Tag: Ray Rice (Page 5 of 8)

      2010 NFL Question Marks: Baltimore Ravens

      July 28, 2010 /
      Baltimore Ravens' Ed Reed warms-up prior to his game against the Washington Redskins at M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on August 13, 2009. UPI/Kevin Dietsch Photo via Newscom

      Merry training camp season, everyone. It’s been a long offseason, but football is finally gearing up again and to celebrate I’m rolling out a new series on TSR entitled “2010 NFL Question Marks,” where I discuss one or two of the biggest concerns that teams have heading into the new season. Granted, some teams have more issues than others, but I’ll primarily be focusing on the biggest problem areas. First up is the Baltimore Ravens and their question marks surrounding their secondary.

      After dismantling the Patriots in the postseason last year, Raven fans are more excited about the team’s Super Bowl hopes this season than I am about “Shark Week” every year. (I think it goes without saying that sharks are the greatest fish, human and/or breathing organism on the planet. I mean, they’re sharks.)

      And who could blame the Baltimore faithful? Joe Flacco is heading into his third season (which is the year when things are supposed to really “click” for players), Ray Rice is on the verge of superstardom and the passing game added a legitimate No. 1 wideout this offseason thanks to Ozzie Newsome’s trade for Anquan Boldin.

      But just like all 32 teams at this time of year, the Ravens have some concerns and most of theirs lie within the secondary.

      First and foremost, Ed Reed isn’t healthy and that’s a huge problem. At 31, some note that he isn’t as physical as he was earlier in his career, but the guy can still cover ground with the best of them. His ability to read what formation an offense comes out in, bait the quarterback into making a poor throw and then actually make a play on the ball is unrivaled. In fact, I wouldn’t hesitate to say he was the best coverage safety in the league last year, along with Arizona’s Adrian Wilson.

      But again, he’s also hurt. The Ravens recently placed him on the active/Physically Unable to Perform list and he’s a candidate to miss the first six weeks of the season as he continues to battle a hip injury. He missed four games last year and the Ravens still made the playoffs, but playing without him isn’t something the team wants to make a habit of.

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      External Sports, NFL

      Can Stallworth make an impact for the Ravens?

      February 17, 2010 /

      Desperate to give quarterback Joe Flacco more weapons in the passing game, the Ravens signed receiver Donte’ Stallworth to a one-year, $900,000 contract. The deal also includes $300,000 in playing time incentives, according to ESPN.com.

      Baltimore is obviously hurting at receiver. Two of the Ravens’ top three leaders in receptions last year were Ray Rice and Todd Heap. Kelley Washington and Mark Clayton finished with only 34 receptions last year and neither receiver cracked the 500-yard mark. In his seven-year career, Stallworth has averaged over 42 receptions a season, which would have placed him second in that category last year behind Derrick Mason among Baltimore receivers.

      That said, Stallworth didn’t play a down last year after being suspended for striking and killing a pedestrian with his car in Miami. Plus, the last time he was even semi-productive was three years ago in New England when he caught 46 passes for 697 yards and three touchdowns. He caught just 17 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown in 11 games with Cleveland in 2008.

      Stallworth probably won’t make much of an impact in Baltimore this year and chances are the team isn’t done trying to upgrade the position either. But at the very least, it’s hard not to like this signing more than the Bengals’ decision to ink Matt Jones earlier this week. At least Stallworth still has something that resembles speed.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Ravens self-destruct in loss to Colts

      January 16, 2010 /

      If the Ravens wanted to resemble the exact opposite of the team that took the field last week in New England, then they accomplished their mission on Saturday night in Indianapolis.

      Baltimore turned the ball over four times in its 20-3 Divisional Round playoff loss to the Colts. If you count Ed Reed’s fumble (what a tremendous play by Pierre Garcon, by the way) following an interception of Peyton Manning, then the Ravens fumbled the ball three times tonight. Ray Rice was a small disaster, while Joe Flacco threw two interceptions and averaged just 5.4 yards per passing attempt.

      The Colts deserve a ton of credit for playing fundamentally sound for most of the night. But this game should have been closer then the final score indicates and there’s little doubt that head coach John Harbaugh will lose some sleep tonight thinking about how many opportunities his team coughed up. What happened to the Raven team that marched into Foxboro last week and gave the Patriots the beating of a lifetime? What happened to the team that was so focused, so mentally prepared to play that many people thought they would pull off the upset in Indy?

      The Colts once again proved that they match up extremely well with Baltimore. The Ravens beat themselves throughout the night, but it’s not like their offense was moving the ball at will either. They had a couple of nice drives that ended in turnovers, but for the most part the Ravens looked completely out of sync offensively.

      Baltimore reminded everyone tonight why it finished 9-7 this season. They were too inconsistent throughout the year to make a deep run in the postseason and maybe we should have seen this outcome coming.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      NFL Divisional Playoff Preview: Saturday

      January 16, 2010 /

      Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints
      4:30 pm ET
      TV—FOX

      If last week’s wild card game between Arizona and Green Bay is any indication, the Cardinals are having a difficult time stopping the opposition. And when the opposition is the New Orleans Saints, who boast the top offense in the NFL, you have to believe this game today could get ugly. Pair that with the fact that the Cardinals racked up 51 points last Sunday against the NFL’s second ranked defense, and that New Orleans is 25th overall in team defense (26th against the pass), and there is more fuel to the shootout theory here. Of course, the game plan for each team should be to try and run the ball to control the clock, and if that’s the case, the Saints have a decided edge with their sixth ranked rushing attack. Remember, though, the key word in “game plan” is “plan,” because it’s not likely the Packers or Cards expected to play an arena league game last week. In other words, you can bet Kurt Warner and Drew Brees will wind up airing it out in this one, with those speedy receivers on both sides reducing the game to a track meet. And really, that’s how this game should be. As for the outcome, we’ll give the rested home team a slight edge. THE PICK: SAINTS 52, CARDINALS 49

      Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts
      8:15 pm ET
      TV—CBS

      Speaking of rested players, there is going to be a mutiny in Indianapolis tonight if the Colts lose this game. Head coach Jim Caldwell and owner Bill Polian have been adamant about their belief that resting Peyton Manning and other regulars during most of the final two games, instead of pursuing a perfect 16-0 record, was the prudent thing to do. And while playing those guys would have been a huge risk (see Welker, Wes), you have to believe it was even riskier to not play them. Meanwhile, the Ravens, who come in with a solid ground game that is ranked fifth in the league, are just the kind of team that can give the Colts and their 24th ranked run defense fits anyway. John Harbaugh wants to run Ray Rice all day long and keep it away from Mr. Manning as much as possible, and he’d love to run the ball 52 times like he did against New England. When the Colts do have the ball, they are ranked dead last in rushing offense but second in passing. So guess what they’re gonna do? But the Ravens were in Tom Brady’s face all game last week, and you can expect Ray Lewis and company to try and do the same to Manning, who also has to worry about ball-hawking safety Ed Reed, voted Safety of the Decade earlier this week by USA Today. The Colts are extremely talented and didn’t win 14 games by accident, but that resting players thing is going to bite Caldwell and Polian in the butt. THE PICK: RAVENS 23, COLTS 20

      NFL

      Jerome Bettis chats with The Scores Report

      January 15, 2010 /

      Ask any defender that has tried to tackle Jerome Bettis and we’re sure each and every one of them has their own horrifying tale. The 250-pound running back rushed for 13,662 yards and 94 touchdowns in his successful career, while also racking up six Pro Bowl appearances and claiming the 1993 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, the 1996 NFL Comeback Player of the Year and the 2001 Walter Payton Man of the Year awards. Did we mention he also won a Super Bowl?

      “The Bus” has teamed up with DiGiorno for their “You Bettis Believe” sweepstakes, which runs through February 12th and will award one lucky winner (along with 10 of his or her friends) a chance to win a fantasy football draft party hosted by DiGiorno and Jerome. The winner and his group will be heading to Las Vegas in August for the draft and of course, the chance to meet Jerome Bettis. All you have to do to sign up is visit Facebook.com/Digiorno for a chance to win.

      Along with providing more details on the “You Bettis Believe” sweepstakes, Jerome was more than happy to talk a little football with us. We asked him what his most memorable moment was from the Steelers’ run to the Super Bowl in 2005, what was the hardest hit he ever laid on a defender and what he thinks it’ll take for the Steelers to get back in title contention. He also filled us in on where Bill Cowher may wind up when he decides to start coaching again.

      The Scores Report: Hey Jerome, how are you this is Anthony.

      Jerome Bettis: How you doing, Anthony?

      TSR: Real good, I appreciate your joining me today.

      JB: Oh, not a problem.

      TSR: Talk to me a little bit about this DiGiorno’s sweepstakes that you’re a part of. This fantasy football draft in Vegas sounds like a great time.

      JB: The sweepstakes is called “You Bettis Believe” and all you have to do is go to Facebook.com/DiGiorno and register to win the fantasy football draft party in Las Vegas. You get the opportunity to go out to Vegas and have a fantasy football draft with me. We’ll talk football, pizza; it’s the best sweepstakes you could ever win. The 12th of February is the last day you can enter so make sure you go to Facebook.com/DiGiorno to sign up.

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      Interviews, NFL

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