which I strongly disagree with…check for future blogs) or past MVP of the year. But those boys are one of the best teams in the league. Not only that, but they also beat Baltimore earlier in the season. For those who forgot about that…there was a lot of debate whether THAT game was fair due to outrageous penalties called against the Ravens favoring Brady. But the season still moved on, the Pats got the W and the Ravens got their first loss.

This time, the Ravens came out to prove who should have won that first game. But this game had more on the line. It wasn’t the beginning of the season. It was a win and stay in, or lose and pack your bags kind of game. The Ravens played great, didn’t commit as many penalties as was typical of them all season and they went out to win a game…and they did. This was one of their best games all season. But…don’t get too cocky Baltimore fans.

Rubbing this game in to Steelers fans is more than acceptable considering it is a mutual dislike rivalry between the two cities. No matter what time of the year, who is playing whom, or what sport is being played, I think Baltimore fans will always hate on Pittsburgh. And vice versus. But—be reasonable and fair and stick to facts. To state that “Shitsburgh is the worst team ever, which is why Baltimore beat them out to make playoffs” is simply making Charm City civilians seem Neanderthal and ignorant. The Steelers may be a team to ‘hate’ but give credit where credit is due. They have fought hard to get to where they are. They have the most Super Bowl rings out of any team in the NFL. Just because they fell short this season does not make them ‘the worst team ever.’ Just the most hated in Baltimore 🙂

Another bad fan-menship I have noticed today is basically the same as I mentioned before–the excuses of opposing players on the IR list or being benched is why the team lost. Again—how many players are on that team? They are all there and getting paid and were drafted to play professional football. Not everyone is going to run like Chris Johnson or throw like Peyton Manning, but there are players that are still good and ready to play backup and help their team get the W. For example: the Ravens and Steelers first match up in Baltimore. The Steelers backup QB for Ben Roethlisburger played one hell of a game. The Steelers played tough and took Baltimore to overtime and ultimately lost, but not without a fight. After the game, there were still the typical rivalry comments, but for the Steelers, instead of standing by their backup players, said they lost because they didn’t have Big Ben. That just rubs salt in the wounds for the players they are fans of in my opinion.

Today’s game was no different. The Baltimore Ravens went to Foxboro and brought a vigor and intensity that has been only slightly lit all season but was fully ignited the whole game through. It was obvious from the first five minutes of the game; Ray Rice’s 80+ yard run for a TD and then Suggs forced fumble and recovery of the ball for Baltimore which in turn led to McClain running in for TD numero dos; and later in the first half, Ed Reed’s interception and lateral pass leading to a third TD for the Ravens; it was obvious to whom the game belonged to. Maybe Brady could have, should have, would have played better. Maybe it was that new baby at home keeping him awake…or wait I thought he was the baby? Ether way, the Patriots have what NFL and ESPN have named one of the best QBs, they have Randy Moss who is no stranger to getting points on the board for his team. To say they did not go out and play to win is being a sore loser and disrespectful to New England and the effort they did put out to get as far as they did, and it is disrespectful to Baltimore who finally played like the team we, as fans, know they can be if they stopped making the stupid mistakes.

Baltimorians, we aren’t perfect either. Every Monday after a game, I listen to a radio station giving commentary on the previous day’s match ups, and the mood of the callers naturally matches whether the Ravens got a W or loss the day before. That is all fine and good. But when they lose you hear “we need a new coach;” or “we need a new offensive coordinator, even my blind 98-year-old grandmother knows Ray Rice is going to run the ball up the middle;” or “the refs hate us and cost us that game.” Well, maybe the comments about Ray Rice are true considering until tonight’s game; the offense highly relied on this record setting running back from Rutgers University. But come on Baltimore…whether the refs hate our team or not, if the Ravens would play the way a GREAT team should, the way we saw them play today, they would win despite the refs being ‘unfair.’ Not every push will be seen, not every penalty called will be rational. But that is the way of the game. You go out there hoping to get the best of your opponents; the refs are there to regulate. The truth was and is that Baltimore was a slightly above mediocre team this year. They could have been and should have been a lot better but they made a lot of stupid mistakes that resulted in a lot of penalties which of course cost them more yards lost in penalties than the Detroit Lions would gain in yards passing or running. (sorry for the low blow Motor City fans, but it is true!)

Be a fan. This bandwagon-only-positive-when-they-win attitude needs to go. Your team is representing you and giving you something to look forward to each Sunday day and Monday night, and every fall season. The fans in the stands get these boys going. I know I have noticed the Ravens react positively to cheers from their fans. Keep those positive cheers all week long. While our boys in purple practice hard every day to hope to do better in the next weekends game, every fan should practice on their fan-manship. Remember what we were all taught when we were younger by our parents: “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all!” Critics, beware 🙂