QUARTERBACK 

Who Are You?

Since the Ravens inception, there has never been a better quarterback performance than the one delivered by Kyle Boller last night.  Deion Sanders during the post game show was almost giddy about Boller’s performance and said, “See what the man can do when he has a little time!”  While the kudos from a sure fire Hall of Famer have to be flattering to Boller, the performance wasn’t just about time to throw.  Boller read through progressions, he hit his hot reads (Clayton, Mason & Heap) during Packer blitzes, he was relaxed and poised, managed the clock well towards the end of the first half, helped the Ravens maintain manageable third down conversions (as evidenced by their 7 for 13 conversion rate) and even his ball handling skills were solid (save the one fumble) particularly on the kick out pitch to Chester Taylor for another third down conversion in the third quarter.  Overall, you can’t ask for anything more from your quarterback than Kyle Boller delivered.

What a good thing to be today – Kyle Boller.  Given all the intense pressure and scrutiny that he’s received, it’s hard not to be proud of No. 7 particularly under the scope of the national spotlight.  I will happily eat humble pie week in and week out over the topic of Kyle Boller’s skills with performances that consistently resemble this one.

RUNNING BACK

Lost in the mix of Boller’s outstanding performance is a very solid effort from Jamal Lewis.  Jamal ran again with purpose and seemed more interested in delivering hits than taking them on.  You only need to look at the crushing block he laid on Packers’ DB Nick Collins on Mark Clayton’s TD run.  Without the block, Clayton gets knocked out of bounds at the 5.  With it, he waltzed into the end zone.  Chester Taylor was solid if not spectacular in spot play and Ovie Mughelli paved the way for Jamal on a few carries with adept kick out blocks.

RECEIVERS

Heap, Mason and Clayton will translate into nightmarish outings for opposing secondaries if Boller is on and has the time to set up like he did last night.  What a great trio of receivers to compliment a rushing attack and then when you can throw in a red zone threat like Randy Hymes with those huge paws of his, it gives you an idea of what this offense is capable of.  Granted the Packers played with little heart and intensity last night, but let’s hope this isn’t just a tease and the Ravens can build upon the collective game of this corps.  Now it’s easy to understand Derrick Mason’s frustration.  They know more than anyone what they can get down if…..well you know the rest.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Outstanding effort from this group, although they were never really tested with many interior blitzes which have been the Achilles Heal of the Ravens’ pass protection all year.  Kyle Boller had plenty of time to step into his throws and it helped to give the young QB confidence.  It also helped him to remain calm and find his hot reads while under duress of outside blitzing.  For the first time in several games, the offensive front also open up interior running lanes for Jamal Lewis, even when in the red zone.  We’d still like to see more of Jason and Brown and Adam Terry yet it’s hard to find fault with the performance of this unit.  No standouts individually, just a standout performance from a highly criticized group.

DEFENSIVE LINE

The strategy appeared to be one of stringing out the front four and allowing the linebackers (often there were four of them) to come in and clean up after the front effectively stalled Green Bay RBs.  As a result the Packers never really developed a rhythm in the rushing attack although the blowout game situation hardly allowed them.  The tackles were stout and the ends did a fine job of running down rushers with back side pursuit.

LINEBACKERS 1/2

If someone had said at the beginning of the year that Ray Lewis would not be missed all that much if he was down for a significant amount of time, who would have believed them?  But the combined efforts of Adalius Thomas, Bart Scott and Tommy Polley have managed to accomplish exactly that.  Each plays with a love and zest for the game that cannot be taught.  Individually and as a group, they were exceptional in pursuit when the front four effectively strung out running plays.  All showcased their speed and they were all over the field while finishing plays.  What might happen when Ray and Dan Cody return to health?

SECONDARY

Although they were never really challenged, the secondary was almost always positioned properly to defend the always dangerous Brett Favre.  Green Bay often lined up an extra tackle (Kevin Barry) in the tight end position with only one receiver on the field at times which demanded run support from the secondary.  How many times did you hear, “No. 71 has reported as an eligible receiver?”  That all being said, it’s time to get the pitching machine out and fire balls at Ed Reed and Chris McAlister.  It’s been said for most DB’s that if they could catch, they’d play receiver.  Reed and McAlister provided plenty of evidence to support that notion.  Deion Sanders is an exception, nearly always sure handed and last night was no different when both he and Samari Rolle picked off Brett Favre “punts.”  Deion didn’t look like he wanted to be in the same zip code as William Henderson when he whiffed badly on a 19 yard screen pass to Henderson early in the second quarter.  Chad Williams isn’t a very good starting safety but he is a very good dime back and last night, he made plays from that position just as he’s always done as the dime. 

SPECIAL TEAMS1/2

B.J. Sams’ 49 yard punt return through some poor arm tackling on the part of the Packers set up the Ravens’ very first possession and it helped to set the tone for the game, placing the Ravens immediately in the red zone and this time the offense capitalized.  Ed Reed helped Sams’ return with a crushing block on Packers’ punter B.J. Sander.  On a cold night, the Ravens netted over 39 yards on punt exchanges while the Packers could only net 22.5 yards.  The Ravens kickoff coverage team didn’t fair as well as the punt coverage unit.  Their problems started with Matt Stover’s kickoffs which on average landed at the Packers’ 16.  Granted two kicks were of the pooch variety and it the ball didn’t carry far, yet it did allow the Packers to start most drives in decent field position after kicks. 

COACHING

Clearly the Ravens were ready to play.  They executed the game plan on both offense and defense, game plans well designed to take advantage of their opponent.  Many will qualify Kyle Boller’s effort by pointing to the fact that they played a listless team but the fact is Green Bay had the league’s top ranked pass defense entering the game.  And the well crafted game plan exploited them.  The Ravens shows diversity and creativity on offense and spread the ball around almost perfectly.  They achieved the very desirable balance that Brian Billick longs for on offense and on defense, they once again covered up injuries and a thin secondary to limit Brett Favre to three points.  When the Ravens had little to play for other than pride, the coaches obviously reminded them that playing for pride is playing for a lot. 

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

* The 45 point margin of victory is the greatest in the history of ABC’s Monday Night Football.  Unless the Patriots shred the Jets next Monday, this will be a record of distinction for the Ravens.  Monday Night Football you may recall, moves on to ESPN next year. 

* With time to throw, we saw very little of Kyle Boller locking on a receiver.  The same can’t be said for Drew Brees on Sunday.  For a quarterback that has received much praise and many accolades from the media, fans, coaches and peers, Brees locked in long and hard on all his primary reads against the Colts.

* Speaking of the Colts, it has been Phil Savage’s contention that the Ravens were very interested in selecting safety Bob Sanders with the No. 51 pick in the 2004 draft, a pick that eventually became Dwan Edwards who once again was inactive last night.  Sanders was selected with that draft’s 44th pick.

* For the first time since Brian Billick’s arrival that the Ravens scored two offensive TD’s in first quarter. 

* Never in his career had Brett Favre gone three straight games without throwing a touchdown pass.  Thanks to the Ravens, that streak is now over.

“With Brian Billick there have been a lot of indicators that have gone both ways.  Three weeks ago I was told that there’s no way he’s getting fired and then last week somebody said that you better be heads up on Brian Billick.  Now here’s one thing about Billick.  He has two years left and $9million on his contract and he has nurtured a very good relationship with Steve Bisciotti.  I will be surprised in fact if he is fired even though the offense continues to languish.”

On Kyle Boller:

“Kyle Boller still has three games left.”  He continued, “I believe the Ravens would have made a play for Daunte Culpepper if Culpepper hadn’t gotten hurt.”

On Jamal Lewis:

“As far as Jamal Lewis goes, the Ravens are going to put the franchise tag on him when next March hits.  They are not going to give him a long term [contract].  They will entertain offers; they will shop him for trade; they’re not happy with the way he responded this year, I don’t think that he’s going to be on the Ravens roster come 2006 when they actually start the season.”

* And finally, it was a spectacular night and a spectacular performance by the Ravens.  Without question the most notable performance was that of Kyle Boller.  But before we all get too excited, let’s temper the enthusiasm and remember that he faced a team going through the motions in a meaningless game devoid of pressure.  Let’s see what happens on Sunday night when a desperate Vikings team visits The Vault.  Yet having said that, no one can deny that Boller took a big step forward last night in a game we will all remember for a long, long time.