Eating Some Crow

Last week in this column I predicted a 3 point Ravens victory, but privately I was telling my friends that the Ravens would beat the Patriots by 10, if not more.  I truly believed that the Ravens were the superior team.  But I forgot what can happen to a team when you decide to take the foot off the pedal a little too early against Tom Brady.  It’s a game we had in the bag, and we let it get away from us.  Let’s get over this as painlessly as possible.

What I Liked

I liked the way the Ravens spread the ball around in the first three quarters.  Joe Flacco was efficient and accurate.  I liked the way Joe hit key passes to Housh, the Q, D-Mas, and the suddenly re-invigorated Todd Heap.  I generally liked the way the defense played in containing the Patriots running game and preventing the long pass – until they got cute in the 4^th quarter.

What I Didn’t Like, and Has to Change

Not using Willis McGahee.  Do you really believe John Harbaugh’s lame excuse for not playing McGahee on Sunday?  It’s all B.S. because there’s no way they should let Ray Rice carry the ball all day against a Belichick-led defense unless they didn’t want McGahee to get hurt.  I don’t agree with the dog house theory, either.  I think Willis was up for sale and they held him out in case somebody met their asking price.  The Ravens brass will learn that they’re fortunate no team met the Ravens’ asking price.

The Ravens return game (kickoffs and punts) stinks.  It’s a game of Bs: We need better players and better returns to give the offense better field position.  Time for rookie David Reed.

Here’s what Le’Ron McClain’s dopey 4^th quarter personal foul means for me:  In spite of all the good things that John Harbaugh has done, he still has to work on the Brian Billick-era emotional outbursts of some of his players. 

Easing Off the Gas.  The Ravens had their cleats firmly stamped on the Patriots neck and we let them come up for air.  In the 4^th quarter, offensive coordinator Cam Cameron decided to channel his inner-Marty- Schottenheimer-self and took the game out of Joe Flacco’s hands.  Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison committed the faux pas of thinking you can stop a Pro Bowl quarterback by only rushing 3 men for most of a quarter.  These two coordinators are really starting to bug me.

The Mouthing Off of certain Ravens defenders after the loss.  It’s one thing to have Terrell Suggs make threats, but exactly what has Dannell Ellerbe done to earn anyone’s respect or fear?  Got to give the devil his due:  Tom Brady was right:  One win in nine tries does not a rivalry make. 

Around the Ravens and Around the League – a Fan’s Football Tweets

·         I think he’s a gas bag and his ego has grown proportional to his waist size, but does anybody doubt the outcome of Sunday’s game would have been different with Rex Ryan as the defensive coordinator?

·         At 1-4, and their season teetering on the disastrous, the Cowboys have already received two post-touchdown penalties this season for “excessive celebrations.”  Exactly what are they celebrating?

Some thoughts on the NFL’s new tackle policy

·         After a weekend of unprecedented personal fouls and injuries, the league has moved to suspend offenders on a first-time basis for helmet to helmet contact and, what NFL VP Ray Anderson calls, “devastating tackles.”  Every fan should be OK with the helmet to helmet stuff, particularly when you clearly launch yourself at another player like Brandon Merriweather did to Todd Heap.  So after all their bluster, the league wimps out by serving only fines to the 3 players involved. 

·         NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison threatened to retire because of his fine and the crackdown on dangerous hits.  Sure he is, right in the middle of a $51 million deal.  Stating publicly that his intent is to purposely hurt players on the other team, he’s the one guy who should have been suspended for two of Sunday’s incidents.  Remember, this is the bright light who said that he wouldn’t go to the White House after the Steelers won the Super Bowl because the President wouldn’t have invited him if they hadn’t won.  Huh?

·         My problem is intent and interpretation.  The Merriweather hit on Heap was obvious and textbook bad, but I had to watch and re-watch the hit Falcons’ cornerback Dunta Robinson laid on the Eagles DeSean Jackson to see a foul.  The thing is, Robinson’s hit wasn’t helmet to helmet.  It was shoulder to helmet.  Robinson was penalized for hitting a defenseless receiver, but Jackson got his hands on the ball and had taken at least a step and a half before Robinson nailed him.

·         I’ve listened to football commentators and ex-players on all major media circuits and opinions are badly divided.  They’re concerned about how the league will interpret the rules and evaluate the plays, and they argue if anything, at all, should be done.  The players are confused and, if they’re confused, you can be sure the officials will be confused.  This is being thrust on them in the middle of the season and is a recipe for bad calls and bad football. 

·         Look, I understand the need to clean up the thugery, but the league needs to put a systematic process in place. If they’re going to suspend players and perhaps even disqualify them on the spot, then the league will need a replay official, schooled in evaluating such activity, in the booth o every game.

·         One last point:  If you didn’t see it, the Baltimore Sun is reporting that Ray Lewis, along with Denver’s Brian Dawkins, is one of the favorites to be the first NFL player suspended for a devastating hit, according to BetUS.com.  This is curious, because Ray’s crushing shoulder shot to Jet’s tight end Dustin Keller in the Monday night game is being touted in the league’s official Do’s and Don’t video to all teams as an example of a “hard but clean play.”  Ray’s odds of walking the plank are 5 to 1.

This Sunday

How do you spell relief?  For some Ravens fans, it’s REEEEEEEEEED.  Ed Reed looks to be in fantastic shape and there’s talk of him playing this Sunday, but does anyone seriously think Reed is game fit?  I wouldn’t take a chance on bringing him back too soon.  This is his preseason and we don’t need him against the hapless Bills.  The second half of the season features the likes of Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub, Ben Roethlisberger, and Carson Palmer.  That’s when we’ll need him. 

Relief can also be spelt Buffalo.  The Ravens will honor the 2000 Ravens, winners of Super Bowl XXXV on Sunday and what better way to do it than against a conference patsy?  The Bills, quite possibly the worst team in the league, will bear the brunt of the residual grumpiness the Ravens are holding from the Patriots game.  Most observers think this game will be over by half time and I’m inclined to agree, in spite of some lingering worries about the Ravens playing down to their competition.  We may see Marc Bulger for the first time this season. 

Bring on the bye.

Ravens 34, Bills 6.