We’re a lot closer to determining playoff scenarios following the weekend’s games, and the Ravens are one of 4 teams fortunate enough to have their destiny in their own hands.  The defense again played well for 3 quarters, surrendering just a single TD drive of 4 yards.  In the 4^th quarter, with the game seemingly out of reach on 3 separate occasions, it took 2 long TD runs to secure the victory.  It was a quality win which leaves the Ravens needing just 1 more.  As is often said, defense travels well, and so does Joe Flacco with his 91.7 road QB rating.

There were no kneels or spikes to be excluded this week:

Overall:  68 plays, 327 yards, 4.8 YPPA

Best:  Rolle 31/112 3.6 YPPA

Worst:  Barnes 17/111, 6.5 YPPA

Vs. the Run:  21 carries, 92 yards, 4.4 YPC

Best:  Pryce 12/38 3.2 YPC

Worst:  Bannan 15/78, 5.2 YPC, Douglas 9/54, 6.0 YPC

Vs. the Pass:  47 pass plays, 235 net yards, 5.0 YPP

Best:  Rolle 19/54, 2.8 YPP, Johnson 21/65, 3.1 YPP

Worst:  McClain 25/165, 6.6 YPP, Barnes 15/99, 6.6 YPP, Oglesby 7/76, 10.9 YPP

By number of Pass Rushers:

3 or fewer:  3/33, 11.0 YPP

4:  34/149, 4.4 YPP, 2 Sacks, 1 TO

5:  7/30, 4.3 YPP, 1 TO

6:  2/23, 11.5 YPP,

7:  1/0, 0.0 (7 men crashed the LoS on a goal line pass)

By number of Defensive Backs:

3:  None

4:  24 plays, 96 yards, 4.0 YPPA, 1 TO

5:  35 plays, 157 yards, 4.5 YPPA, 1 Sack, 1 TO

6:  7 plays, 74 yards, 10.6 YPPA, 1 Sack

7:  2/0, 0.0

·       For the 2 straight week, the Ravens were unable to stop their opponents following an injury in the secondary.  Samari Rolle was lost after the Cowboys first drive of the 2nd half.  From there, the Cowboys drives were:

• 3 plays, 1 yard: Stalled when Romo overthrew a wide-open Austin
• 12 plays, 51 yards: FG after drive was stopped on Choice’s mishandling of Romo’s pitch
• 8 plays, 75 yards: TD
• 11 plays, 71 yards: TD
• 4 plays, 16 yards: turned over on downs

·      On the Cowboys last 3 drives, Ryan used a variety of exotic blitzes and well-rested linemen while the Cowboys ran 23 offensive plays to the Ravens 2 (the long TD runs).  Of those 23 plays, the Ravens pure linemen Bannan (4 plays), Douglas (6), McKinney (0), Ngata (10), and Pryce (11) were all fresh.

·      As to the pass rush, on the 21 pass plays, the Ravens rushed:

• 2: 1 time
• 3: None
• 4: 15 times
• 5: 4 times
• 6: 1 time
• What was different from the Pittsburgh game, however, was the amount of deception as Ryan had 2 linebackers drop from the LoS to coverage on 8 of those plays and 1 another 4 times.  Romo would complain in the post-game interview that they were having a hard time determining who was coming.

·      The results of those 21 plays were remarkable from a pressure standpoint as the Ravens registered 1 sack (McClain), 5 QH’s (Lewis 2, Pryce 2, Leonhard), 7 plays where Romo was hurried but not knocked down, and 1 pass knocked down at the LoS (Suggs).  The pass rush certainly did its job.

·      Nonetheless, on those 21 plays, the secondary let the Ravens down allowing completions of:

• 9 (Owens covered by Walker)
• 35 (Witten covered by Walker and Oglesby)
• 15 (Crayton collected Washington’s deflection)
• 7 (Owens TD over Washington)
• 14 (Witten covered by McClain)
• 25 (Crayton covered by Ivy and Leonhard)
• 20 (Owens beat Ivy)
• 21 (Witten beat Oglesby)
• 18 (Crayton covered by Ivy)
• -2 (Roy Williams tackled by Ivy on the Cowboys’ last offensive play)

·      Johnson could be seen on the sideline in a baseball cap with 1:00 left in the game.  He did not play on the last 3 drives, but I’ve seen no specific injury report (Johnson is now listed as questionable with a calf injury v. Jaguars).  He was replaced by McClain who played extremely well looking good in coverage and providing a high-energy pass rush.  His 28 defensive snaps more than doubled his career total (now 54).  In addition to his sack, he had a fine takedown of Romo to keep Dallas from converting a 3rd down (see below).  With the way he has played, I don’t see how the Ravens can fail to find a spot for him to play more regularly.

·       Barnes played 17 snaps, his 2nd highest total of the season.  He was used both as a pass rusher and in coverage.  He got his hands on Romo once and made a tackle.  It looks to me that Barnes, when in a 3-point stance, is too predictable in his desire to go for the speed rush and his size and footwork do not make him effective when he does so.

·      The 68 offensive plays allowed tied the Steelers game for the Ravens’ season high.  While last week that was a function of the offense generating just 12 first downs, this week it was a function of the 2 long TD runs during hurry-up time.

·      The Ravens 3 biggest defensive plays:

• Reed’s 2nd INT (Q2, 0:49)—Romo would say it was akin to a punt with the play being a 3rd down.  Reed returned it to the 49 and 4 plays later Stover gave the Ravens a 9-7 lead on the final play of the first half.
• McClain’s pursuit and takedown of Romo (Q3, 12:09)—McClain showed a burst I didn’t know he had and stopped Romo a yard short when he appeared to have a clear path for a 1st down on 3rd and 3.
• 3-way tie to Cowboy gifts that had nothing to do with Ravens’ defenders:
  • Owens can’t locate Romo’s bomb (Q2, 3:36)
  • Romo’s overthrow of a wide-open Austin (Q3, 6:32)
  • Choice’s mishandling of Romo’s pitch stalls drive (Q4, 11:37)