Tag: Baltimore Ravens (Page 25 of 46)

      NFL Rookie of the Year Power Rankings

      October 18, 2009 /

      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

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, NFL

      Bengals prove their legitimacy with win over Ravens

      October 11, 2009 /

      Brady

      With their 17-14 come-from-behind victory over the Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday, questioning whether or not the Bengals are for real is over.

      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.

      NFL

      Ravens rip officials after loss to Patriots

      October 5, 2009 /

      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.

      NFL

      Receivers doom Ravens in loss to Patriots

      October 4, 2009 /

      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.

      NFL

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