BALTIMORE RAVENS 21, OAKLAND RAIDERS 13

January 3, 2010

 

Game Conditions: Sunny Skies, Temp 54 degrees, Wind wnw 6 mph

 

For the second time in two seasons head coach John Harbaugh is taking his Ravens to the playoffs after beating the Oakland Raiders 21-13, in a play-in game of sorts. 

 

The win gave the Ravens a 4-0 record this season against the AFC-West and it ran their record to an impressive 12-0 all-time under Harbaugh against teams with losing records.

 

That’s not to say their win against the Raiders came easily.

 

In the first half the two teams were nearly perfect polar opposites.  Offensively the Ravens were led by dominating line play and the hard running of Willis McGahee, tallying 139 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. Joe Flacco was efficient but quiet in completing nine of thirteen throws for 89 yards.  

 

Meanwhile, the Raiders could do nothing on the ground, gaining 19 yards on nine attempts, while a noticeably battered Charlie Frye still managed 189 yards and a touchdown through the air, as the Ravens’ overmatched secondary scrambled to keep up with the Raiders unheralded receivers.

 

As has been the case so often this season it was an untimely penalty that precipitated another Ravens near-meltdown.  Near the end of the first half, after seemingly stopping the Raiders three-and-out with a sideline incompletion, a questionable pass interference flag came out against Chris Carr.  Frye and the Raiders offense stayed on the field and quickly struck with consecutive passes of 21 and 17 yards to drive the Raiders into the Red Zone. That was followed by Antwan Barnes jumping offsides, and then just three players later Frye hit Zach Miller for the Raiders only touchdown. 

 

The Ravens countered by driving the length of the field with time running out in the half, only to see Joe Flacco miss a wide open Ray Rice on a pass into the end zone that was thrown from beyond the line of scrimmage.  Following the penalty Billy Cundiff missed a 37-yard field goal try after a shaky snap by Matt Katula.

 

Then, nursing their 14-10 halftime lead, the Ravens offense nearly shut down in the third quarter, managing just six total yards.  The Raiders seemed to gain confidence they could handle the Ravens receivers—and their conservative play calling—with just man coverage in the secondary.  That allowed Oakland to pack the line of scrimmage and overwhelm the Ravens offensive line with sheer numbers. Joe Flacco seemed dazed by the pressure and threw the ball erratically throughout the quarter.

 

The follies carried over to special teams as Edgar Jones was flagged for yet another holding call on a punt return.   Defensively, it went from bad to worse when league-wide laughing stock Jamarcus Russell entered the game under a shower of boos and then promptly converted a third-and-15 pass attempt to help set up a Raiders field goal, trimming the Ravens lead to 14-13. 

 

The 2009 season was flashing before the Ravens’ eyes at that point.

 

But that’s when the undrafted rookie, back-up linebacker Dannell Ellerbe dropped in zone coverage and intercepted the shell shocked Russell, leading to a third McGahee touchdown run.  The offensive line asserted itself, grinding out the remainder of the game clock on the ground. Defensively, Antwan Barnes managed to slap another turnover out of the hands of Russell, as the Ravens secondary finally solved the free-running Raiders’ receivers.

 

 

 

In diagnosing their performance, however, questions abound about the Ravens ability to throw the ball against quality secondaries, and perhaps more pressing, can their own make-shift secondary slow down the passing game of the Patriots, even without the injured Wes Welker in the mix?  Going into the final phase of their 2009 season, here’s how they are faring:

 

Quarterback: D

 

Flacco looked lost at times, particularly in the middle quarters as he badly misfired on throws.  He seemed incapable of checking out of disadvantageous coverages and held the ball too long as the Raiders converged on him for four sacks.  However, he did not commit a turnover, even when running dangerously out of the pocket, looking for a receiver in the red zone with a defensive lineman trailing.  After completing just two of six throws for 13 yards in the second half, Flacco finished a Dilfer-esque nine of nineteen for 102 yards on the day.

 

Running Backs: A

 

The Raiders stacked the line of scrimmage to stop Ray Rice.  He still managed to grind-out five yards per carry on the day, gaining seventy yards on fourteen attempts, to go along with four catches for nineteen yards.  But the day belonged to the fresh legs of Willis McGahee, who tallied all 21 of the Ravens points through the ground attack.  He doubled Rice’s per-carry average to finish with 167 yards.  After the game, Michael Oher aptly commented on the effort by describing the “ten-yard holes” the line was opening, which McGahee was able to convert into runs of thirty yards or more.  That included a season-highlight, 77-yard touchdown run where McGahee used a stiff arm to flick Hiram Eugene to the ground.  It was eerily reminiscent of McGahee’s 77-yard run off the right side in the final game at Texas Stadium last season.  And his stiff arm bettered the number Le’Ron McClain did on Ken Hamlin in that same game during his 83-yard run.  Perhaps the Ravens rediscovered their running identity.

 

Wide Receivers: C-

 

The Raiders secondary was simply better than the Ravens receiving corps. All-Pro cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha shut down Derrick Mason without much help.  Mason did get one, 23-yard catch on the day, showing very good ability to tack on yards when he finally got the ball in his hands.  Kelley Washington had a four and a three-yard catch, and Mark Clayton snared one ball for seven yards.   The only real plus on the day was good effort downfield blocking for Ravens runners.

 

Tight Ends: B

 

Todd Heap did not have many catches on the day (2) but he made them count at both ends of the field with a nice job holding onto the ball at the Raiders eight after a big hit, and helping bail out his team with a twenty yard catch after they were pinned inside their five.  Heap also threw a key block on the long touchdown run by McGahee, where LJ Smith also threw a key block after he filled in at H-Back for Chris Chester, who slid to guard for Marshall Yanda for a few series.

 

Tackles: B

 

The Ravens gave up four sacks, but not because of poor efforts by Jared Gaither and Michael Oher. At times the Raiders were simply able to load up too many defenders at the line.  Still, when the numbers were right, the tackles dominated in the running game. Gaither showed a nifty inside trap move to push the pile and open up a first down for Rice.  He simply mauled the rookie Matt Shaughnessy at times.  Not to be outdone, Oher simply pushed the nine-year veteran Gerard Warren onto the ground at the goal for the first McGahee TD plunge.

 

Interior Line: B

 

Ben Grubbs had one of his better games, and coordinator Cam Cameron took advantage of his ability to pull right to lead effectively for McGahee, including all three of McGahee’s TDs.  On the long run Grubbs cleared out LB Kirk Morrison.  He neutralized a blitzing Tyvon Branch for the first TD, and again led for McGahee on his final TD.   Marshall Yanda did misread a delayed blitz up the middle by rookie safety Mike Mitchell.  Yanda was out with a nicked up knee in the second quarter while Chris Chester put in quality minutes at right guard.   Matt Birk was solid at center.

 

Cornerbacks: C

 

Both Domonique Foxworth and Chris Carr were closing fast on runs and short throws, but were inconsistent tacklers.   Foxworth had difficulty covering Louis Murphy at times, and the rookie  managed six catches for 59 yards.  Carr also noticeably slipped trying to cover Johnny Lee Higgins, who finished with four catches for 71 yards.   However, in the flat and at the boundary Carr was excellent in coverage and he tackled better as the game wore on.  Frank Walker appeared to chip in with his weekly illegal contact foul.   Corey Ivy also appeared in the game with a single tackle.  The secondary seemed to play better as a unit as the game progressed.

 

Safeties: C

 

Ed Reed was back from the injury list and made his mark by being in the right spot throughout the game.  It helped him finish with five tackles.  Dawan Landry played soft, giving receivers plenty of space, with mixed results.  The Raiders did a lot of passing damage over the middle, to Murphy, along with Zack Miller, who beat Landry on the touchdown, and Chaz Schilens, who grabbed eight balls for 99 yards.  Chaz Schilens? I know, right?

 

Linebackers: A-

 

Dannell Ellerbe had his best game as a pro with clean tackling (2) and recovered turnovers (2).  He also timed a center blitz well to force an early throw.  Ray Lewis cleaned up with 12 tackles and was impressive in beating Mario Henderson off corner to force another early throw, or pursuing Miller decisively in the open field.  His limitations showed up trying to cover the younger Murphy on a drag route and on an end-around. Jarret Johnson was active off the corner and it was his pressure on Russell that sparked Ellerbe’s interception. Similarly, Antwan Barnes’ hustled to force a Russell fumble recovered by Ellerbe.  Barnes was flagged for jumping the snap count.

 

Defensive Line: A-

 

The Ravens front four was dominant in the running game. Kelly Gregg looked healthier than he has all season and was getting great penetration at the snap.  Haloti Ngata, Dwan Edwards and Justin Bannan all controlled the line of scrimmage. Their play was typified by the failed third and a foot conversion attempt by the Raiders that was stuffed for a three-yard loss.  Trevor Price and Edwards did push the pocket at times, but none of the defensive linemen seemed to possess the closing speed to get near the quarterback after the initial push.    Terrell Suggs showed up on the stat sheet with a sack.

 

Special Teams: C+

 

Jalen Parmele had a terrific game as a kick returner, averaging 34 yards per return. His return skills were so good that it may have been easy to overlook his fine coverage tackles.  David Tyree also chimed in with a nice coverage tackle following a Sam Koch punt.  Billy Cundiff showed a very strong leg on kickoffs, but missed both field goal tries form 37 and 51 yards.   Matt Katula continues to struggle from the long snapper position; his apparent elbow tendonitis does not seem to be improving, which should be a concern going into the playoffs.  Sam Koch could not match Shane Lechler’s punting, but he had a fine day nonetheless.  Edgar Jones was flagged for grabbing a shirt on a long punt return.

 

Coaching: B-

 

The decision to go with the hot hand in Willis McGahee was an excellent one when it would have been easy to continue to ride Ray Rice.    Cam Cameron will need to work on Ravens protection schemes, perhaps even taking Le’Ron McClain off the field, or he will need to school Flacco on audibling out of danger. On defense, the Ravens have yet to find an effective way to pressure the quarterback.  Too often blitzers telegraph their intent and ineffectively crash into waiting blockers.  Yet, the decision to back off and rush just three on a third and fifteen allowed Russell to confidently step up and complete a 17-yard pass. Credit John Harbaugh for continuing his perfect record against losing teams.  And let’s recognize that the penalty total this week was cut down to five for 37 yards.

 

Officiating: C

 

Tony Corrente’s crew made some curious calls in the Ravens secondary, including illegal contact by Frank Walker when he did not put his hands on the receiver, and simply a bad interference call on Carr.    They seemed to overlook two consecutive facemask calls, although it is unclear what constitutes facemasking now that the five-yard incidental variety no longer exists.   Side Judge Allen Baynes poorly spotted a Le’Ron McClain catch at the one-foot line, moving the ball back to create a third and inches situation that McGahee still managed to score on.

 

Broadcast: B

 

Phil Simms was very prepared for the broadcast and completely honest, which puts him light years ahead of recent Ravens broadcasters like Dick Enberg and Dan Dierdorf.  No hyperbole and lots of information from Simms.  You may not always agree with his opinion, but at least he’s careful about explaining what he is seeing. Jim Nance is clearly a professional and also has an easy-going manner; sometimes too easy, as he steers the team into inane chatter or golf analogies. With temperatures in the high fifties to low sixties in Oakland in January, perhaps Nance can be forgiven. 

 

January in New England promises to make the Ravens forget all about golfing weather—which unlike the twenty teams whose season just ended, is just fine with them.

 

FYI…extended forecast as of this writing for Sunday’s kickoff: Partly cloudy, high of 24 degrees, 10% chance of precipitation.