Ravens beat New England;The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Baltimore Ravens have advanced to the 2nd-round of the AFC Playoffs, with their 33-14 demolishing of the New England Patriots in Foxboro.

New England went into today, undefeated at-home during the 2009 season; and had also never lost a home-playoff game with Brady as the starter. 6 minutes into today, the Ravens were up 14-0. By the end of the 1st-Quarter, the Patriots were down 24-0.

I expected the Patriots to win a close game today, with Brady making just enough plays on his home-field. I thought it was possible the Ravens could win, and I thought – while unlikely – that New England could possibly blow-out Baltimore. The one thing I did not anticipate was a blow-out Ravens victory.

The Good:

1) Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games. 22 carries, 159 yards, and 2 TD’s for Ray Rice today. His 83 yard scamper to start the game changed the complexion of things right away. It put the New England crowd on their hands, and immediately put the Patriots on their heels.

2) Terrell Suggs getting the sack, strip, and recovery was a tremendous play. If the Rice touchdown put the Pats on their heels, the Suggs play is what clearly led to Brady being rattled.

3) Foxworth shadowed Moss throughout the day, and limited the future Hall of Famer to 5 catches, for 48 yards. Moss was a complete non-factor, and while the defensive-line gets credit for establishing pressure, Foxworth gets credit for making plays on the back-end.

4) Ray Lewis was running around making hits, and added the first sack of his post-season career.

5) I was not really excited to see Carr back returning punts when he is starting at CB, but his 34 yard punt-return was a big play. Obviously his interception was huge, and he also had a strong tackle in-space.

6) McGahee only had 62 yards on his 20 carries, but it was great to see his number called that many times. You wonder if that would have happened if the Ravens had not put-up th early lead.

7) With under two minutes left in the 3rd Quarter, the Patriots had cut the lead to just 13 points. Zbikowski’s 30 yard kickoff return provided the Ravens with good field-position, and helped eliminate some Patriot momentum.

8) With the Ravens facing 3rd down, with 7 yards to go early in the 4th quarter; Mark Clayton made a nice play for a 17 yard reception. In part due to that catch, the Ravens were able to take another 3+ minutes off the clock.

9) Not a lot of tricks from the Ravens offense, especially when the lead had been established. Baltimore committed to running the ball; and the O-line helped pave the way for 52 rushing attempts for 234 yards. Flacco only attempted 10 pass-attempts, but there were also zero sacks allowed.

10) Frank Walker has taken a lot of abuse, today he dished it out with that punishing tackle.

11) New England might never have been committed to running the ball anyway, but their finishing with just 18 carries probably had something to with the lead established by Baltimore. Still, the Ravens get credit for limiting the Patriots to just 64 yards rushing.

The Bad:

1) I understand that the Ravens came into today committed to running the ball. I support that, and have advocated for that mentality for weeks. I also understand that the events of the first-quarter probably altered the approach from the Baltimore sideline as well. With such a substantial lead, there was no reason to have Flacco force the issue down the field. Still, it is hard to believe the Ravens are moving-on in the playoffs with Flacco finishing with 4 completions, for 34 yards, and a pick.

2) Demetrius Williams showed his speed, and athleticism to get open down the field. He did everything right besides make the catch. Unfortunately, as a receiver, that is ultimately all that matters. The Ravens are only going to have a few opportunities down the field each-game. When a play opens up like that, the receiver has to come down with the ball.

3) I do not think you can blame Coach Harbaugh for not throwing the challenge-flag when the Patriots recovered the Ravens muffed punt-return. You can blame someone upstairs in the Ravens booth for not alerting Harbaugh to the fact the play should have been challenged. That decision cost the Ravens points, and on a different Sunday, could have cost Baltimore the game.

The Ugly:

1) The Ravens were up 19 points with 10:32 left in the 4th Quarter. You could make a case for some starters coming out of the game then. You could make a better case for starters coming out of the game, after Gostkowski missed his Field Goal attempt with 7:19 left. The fact that Heap was still on the field, and in a position to be injured late in the game was hard to understand. The fact that immediately after Heap’s injury, that other Ravens starters again took field is inexcusible.

Up-Next:

Baltimore will head to Indianapolis on short-rest with an opportunity to again face Peyton Manning and the Colts.

One thing I like from a Ravens perspective, is the ability to have Gaither, and Oher match-up against the edge-rushers (Freeney, and Mathis) of the Colts.

When the teams faced off in November, Rice and McGahee combined for 26 carries and 96 rushing yards. Rice added an additional 64 yards as a receiver. Mason had a huge game with 9 catches, for 142 yards.

While Baltimore had zero-sacks on Manning, they were able to basically take away Dallas Clark as a weapon. (1 catch, 3 yards, 1 td). I think the Ravens will realize they are not going to be able to get consistent pressure on Manning, and again counter. You will see Baltimore working to stop the running game of Indianapolis, and doubling both Clark, and Reggie Wayne. If other-receivers beat you, that is just the way it goes.

Much like today, and against everyone else; if the Ravens run the ball and do not beat their selves, they will be a tough-out against anyone.