Ravens beat Tampa; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Baltimore Ravens ended November by running their overall record to 8-3, with a 17-10 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Tampa entered this game with a 7-3 record of their own, and the ability to play with ‘house money.’ The Bucs have already exceeded the expectations of the National prognosticators, so anything they accomplish going forward is a bonus. That makes for a dangerous opponent. It also caught my eye this week, when the Bucs’ CB Ronde Barber ( a long-time NFL Veteran) stated this Tampa team was the most athletically talented team he had ever been on.

I went into today anticipating a Baltimore victory, but more to the point expecting to know more about the Ravens by game end. That is exactly what occurred. The Bucs have plenty to look forward to in the years ahead, but lack the offensive weapons to really intimidate a team like the Ravens today. After 60 minutes of play, I think we have a better sense of this Baltimore team as well.

The Good:

1) The Ravens remained perfect at-home, and limited Tampa to 263 Net Yards.

2) Tampa came into today with the 6th ranked pass-defense, but Flacco carved the Bucs up finishing the game 25 for 35 for 283 yards, and 2 TD’s. Tampa tried to take away Boldin in the slot, but Flacco consistently was able to find Mason on the outside.

3) Rice had 85 yards on the ground, and another 47 as a receiver. Obviously his day would have been even bigger if his 76 yard TD had not been called back.

4) The Ravens were not able to get Freeman on the ground, but they were able to force him out of the pocket and make him uncomfortable.

4a) Suggs was consistently beating his man and causing Freeman to move.

4b) Rookie Arthur Jones made his NFL debut, and had some impact.

5) Tampa’s Rookie WR Mike Williams came into this game with 8 games of at-least 54 yards receiving, but was limited to just 2 catches for 20 yards today.

6) Heap was huffing a bit the last 20 yards of his 65 yard TD reception, but the score illustrated he is still a very difficult match-up for any LB.

7) The last-series of the game started on the Ravens 19 yard-line, with Baltimore needing to pick-up a couple of 1st downs to end the game. After running the ball on 1st down (to get Tampa to spend one of their timeouts) the Ravens coaches made the right decision to move the chains through the air. Flacco found Rice for an 11 yard gain, and with a new set of downs the Ravens appeared energized.

The Bad:

1) Up two scores late in the game, the Ravens knew Tampa was in position where they had to score quickly. What you can not allow there is a strike to a receiver over the top. Freeman’s WR Michael Spurlock beat Lardarius Webb down the field, but could not come up with the reception. A grab there (with the time that was left on the clock) could have changed the game.

2) I thought it was a poor decision by the Ravens to challenge the Tampa reception on the Bucs last-series. It should have been clear to the Coaches in the booth that overturning the play was unlikely, and that it sure to be a waste of a timeout.

3) The Ravens continue to allow Reed and Webb to return punts, and that just seems to such an unnecessary risk. Would it not make more sense for Stallworth to be used in this capacity?

4) I had hoped that as the season turned to December, that Ed Dickson would be becoming a more prominent member of the offense. Inactive today with a thigh injury, Dickson still has just 1 catch since the Week 8 bye.

5) In 4 November games, Boldin had just 13 catches for 134 yards. He should be more than a decoy in this offense. If teams are going to take him away in the slot, find other ways to get him the ball.

6) It appears that Oher, McClain, and Landry will all be ok, but the injuries to Oher and McClain illustrated how quickly things can change. Oher has struggled some this year at LT, but the Ravens would be in a world of hurt without him. The Ravens utilize McClain in a variety of ways, particularly with his lead-blocking for Rice (and his blitz pick-up for Flacco). If he was out for an extended period of time, it would drastically change the offense.

The Ugly:

1) Tampa came into the game today with 14 sacks for the year, which was tied for 30th in the league. Today they got to Flacco 4 separate times. Obviously losing Oher (and McClain to a lesser extent) impacted this, but the Bucs had already put several sacks on the board prior to those sacks.

Up-Next:

The 8-3 AFC North leading Baltimore Ravens host the 8-3 Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday Night on National TV. If the teams were both 3-8, the game would still be a hard-hitting affair worthy of rivals. With both teams in contention for the division (and potentially a 1st round bye in the playoffs) the game figures to be even more intense than usual.