Not too much moving and shaking this week in the Power Rankings. The Giants loss to the Eagles cost them the top spot, but nothing more. And down the rankings, it all shakes out as expected with three teams falling out of the top 10 thanks to losses – including the New York Jets, who just two weeks ago were sitting pretty in the division lead and at number two in the rankings.

The newcomers are a trio of 8-5 teams, not far ahead of the 8-5 bunch unseen behind them. The Dolphins, Cardinals and Vikings are all welcomed to the top 10 courtesy of their positions as division leaders. For the Dolphins and Vikings, it is their first trip into the top 10 this season and with how things have been going, it may be a short stay.

Fallen Off:

New York Jets (7): Losers of two straight and now stuck in a three way tied for their division lead.

Dallas Cowboys (9): Because Tony Romo still cannot win the big game.

Atlanta Falcons (10): The rule in the NFC South this year is that the home team always wins.

The top ten are after the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s dig right in…

•  First, no need to talk around it: Ed Reed deserves serious consideration for NFL player of the year. We’ve heard the talk about Albert Haynesworth since week one, and more recently we have heard about James Harrison and Joey Porter. But with two interceptions tonight, a forced and recovered fumble, and another touchdown, Reed has planted himself firmly in the hunt for the award. His five interceptions put him in second in the league; his three defensive touchdowns tie him for first. He single-handedly changes games and makes offenses rethink everything they are doing.
• Reed is the single-most feared defensive player in the league. Hands down. No questions asked. In Baltimore, even, he is feared for the erratic way he handles the ball when he gets it. It is the fear he puts into opposing quarterbacks and coaches, though, that makes him so much fun to watch. His performance tonight won the Ravens this game.
• Yes, Ed Reed deserved two bullets (now three) all to himself.
• As for the rest of the defense? The line got plenty of rush and the blitzing packages worked wonders. Terrell Suggs had one of the best games of his season - he too deserves some player of the year consideration. The entire unit clicked.
• In other news…the Ravens book-ended this game, playing well at the start and at the finish, but the middle has to raise some concerns. Between the weather and a tough opposing defense, maybe the offense is just fine. But for the majority of three quarters, the Ravens offense looked defunct - not quite as sharp as we would all like with the Steelers coming to town.
• Dear Willis McGahee, I am sure there will be plenty of excuses for your play in the week to come - by fans and coaches alike - but it must be said: what a sad performance. For starters, when you start dropping pitches and passes, maybe it is time to remove the dark visor … it’s not like you are playing at night time in December. But additionally, your vision and ability were both lacking tonight. This is not what was expected after that extra rest you were given last week that caused so much controversy.
• Take a note from Le’Ron McClain when you get a chance (or was the blocked by the visor too?). McClain again put this offense on his back when it mattered most. On the Ravens final scoring drive, McClain carried the ball eight times and helped to eat up more than seven minutes of game time. In fact, mid-drive, multiple Steelers fans in the area were unhappily noting how much the drive reminded them of Jerome Bettis when he played. Seeing that from an opponent has to be frightening.
• Also regarding the running game, the Ravens introduced and frequently used the super unbalanced line. They took unbalanced to a whole new level. The Ravens not only shifted RT Willie Anderson to the left side, but they would bring in third tackle Adam Terry, and send him to the left as well. The result? A line that looked like this: T-T-T-G-C-G-TE. It had to be intimidating for the Redskins and it was entertaining to watch, but the results were not exactly stellar. The most fun thing about the formation was watching the Ravens call plays to the weak side after spending so much time inflating the strong side… but hey, that’s misdirection, I suppose.
• Otherwise, the Ravens offensive effort was mostly lame. Literally, lame. As in “pulling up lame.” The Ravens receivers were again the biggest disappointment, unable to find any open space in the Redskins zone secondary. John Madden continually noted that the Ravens had to have some plays to cut the zone and they were just not being called. I always though, however, that any play could work against a zone if you have a receiver or two that knows how to find the gap. Apparently, the Ravens do not have any of those receivers. Perhaps it was a mix of confusion and unfamiliarity from Joe Flacco, but I think it was a problem of the entire unit. As for Flacco? He was fine, but did little worth mentioning.
• Now would be a good time to get in a solid word for Lorenzo Neal. The Ravens were beyond wise in grabbing Neal when they had the chance and it has paid off as well as any investment in recent franchise history. John Madden and Al Michaels were not shy about sharing Neal’s impact on this offense. On the obvious side, adding a fullback has allowed the Ravens to move McClain to tailback when necessary. And that has become necessary more than ever anticipated. But additionally, Neal’s ability, experience and knowledge are all unmatched when it comes to fullbacks. He has transformed this offense, in both its play and its mentality, as much as anyone else. He is certainly an unsung hero that deserves a few more nods from fans and analysts alike.
• Overall: The Ravens effort was commendable and it is hard to complain about the result. Discussions about being unable to beat good teams should be fading by now. Next week, expect much more of the same against the Steelers. Offensive mistakes against the Steelers, however, are far more costly. At least the offense had its down day now. The Ravens are ready for Pittsburgh to come to town next weekend and really pound away in the stretch run.
• Gameballs: Ed Reed, Ed Reed, Ed Reed and Le’Ron McClain.

Bonus Note! Kudos to the fans at the stadium today. While the Washington presence was notable, the Ravens fans sounded on top of their game. I was disappointed in the lack of mention by Madden and Michaels. By my count, the crowd was responsible for numerous penalties and timeouts. M&T Bank is underrated as far as stadiums in this league go. It is top notch both as a facility and in atmosphere. Not many places get as loud when it is 20 degrees outside… the studios will pick up on it one of these days.

No time to mince words, just be blunt: it was a rough week for the Top Ten. Three of last week’s top ten lost, and three more snuck away with wins in the most absurd of ways.

The Patriots and Cardinals fell out of the rankings this week. The Patriots lost to the Steelers by a wide margin at home. In a sentence, they offense got shut down and the defense failed to show up. It was almost expected though; defense has been the Patriots’ problem all season long.

For the Cardinals, they just got outplayed by the Eagles. In the process, they lost yet another chance to clinch their division. Though, I must admit, it would be kind of fun to see a team get into the playoffs at 7-9.

The two new arrivals this week, taking over the spots of the Pats and Cards, are the Cowboys and Falcons. Both teams have won eight games and are fighting for the second wild card position in the NFC. Unfortunately, both will likely end the season with better records than the winners of the NFC North and NF C West.

The full list is after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

Just a quick peek at the rankings right now, the rest will follow tomorrow…

The Giants hold onto to the top spot in the rankings for the second straight week, but the Titans loss to the Jets cost them the number two position. The Jets, on a five-game winning streak, have taken that spot from the Titans, along with their hopes of staying undefeated.

Moving through the Top 10, you will not find too many changes. The Panthers loss to their division-rival Falcons cost them a few spots, but most of the other leaders won this week.

The biggest change in our Top 10 this week: The Redskins, despite a close win over the Seahawks, have fallen from the number nine position. Replacing them in the rankings are the Ravens, who beat up on the Eagles on Sunday. The AFC is slowly but surely asserting its dominance in the rankings, it appears…

This is a year of division greatness and division lameness.

The Great: The AFC East, where, even on a four-game losing streak, the Bills are sill 5-5. The NFC East, where, thanks to a tie, every team is over the .500 mark and the Giants are 9-1. The NFC South, where the Falcons, Saints, Panthers and Bucs have been taking turns beating up on every other division out there.

The Lame: The AFC West, where the division leader couldn’t even handle the lowly Browns last week. The NFC West, where the Cardinals have as many wins as the other three teams combined.

The other three? Just what you’d expect. A little good. A little bad. Lots of fun to watch.

The rest of the rankings are below… Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve got to take a moment to comment, briefly, on something that’s been bugging me in the 24 hours since the Ravens loss to the Giants. This is an out-of-the-norm post for this blog.

Already today I’ve been greeted by numerous articles from local and national media outlets proclaiming “what do the Ravens do now?” and “what does this loss mean for the Ravens?” It’s as if the Ravens season has ended with their loss to the Giants. It’s as if all chances of making the playoffs have been squashed out.

But guess what? The loss wasn’t that surprising.

Even on Ravens-oriented sites, the Ravens were considered underdogs. ExtremeRavens has been experiencing server issues, so chat leading up to the game here was not possible. But I can bet you that if it were, you wouldn’t find anyone calling the game a cakewalk, a sure win, or anything else along those lines. In fact, for the first time all season, I even picked against the Ravens (that’s another story).

Look at the national and local media for a moment.  The Baltimore Sun’s eight sports writers all picked the Giants. Every single analyst on ESPN (both on the website and on Sunday Countdown) picked the Giants. Bill Simmons picked the Ravens… with the spread. He did not pick them flat out. I do not remember reading a single national voice that thought the Ravens would win on Sunday. Not one.

So why is this loss the end of the world?

It’s something that bothers me every year, in every sport. The #25 ranked team plays the #4 ranked team in College Basketball and loses. And suddenly that #25 ranked team is out of the rankings. But isn’t that what was expected?

Dear Baltimore Fans… Dear Football Writers… Dear Everyone…

The Ravens lost on Sunday. But somehow, they are still 6-4. They are still in the playoff hunt. In fact, the NFL believes so firmly that the Ravens still have a chance, they are going to let the Ravens play out the rest of the season. How merciful of them.

With every loss to a good opponent, the Ravens are learning. They are not a perfect team, but they are not an awful team either. Lucky for the Ravens, they have faced the two toughest teams in the league right now (the Giants and Titans) and they won’t have to face either again, unless they the playoffs become a reality.

So rather than spending this week doing our best impersonations of Chicken Little, why don’t we all settle back and actually discuss what this team can do and what they need to do as the season enters its final stretch? The sky is not falling, the season is not over. This team lost a game it was supposed to lose. It may not have been pretty, but to spin the old cliche, pretty doesn’t show up in the standings.

The players are going to get over it. The coaches are going to get over it. You didn’t see this team carry that loss against Indianapolis around for very long, did you? So let’s do our best to get over it ourselves, as fans and writers.

I’ll start: Joe Flacco has pretty well learned how to avoid making mistakes. He is a legitimate threat when he has the ball, both with his arm and his legs. He’s learned how to avoid sacks, make plays, and he is what brings our offense to life. Now we need everyone else on the offense to learn the same. They don’t have to make huge plays or become game-changers. But they do have to learn how to avoid mistakes themselves, especially against good opponents.

Your turn.

Here’s a peek at our Power Rankings for this week.

Behind a surprising offense and a four game win streak (second only to the undefeated Titans), the Ravens have moved all the way to fourth in the poll this week.

The Jets have found their way into the Top 10 for the first time this week. Their blowout of the Rams coupled with the Patriots victory over the Bills took the Jets into a tie for the lead of the AFC East. The Patriots, though, are lurking right behind them.

Finally, the Falcons found their way back into the mix this week. At 6-3, they are tied for second in their division with the Buccaneers. Matt Ryan is finding his groove and the Falcons look nothing like the team we expected to see this year…

Read our complete rankings from this week here.

The Baltimore Ravens soundly thumped the Houston Texans, 41-13 on Sunday. Understandably upset, Texan fans are placing the blame at the feet of their quarterback, Sage Rosenfels, who threw four interceptions. The Houston fan base are overwhelmingly blaming the officiating as well. Here’s a snippet of some of the reactions of Texans fans over at the Texans’ official message board, HoustonTexans.com; Yahoo’s message board; and our Fan2Fan Alliance site, TexansTalk.com.

This is a poorly called game today….call after call against the Texans when they have the Ravens stopped. No call on grounding by Flacco (sic)two unbelievably bad PI calls…The Texans (sic) are not doing themselves favors and the refs aren’t (sic) helping them at all. How can you go from the least penalized team to have 12 by the 4th quarter…. [ticking] me off.
spurstexansastros, TexansTalk.com

Wost officiating I have EVER soon, this was one of the main reasons we lost. It was PATHETIC!
imatexan, TexansTalk.com

Let’s trade for Troy Smith (sic). He can run. And is accurate. Heisman winner. Nah, let’s pick up a washed up FA never was.
blake1776, HoustonTexans.com

Did anyone notice we gave up 40+ points? TO THE RAVENS!? The GM would be an ***** to draft anything not related to defense. If Schaub wasn’t taken out by cheap shots, we would probably rank fairly high in most offensive statistics at the end of the season. We need to improve the defense badly. That HAS to be the #1 priority going into this off season.
Schaub2Andre4TD, HoustonTexans.com

I watched in amazement as we would either throw three and out, or throw a pick, EVERY series! @#$%in’ RUN the ball on first down, at least. Their run defense can’t possibly be THAT scary, challenge them. That was pathetic play calling. PATHETIC!
moondog.1369, Yahoo! Message Board

The Ravens dominated the Texans today, 41-13, for their fourth straight win and third straight win on the road. That should be the first thought… three road wins? We haven’t seen a team in Baltimore that can win on the road since 2000.

Joe Flacco made great progress as a QB today. With his favorite target going down early he was forced to find other options in the passing game, which lead to Todd Heap finally looking like his old self. Joe stretched the defense with multiple deep throws, one resulting is a TD to WR Yamon Figurs (Congrats to Yamon on his first career receiving TD). Joe has now thrown 6 TD passes in his last four games with no turnovers.

Willis McGahee looked healthy and ran hard the entire game. He went over the 100 yard mark for the second time this season and added two TD runs. And I must add, his new touchdown dance is hilarious.

The Ravens defense was solid through most of the game. The air defense still has some leaks, but they overcame the injuries and picked off Sage Rosenfels four times. Ray Lewis had two interceptions thanks to the great play of NT Haloti Ngata. The return of Samari Rolle was immediately apparent. When Frank Walker, a fomer starter, can be your nickel back, you’ve got some depth. Walker may not be a star, but being able to use him to help Fabian Washington and Rolle is a great advantage to this Ravens defense.

Ngata is probably the Ravens best defensive player. Haloti came up big when he picked off Sage Rosenfels at the goalline which ended a good drive by Houston, he has two interceptions this season (three for his career) which is more than all-pro safety Ed Reed! Ngata has disrupted the QB more times this season than I can count, which has lead to turnovers and missed opportunities for opposing offense. We’ve heard all season about Albert Haynesworth and Shaun Rogers, but there’s no #92 I’d want more on my team right now thatn Ngata.

New kick-off and long field goal specialist Steven Hauschka. If anyone remembers seeing this kid kick in college with NC State, you know the kind of leg he has. I’m going to steal a line I heard on the postgame radio show today, but bringing in Hauschka is bigger than just getting a new leg… it proves that John Harbaugh is learning and, more importantly, willing to learn. Poor special teams play (bad kick offs, bad coverage, refusing to try long field goals) already cost this team a few games (Pittsburgh, Tennessee) and almost cost them a win last week (Cleveland). Kudos to John for making a move.

And let’s just make an overall comment here… The Ravens have now scored 27, 29, 37 and 41 points in their last four games. A lot of help is coming from this defense, but let’s also give credit to an offense that is able to take advantage of a short field and take the points it is given. When was the last time you remember the Ravens scoring more than 25 points in four straight games? Or averaging 33 points per game in a stretch like that? We’re going to have to go look that up, but I can’t remember anytime. Even with those scores, this team is only averaging 21 points per game on the season… which tells you just how poor this offense was for those first five games. Now that the Ravens have both pieces clicking, it’s time for the rest of the league to watch out.

Got a question for Baltimore Ravens Pro-Bowl linebacker Terrell Suggs? I’ll be interviewing him in the next few days. If there is anything you ever wanted to ask Suggs, now would be the time. Please send all questions to d.peterson@extremeravens.com. Be sure to title your email “Question for Terrell”. Please submit your questions by 8:00 pm EST tomorrow, Saturday, November 8, 2008.