Ravens Report Card

Baltimore Ravens 21, Atlanta Falcons 7

September 1, 2011

If you’re squeamish, you may want to stop reading right now. 

If you’re the kind of person who slows down at an accident scene, then this is the report for you.   Because the Ravens and the Falcons played a train wreck of a football game that in the end--and yes, yours truly stayed through the bitter end--gave the Ravens’ backups a 21-7 win over the Falcons’ reserves.

While coach John Harbaugh may tell you that he always wants to see a team-win, the only outcome that really mattered Thursday night was how Harbaugh and his staff will grade the individual performers. 

With the starters horsing around on the sidelines in street clothes like fifth graders on a field trip to Atlanta, this was a game for the other half of the roster, the forty or so players trying to secure one of the final dozen roster spots, or even a second chance on the eight-man practice squad. 

We’ll grade-out the units, and put particular focus on the stand-out performances of players who may have helped, or hurt their chances.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-

Filling the back end of the roster is all about finding special teams contributors. So let’s start by noting who played well in the third facet of the game. 

Harbaugh made a point earlier in the week that he wanted to see his punt coverage guys play better. They did.  Bubble player Anthony Allen finally showed up on special teams in this regard.  Mana Silva looked like a poor man’s Haruki Nakamura on coverage – that’s good.  Jason Phillips also shined getting to the returner and blocking on returns.   Josh Bynes also stood out.   Jimmy Smith, who is excellent at jamming receivers as a corner, used the same skill to great effect on Atlanta’s gunners.

Take-away: LaQuan Williams gets better each week. Not only did he chip in with a 33-yard punt return, but he got down field as a gunner to lay some lumber. He slipped by allowing a punt to roll to the 12 yard line, but learned his lesson and later stepped into traffic to fair catch a high-floater.  He’ll be hard to keep off the 53-man roster.

QUARTERBACK: C-

Tyrod Taylor didn’t get much protection, which contributed to him throwing an early interception, and also getting slammed to the turf and knocked out of the game, when Kroy Bierman who easily beat Jah Reid around the corner. Linebacker Stephen Nicholas ran past a sleep-walking Justin Boren in the B gap.  In relief Hunter Cantwell didn’t do a lot to make a case for himself.  Not surprisingly, working with a revolving door of receivers, his timing and accuracy was suspect most of the night, including a very poorly directed interception.

Take-away: Watching the slight-framed Tyrod Taylor get banged up easily underscored the hard reality that the Ravens will probably need to scour the waiver wire, or swing a trade, to bring in a veteran back-up.

RUNNING BACK: B-

Anthony Allen continued to make the case that he is a half-step ahead of veteran Jalen Parmele for the third and final tailback spot.  Allen made a nice, but late, blitz pick-up to show he’s making progress in this area.  One of the plays of the night offensively was Allen running over cornerback William Moore, bouncing back a step, and then running over him again.  He showed a nice burst while nearly breaking free on a screen pass. Parmele was pressing early and mostly running into the backs of his blockers.  With more carries he looked more natural, including a nice catch and run in full stride on a wheel route.  But third-string runners can’t rely on a heavy workload to get unwound.

Take-away:  Damien Berry made his first appearance as a Raven and revealed that he runs hard with good quickness. It won’t be enough to make the team, but probably enough to secure a spot on the practice squad.

WIDE RECEIVERS: C

Same-old, same-old for the receivers.  There was a lot of inconsistent route running and catching of mostly off-target passes by this group of second-tier wannabes.   Marcus Smith didn’t make the necessary case to stay on this roster, catching one slant and looking awkward on a jump ball along the sideline.  David Reed continued a habit of dropping slants and skinny posts with defenders draped near him.  He played a floating pass well on a TD catch that was reversed on a very questionable offensive pass interference call.  Torrey Smith didn’t have any drops. Let that sink in.  He also didn’t do much to impress, including some poor downfield blocking on running plays.  Tandon Doss made one of his now-routine clutch catches, snatching a first down on a stop route.

Take-away:  Doss has clearly outplayed the rest of the pack to be the third receiver off the bench, leaving Reed and Smith to stick on the bottom of the roster and compete for a deep threat role behind Lee Evans.

TIGHT ENDS: C

Johdrick Morris made one nice catch, rising to the ball, but also had two drops.  He hasn’t showed enough in games to warrant a practice squad spot.  Davon Drew allegedly played, but made no impact.

Take-away: Kris Wilson has easily outdistanced Morris and Drew for the third tight end spot.

TACKLES: D

Ramone Harewood has played a little less effectively each week.  He failed to move his feet and instead lunged and tried to shove Kroy Bierman en route to a sack.  He showed little as a pass protector and other than goal line blocking, didn’t do much well in the running game either.   Jah Reid continues to look more confident and execute better as a run blocker on the right side.  His pass blocking still needs considerable work.

Take-away: Two weeks ago I would have said Ramone Harewood showed too much promise to be exposed to the practice squad.  Now I’m not so sure. On film, it would be hard for a team to justify putting him on their active roster.  His spot will come down to a numbers game for the coaching staff.

INTERIOR LINE: C-

Frankly, there was only one player out of this group who showed enough to warrant keeping on the roster, and that player was Bryan Mattison.  He consistently drive-blocked defenders in front of him, including a pancake of nose tackle Vance Walker.  The best block of the evening game from Mattison when he peeled back to pick up linebacker Bear Woods shooting the inside gap, which sprung Berry’s TD run.  He’s too slow to contribute much at the second level, however.   

Justin Boren was just plain awful at left guard.  Not only did he whiff on the sack that knocked Taylor out of the game, he was consistently blown back off the line.  Tim Barnes made a number of nice run blocks and was steady in pass protection.  Jason Murphy botched any chance he had to catch on with an offsides penalty and a badly missed assignment on an A-gap blitz.  Andre Ramsey, the second year G/T out of Ball State, looked very athletic at right guard and scored one pancake block.

Take-away: Based on this game alone, C/G Barnes and G/T Ramsey are ahead of the rest of the pack to stick on the practice squad, with some hope to develop into future back ups.

CORNERBACKS: B+

It will be hard to separate the corners if the Ravens choose to keep a sixth roster spot open.  Danny Gorrer made some terrific breaks on the ball, and flat-out dropped an interception with only turf between him and the end zone.  Josh Victorian also showed nice ball skills but needs work tackling.  Chykie Brown finally showed why the Ravens used a fifth round draft pick to acquire him.  Playing off receivers most of the night, he broke well on a ball and showed great balance to pick off a pass that was nose-diving to the turf, gathered himself and took it in for score.  He also showed he can be a heavy hitter in run support.

Take-away:  Did Brown show enough to separate himself and justify a roster spot? It could come down to special teams play, but it’s hard to bet against the drafted player.

SAFETIES: B

Mana Silva was all over the field, but he needs to bulk up for a year in order to be a viable option at safety.  He was knocked aside by quarterback Chris Redman on a reverse.  Talmadge Jackson didn’t do much to help himself when he tackled an armful of air on a free run at the quarterback. 

Take-away:  The Ravens should find a spot on the practice squad for Silva, who also has special teams ability.

LINEBACKERS: A

This, by far, was the best showing of the preseason for the second-tier linebackers, who are difficult to separate from one another.  Jason Phillips was on the brink of unemployment coming into this game but finally impressed.  He was much more effective dropping in coverage, which had been a glaring weakness.  It netted him a nice interception of a deflection.  He continues to be outstanding shooting gaps and finding the ball carrier.  But his lack of sideline-to-sideline pursuit could be his downfall.  

Albert McClellan looked like a monster at times, including a highlight reel tackle worthy of the MMA in the final two minutes.  He was surprisingly nimble in coverage.  Josh Bynes also stood out. He appeared to be much more comfortable in his assignments and the combination of quickness and sure tackling came through as a result. Chavis Williams showed talent supporting the run.

Take-away:  McClellan and Bynes may have showed enough for the staff to think they are better value than the veterans Prescott Burgess and Jason Phillips.   It will again come down to special teams decisions, and what they show in practice.

DEFENSIVE LINE: B-

Paul Kruger continues to look scary-good.  In addition to size and quickness, this year he has notably heavier hands, which he used to easily swat starting guard Justin Blalock aside and then accelerate into Redman for sack and fumble.  He’ll try to forget the face plant he experienced trying to tackle rookie Jacquizz Rogers in the open field. Pernell McPhee had a poor first series against the run, but then stiffened and played well. He showed surprising speed chasing down a screen 30 yards downfield.

The third group, with Lamar Divens, Derek Simmons and Bryan Hall were a little porous against the run.  Divens showed a lot more quickness than the rest of this group and probably secured his spot at the end of the line rotation.

Take-away:  Undrafted pick-up Michael McAdoo, playing for the first time in two years, showed a nice bullrush despite his wide-receiver-like frame. He got a cheap sack on a blown snap.  The practice squad will be a perfect opportunity for him to bulk up and learn better technique.

BROADCAST: C

The first half was as much a train wreck for the WBAL crew as it was for the players on the field.  Non-stop chatter from the three-man crew was overbearing.  After Kruger’s sack they were late going into a break, and then missed showing the Ravens’ first offensive play coming out of break.  Good luck following down or distance on this telecast.  There was also trouble cutting to, or finding the ball downfield on long passes and punts.  But after juggling the booth traffic and the 14,000 promos for Channel 11 News, they finally settled down and did a decent job in the second half.

OFFICIALS: D

Apparently officials have been instructed to make the wrong call whenever the ball slips out of a quarterback’s hands this year so we can be treated to more replay reviews. An obvious incompletion by Redman was called a fumble on the field. The bad interference call on Reed involved the kind of hand-checking NFL receivers will make on 48 out of 50 throws into the end zone.    Jimmy Smith did not commit a horse collar foul as charged, because he did not yank the ball carrier immediately to the ground as the rule requires.  But he was face masked on the play, which went uncalled.