The Good And The Bad (Week 9)

[PurpleRulz]

The good:

1. We are two games ahead in the division.

2. Jamal was huge running the ball. He did not get huge yards today, but he ran that ball much better than he did last week.

3. Mark Clayton. This kid is coming into his own.

4. Todd Heap. What more can be said about HEEEEAAAPPPPP.

5. Demetrius Williams. You can see the talent in this kid. He may not be having a Marques Colston type season, but DW could have just as huge a huge career in the NFL.

6. Steve McNair. He is the QB we have lacked over the last couple of seasons.


The bad:

Nothing really. Was not a perfect game, but nothing stood out as a major concern.

Why didn't Billick challenge that Mason endzone catch? It looked close enough to at least challenge. Oh well.

WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RavenScallywag]

the only negatives i'd highlight are

1) We let teams hang around so the win comes in the last minute
2) Giving up the big throw to Henry and almost losing Ray AND Reed!

[psuasskicker]

Yeah that long reception to Henry was almost a complete unmitigated disaster almost losing Lewis and Reed both plus the huge reception which put them within range of pulling out a win.

I also wasn't too thrilled with some of the clock management. The end of the first half we had time to get into FG range which turns out would have made a HUGE difference. And toward the end of the game so of the play calling was a little questionable where we should have run a few more times to run the clock down.

Overall though I'd say there's a TON of things I liked about this game. Cinci is probably the best 4-4 team in the NFL right now. They've had an absolutely brutal schedule so far.

- C -

[ChrisQ]

Also:

Good - O-line play, except for Flynn stepping on the QB as usual and one bad snap that McNair had to chase down and fall on. Other than that, no sacks and McNair seemed to have a bunch of time to throw on a lot of plays.

Bad - still settling for fieldgoals far too much. If we had gotten even one more TD, we would not have had to sweat it out at the end.

[HDDream]

I didn't mind the passing too much at the end, although I would have preferred that Heap was involved in that.

The stuff at the end of the first half drove me crazy. No way, you sit on two time outs like that, especially when you get the ball back with 1:06 left.

They've got to get the ball into Musa Smith's hands more often.

Still, very happy with the offensive performance today, a step up from last week's performance.

On defense, there's still very much an issue with giving up the big passing play that simply has to be addressed or it's going to be the downfall of this team.

They did get good pressure on Palmer and outside of a couple runs, were able to keep Rudi Johnson in check.

Half-way through the season with a 6-2 record, a two-game lead (with a head-to-head advantage over the second place team) in the division and the third easiest (by %) remaining schedule.

Life is good.

[RavenDavey]

BAD......

The spot of the ball when they did not measure when Billick was pissed!! Billick should have challenged the spot of the ball as the refs took a good 2 feet away from us.

[RavenDavey]

GOOD.............

GAME SPEED! That non call for interference on 4th down was good. At game speed, the defender got there when the ball got there.

[GreenWave52]

Why didn't Billick kick the field goal to go up by 9 at the end and clinch the game? I was at a bar without sound, but no one could figure it out.

[Brandon]

BAD......

The spot of the ball when they did not measure when Billick was pissed!! Billick should have challenged the spot of the ball as the refs took a good 2 feet away from us.

I agree with that too. If you watched it on TV, you heard Billick drop the F bomb to the referee.

As for more BAD:

Still the secondary getting burned like they do. Chris McAlister said on the post game show on MASN that he was out of position on that reception and run that Henry had going down the sidelines. They played better today then they did the past couple weeks, but they need to continue to communicate with each other. If not, our secondary could be our downfall.

[skimmy]

The Bengals only got 50 offensive plays and 22:36 in TOP. Great job by the offense to shorten the game and keep our defense fresh. The O racked up 374 net yards of offense and held the ball for 37:24, very nice output even if it did take 69 plays.

The D only allowed 275 yards, right around our game average. They got the two picks and limited the big plays of the Bengals.

+3 Turnover ratio.

It seemed to me that the Bengals D was selling out to stop the run and was suffering in their pass defense. Our running game was just good enough (actually very good at times) to make the Bengals continue to respect it and try to stop it.

Consider this.. even if the Ravens go 4-4 the rest of the way, the Bengals would have to go 6-2 just to TIE us with tough games against the Chargers, Saints, Ravens, Colts and Broncos left on their schedule. I think it is more likely that the Bengals finish 7-9 or 8-8 with that schedule.

[HDDream]

Why didn't Billick kick the field goal to go up by 9 at the end and clinch the game? I was at a bar without sound, but no one could figure it out.

I would assume Billick made that call because of the worry of a blocked field goal getting returned for a touchdown or to help set up a touchdown (btw, something along these lines did happen at the end of the Redskins/Cowboys game today). I still think I might have considered going for the field goal, although I understand why Billick didn't.

Speaking of that spot on that ball deep in the Bengals end that Billick didn't challenge, I'm not one who likes going for 4th down plays, but in that situation I think I would have.

[Mr.Boh]

BAD......

The spot of the ball when they did not measure when Billick was pissed!! Billick should have challenged the spot of the ball as the refs took a good 2 feet away from us.

Love hearing coach drop the f-bomb loud and clear!
Does he get fined for that or CBS?

[skimmy]

Why didn't Billick kick the field goal to go up by 9 at the end and clinch the game? I was at a bar without sound, but no one could figure it out.

I think he was worried about the block scenario. The Cowboys lost today when Vanderslice's attempt got blocked to setup the Skins for another shot at a game winner. Also, last year the Eagles stole a game from the Chargers by blocking and returning a field goal the distance. I think Billick made the right choice here, but he should have had someone do the math on the clock and ran the ball instead of kneeling it down... if they had gotten the first down then the game is over or at least it would have pushed the ball further down in their end (instead of taking those senseless delay penalties) to make it harder for them to go the distance for the TD to win.

[AZRAVEN]

Still not terribly impressed with the offense, I wonder if anyone has ever told Billick that it's not a mortal sin to play for touchdowns not just field goals. If our offense had played with some intensity coming out after the half we could have put them away and not let them be that close at the end. I hate the prevent offense we insist on playing. That said, it's a win and I'll take it gladly.

[52decleetzu]

The good:

1. We are two games ahead in the division.

2. Jamal was huge running the ball. He did not get huge yards today, but he ran that ball much better than he did last week.

3. Mark Clayton. This kid is coming into his own.

4. Todd Heap. What more can be said about HEEEEAAAPPPPP.

5. Demetrius Williams. You can see the talent in this kid. He may not be having a Marques Colston type season, but DW could have just as huge a huge career in the NFL.

6. Steve McNair. He is the QB we have lacked over the last couple of seasons.


The bad:

Nothing really. Was not a perfect game, but nothing stood out as a major concern.

Why didn't Billick challenge that Mason endzone catch? It looked close enough to at least challenge. Oh well.

WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1)In control!

2) The time jamal didnt get any yard he ran into a brick wall of defenders.I dont care who was back there no holes were there.

3)Clayton has hands that have glue on them.There were at least 3 balls that were high that he just pulled in I dont know how.

4)Play action to Heeeaaap!! was working ALL DAY,and it was to the other recievers as well.We absolutely killed them with those 10-12 yd routes all day.

5)D Will,the man can move after the catch,bright future ahead of him.

6)The difference with McNair is he will stand in the pocket and deliver regardless of the pass rush.He was great all day!!!!

[52decleetzu]

Spot on. A win and I will gladly take it but Billick's conservatative play calling in the redzone deserves an "F" grade. His play calling overall I would give a D but only because of the nice play action plays executed by McNair and Heap.

374 yds and we moved the ball at will and you fools still arent satisfied.Do me a favor,take your bitchin and moaning somewhere else,we are 6-2 and we have balance on both sides of the ball.Ke\ep hatin Billick,looks like he is going to be around for a few more years.

[RockyMRaven]

Spot on. A win and I will gladly take it but Billick's conservatative play calling in the redzone deserves an "F" grade. His play calling overall I would give a D but only because of the nice play action plays executed by McNair and Heap.

Overall, a D, and redzone an F. :grbac:

Where's the "ignore" button?

[MrPoeJangles]

I don't think we were settling for field goals. We may have kicked 4 field goals but I don't think we settled for them.

On one of them Mason did not get his foot down or it would have been a TD and we were throwing on 3rd and 3.

On one of them we got 8 yards on first down and I can't disagree with trying to run it to get the first down.

On one of them McNair almost threw a pick 6, if not for Mason making a great play to horse collar the defender. I am glad we were able to settle for 3 on that one.

On the first field goal, it may have been fun to go for it but it is hard to argue with taking the 3 at that point in the game to put us up by 17.

It felt like we were attacking them in the Red zone. We just were not converting. In the past it always felt like we were settling, but I didn't feel that way today.

[StingerNLG]

I'm seperating into Good, Passable, and Bad in this one.

Good:

1) 6-2. A 2 game lead in the division, and Pittsburgh looks like it's on it's way to losing yet again. Life in the AFC North is good these days.

Hey Big Ben, a note. You can throw for 350 yards every Sunday. But if you throw 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, you're not going to win.


2) Chris McAlister. Damn right I'm saying it. And I'll tell you why; hear me out. It's becoming more and more apparent that the officials seems to simply have it out for McAlister this year. I've never seen someone draw this many non-interference interference calls. But while the old McAlister goes nuts and gets his head out of the game, he kept his cool and made some key plays, including the last drive before the meaningless INT. At the end of the game, it was the Houshmondzadah who drew the Unsportsmanlike Conduct flag, and not C-Mac. In the end, C-Mac even got the last laugh.


3) Matt Stover. They say Defense wins Championships. With the Ravens you always add "and Matt Stover" to that. While the offense once again couldn't finish a drive, Matt Stover was there to boot 4 field goals and at least forced Cincy to get a touchdown to win the game instead of a field goal.


4) Special Teams. Cincy didn't do a whole lot of kick returning today. The Ravens had them pinned and twice kept the Bengals from breaking big plays. Kock did muff another punt, and that is a little concerning. But overall, good stuff.


5) Offensive Line. Today was a good day for the OL, with the exception of Flynn once again tripping up a Ravens QB. There was one McNair throw to Heap where he literally had 6 seconds to throw the ball. It's a pretty well known fact that if you give a QB time to throw, he's got a better chance of completing. Run Blocking was pretty decent today, and there were hold for Jamal to run though. Now if Jamal could only hit those holes more.



Passable

1) Offense. Sorry, but you can gush all you want over McNair's 245 yards. And for what it's worth, he had an effective day, but 0 throwing touchdowns and only 2 catches by Mason. Some of his throws were dynamite. But he also threw the ball into the hands of three Bengals; two who dropped a sure interception, and one where Mason had to play defender. And on that particular throw he stared down Mason so long we all knew where it was going. And on the one drive that stalled with a throw to Heap, Clarance Moore was so wide open that literally no one covered him and it would have been an almost easy touchdown, but McNair started down Heap the whole way.

Another thing that continues to bother me is that we went back to not finishing drives and playing for the field goal instead of the touchdown. And there were again no shots taken downfield. That's not all on McNair, Billick gets some of that credit for going conservative with a 17 point lead. One offensive touchdown the entire game is unacceptable, sorry. We kept letting Cincy climb back into the game and all of a sudden shades of 2004 were coming. Thankfully the defense held this time. So a passable game for the offense, but the defense could have faltered and we could have been in trouble quick.


2) Defense. They gave up 20 points, but the refs helped that a bit. Still, they made plays when they needed too, and a nice interception by Rolle made a nice 14-0 start to shut up Ocho Stinko.


3) Billick. He tried some trickery early with the Mike Anderson runs from the shotgun and the Jamal in Fullback play again. And play-action on the first play was great. But for the most part once we got up a little bit Billick went back into grinding mode. We should have been putting our foot on the Bengal's throats. There were 2 or three places where a PA pass would have been great. Instead we had to hope Carson Palmer didn't have any of his own last minute drive magic in his bag.


Bad:

1) Ocho Stinko. 4 catches for a mighty 32 yards. And I thought you were going over the middle there sparky? In the end you didn't want a piece of him. Hell, you couldn't even really handle Samari Rolle today tough guy.

That's about it. Nothing really "bad" for the Ravens perse. Just a little flatter than we saw in New Orleans.

In the end, a game we needed to win and we did. If this keeps up, I might be at a home playoff game.

[PurpleRulz]

I'm seperating into Good, Passable, and Bad in this one.

Good:

1) 6-2. A 2 game lead in the division, and Pittsburgh looks like it's on it's way to losing yet again. Life in the AFC North is good these days.

Hey Big Ben, a note. You can throw for 350 yards every Sunday. But if you throw 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, you're not going to win.


2) Chris McAlister. Damn right I'm saying it. And I'll tell you why; hear me out. It's becoming more and more apparent that the officials seems to simply have it out for McAlister this year. I've never seen someone draw this many non-interference interference calls. But while the old McAlister goes nuts and gets his head out of the game, he kept his cool and made some key plays, including the last drive before the meaningless INT. At the end of the game, it was the Houshmondzadah who drew the Unsportsmanlike Conduct flag, and not C-Mac. In the end, C-Mac even got the last laugh.


3) Matt Stover. They say Defense wins Championships. With the Ravens you always add "and Matt Stover" to that. While the offense once again couldn't finish a drive, Matt Stover was there to boot 4 field goals and at least forced Cincy to get a touchdown to win the game instead of a field goal.


4) Special Teams. Cincy didn't do a whole lot of kick returning today. The Ravens had them pinned and twice kept the Bengals from breaking big plays. Kock did muff another punt, and that is a little concerning. But overall, good stuff.


5) Offensive Line. Today was a good day for the OL, with the exception of Flynn once again tripping up a Ravens QB. There was one McNair throw to Heap where he literally had 6 seconds to throw the ball. It's a pretty well known fact that if you give a QB time to throw, he's got a better chance of completing. Run Blocking was pretty decent today, and there were hold for Jamal to run though. Now if Jamal could only hit those holes more.



Passable

1) Offense. Sorry, but you can gush all you want over McNair's 245 yards. And for what it's worth, he had an effective day, but 0 throwing touchdowns and only 2 catches by Mason. Some of his throws were dynamite. But he also threw the ball into the hands of three Bengals; two who dropped a sure interception, and one where Mason had to play defender. And on that particular throw he stared down Mason so long we all knew where it was going. And on the one drive that stalled with a throw to Heap, Clarance Moore was so wide open that literally no one covered him and it would have been an almost easy touchdown, but McNair started down Heap the whole way.

Another thing that continues to bother me is that we went back to not finishing drives and playing for the field goal instead of the touchdown. And there were again no shots taken downfield. That's not all on McNair, Billick gets some of that credit for going conservative with a 17 point lead. One offensive touchdown the entire game is unacceptable, sorry. We kept letting Cincy climb back into the game and all of a sudden shades of 2004 were coming. Thankfully the defense held this time. So a passable game for the offense, but the defense could have faltered and we could have been in trouble quick.


2) Defense. They gave up 20 points, but the refs helped that a bit. Still, they made plays when they needed too, and a nice interception by Rolle made a nice 14-0 start to shut up Ocho Stinko.


3) Billick. He tried some trickery early with the Mike Anderson runs from the shotgun and the Jamal in Fullback play again. And play-action on the first play was great. But for the most part once we got up a little bit Billick went back into grinding mode. We should have been putting our foot on the Bengal's throats. There were 2 or three places where a PA pass would have been great. Instead we had to hope Carson Palmer didn't have any of his own last minute drive magic in his bag.


Bad:

1) Ocho Stinko. 4 catches for a mighty 32 yards. And I thought you were going over the middle there sparky? In the end you didn't want a piece of him. Hell, you couldn't even really handle Samari Rolle today tough guy.

That's about it. Nothing really "bad" for the Ravens perse. Just a little flatter than we saw in New Orleans.

In the end, a game we needed to win and we did. If this keeps up, I might be at a home playoff game.




That is an excellent way to do the good and bad.

[Mr OC]

What's Billick's record when the team has a 14 point lead? I think he might know a little bit about holding on to a lead.

[StingerNLG]

What's Billick's record when the team has a 14 point lead? I think he might know a little bit about holding on to a lead.


That is a good and fair point OC. I think that record is something like 45-1 or something spectacular like that.

The problem today was that lead is not always insurmountable with a team that has two high-powered receivers and an explosive QB. Down to the last drive there was a chance for the Bengals to win that game. 2004 was the same way, with a 20-7 lead the defense pissed away and lost at the end of the game on the very last drive.

At some point Billick has to re-shift into a better gear and deliver a knockout punch to the opposing team. I don't want to try and field goal our way through the playoffs if we get there.

[Sephy]

Mason TD was definitely not a TD. Clearly didn't get his second foot in.

Wasn't a big fan of those two direct snaps in a row.

[Heap86]

Offense. Sorry, but you can gush all you want over McNair's 245 yards. And for what it's worth, he had an effective day, but 0 throwing touchdowns and only 2 catches by Mason. Some of his throws were dynamite. But he also threw the ball into the hands of three Bengals; two who dropped a sure interception, and one where Mason had to play defender. And on that particular throw he stared down Mason so long we all knew where it was going. And on the one drive that stalled with a throw to Heap, Clarance Moore was so wide open that literally no one covered him and it would have been an almost easy touchdown, but McNair started down Heap the whole way.

Well, it still looks like we are nitpicking again :grbac:

Come on Stinger, give it a rest!!! Does McNair need to have a 100% completion rating with 4 TD's to satisfy you? Mac did'nt take many shots in the end zone today, but the one to Mason was just slightly off. Of course Mac did throw a few bad passes, but was on target most of the day, he isn't Peyton so I will cut him some slack. Mac's comfort level with this Offense is right were it should be, and Billick is calling the plays to suite his strengths.

Its not about stats, its about wins for GODS SAKE!!!

[Merlin]

I think what has been underestimated is how difficult it is to beat a division team that has recently "owned" you -- which is how we were versus Cincy. Sort of like how we broke out against Jacksonville in 99 or 2000. I certainly felt that there was a concern that Cincy would find a way to come back just as they had done in 2004 and the team was relieved to get that monkey of their back.


Getting Better

1. Turnovers --we are plus 14 in the NFL -- 7 ahead of the the # 2 team, the Bears.

2. Offense -- don't look now, but the offense is starting to get better, due to Billick and better execution -- we are now #14 in the league at points per page (the stat that really counts) -- if we can stay in the top half we'll have a chance.

3. McNair -- he looks settled now. All this whining about does he understand the offense can stop. If we're back to red zone execution but we can move the ball, that's progress. Though Mason saved his buddy's rear by playing defender in the red zone with that ill advised cross field pass.




Concerns

3. Kickoff coverage -- Koch needs to replace Stover soon or he will fade -- we're getting lucky with our field position, given that most of the time the ball is fielded at the 15 or 20.

4. Secondary -- Rolle's interception should clear out his head; we still had lapses in the deep secondary. Seems like the team is trusting Landry more and letting Ed Reed blitz in order to keep his mental edge up.

5. Running -- if we can't run effectively against Cincy when can we? Billick is going to have to figure out how to check out the effectiveness of his other backs without messing with Jamal's head.

6. Injuries -- we'll see what the tally is -- Rudi Johnson just plowed over Ray Lewis when he came back from the injury

[Mobtown]

Mason TD was definitely not a TD. Clearly didn't get his second foot in.

Yup, shame on him for not knowing where he was on the field because that was a PERFECT throw.

He made up for it by defending that DUMB pass by Mac in the 4th.

[PeterB58]

I am estatic we are 6-2 and extremely happy with the offense overallYet you give them a D!?! And say they almost got an F!?!
but do you honestly think Bellicheck or Shanahan would have played so conservatively with a lead with redzone calls designed for settling for three points?Funny you should state that given that the Patriots went up against a "high scoring team" and threw the ball all over the field and got beat on INTs. And Shanahan's offense has really been lighting it up this year, hasn't it?
Against a high scoring team like the Bengals you need to play for TDS.As someone said, the Ravens had 374 yards of total offense and - more importantly - held the ball for almost 40 minutes. THAT is how you play with a big lead. Granted one more TD would have been nice somewhere along the line in the 2nd half. But whose to say that trying to get that TD would not have resulted in a game-changing TO.

I am sure you would have been the first in hear defending Billick: He had to throw that pass, we needed more points against a high scoring team. (sarcasm/off)

[StingerNLG]

Mason TD was definitely not a TD. Clearly didn't get his second foot in.

It wasn't a TD, but Mason should have dragged his second foot instead of taking a step. Marvin Harrison had the same type of ball thrown to him last night and except for having to turn around and get it, he knew enough to drag his left foot for the TD.

Mason didn't do that, and it costed him. I'm with Mobtown on that one, the throw was there.



As someone said, the Ravens had 374 yards of total offense and - more importantly - held the ball for almost 40 minutes. THAT is how you play with a big lead. Granted one more TD would have been nice somewhere along the line in the 2nd half. But whose to say that trying to get that TD would not have resulted in a game-changing TO.

Again, all fine and good. But that big lead went from 17-0 to 26-20 right before our eyes. And just like 2004 we were sitting on the edge of our seats wondering if Carson was going to go downfield on us to win the game at the end. The lead was 6 points, not 7. A touchdown wins the game for them. And the Bengals were moving the ball on us decently. That is not the position we should have been in with the ball in their hands.

Other than Mason's out of bounds catch, how many times did we throw the ball into the endzone? 0, none, nada, ziltch. We had one throw into the endzone and that was it.

[Rochardrik]

Okay, we all know Billick is an intelligent man. At least we all SHOULD know! Wonder , is he smart enough to be saving some for later? I think so. Remember, we've been "even a first-time viewer could figure that out" predictable for years, and maybe he is saving it for when we need it? Maybe? Maybe he's smarter'n us!!!!:rolleyes: :laugh: :D I'm inclined to BELIEVE!!!!

[RavenDavey]

Okay, we all know Billick is an intelligent man. At least we all SHOULD know! Wonder , is he smart enough to be saving some for later? I think so. Remember, we've been "even a first-time viewer could figure that out" predictable for years, and maybe he is saving it for when we need it? Maybe? Maybe he's smarter'n us!!!!:rolleyes: :laugh: :D I'm inclined to BELIEVE!!!!

Very Interesting!! You may be onto something and I agree with you that he may be holding back. Take those 2 direct snaps right off the bat yesterday....I garauntee those plays will be back later as a setup of some kind.

We may see some unbelievable offensive performances in our games to come if we are lucky, but the way the defense plays, we will probably only see enough. :kewl: