QUARTERBACK1/2

As he has throughout his career with the Ravens, Kyle Boller provided a little sampling of what he is capable of.  He led a very professional no huddle touchdown drive beginning at his own 7 yard line capped by two beautiful tosses to Derrick Mason for 20 yards and the TD pass to Clayton for 39 yards.  That 93 yard drive took 2:19 and brought the Ravens to within two.

Yet with every step forward, Kyle Boller takes three steps back.  Yesterday those three steps arrived in the form of two inexplicable interceptions and an unforced fumble.  Boller also missed on some open receivers in the seam and even on easy swing passes to Chester Taylor and Jamel White he was off the mark.  Taylor had running room on one occasion but Boller’s pass was behind Taylor.  Boller did a nice job of buying time at the 6:38 mark of the second quarter on third and 9 but then over shot White on a short 10 yard pass.  White was open with plenty of real estate to navigate ahead.

Boller’s performance yesterday was nothing more, nothing less than a snapshot of his career.  His quarterback rating yesterday was 65.2, just about what it is for his three year career – the longest rookie season on record, or so it seems given the same rookie mistakes over and over.  This season, Boller has 9 interceptions and 7 fumbles in his 6 starts.  Boller concluded, "I can't turn the ball over."  

Brian Billick concurred – well, sort of: "You can't make those kind of mistakes and beat anybody, let alone a team like that.  He wasn't the only one, but his were obvious and glaring. He tends not to make the same mistakes twice. I hope we don't see those types of mistakes again."

I beg to differ coach but we’ve seen this movie before. 

RUNNING BACK

Chester Taylor’s performance was uneven.  At times he ran hard and found yards where there were seemingly none, falling forward for added yardage with nice body lean.  But then there were other times when he seemed less sure and that could be due in part to the patchwork line the Ravens fielded yesterday.  It appeared that he struggled to read the blocks in front of him, certainly understandable with his limited snaps behind the likes of Rimpf, Brown and Pashos.  Taylor’s fumble at the Ravens’ 49 was a bitter pill to swallow at the 10:00 mark of the third quarter while down by only 3. Nice job by Jamel White picking up blitzing Bronco defenders.

RECEIVERS

For the first time since 2003, the Ravens have a 100 yard receiver and this time it’s rookie Mark Clayton.  Except for a false start penalty and a miscommunication between him and Boller on an out route, Clayton’s performance was flawless.  Even his shovel pass to Chester Taylor was on time and on the mark.  Clayton showed veteran presence of mind tight roping the sideline and extending to break the plane of the end zone. Derrick Mason was efficient.  He had other opportunities with intermediate routes but Boller’s passes were off target.  Todd Heap was a mismatch for the Denver secondary.  A more accurate QB than Boller would have boosted Heap’s performance.  Heap did drop a catchable albeit a late throw from Boller at the 11:50 mark of the second quarter around the Denver 27 with the score tied at 3.  A catch puts the Ravens close to a first down.  The drive ended with a Zastudil punt.

OFFENSIVE LINE1/2

The Ravens make shift line which during the 93 yard TD drive consisted of from left to right Terry-Brown-Flynn-Rimpf-Pashos, played efficiently and provided Boller with ample protection throughout most of the contest.  Officially Boller was sacked twice but neither produced lost yardage.  This unit doesn’t provide the push that Ravens’ lines have been known for in prior years.  Given the slightly smaller line, the Ravens relied more on man and trap blocking than zone blocking.  Brown and Rimpf pulled and trapped decently but overall, the unit needs a stronger push to support the fading rushing attack.  Nice to see these players get meaningful playing time.  It will help address some questions in the off season.  How about a little more of that, eh?

DEFENSIVE LINE

The Ravens defensive front held up well against a Broncos offensive line known for carving up defensive lines and defensive linemen’s knees.  Kemoeatu and Gregg were stout in the middle as was Aubrayo Franklin in the tackle rotation.  Dwan Edwards was forceful scraping down the line while working towards the edge collapsing running lanes.  The unit still is minus a push up the middle in passing situations enabling offensive linemen to double up on the outside.  As a result, Suggs disappeared again until the fumble recovery.

LINEBACKERS 1/2

The Ravens linebackers have outhustled opponents to help compensate for the loss of Ray Lewis.  For the most part it has worked and yesterday was no exception.  Leading the way statistically and inspirationally was Adalius Thomas.  With the score tied at 3 in the second quarter and the Broncos facing a second and 9 at the Ravens 41, Thomas sacked Plummer for a loss of 13.  Thomas also held up well with outside containment on Denver’s waggle plays.  Thomas kept his head and his feet forcing Plummer into a couple of errant passes.  Bart Scott and Tommy Polley were solid although Polley did drop a sure interception that could have gone for 6 the other way.  He did make up for it later with a big hit on Ron Dayne forcing a fumble and turnover.

SECONDARY

The Ravens secondary was not challenged often but when they were, they stepped up.  Chris McAlister fought off a nagging hamstring and contributed a gutty performance that included three knocked down passes, one of which featured text book technique.  McAlister also was efficient supporting the run.  The Ravens did allow Ashley Lelie to get deep on them once but Plummer’s pass was well overthrown.  Ed Reed looks like he’s getting back into the flow of the game a bit more, nailing Jeb Putzier to break up one pass.  He did a nice job of reading the game clinching reverse to Lelie with 1:42 left in the game but he missed the tackle.  Chad Williams was quiet and Deion Sanders surprisingly was untested. 

SPECIAL TEAMS 

Dave Zastudil had his worst outing of the year.  Twice he had an opportunity to nail the Broncos deep in their own territory.  Once he kicked from the Denver 35 and his kicked sailed through the end zone and again from the Denver 41, he punted for 19 yards to the Denver 22.  He managed to nail one punt for 53 yards yet the net was only 39 yards.  The kickoff coverage was solid and of course the big play of the day on special teams was the opening 87 yard return by B.J. Sams.  I suppose Gary Zauner didn’t order the fair catch.

COACHING  

This can’t be any fun for Brian Billick.  Each week you witness his pain and agony on the sideline most of which is centered upon his quarterback’s inability to get the job done.  That aside, he clearly had his team ready to play and they played with zest and enthusiasm.  Billick needs to be credited for that particularly given all of the scrutiny that he and his team have fallen under in a season gone terribly off track. 

Many have questioned his decision to go for the touchdown on fourth and goal from the 1 with 9 minutes plus to go in the game.  Defending his decision Billick said, "The way the game had gone, I wanted to put it to ... [where] a field goal would have won it.  "Being down at the 1-yard line, in our circumstances, it was too much to pass up." 

Hindsight would prove Billick wrong but I can’t fault the decision to go for it.  Note Billick’s choice of words however, particularly “in our circumstances.”  It’s not as though the Ravens find the deep red zone often so when they are there on rare occasion, it’s time to get it done and then with any luck, put the game on the foot of Money, aka Matt Stover. I can find fault with the sequence of plays after the Ravens were first and goal from the 5, but not the decision to go for it.  The Ravens had difficulty running between the 20's.  Why they expected to run it effectively inside the 5 with kamikaze LB's Wilson and Gold flying to the ball is a mystery to me. 

Billick’s decision to kick the ball away with 1:59 to go to a Mike Shanahan team was wrong.  The onsides kick should have been called.  The Ravens needed a defensive stop anyway.  They couldn’t allow a first down regardless of where Denver was on the field or the game would be over.  The best the Ravens could have expected from the kickoff would be a three and out from Denver and about 45 seconds left on the clock with no time outs and the ball near their own 40.  The odds of giving Denver the ball and getting it back with 45 seconds and no timeouts seems a bit more insurmountable to me than the odds of recovering an onsides kick with 1:50 remaining and two time outs.  

The Ravens offensive game plan was sound given the injuries and inexperience of the line.  They failed to develop a running game but despite that, the Ravens receivers seemed to find openings in the Denver secondary at will.  Boller just didn’t execute consistently to say the least. 

Defensively, hats off to Rex Ryan whose plan helped to choke off the league’s sixth ranked offense on their home turf in a very meaningful game with playoff ramifications. 

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

* Was it me or did CBS' Steve Beuerlein seem incredibly biased towards Denver?  He was adamant that the officials missed on the review of the Ron Dayne fumble in the fourth when the one angle clearly showed that Terrell Suggs’ arm was no less than 6 inches from the sideline directly in front of several jubilant Ravens’ coaching assistants.

* Our coaching grade is likely to be a bit more generous than the one that Derrick Mason might give.  After the game Mason said, "I'm not going to second-guess the coaches. They made the call, and we're going to live with it as a team. You need to ask Coach Billick if he made the right call or not. He'll probably give you a straight answer. He'll probably give you one of those intelligent answers. Go ask him. You ought to get a mouthful."  OUCH!  I think we got a mouthful from Mason.  And speaking of second guessing, Derrick, I think you just did. 

And as if that weren’t enough, Mason added, "A receiver like me cannot survive with 5 and 8 yard routes. I'm the 3rd option. I am frustrated. The coaches know about it" 

* Yesterday’s inactives included: Patrick Johnson, Brian St. Pierre, Evan Oglesby, Justin Green, Mike Smith, Keydrick Vincent, Clarence Moore and Tony Weaver.  Aren’t you happy that Patrick Johnson is a Raven? 

* This in from Broncos’ RB Tatum Bell: "People thought just because [the Ravens] have a sorry offense their defense was not good.  But they showed up and played good, just like they have all season."  

* Jamal Lewis missed the game with a sore thumb.  They say he was concerned that he couldn’t hold the ball well.  Two thoughts on that: 1) doesn’t he have two hands; and 2) he doesn’t hold the ball well when his thumb isn’t sore.