Welcome to Week Two in this 2008 NFL season… er… I mean… Week 10.

The Ravens head to Houston this week to take on the Texans in the game rescheduled from Week Two,  postponed after Hurricane Ike barreled into southeast Texas and damaged the Texans’ Reliant Stadium. The schedule changes brings together two teams in very different situations than eight weeks ago.

Early in the season, the Texans had high hopes. They were supposed to breakout and perhaps even challenge the elite of the AFC South - if not for a playoff position than at least for some standing in the division. Meanwhile, the Ravens were entering this year as a rebuilding process behind a rookie coach, rookie quarterback and aging defensive unit.

How things have changed.

Entering Week 10, the Ravens are now fighting for an AFC North division title and a playoff spot. Their five wins already equals their total from last season. The Texans have been on a rollercoaster of their own, though. Following an ugly 0-4 start,  the Texans had won three straight until last week’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

As we head into the weekend, here are two key match-ups to keep an eye on as the Ravens and Texans finally get to square off.

Texans Offense vs. Ravens Defense

WR Andre Johnson vs. Ravens Secondary

There are two undeniable facts here. First, that Andre Johnson is proving to be a beast and having a career year in 2008. Second, that the Ravens secondary continues to be the defense’s greatest weakness.

Such a combination - great receiver against weakened defensive backs - seems to always spell trouble for a team that relies heavily on the success of its defense.

Let’s start with Andre Johnson. Johnson entered the 2008 season as a good wide receiver, bordering on greatness, but oft limited by his own team’s ineptitude. Last season, Johnson truly broke out in an injury-shortened season. In just nine games he had more than 850 yards receiving and eight touchdowns. This year, Johnson has continued to the trend from last season. Already in just eight games he has 60 receptions, more than 800 yards, and three touchdowns.

And as if the Ravens needed more trouble from receivers, it’s worth noting that Johnson does his absolute best work at home in Reliant Stadium.  In four home games this season, Johnson has led the Texans to a 3-1 record by averaging more than 10 receptions and 148 yards per game. 148 yards in eight home games alone is enough to give Johnson an 1100-yard season. Read the rest of this entry »

Our quick thoughts today come from ExtremeRavens staffer John (aka BallTMore) … and we thank him for his help!

Flacco looked pretty good again this week, he wasn’t as accurate, but he still made some solid throws. Still has some trouble throwing the deep ball. He hangs the ball in the air which allows the D to adjust to the ball.

Joe is also faster than he looks, he had two good runs today, one resulting in a TD to seal the game. Joe also showed he has good hands for a big guy, hauling in a great pass by Troy Smith in the 3rd qtr. (highlight of the season so far!). Penalties killed the drive, so the Ravens had to settle for a field goal.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Ravens defense lashed out in Week 3 against the a struggling Cleveland offense. The Ravens’ offense found its way after a number of early mistakes. Ultimately, the Ravens dominated on the field and the scoreboard.

Quarterback: C+
Joe Flacco continues to play within himself. He had two interceptions, though one was on a long chuck into the endzone. In fact, without those INTs, Flacco didn’t have an incomplete pass until the second half. Flacco showed that he has a powerful arm and a head to work with it.

Running Backs: B
The interesting thing about the Ravens’ running back situation is that both Willis McGahee and Le’Ron McClain are getting a decent, if not equal, amount of carries. It just doesn’t feel like a “by committee” situation. McGahee scored for one touchdown and McClain added two of of his own. Ray Rice continues to struggle, as he added another fumble.

Receivers: C-
The group did a fine job, but there’s nothing here to really be thrilled about. A few drops, a few nice catches. The crew actually managed to get very open a few times, but Flacco missed them and wasn’t always able to see the open man.

Offensive Line: B
The offensive line continues to contain the opposing team. For most of the game, the line contained the Brown’s defense and protected the quarterback. There were a few breakdowns in the fourth quarter which resulted in Flacco being sacked and hurried a number of times. It was a solid performance for a unit that continues the gel.

Defense: A
Vintage Ravens defense took the field today and imposed its will on the Cleveland Browns. After a bit of a slow start, they played a dominating third quarter amassing two interceptions and several sacks in the course of just minutes.

Special Teams: B
With Yamon Figurs a late subtraction to the lineup due to hamstring injury, “Lionheart” Leonhard stepped up and filled in brilliantly. His returns on both punts and kicks were solid.

Coaching: A
Harbaugh and Camerson showed us that they have some fun plays up their sleeve, but they also know how to contain their creativity when the time comes - including another killer 7-plus minute drive to nearly end the game. And Rex Ryan helped this defense make huge adjustments for the 2nd half.

How would you rank the Ravens?

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.

Without the Ravens playing this weekend, I’ve had plenty of time to give extra attention to every other team and every other game in the league so far this week. I was even able to sit down and watch the entirety (though, I kind of regret it) of the pre-game show to Sunday Night Football.

To anyone who’s up with what’s going on in the league today, the day’s biggest play and one of the biggest stories is the Chargers last-minute loss to the Broncos. The game is notable for a number of reasons… a clash of the AFC West’s best teams, a change for the Chargers to rebound from a devestating last minute loss to the Panthers last week, and now it’s notable for how it ended.

Not only did the game end with Mike Shanahan being Mike Shanahan and going for the win on a 2 point conversion, instead of forcing OT with an extra point… but it ended with great controversey because two plays before that conversion attempt, the Chargers apparently forced and recovered a fumble from the Broncos. The play was ruled an incomplete pass attempt however and replay rules failed to allow the officials to remedy the situation. So rather than the Chargers holding the ball until the bitter end, the Broncos were allowed to meander into the endzone a play later. You can see more about the game here.

However, in all the discussion of tonight’s game another discussion is slowly appearing. Two months ago, ESPN published two articles about officiating in the NFL. In one, NFL coaches vote on which officials they believe are best and worst at their jobs. In the other, Mike Sando discusses how the league addresses conflict between teams and referees.

Somehow both of these stories flew under the radar in the hype of preseason football and training camps. But both deserve some serious discussion. On the lighter side of things, it’s always fun to bash officials. In ESPN’s poll, officials Ed Hochuli and Mike Carey received the most votes for “best official.” (WHAT?!) Both men also received the most votes for worst official, aside from the now-retired Gerald Austin. (More like it…). Regardless, it’s an interesting peak into how coaches view officiating crews.

The second article, however, is the one that I believe really deserves some serious discussion. In it, Mike Sando and his ESPN Research team assert that certain referees are assigned so that they strategically avoid calling the games of certain teams and/or coaches.  The longest streak Sando found regarded, surprise!, Ed Hochuli and the Denver Broncos. “[Hochuli] has worked at least three games involving every team but Denver — and an average of more than seven for every other team — since the start of the 2001 season.”

In all, Sando asserts that there are 15 more seemingly “special arrangements” in which officials avoid working games involving one team or another. The reasons range from living too close to a certain team (Jeff Triplette to the Panthers) to particularly bad calls or bad games in years past.  And to be perfectly honest, I am not entirely sure that these arrangements are particularly bad.

My biggest query, though, is why should the rest of the league have to put up with Hochuli’s awful officiating while Tampa Bay and Denver get to avoid him or seasons on end?

Additionally, I am most surprised to learn that there appear to be no special arrangements yet made involving the Ravens. Between Brian Billick’s fondness for filing greivances with the league and mocking officials, and this team’s remarkable ability to find itself involved in controversey, how could we not have at least one grudge worth holding? Most specifically, I’m sure this team would love to avoid Mike Carey and his crew following the Yellow Hanky Party he threw for the Ravens in Detroit three seasons ago. Not to mention the flag-fest in Indianapolis in (I believe) 2004, in which Chris McAlister and the Ravens secondary were called for an absurd number of defensive holding penalties.

The Ravens absence from the list might be explained because, according to Sando, several coaches and GMs didn’t even know that such arrangements were in place (whether intentionally or not). Personally, I don’t believe that Ozzie Newsome is one of them, though. This front office knows what is going on around the league.

Anyway, I suppose what I’m getting down to is simple: how do you feel about this? Should teams be able to magically ‘avoid’ certain officiating crews?

To me it appears that even the implication of such a plan is going to impact games. Similar to replay, aren’t officials going to change how they do their jobs if they suspect there could be some sort of trouble? When Mike Shanahan starts to blow a gasket, is that going to stop every official from making the call he needs to make for fear that he may be blacklisted?

And just for fun… let’s go back… we’ve got a whole extra week without serious Ravens talk… who are the league’s best and worst officials?