Ravens rout Carolina; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Baltimore Ravens had additional time to prepare for a Carolina Panthers team that entered today at 1-8. This was a Panthers team missing their first two QB’s, and starting a QB that was watching from his couch last weekend. A QB that entered today with 5 NFL passes in 8 NFL seasons, and did not spend his Summer in an NFL Training Camp. This was a Panthers team that has two quality RB’s, but had neither available. (Williams is on IR, and Stewart missed today with a concussion)

With all of that known, it was not exactly surprising that the Ravens left Carolina 37-13 victors. What was surprising, was that this was still a game in the 4th Quarter.

The Good:

1) The Ravens took immediate control of the game with the TD strike to Houshmandzadeh. I liked the mindset of attacking down the field immediately. Houshmandzadeh showed his strength pulling the defender into the end-zone.

2) Really enjoyed seeing the Ravens incorporate the no-huddle offense earlier in the game. Flacco is obviously more comfortable in that offense.

2a) Flacco finished with over 300 yards passing, and completed passes to 8 different receivers.

2b) Rice had 6 catches for 66 yards, Heap had 5 receptions for 69.

3) McClain had a nice sack, bursting through the line of scrimmage.

4) Immediately prior to Rice’s fumble, both Flacco and Rice extended a drive with second-efforts.

5) Kruger got some time today, and responded with a sack and several pressures.

6) Excellent return from David Reed to start the 2nd-half.

7) The gang-tackling was better today, but again part of that ‘credit’ goes to Carolina. The Panthers often threw short of the first down marker which allowed Baltimore’s defense to swarm to the ball. The CBS announcers stated the Ravens Coaches had told them they would be going ‘lighter & faster,’ using more LB’s and Secondary players. Maybe that helped.

8) Cundiff was again excellent with his kickoffs.

9) When St. Pierre was finally asked to make a play, Ed Reed ended the game with his pick. You sometimes cringe when Reed goes to pitch the ball, but the focus has to be on what a game changing talent Reed is.

10) Seconds after Reed’s pick, Ray Lewis had a pick and score of his own. This might not be the dominant Ravens defense of yore, but it is still a unit with play-makers and pride.

The Bad:

1) Goodson and Carolina had more success in their running game than I anticipated. 45 of yards came on 1 carry, but he still finished with 120 yards on 22 carries.

2) Rice, and Boldin both had untimely fumbles. (Flacco later took responsibility for the Rice fumble)

3) Horrible kick-off coverage (including a missed-tackle from Cary Williams, who did rebound to make the tackle down field) from the Ravens after their FG to start the 2nd-half.

4) There were a lot of times today that Flacco had an abundance of time to throw, so I can not say the O-line was horrible. The O-line was also dealing with Chester being out of the game, which you have to consider. Still, Flacco was sacked three times and hurried a few other times against a team that has had a poor pass-rush all season.

The Ugly:

1) Between their turnovers, and having to settle for several FG’s, the Ravens kept Carolina in the game far too long.  With a 20-6 lead to start the 4th Quarter, the one thing the Ravens could not afford to do was get beat deep for a quick score. Josh Wilson was burned on an 88 yard TD reception to the rookie Gettis which instantly changed the game. It did not factor into the end result, but this game never should have been in-doubt in the 4th Quarter.

2) The Ravens were just 2 for 10 on 3rd down.

Up-Next:

The now 7-3 Baltimore Ravens will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who are in San Francisco to face the 49ers. Coming into the game today, the Bucs have won 3 of their last 4 games overall, to move to 6-3 overall.