Preseason 2: Ravens over Atlanta; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Pre-season football was in all of its ‘glory’ tonight at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The scoreboard shows a 27-23 Ravens victory, but the film will show that Baltimore’s starting offense struggled mightily vs. the Falcons. That was clearly the primary negative of the night.

The primary positives of the night were Torrey Smith’s explosive TD reception, and the play of veteran LB Daryl Smith. Others including Arthur Jones, Arthur Brown, Asa Jackson, Elvis Dumervil, John Simon, Kyle Juszczyk, Aaron Mellette, Damien Berry, and Matt Furstenburg also each added some positive film to their names.

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The Good:

1) Another game, another Tucker kickoff for a touch-back.

2) After illegal contact from the Ravens on the Falcons opening series, D. Smith made a nice tackle on S. Jackson. On 3rd and 6, Pees brought the blitz, and D. Smith helped get Atlanta off the field.

3) The Falcons had 3rd and 8 from the Baltimore 28 yard line, when Dumervil brought good pressure off the edge. This forced an ATL FGA attempt (converted) to end the Falcons 2nd possession.

4) Baltimore’s 2nd series lasted one play, as T.Smith took a slant over the middle, and beat the entire Falcons defense with his speed. The 77 yard TD strike put the Ravens up 7-3.

5) D. Smith got his hand up on a Ryan pass early in the 2nd Quarter, causing a deflection which almost picked off. On 3rd and 10 from the Baltimore 42, Chris Canty brought pressure up the middle, and caused a Falcons punt.

6) A. Jones had a tackle for loss, on the Falcons first series of the 2nd Quarter. On 3rd and 9 from the Ravens 22, A. Brown had back-to-back strong plays. That forced a 42 yard FGA attempt for the Falcons. Both plays from Brown were him showing an ability to read and react.

7) The Ravens 2nd series of the 2nd Quarter started with a 24 yard KR from D. Reed. After Atlanta went up 20-7, Reed had another good KR, gaining 38 yards.

8) With 6 minutes left in the 1st half, Flacco and Bajema connected for an 18 yard gain.

9) In the closing seconds of the 1st half, McClellan recovered an Atlanta fumble, preventing a Falcons FG attempt.

10) A. Jackson had a text-book tackle on the Falcons first series of the 2nd half. Nothing great about the play, just looked great in comparison to O. Brown’s tackling attempt on the same series. The Ravens defense did force a punt on that series.
10a) To begin the 4th Quarter, Jackson delivered another strong tackle.
10b) The Ravens took the 4th Quarter lead, when Jackson delivered a 78 yard PR for a TD with 6:18 left in the game. This put Baltimore up 27-23.

11) J. Simon was not able to bring Davis down, but Simon’s pressure on 3rd and 12 forced a Falcons punt on their 2nd series of the 3rd Quarter. (The penalty from L. Williams would allow Atlanta to keep possession.) On 3rd and 4 from the Ravens 12, C. Brown came in with a smack, to avoid another 1st down. That had the Falcons kicking the FG, and taking the 23-7 lead.
11a) Early in the 4th, Simon had a sack on 3rd and 2 to force a punt. Nice spin move from Simon.

12) With 3 minutes left in the 3rd Quarter, the Ravens started their 3rd 2nd half drive. Out of the pistol offense, Allen gained 9 yards off the pitch. Juszczyk check took a quick pass, and gained 15 yards. Juszczyk showed some nice burst for a guy his size. After the Atlanta penalty, Taylor gained 8 yards on the ground. Facing 3rd and 1 from the ATL 14, Berry gained the 1st down on his second effort.

13) For the 2nd straight game, A. Mellette had a TD reception. Smith threw a nice ball, and Mellette ran by his defender for the 40 yard score. If Mellette showed some Special Teams skills the next weeks, he could force his way onto the roster. The competition for that last receiving spot is going to be tight.

14) The Ravens defense came up with a stop on the series following the Mellette TD, stopping 5 wide from Atlanta on 3rd and 8.

15) Baltimore started a drive from their 32 with 12 minutes to go in the 4th Quarter. Berry had a run for 5 yards, followed by a Furstenburg catch for 6 yards. Berry added a nice block, allowing Taylor to gain the 1st. On 1st and 10, Furstenburg moved the chains again with a 17 yard grab. On 2nd and Goal from the 5, Taylor found Doss for a TD. This made it 23-20 Atlanta with 7:52 left.

16) A couple of good plays from Copeland late in the 4th.

17) Hall’s ST tackle on the Ravens last punt return, prevented Atlanta from starting in even better position for their final drive.

The Bad:

1) On the Falcons opening series, Atlanta gained a 1st down on illegal contact from the Ravens.

2) Starting at Center, Shipley was called for a 15 yard face-masking penalty on the Ravens opening drive. Baltimore would go 3 and out, with the 3rd down check down to Shiancoe going behind the veteran TE. Still a ball that could have been caught though.
2a) On the Ravens first series of the 2nd Quarter, Shipley was called for a false start.

3) Christian Thompson was called for a 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Atlanta’s 2nd series. That was followed by a Steven Jackson run up the gut for another 1st. With illegal hands to the face, Arthur Jones gave the Falcons another 1st.

4) During the Falcons 3rd series, Huff missed a tackle of Jackson, allowing Jackson to pick up additional yards. After that, Bynes missed on Jackson as well. In single coverage against the ultra-talented Julio Jones, J. Smith was beat for a 32 yard gain. Using a play fake, Ryan brought the defense in and connected with Jones a second time for another 15 yards; setting up 1st and Goal. On 3rd and Goal, Jones beat J.Smith once again. The end cut over the middle resulted in a Falcons TD. The Ravens announcers wondered if J. Smith expected Safety help. Atlanta took the 10-7 lead, marching right down the field after the Ravens initial score.

5) Baltimore’s 3rd offensive series ended when the Ravens could not pick up 3rd and 2 from their own 28.

6) Late in the 1st Quarter, Ryan dropped a beautiful pass over J. Smith to find Kevin Cone for a 1st down the sidelines. Mainly that was a play you tip the cap to Ryan, but it was Smith being beat once again. As the 2nd Quarter started, Atlanta faced 3rd and 2 from the Baltimore 47. The Falcons converted when they ran a short pass play in-front of J. Smith.

7) Rodgers started the 1st Falcons series of the 2nd Quarter with a cut back for 9 yards. That was followed by a 6 yard run taking the ball to the Ravens 38. Facing 3rd and 5, A. Smith gained 18 yards.  That drive resulted in a Falcons FG to make it 13-7 Atlanta.

8) A poor route from L. Williams, coupled by a poor pass attempt from Taylor; almost resulted in a Pick 6 to begin the 2nd half. Baltimore had to punt went Taylor was sacked on 3rd down.

9) On the Falcons 1st series of the 2nd half, O. Brown was dragged by D. Davis for the 1st down. Horrible job of wrapping up.

10) The Ravens had another 3 and out on the 2nd series of the 2nd half, with L. Williams unable to come down with the jump ball on 3rd down.

11) McClellan missed a tackle on the Falcons 2nd series of the 3rd Quarter. That helped spring Vaughan for 20 yards. Baltimore had forced Atlanta into a punt, but the Falcons kept possession when L. Williams was called for a penalty. The Falcons went right back to Vaughan, who caused another missed tackle – this time from Hamilton. On 3rd and 1 from the Ravens 20, Davis boot-legged for the 1st down, with Hamilton again being beat. Simon was not able to shed his blocker on 2nd down.

13) Late in the 3rd Quarter, Doss was initially charged with a fumble. The replay challenge showed he never had possession. So he gets credit for not putting the ball on the ground, but it was still a play he needed to make.
13a) In the 4th Quarter, Doss was called for a face mask, wiping out his own 10 yard reception.

14) Baltimore’s offense was finally moving successfully late in the 3rd Quarter, reaching the Atlanta 13 yard line. On 1st and 10, Smith was picked off, with a clear miscommunication between him and L. Williams leading to the interception.

15) Marc Anthony was called for interference in the middle of the 4th, showing poor technique on the play.

The Ugly:

1) With the starters playing as long as they did, the results were really poor from the Baltimore offense. Baltimore went 3 and out on the first series of the 2nd Quarter. Meaning that on the first 4 drives of the game with the 1st team offense, the Ravens went 3 and out 3 times. Smith had the explosive TD, and otherwise the offense was unable to do anything against the Falcons starting defense. On the 5th drive, Flacco was picked off. On the 6th and final drive of the 1st half, the Ravens gained one first down before having to again Punt. Baltimore was 1 of 5 on 3rd down, and gained just 131 yards in the 1st half, with only 13 yards coming on the ground.

2) The Falcons offense gained 255 yards in the 1st half. They were 4 of 8 on 3rd down, and gained 16 1st downs.  Atlanta ran the ball successfully enough against the Ravens defense, setting-up play action. The Falcons only averaged 3.8 yards on their yards per carry in the 1st half, but they gained 76 yards as the Ravens missed several tackles.