[Started a post about the Thanksgiving game and never posted it, so I'm combining a few thoughts on that one with a few thoughts about yesterday's game.]
RAVENS VS 49rs
Great complete team win by the Ravens on Thanksgiving. I was in Florida without access to to NFL Network, but we found a great sports bar to watch this game and the previous Bengals game. Mad props to Beef O'Brady's. They have TVs with sound in each booth. Wish I had something that near me at home.
Anyway, I'm beyond thrilled. Besides the last game @ Cincy this was the game I was most worried about left on our schedule. On paper at least. As we've seen this year, the Ravens are capable of losing to ANYONE on the road.
So my post-game thoughts.
1. Loved the balance. If you look at his stats, some people might say that Ray Rice had a bad game. Stats are beside the point. The run kept their defense honest so they could not completely key on Joe Flacco and helped to wear them down and also helped open up the pass.
If you looked at his stats, some people might say that Joe Flacco didn't have a spectacular game. Stats are beside the point. In a defensive battle like this against a team that doesn't make mistakes (that INT was only Alex Smith's 5th on the year and they didn't fumble at all) it wasn't the time to try for 300 yards passing. Joe had success moving the ball and had one excellent drive for a touchdown where he made multiple plays on 3rd and long. While not an "elite" quarterback, that was an elite-level drive. If he can string more of those together (keeping balance with the run) on a more consistent basis over the next couple of years maybe his name will be in that conversation without it being controversial.
2. Loved the way the defense stepped up without Ray Lewis. 9 sacks, tying a franchise record. Dominating performance against one of the best teams in the NFL. Kept Gore contained. Creative blitzes. Disciplined, hard hitting football. Although they stepped up when necessary to get the win last week, they did not look this good. There are so many players that I could mention, but I'm going to stick to Ladarius Webb and Cory Redding. They both stepped up big time. If our D can keep playing this way... well, good things should happen!
RAVENS @ BROWNS
I've read people say that it was an "ugly win," but it was beautiful to me. Yes, we missed field goals and could have put it away much earlier, still had trouble in the red zone and there were other blips as well, but we won against an inferior opponent on the road, which has been our "Achilles heel" this season. Using our run game, we completely dominated the Browns, it just didn't show up on the scoreboard as much as we would like.
1. Ray Rice is awesome. Enough said.
2. So is Ladarius Webb. I'm glad he's back to playing at the level we all expected his rookie season before his injury. Can't wait to see what he does next year after a full off-season. Between his injury setting him back some and the fact that he never really played corner before his pro-career, I think the sky is the limit for this guy.
Honestly, I don't really have the enthusiasm about this win to go much beyond that. The run game looked great and the pass rush continued to produce sacks and rushed throws, but other than that the team didn't look great. I hope we can continue to win against the less than stellar teams left on our schedule (including the Browns again), but at this point I'm not going to expect the team to look dominant against them. I'll wait for the final game against Cincinnati (hopefully!) and the playoffs for that and be happy.
RAVENS VS 49rs
Great complete team win by the Ravens on Thanksgiving. I was in Florida without access to to NFL Network, but we found a great sports bar to watch this game and the previous Bengals game. Mad props to Beef O'Brady's. They have TVs with sound in each booth. Wish I had something that near me at home.
Anyway, I'm beyond thrilled. Besides the last game @ Cincy this was the game I was most worried about left on our schedule. On paper at least. As we've seen this year, the Ravens are capable of losing to ANYONE on the road.
So my post-game thoughts.
1. Loved the balance. If you look at his stats, some people might say that Ray Rice had a bad game. Stats are beside the point. The run kept their defense honest so they could not completely key on Joe Flacco and helped to wear them down and also helped open up the pass.
If you looked at his stats, some people might say that Joe Flacco didn't have a spectacular game. Stats are beside the point. In a defensive battle like this against a team that doesn't make mistakes (that INT was only Alex Smith's 5th on the year and they didn't fumble at all) it wasn't the time to try for 300 yards passing. Joe had success moving the ball and had one excellent drive for a touchdown where he made multiple plays on 3rd and long. While not an "elite" quarterback, that was an elite-level drive. If he can string more of those together (keeping balance with the run) on a more consistent basis over the next couple of years maybe his name will be in that conversation without it being controversial.
2. Loved the way the defense stepped up without Ray Lewis. 9 sacks, tying a franchise record. Dominating performance against one of the best teams in the NFL. Kept Gore contained. Creative blitzes. Disciplined, hard hitting football. Although they stepped up when necessary to get the win last week, they did not look this good. There are so many players that I could mention, but I'm going to stick to Ladarius Webb and Cory Redding. They both stepped up big time. If our D can keep playing this way... well, good things should happen!
RAVENS @ BROWNS
I've read people say that it was an "ugly win," but it was beautiful to me. Yes, we missed field goals and could have put it away much earlier, still had trouble in the red zone and there were other blips as well, but we won against an inferior opponent on the road, which has been our "Achilles heel" this season. Using our run game, we completely dominated the Browns, it just didn't show up on the scoreboard as much as we would like.
1. Ray Rice is awesome. Enough said.
2. So is Ladarius Webb. I'm glad he's back to playing at the level we all expected his rookie season before his injury. Can't wait to see what he does next year after a full off-season. Between his injury setting him back some and the fact that he never really played corner before his pro-career, I think the sky is the limit for this guy.
Honestly, I don't really have the enthusiasm about this win to go much beyond that. The run game looked great and the pass rush continued to produce sacks and rushed throws, but other than that the team didn't look great. I hope we can continue to win against the less than stellar teams left on our schedule (including the Browns again), but at this point I'm not going to expect the team to look dominant against them. I'll wait for the final game against Cincinnati (hopefully!) and the playoffs for that and be happy.
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