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Rearview Mirror/Post Game Analysis - REPORT CARD: Panthers 23 Ravens 21
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Posted On: 10/16/06
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QUARTERBACK: C+
Steve McNair looked shaky from the start and after 4 passes that seemed to lack purpose and a sack that left the warrior in the Twilight Zone, the Ravens offensive savior called it a day. Kyle Boller jumped into the action and it appeared as though the entire offensive unit picked up their intensity. The offense appeared a bit faster and the contrast between McNair’s throws and Boller’s was considerable. It brought to mind the differences between a Bruce Chen fastball and one from Daniel Cabrera.
Boller’s effort was solid and while his QB rating of 97.0 on the day was certainly aided by a couple of tipped throws, he made some plays and showed some athleticism that has been missing from the position. He fired a few lasers to Todd Heap, Mark Clayton, Daniel Wilcox and Demetrius Williams that McNair is no longer capable of. He demonstrated some toughness taking hits while delivering some passes, one of which was his 35 yard connection to Williams. He still has a tendency to flush out of the pocket to his left instead of stepping up into it – a trademark of McNair’s. Boller did appear to do a better job on Sunday reading through his progressions than he’s done in the past.
However he twice failed to lead drives that should have produced points inside of Carolina territory. With 8:34 remaining in the third and the Ravens down 13-7, the Ravens faced a third and 11 from the Carolina 34. While rolling right Boller’s pass intended for Heap was picked off by rookie reserve corner Richard Marshall. Boller had plenty of room to run and if he didn’t pick up the first he certainly would have left the reliable Stover with a make-able field goal attempt.
Steve McNair looked shaky from the start and after 4 passes that seemed to lack purpose and a sack that left the warrior in the Twilight Zone, the Ravens offensive savior called it a day. Kyle Boller jumped into the action and it appeared as though the entire offensive unit picked up their intensity. The offense appeared a bit faster and the contrast between McNair’s throws and Boller’s was considerable. It brought to mind the differences between a Bruce Chen fastball and one from Daniel Cabrera.
Boller’s effort was solid and while his QB rating of 97.0 on the day was certainly aided by a couple of tipped throws, he made some plays and showed some athleticism that has been missing from the position. He fired a few lasers to Todd Heap, Mark Clayton, Daniel Wilcox and Demetrius Williams that McNair is no longer capable of. He demonstrated some toughness taking hits while delivering some passes, one of which was his 35 yard connection to Williams. He still has a tendency to flush out of the pocket to his left instead of stepping up into it – a trademark of McNair’s. Boller did appear to do a better job on Sunday reading through his progressions than he’s done in the past.
However he twice failed to lead drives that should have produced points inside of Carolina territory. With 8:34 remaining in the third and the Ravens down 13-7, the Ravens faced a third and 11 from the Carolina 34. While rolling right Boller’s pass intended for Heap was picked off by rookie reserve corner Richard Marshall. Boller had plenty of room to run and if he didn’t pick up the first he certainly would have left the reliable Stover with a make-able field goal attempt.
Then to end the third quarter, the Ravens had a first and 10 at the Panthers’ 30. After a loss of two on a run by Anderson and an incomplete pass to Heap, Boller tossed an ill-advised pass to Musa Smith that lost another two yards and pushed Stover outside of his comfort zone. The Ravens would eventually elect to punt to start the fourth quarter and pin the Panthers at their 6. Failure to produce points in either of these situations proved costly.
RUNNING BACK: C
Jamal Lewis ran with purpose yesterday and looked like a man fighting for his job. He showed a burst to the outside that he hasn’t shown and was one Mike Minter tackle away from scoring from 23 yards out. Mike Anderson picked up a couple of clutch short yardage first downs. He shows an ability to get small in those situations and has better body lean than Lewis in tight quarters. Musa Smith fumbled away another scoring opportunity when he coughed up the football at the Carolina 26 on third and 15, a run intended to assure Matt Stover a higher percentage field goal attempt.
RECEIVERS: B
A Derrick Mason shutout is rare. He had an opportunity to produce a big play in the second quarter when he was the hot read on a Panthers’ blitz and he Clarence Moore-d it. Mason had plenty of running room along the right side line. Mark Clayton twice demonstrated great presence of mind to score on tipped passes. He did fail to haul in a deep sideline route early in the second quarter. Todd Heap was his usual sure-handed self hauling in a clutch one handed grab from Boller as well as the jump ball in the corner of the end zone to bring the Ravens to within 2 late in the fourth. Heap has also become a much better blocker as his blocks contributed greatly to Jamal Lewis’ two longest runs of 9 and 17 yards. Demetrius Williams is a threat after the catch and the Ravens need to find more ways of getting him the football.
OFFENSIVE LINE: C+
This unit held up reasonably well against one of the league’s most formidable defensive fronts. Flynn and Vincent at times were eaten up by Kris Jenkins and Maake Kemoeatu enabling Carolina backers Na’il Diggs and Chris Draft to penetrate cleanly. Jason Brown turned in a solid performance as did Jonathan Ogden who showed that he still has mobility out in space leading the way for a Jamal Lewis 6 yard gain on a sweep left. Tony Pashos held his own facing perhaps the league’s most dominant force off the edge, Julius Peppers.
DEFENSIVE LINE: C+
Kelly Gregg and Haloti Ngata along with the tackle rotational back ups Justin Bannan, Aubrayo Franklin and Dwan Edwards all did a respectable job of stuffing the run, doing their part to hold the Panthers to 58 yards on 30 carries (1.9 yard average). Gregg also forced a DeShaun Foster fumble that the Ravens failed to capitalize on. Trevor Pryce also supported the run well (5 tackles), particularly in short yardage situations but he failed to produce pressure on Jake Delhomme. Despite Delhomme’s 39 passing attempts and the Ravens forcing the Panthers into a one-dimensional throwing team, Terrell Suggs was also unable to disrupt Delhomme in the pocket save for one QB hurry.
LINEBACKERS: C+
Bart Scott for the second consecutive game was a bit quiet and that could be an indication that opponents are game planning for him a bit more. He had only 5 tackles although 2 came on consecutive running plays inside the Ravens 3 during the first quarter goal line stand. Ray Lewis was inconsistent. At times he supported the run well contributing 4 tackles that totaled 6 yards for the Panthers (1.5 yards/play). However Lewis was caught out of position or unable to shed a block on four other running plays during which he eventually contributed a tackle. Those four plays totaled 39 yards (10 yards/play). Lewis was also caught out of position on a dump off pass to Nick Goings towards the end of the first half resulting in a 22 yard gain to help set up a John Kasay field goal to put the Panthers up 13-7. Lewis was also ineffective when blitzing, hardly putting up a fight against blockers that engaged him. Adalius Thomas was the best of this posse registering 4 tackles on running plays totaling 1 yard (0.25 yards/play), he defended the pass well in open space intimidating both Foster and Steve Smith in traffic and he added a vicious sack and quarterback hurry.
SECONDARY: D-
RUNNING BACK: C
Jamal Lewis ran with purpose yesterday and looked like a man fighting for his job. He showed a burst to the outside that he hasn’t shown and was one Mike Minter tackle away from scoring from 23 yards out. Mike Anderson picked up a couple of clutch short yardage first downs. He shows an ability to get small in those situations and has better body lean than Lewis in tight quarters. Musa Smith fumbled away another scoring opportunity when he coughed up the football at the Carolina 26 on third and 15, a run intended to assure Matt Stover a higher percentage field goal attempt.
RECEIVERS: B
A Derrick Mason shutout is rare. He had an opportunity to produce a big play in the second quarter when he was the hot read on a Panthers’ blitz and he Clarence Moore-d it. Mason had plenty of running room along the right side line. Mark Clayton twice demonstrated great presence of mind to score on tipped passes. He did fail to haul in a deep sideline route early in the second quarter. Todd Heap was his usual sure-handed self hauling in a clutch one handed grab from Boller as well as the jump ball in the corner of the end zone to bring the Ravens to within 2 late in the fourth. Heap has also become a much better blocker as his blocks contributed greatly to Jamal Lewis’ two longest runs of 9 and 17 yards. Demetrius Williams is a threat after the catch and the Ravens need to find more ways of getting him the football.
OFFENSIVE LINE: C+
This unit held up reasonably well against one of the league’s most formidable defensive fronts. Flynn and Vincent at times were eaten up by Kris Jenkins and Maake Kemoeatu enabling Carolina backers Na’il Diggs and Chris Draft to penetrate cleanly. Jason Brown turned in a solid performance as did Jonathan Ogden who showed that he still has mobility out in space leading the way for a Jamal Lewis 6 yard gain on a sweep left. Tony Pashos held his own facing perhaps the league’s most dominant force off the edge, Julius Peppers.
DEFENSIVE LINE: C+
Kelly Gregg and Haloti Ngata along with the tackle rotational back ups Justin Bannan, Aubrayo Franklin and Dwan Edwards all did a respectable job of stuffing the run, doing their part to hold the Panthers to 58 yards on 30 carries (1.9 yard average). Gregg also forced a DeShaun Foster fumble that the Ravens failed to capitalize on. Trevor Pryce also supported the run well (5 tackles), particularly in short yardage situations but he failed to produce pressure on Jake Delhomme. Despite Delhomme’s 39 passing attempts and the Ravens forcing the Panthers into a one-dimensional throwing team, Terrell Suggs was also unable to disrupt Delhomme in the pocket save for one QB hurry.
LINEBACKERS: C+
Bart Scott for the second consecutive game was a bit quiet and that could be an indication that opponents are game planning for him a bit more. He had only 5 tackles although 2 came on consecutive running plays inside the Ravens 3 during the first quarter goal line stand. Ray Lewis was inconsistent. At times he supported the run well contributing 4 tackles that totaled 6 yards for the Panthers (1.5 yards/play). However Lewis was caught out of position or unable to shed a block on four other running plays during which he eventually contributed a tackle. Those four plays totaled 39 yards (10 yards/play). Lewis was also caught out of position on a dump off pass to Nick Goings towards the end of the first half resulting in a 22 yard gain to help set up a John Kasay field goal to put the Panthers up 13-7. Lewis was also ineffective when blitzing, hardly putting up a fight against blockers that engaged him. Adalius Thomas was the best of this posse registering 4 tackles on running plays totaling 1 yard (0.25 yards/play), he defended the pass well in open space intimidating both Foster and Steve Smith in traffic and he added a vicious sack and quarterback hurry.
SECONDARY: D-
Despite solid efforts from Chris McAlister (who was decent in coverage and supported the run extremely well) and Dawan Landry who continues to show surprising progress, this unit failed the Ravens. Their nickel back was exposed as Evan Oglesby was targeted by Delhomme nearly every time he lined up against a slot receiver and when spotted in single coverage against Keyshawn Johnson, Delhomme’s excitement was like that of a teenager on a date with Beyonce. McAlister’s interference penalty was unnecessary since the pass to Keyshawn Johnson would have fallen short of the first down anyway.
But of course the real story was Samari Rolle. I found it interesting that the scoreboard showed Rolle’s first named spelled Sumari. It had me thinking that maybe Rolle should change the spelling of his first name to Tsamari because his play yesterday was like a tsunami to the Ravens defensive effort. It’s one thing to be torched all afternoon by Steve Smith and get turned around and play with your back to the quarterback. It’s another to get lit up by the not so household name of Drew “Get” Carter. Tsamari couldn’t and the resulting secondary play was a natural disaster. Ed Reed wasn’t much help, preferring to free lance instead of staying with his assignment. The game plan was to bracket Smith and contain him with Rolle/Reed. Reed’s half of the bracket failed to show up and the only thing that was rolling all day was Steve Smith’s receiving yardage totals (189 yards) – totals that approach a good day for Steve McNair.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Sam Koch delivered another very solid performance netting nearly 42 yards on 5 punts, two of which were pinned inside the 20, one at the six. The coverage teams were solid as well, allowing the Panthers only 8 yards in total on punt returns and less than 21 yards on average during kick returns. B.J. Sams had a nice return of 31 yards on one kick, making something out of nothing but the wedges formed during the returns seemed to lack proper timing. Kasay’s irregular kickoffs added to the confusion. Heads up play by B.J. Sams to start the game. He caught the opening kickoff while straddling the sideline at the 3 yard line. By rule, that is an out of bounds kick that results in the receiving team getting the ball at their own 40 yard line.
COACHING: OFFENSE B-, DEFENSE D
Jim Fassel certainly mixed things up and while they didn’t achieve the balance that they normally seek between the pass and the run, the game situation dictated a reliance upon the passing game (38 passes/22 rushes). The failure to get Derrick Mason involved in the flow of the game was a mistake although the Panthers’ stout corner Chris Gamble certainly had something to say about that. Fassel added a few wrinkles in the rushing attack, threw the ball downfield to keep Carolina honest, ran a few boots and waggles and tried to exploit a hole in the Panthers’ coverage on the deep left sideline, just missing on two attempts to Clayton and Heap. He kept the Panthers guessing most of the afternoon opting to pass on 18 of 25 first down plays.
Defensively the Ravens had no answers all afternoon. Facing a team that couldn’t convert a third down last week against Cleveland, the Panthers converted most big third downs early in the game (5 of 7) often employing slot receivers to beat the Ravens’ nickel. The Carolina offensive staff scouted the Ravens blitz packages well, keeping Delhomme clean most of the day despite giving up 18 sacks heading into the contest.
But of course the real story was Samari Rolle. I found it interesting that the scoreboard showed Rolle’s first named spelled Sumari. It had me thinking that maybe Rolle should change the spelling of his first name to Tsamari because his play yesterday was like a tsunami to the Ravens defensive effort. It’s one thing to be torched all afternoon by Steve Smith and get turned around and play with your back to the quarterback. It’s another to get lit up by the not so household name of Drew “Get” Carter. Tsamari couldn’t and the resulting secondary play was a natural disaster. Ed Reed wasn’t much help, preferring to free lance instead of staying with his assignment. The game plan was to bracket Smith and contain him with Rolle/Reed. Reed’s half of the bracket failed to show up and the only thing that was rolling all day was Steve Smith’s receiving yardage totals (189 yards) – totals that approach a good day for Steve McNair.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Sam Koch delivered another very solid performance netting nearly 42 yards on 5 punts, two of which were pinned inside the 20, one at the six. The coverage teams were solid as well, allowing the Panthers only 8 yards in total on punt returns and less than 21 yards on average during kick returns. B.J. Sams had a nice return of 31 yards on one kick, making something out of nothing but the wedges formed during the returns seemed to lack proper timing. Kasay’s irregular kickoffs added to the confusion. Heads up play by B.J. Sams to start the game. He caught the opening kickoff while straddling the sideline at the 3 yard line. By rule, that is an out of bounds kick that results in the receiving team getting the ball at their own 40 yard line.
COACHING: OFFENSE B-, DEFENSE D
Jim Fassel certainly mixed things up and while they didn’t achieve the balance that they normally seek between the pass and the run, the game situation dictated a reliance upon the passing game (38 passes/22 rushes). The failure to get Derrick Mason involved in the flow of the game was a mistake although the Panthers’ stout corner Chris Gamble certainly had something to say about that. Fassel added a few wrinkles in the rushing attack, threw the ball downfield to keep Carolina honest, ran a few boots and waggles and tried to exploit a hole in the Panthers’ coverage on the deep left sideline, just missing on two attempts to Clayton and Heap. He kept the Panthers guessing most of the afternoon opting to pass on 18 of 25 first down plays.
Defensively the Ravens had no answers all afternoon. Facing a team that couldn’t convert a third down last week against Cleveland, the Panthers converted most big third downs early in the game (5 of 7) often employing slot receivers to beat the Ravens’ nickel. The Carolina offensive staff scouted the Ravens blitz packages well, keeping Delhomme clean most of the day despite giving up 18 sacks heading into the contest.
Whenever the Panthers had to answer offensively, they did. Pinned at their own 6 yard line leading 13-7 to start the fourth quarter, the Panthers out maneuvered Rex Ryan’s troops and put together a 15 play drive that ended with a John Kasay field goal while consuming nearly 8 minutes of game clock.
Then after pulling within 2 at 16-14, the Ravens defense gave up a back breaking 72 yard touchdown score to Steve Smith. And then finally needing a defensive stop inside of two minutes to have a chance, they failed again to stop the Panthers and give the offense a chance to pull it out.
The clock management at the end of the game was botched up once again and now it appears that the finger will be pointed Rex Ryan’s way. Billick was quite animated and perturbed on the sidelines when nearly 30 seconds were wasted after Foster’s 3 yard run with 1:56 on the clock. Not until 1:26 did the Ravens call timeout and judging from the sideline chaos, it was Rex Ryan’s call to make. But if Billick wanted the code red, er…time out, then he should have ordered it. Those 30 seconds plus the near 40 seconds burned between plays after the Drew Carter back breaking first down catch could have provided some fleeting hope for a team desperately seeking it at the time. With a second and 10 and 1:40 to go and the Ravens then hypothetically out of timeouts, it still probably goes down in defeat but the Ravens may have been able to force a punt with about 20 seconds to go.
OTHER NOTABLES AND QUOTABLES: Samari Rolle seemed to be biting his tongue and took his fair share of blame (he deserved it) but AD said it best when questioned about the Led Zeppelin song in the Ravens’ defensive backfield: “We thought we were good on defense. We didn’t do nothing today, period. Technique. If you’re supposed to do something, then do it. There wasn’t any damn communication problem. Get on the same page and do your job.” Take note Ed Reed…Regardless, Rolle’s jersey might read “22” but opponents will interpret that as “bullseye” until he proves them wrong…The officiating crew led by Referee Peter Morelli did a very nice job overall; they were informative and only noticed when they needed to be. They did however miss the motion penalty on DeShaun Foster that provoked the Terrell Suggs offsides penalty on Carolina’s last and game clinching possession…That penalty set up a first and 5 situation. The Ravens should take note – had they jumped offsides again on first and 5 and tackled Delhomme for a loss on the succeeding play, the Panthers would have been forced to accept the penalty and the resulting situation would have been a more favorable first and ten…Nice of the fans to cheer Kyle Boller’s entrance into the game although the thought crossed my mind that maybe the cheer in part was inspired by a building frustration with McNair…The crowd was a bit subdued prior to the game, seemingly unsure of the home team’s chances in the contest.
Then after pulling within 2 at 16-14, the Ravens defense gave up a back breaking 72 yard touchdown score to Steve Smith. And then finally needing a defensive stop inside of two minutes to have a chance, they failed again to stop the Panthers and give the offense a chance to pull it out.
The clock management at the end of the game was botched up once again and now it appears that the finger will be pointed Rex Ryan’s way. Billick was quite animated and perturbed on the sidelines when nearly 30 seconds were wasted after Foster’s 3 yard run with 1:56 on the clock. Not until 1:26 did the Ravens call timeout and judging from the sideline chaos, it was Rex Ryan’s call to make. But if Billick wanted the code red, er…time out, then he should have ordered it. Those 30 seconds plus the near 40 seconds burned between plays after the Drew Carter back breaking first down catch could have provided some fleeting hope for a team desperately seeking it at the time. With a second and 10 and 1:40 to go and the Ravens then hypothetically out of timeouts, it still probably goes down in defeat but the Ravens may have been able to force a punt with about 20 seconds to go.
OTHER NOTABLES AND QUOTABLES: Samari Rolle seemed to be biting his tongue and took his fair share of blame (he deserved it) but AD said it best when questioned about the Led Zeppelin song in the Ravens’ defensive backfield: “We thought we were good on defense. We didn’t do nothing today, period. Technique. If you’re supposed to do something, then do it. There wasn’t any damn communication problem. Get on the same page and do your job.” Take note Ed Reed…Regardless, Rolle’s jersey might read “22” but opponents will interpret that as “bullseye” until he proves them wrong…The officiating crew led by Referee Peter Morelli did a very nice job overall; they were informative and only noticed when they needed to be. They did however miss the motion penalty on DeShaun Foster that provoked the Terrell Suggs offsides penalty on Carolina’s last and game clinching possession…That penalty set up a first and 5 situation. The Ravens should take note – had they jumped offsides again on first and 5 and tackled Delhomme for a loss on the succeeding play, the Panthers would have been forced to accept the penalty and the resulting situation would have been a more favorable first and ten…Nice of the fans to cheer Kyle Boller’s entrance into the game although the thought crossed my mind that maybe the cheer in part was inspired by a building frustration with McNair…The crowd was a bit subdued prior to the game, seemingly unsure of the home team’s chances in the contest.
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Posted On: 10/16/06
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