Quarterback: A
For weeks, Joe Flacco has managed the offense, and that trend continued against the Texans. The rookie protected the ball, while still taking plenty of shots down the field. All told, Flacco turned in a solid performance with a 118.9 passer rating that included 185 yards and two touchdowns. Flacco is beginning to come into his own at a very important time for the Ravens. Troy Smith also continues to contribute to the team, as he threw for a touchdown.

Offensive line: B-
For the most part, the offensive line protected their quarterback. Although the unit allowed three sacks, they did a great job at opening up running lanes to help sustain drives. The Texans’ star defensive back, Mario Williams, was held in check throughout the game. Penalties continue to plague the line.

Wide receivers: B
Last week, the offense welcomed Mark Clayton to the 2008 season. This week, it was Todd Heap’s turn to be reintroduced to the offense. Heap turned in a two touchdown performance. Yamon Figurs was serviceable in place of Derrick Mason, who suffered a dislocated shoulder early in the game. Despite the injury, Mason caught three passes for 41 yards.

Running backs: B+
Willis McGahee returned to the field after watching rookie Ray Rice trample the Browns last week. McGahee racked up two touchdowns of his own; his best performance of the season.

Defensive Line: A
Haloti Ngata showed sheer dominance throughout the game. From snagging an interception in the red zone, forcing an interception, and nearly blocking a punt, Ngata is having a Pro-Bowl year. The unit also held the Texans’ red zone offense in check, limiting them to just three points from inside the five-yard line.

Linebackers: A
Middle linebacker Ray Lewis hauled in two interceptions that looked like they were intended for him anyway. Lewis finished the game with eight tackles. The unit helped ensure that the running game was taken away from Houston, while limiting the short yardage passes of Texans quarterback Sage Rosenfels. Terrell Suggs was able to pressure Rosenfels throughout the game, and managed a safety early in the game.

Defensive Backs: B-
The secondary did a decent job of containing Texans receiver Andre Johnson, limiting him to 66 yards and no touchdowns. Samari Rolle returned to the field and hauled in an interception of his own. The unit was exploited a couple of times in the game. One of those miscues resulted in a Houston touchdown. Against a better quarterback, the secondary might have had big problems.

Special teams: B
Steve Hauschka announced his arrival to the Ravens squad by sinking a field goal from 54 yards, while punter Sam Koch held the Texans in check. The kickoff coverage was much improved this week. Matt Stover missed a 50-yard field goal, but that is quite a stretch for him anyway.

Coaching: B+
The Ravens clearly executed the game plan they wanted. The offense continues to field a balance attack to keep opposing defenses honest. The defense continues to dominate opposing offenses, while the Ravens offense sustains drives, eating up the clock and actually scoring. Why was Stover sent out to kick a field goal from midfield when  Hauschka already proved he could kick it from further?

Well now… that was one doozy of a game.

The Ravens scored early, faltered often, scored late and some how pulled out a win - even if it wasn’t the strongest, most convincing victory in recent memory.

Here are some quick thoughts coming out of the game…

Game Balls: Offensive game ball goes to Ray Rice. 150 yards on 21 carries, including a huge run late in the game to set-up the go ahead score. Rice was strong throughout the game, even when it appeared the offense was having issues. He ran straight at blockers and only made moves when he had to. And boy, those moves were pretty. Standing in for Willis McGahee, you can’t say enough about Rice’s performance as a rookie.

Honorable Mention: Mark Clayton, welcome to the 2008 Baltimore Ravens offense. We’ve been waiting years to see this guy contribute in the way he did today. Cam Cameron and the Ravens finally seemed to figure out how to use Clayton in this offense: send him down field and challenge defensive backs to catch him. Sending Clayton downfield opened up the offense in other ways too - drawing linebackers out of the box and asking safeties to cheat. Read the rest of this entry »

Fans saw a new look from the Ravens offense yesterday, dubbed the Wild Bird. Is this an offense that is here to stay, or will it be migrating south for the winter?

Read the rest of this entry »

If you were anywhere near Baltimore this weekend, it was hard to miss. The roars from the crowd in M&T Bank Stadium were audible all the way down in Fed Ex field. In fact, you could feel the excitement in the city as something new happened today in Ravens football…

Joe Flacco’s game was not the greatest ever by a Ravens quarterback. His numbers won’t win him any awards - at least not by themselves. He completed just 50% of his passes for only 140 yards, half coming on a single play.

But nonetheless, Flacco is the story of today’s win. Flacco and the offensive coordinator behind him.

The Ravens looked like a Pop Warner team on offense… getting the ball to their star player any and every way they could. In addition to throwing a 70 yard pass to Demetrius Williams (by far the longest play of the year for the Ravens), Flacco also showed his hustle in rushing for a touchdown on a beautiful gut-HB-option, and an old-fashioned gadget involving Troy Smith.

Watch all three of the big plays here: http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80bf5a6b

There’s no question that today’s gameball goes to the rook. For now, he has to have silenced some of his critics - especially those claiming the Troy Smith brings more to the table with an ‘all-around’ game. Flacco proved that he could throw, run and catch.

And might I say… the route he ran, as well as the pass from Smith, were two of the best we’ve seen from a Ravens receiver-quarterback duo in quite some time. Why can’t Todd Heap or Mark Clayton just run past people like that? And why can’t our quarterback’s drop that ball in that way every play?

Regardless, the moment had to put a smile on your face if you love football…

UPDATE: Joe’s catch was ranked the #1 catch of Week 8 by NFL Network, here.

How did the Ravens do in their first win in four weeks? Take a look at what the ExtremeRavens staff has to say…

Quarterback:  B-. Joltin Joe had over a 100 QB rating, yet the rookie still made his throws that made us all scream “WTF”.

Offensive Line: C+. Yes, they did open some holes for McGahee late in the game when it mattered. But when Flacco needed protection they were not there.

Running Backs: B. Willis Mcgahee breaks 100 yards for the first time this season.As a team the Ravens averaged 4 yards per carry.

Wide Recievers: C. Demetrius Williams: you are a professional ball player, especially when those catches have to be made. Derrick Mason, what else can you say about the man, he’s clutch. And Mark Clayton, man, I would love to see you more involved in this offense.

Defense: A. All week all we heard was how the “Wildcat” offense would run over the Ravens. I think we tamed the kitty, to the tune 22 rushes for 71 yards, including holding Ronnie Brown to 27 yards.

Special Teams: D-. This giving teams starting field position at the 40 yard line will come back to haunt us. Matt Stover looks like he has his act together on forty yard kicks.

Coaching: A. Cam Cameron had a plan, and it worked to perfection. Game ball goes to Cam for helping beat up his old team.

What do you think?

Less than 48 hours to kick-off, here’s what ExtremeRavens.com’s staff thinks about the upcoming game…

Ken: Dolphins 24, Ravens 10. Cam Cameron’s offense struggles against his former team, and the strong offense of Miami does more than enough damage to leave the Ravens in sorry shape.

John: Ravens 34, Dolphins 7. Chad Pennington is not Peyton Manning and the Ravens D will remind him of that Sunday.

Dan: Ravens 23, Dolphins 20. First, yes, I realize that I have picked the Ravens in all the games this year, but my picks are made weekly and based a bit on the week before. As for this pick, the Dolphins offense will be shut down by the Ravens and we’ll be wanting to believe in the unit again.

More to come as we update… what’s your take?

The Ravens lost another close game to another good opponent. Having lost 2 in a row and now sitting at 2-0, their season is on the brink…

Quarterback: D+
Flacco seemed disconnected from the rest of the offense. While he never got flustered, and never got sacked, he was unable to help the offense in any meaningful way on most drives. His turnovers were costly. The question is whether he was being held back or is still having trouble seeing the field. Read the rest of this entry »

Phew…. what a game that was!!! The atmosphere in the stadium was electric throughout… the only lag coming in the mid-second quarter, but quickly rejuvenated by a stunning start to the 3rd. Here’s what I see right off the bat…

• Joe Flacco made a few mistakes… but he never lost his confidence and he rebounded by making some pretty impressive plays. Honestly, the second interception should hardly count against his record… it was a known risk going into the gadget play of that type. The first was just a bad pass. He appeared to miss some open receivers for big games, settling for lesser gains instead, but he still had the offense moving.

• Welcome back to Willis McGahee… it was a fine effort by Willis. But the standout was again Le’Ron McClain. The Browns, like the Bengals, simply did not know how to handle the big bowling ball of a mixed-back. My only wish is that we had seen more of Ray Rice. When he came in, especially with McClain in front, you could see the Browns hurting.
• Have to take a moment to think about Dawan Landry. So far all news has been good, but still a scary sight. His injury clearly shook this defense and inspired Ray Lewis… which deserves a bullet of his own.
• Ray was a MAD MAN in the 3rd quarter. Whatever happened in that lockerroom at halftime must have been special. The hit he put on Kellen Winslow set the tone for the second half… and you could see that Anderson, Winslow, and every other receiver on the Browns was worried about what Ray and that D would do.
• We might have an ‘aging secondary,’ but they showed their quick feet tonight. Reed and Rolle had nice little picks, not to mention McAlister’s. And the unit played well overall. No disrespect meant to the injured Landry, but this defense was something to see when Jim Leonhard got in the secondary…
• Leonhard also deserves some loving for his strong game as a returner. He was hurt by a few penalties on good returns, but he sure made believers out of a number of fans today with his returns. In the preseason he looked slow, especially compared to Yamon Figurs, but he seems to have figured something out since then.
• My only concern is Harbaugh’s use of Matt Stover. We simply can’t use him in the 45-50 range, unless absolutely necessary. This team has shown it’s ability to make some great 4th down conversions (a welcome surprise, really), but let’s not stretch Matt … as much as we love him.

Finally, we’ve got to take a minute and give some credit to this coaching staff again. Offensively, Cam Cameron had the Browns on their toes… even if it wasn’t always working. The unit is coming together. The running game is solid, the use of play-action is inspiring, and the misdirection is just plain pretty. Defensively, after a slow start Rex had these guys clicking on all cylinders again and executing a great game plan that neutralized a dangerous passing game. And overall, the team did what it will need to do each week… control the ball, control the clock, and give that defense the chance to make big plays.

Baltimore Ravens 28, Cleveland Browns 10.

In the wake of this week’s canceled game, there has been deserved discussion about what kind of impact an early bye week (and subsequent loss of a bye week later) is going to have on this team. And between injured veterans (Kelly Gregg, Ed Reed, Todd Heap, Fabian Washington and more) and new signees (Willie Anderson, Lorenzo Neal) there is at least some consensus that some time off this week really isn’t all that bad. Perhaps we’ll all change our tunes come November when some of our older vets are hobbling around the field, but for now, there should be some solace in the fact that a week without travel and game, our guys are getting healthy.

But let’s take a minute to look at another positive of this unexpected delay involving the city’s newest crush, Joe Flacco.

The rookie out of UDel had a passable week one and showed signs of becoming one of the league’s next great quarterbacks. His numbers weren’t particularly fancy, but ask around Baltimore and folks will tell you that, simple as it may have been, Flacco provided the kind of debut that fans here have been waiting. He was calm, he was collected, he managed his offense and the clock, and he didn’t make any mistakes. When the ball was in Joe’s hands, Ravens fans felt good about what could happen on any given play.

To get to the point, missing out on the Texans now might just be a blessing for Flacco as much as it is for those injured veterans we’ve already talked about. If there’s one thing we have come to know about Flacco, it’s that he’s a pretty quick learner. After spending most of the season outside of the starting quarterback discussion, he took the reins on short notice and has yet to look back. Imagine just how much Joltin’ Joe has picked-up (or will pick-up) courtesy of two more weeks with the first-string offense. Imagine how much more comfortable he’ll feel with his receivers and his line.

Add to this that instead of facing a dominant Texans defensive line in his second start, he’ll be facing a weak Cleveland line and secondary. This young line and Flacco get to take another test drive, instead of going up against the league’s best. Flacco will get to really play with this offense some more before having to go up against his first, true sack-heavy threat (Pittsburgh, Week 4). Even in their loss to the Steelers, the Texans only gave up 122 yards passing. The Browns, on the other hand, have allowed on average nearly double that: 242 yards per game.

It might seem a little unfair, but this unexpected bye is really raising my expectations for Flacco in the week to come. He’ll be at home, he’ll be rested, he’s had extra study time, and he’s facing a far less formidible opponent… And, yes, Cam Cameron, this means we’re going to be looking at you as well. Let’s test out the long ball, let’s see what Flacco can do with Clayton and Williams at his side, while we’ve got the chance.

Plenty of local sites summarize for us what’s being said about the Ravens throughout the sports media world… and even if they didn’t, most of us die-hards would find plenty of time to check Power Rankings and other articles on the team at our leisure.

But for a quick twist, let’s take a look at what’s being said about the Texans  heading into this week … and a few added game thoughts …

Read the rest of this entry »