If the Ravens were going to knock off the undefeated Broncos on Sunday, they would need their defense would have to step up and play inspired.
Baltimore has struggled defensively the past couple weeks, but held Denver to only one score in a 30-7 rout in Week 8. The Raven defense harassed Broncos’ quarterback Kyle Orton for much of the contest and limited him to 23-of-37 passing for 152 yards and no touchdowns.
The Ravens’ secondary has struggled all season, but was great today. Part of their success came from Orton’s inability to stretch the field vertically, but credit Baltimore’s defensive backs for not allowing the big play. They also benefited from a relentless pass rush, which produced two sacks and five QB hits.
If the Ravens are going to make the playoffs this season, how they played Sunday is how they’ll have to play every week. They don’t have the defensive talent like they had in years past, so perfect execution is a must and that’s how they won today. Plus, while he didn’t set the stat sheet on fire, quarterback Joe Flacco was efficient and kept the chains moving all game.
As for the Broncos, this loss will serve Josh McDaniels’ squad well. Good teams learn more from losses than they do wins, so now we’ll see what McDaniels and his coaching staff is made of. The Broncos host the Steelers (who will be fresh coming off their bye) next week on Monday Night Football and if they can produce a win, it would go a long way in proving that McDaniels and his crew can make adjustments when their team needs them.
Remember the name Jairus Byrd, because he just jumped on this list…and don’t rule out Michael Crabtree, who had a very impressive NFL opening game against Houston last weekend.
1. James Laurinaitis, St. Louis Rams—Four more solo tackles against the Colts last Sunday, so this kid has done nothing to hurt his standing.
2. Jairus Byrd, Buffalo Bills—This safety has been flying under our radar, but he was chosen as the NFL’s defensive rookie of the month for his 15 tackles and (yikes) 5 interceptions in October alone. Wow.
3. Knowshon Moreno, Denver Broncos—The bye week should have this young stallion rested and ready to face two daunting defenses in the Ravens and Steelers coming up. Can he handle it? Time will tell.
4. Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants—Did you see that lucky grab and run for a score Sunday night? Maybe it was more than luck…it was being in the right place at the right time, football instincts that can’t be taught. And along with Byrd, Nicks won NFL offensive rookie honors for October.
5. Jeremy Maclin, Philadelphia Eagles—This rookie has become a new favorite target of Donovan McNabb, and had 5 more catches Monday night against Washington.
Honorable mention: Matthew Stafford, Lions; Johnny Knox, Bears; Ryan Succop, Chiefs; Michael Oher, Ravens
Sean Payton has climbed into the top spot this week after his team had a riveting come-from-behind win in Miami, and by come-from-behind we mean they were trailing 24-3 late in the second half and won the game 46-34. That means for the rest of the game, they score was 43-10 New Orleans. Just sick.
1. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Sorry Josh McDaniels, but while you were on bye Payton’s team had a remarkable comeback against the Dolphins on the road. They appear to be the 2007 Patriots, and for that we have to give the coach top props.
2. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—We know the Broncos upset the Cowboys and Patriots, but the next two weeks they face Baltimore and Pittsburgh. We’ll see if the boy wonder is still sitting pretty after that.
3. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The rookie coach is still waiting for his first loss. Good for him.
4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Okay, so the Vikings are human. However, I think Childress’ investment will pay off this weekend in Green Bay.
5. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—Regained confidence by thrashing the Bears and remained tied for first with the Steelers in the tough AFC North.
Honorable mention: Bill Belichick, Patriots; Mike Smith, Falcons; Gary Kubiak, Texans; Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals
A tougher award to measure, as no one has really stepped up to be among the NFL’s stat leaders. Well, unless you consider LB James Laurinaitis from Ohio State.
1. James Laurinaitis, St. Louis Rams—45 tackles to date and had another interception against the Jaguars last Sunday. This kid is playing lights out and you have to believe he’s been invited to Steve Spagnuolo’s house for Thanksgiving.
2. Knowshon Moreno, Denver Broncos—He didn’t do much against the Chargers, but he didn’t really have to with the Eddie Royal kick return show.
3. Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants—It was in garbage time mostly, but Nicks racked up 114 yards and a TD against the Saints, fitting in like a veteran on a team that desperately needed receiver help going into 2009.
4. Michael Oher, Baltimore Ravens—It’s hard to measure O-linemen, but after a nice job against Antwan Odom, Oher got into a pissing match with Jared Allen last Sunday. He gets props just for that.
5. Ryan Succop, Kansas City Chiefs—Even if he hasn’t had many chances, Succop has only missed one field goal, that from beyond 50.
There was some shifting in the ranks after Week 6 games, and now we have three Vikings in the Top 5. Here is how we’re seeing things now, subject to change again after this weekend!
1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—We can’t let Peyton slide down just because he didn’t play last week. And he’s likely to stay here with the Rams looming on Sunday.
2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—After dissecting the Giants’ stingy pass defense on Sunday, it’s safe to say Brees and his Saints are not only for real, but they are legitimately the top dog in the NFC and maybe in all of football.
3. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—He’s done nothing to let us think he’s not worthy of MVP consideration. 278 yards and 3 more TDs against Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and company is Favre’s latest line.
4. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings—He hadn’t rushed for 100 yards since the opener against Cleveland, but Peterson managed to bust through for 166 all-purpose yards against the Ravens and he took over the NFL’s rushing lead from Cedric Benson, who laid an egg against Houston.
5. Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings—Check out this year-to-date stat line—27 total tackles, 7.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, one fumble return for a TD and one safety. The dude is a one-man wrecking crew on an already stout defense, and this makes three Vikings contending for MVP.
Honorable Mention–Cedric Benson, Bengals; Elvis Dumervil, Broncos; Andre Johnson, Texans, Steve Smith, Giants, Tom Brady, Patriots
Matthew Stafford helped the Lions win a game but he’s hurt now and, well, the Lions still have just one win. So he slips to honorable mention. Meanwhile, you’ll see some other names jump into the fold….
1. Knowshon Moreno, Denver Broncos—Leading all rookie running backs with 337 yards and 2 total TDs. And with Denver’s crazy backfield situation, look for more of this kid in the coming weeks.
2. James Laurinaitis, St. Louis Rams—With 31 tackles and 9 assists, not only does Laurinaitis lead all rookies in total tackles, but playing on a crappy team his numbers are approaching Ray Lewis’. That’s really saying something.
3. Mark Sanchez, New York Jets—Though he stopped throwing to the other team this past week, he didn’t exactly have gaudy numbers as his team lost its second straight game.
4. Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants—Even though Steve Smith and Mario Manningham are leading the way in the Meadowlands, this rookie has shown great hands and some nice moves and has a really bright future catching passes from Eli Manning.
5. Michael Oher, Baltimore Ravens—Started at left tackle last week and held Antwan Odom, the NFL’s sack leader, to zero sacks. That’s impressive.
Honorable mention: Matthew Stafford, Lions; Jeremy Maclin, Eagles
In their latest ‘toon, Bang! Cartoons tackles the ever-growing issue the NFL has with trying to protect its quarterbacks, namely the Patriots’ Tom Brady.
They’re for real, they’re not pretenders, they’re going to challenge for a playoff spot in the AFC.
How the Bengals arrived at 4-1 is no fluke. In fact, the only fluke so far this season was their opening week loss to the Broncos because otherwise this team would be undefeated. They’ve already defeated the Packers in Green Bay, the defending champion Steelers at home and the Ravens in Baltimore. It’s not like they’ve racked up wins against below average teams at home – they’ve won in hostile environments against postseason contenders.
Granted, the Ravens shot themselves in the foot on Sunday with two huge penalties. Chris Carr’s illegal contact penalty was bad, but the unnecessary roughness call against Ray Lewis was a killer as it wiped out a third-and-16 incompletion by Carson Palmer.
But give the Bengals credit – they held Baltimore’s potent offense to 257 total yards, including only 82 on the ground. Regular readers know I’ve described Cincinnati’s defense as “underrated” for the past couple weeks but I may have been wrong. They’ve not just underrated, but they’re also a damn good unit. They picked off Joe Flacco twice today and held him to under 200 passing yards (186 to be exact).
It’s still early, but again, it’s time to stop wondering if this Bengals team can hang with the elite competition in the AFC. Palmer is healthy, the defense has been solid, Cedric Benson (120 yards, 1 TD) has been great and the offensive line has played better than expected. They’re going to challenge for a playoff spot at this rate.
Following their 27-21 loss to the Patriots in Foxboro on Sunday, several Ravens players ripped the officiating, particularly two roughing the passer calls on Tom Brady.
“Without totally going off the wall here, it is embarrassing to the game,” linebacker Ray Lewis said. “[Tom] Brady is good enough to make his own plays, let him make the play. When you have two great teams that are going at it, let them go at it. Both of their touchdown drives had personal fouls that kept drives alive. Did that win or lose the game? No, but it got them 14 points.”
Asked his biggest gripe, Reed said: “It just felt like everything was kind of all over again. You hate to come into a game where you have to play against a team and the officials. Like I said, nothing to take away from their team, nothing to take away from the officials. We have to help each other out in a way to where it’s near as perfect as we can be. Like I said, it’s a game of inches. We have too much going on with this game, from where it’s come to in 2009, 2010, to say we can’t be a little bit more precise with things.”
Reed was specifically referring to Willis McGahee’s fourth-and-1 run in the fourth quarter in which he was stopped for no gain, and the Patriots’ fake field goal in the fourth quarter.
“When Willis had his fourth-down try, it probably wouldn’t have been a first [down], but it probably should have been a little closer,” he said. “The [Patriots'] spots, the guy stepped out of bounds. Even though we got the penalty on that fourth down when they faked the field goal, the guy stepped out and he reached the ball. Certain things like that. Like I said, you have to play the game.”
I hate that this needs to be said because it shouldn’t matter, but for the record I’m not a “Patriots hater.”
That said, New England has gotten some calls in the last two weeks that have been questionable at best. The two roughing the passer penalties yesterday were cheap and there was a play last week in the Patriots’ win over the Falcons where Atlanta receiver Michael Jenkins and a New England defender were both jostling in coverage and the refs called pass interference on Jenkins, which wiped out a touchdown. Brady was also able to throw a touchdown pass last week to put the game away thanks to one of his offensive lineman bear-hugging John Abraham to avoid a sack.
It appears that the refs are calling penalties based on Brady’s injury last year, which is ridiculous. Just call the game – don’t throw a flag every time a defender is within a mile of Brady’s knees.
All of these calls could have gone either way…they’ve just been going the Patriots way so far.
If Ozzie Newsome doesn’t get Joe Flacco some receivers, he’s going to wind up wasting his young quarterback’s talents.
Baltimore receivers dropped two passes inside the Patriots’ 20-yard line at the end of New England’s 27-21 win on Sunday, which cost the Ravens an opportunity to stay undefeated.
Derrick Mason’s drop on 3rd and 4 from the 14-yard line with 35 seconds left was bad, but also forgivable considering the defender bumped him from behind right as the pass hit his chest. But Mark Clayton’s drop on the very next play was inexcusable because Flacco hit him right in the numbers and it served as the death nail for the Ravens.
But let’s give credit where credit is due – this was an impressive victory by the Patriots, although not so much defensively. Baltimore racked up 363 total yards and moved the ball at will, but Tom Brady found a way to move the ball against a good Ravens defense despite not having a running game.
One thing New England did do well defensively was confuse Flacco with various blitzes, which often caused him to throw off his back foot and not set his feet. Leigh Bodden produced a big interception in the red zone at the end of the first half because Flacco couldn’t set his feet while rushing to get the ball out of his hands. That’s just a case of Bill Belichick’s front seven getting the job done.
The Pats still have plenty of flaws, but they’ve beaten two playoff teams in the Falcons and Ravens the past two weeks and face the winless Titans and Bucs in two of their next three games. If they can beat the Broncos in Denver next week and pick up wins over Tennessee and Tampa before their bye, they’ll be 6-1 and filled with confidence heading into the second half of the year.
