Ravens fly over Cardinals; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

At one point today, the Baltimore Ravens were down 24-3, with audible boos being heard from the crowd. After moving Flacco to a shot-gun, and sugar huddle; the passing offense would get going and allow the Ravens to get back into the game.

Outscoring Arizona 24-3 over the second half, Baltimore would go on to win 30-27.

The Good:

1) On the first Arizona play of the day, Johnson and Suggs both got pressure – with Johnson getting the sack for a 10 yard loss.

2) Kruger exploded towards Kolb to get his second sack of the year early on. In the 4th, he picked up his 2nd sack of the day. If he starts really coming on, he will add another dimension to this defense.

3) Suggs had the Ravens 3rd sack of the game, and 6th of his season on 3rd and 7 from the Ravens 7 on Arizona’s 2nd possession. This play forced the Cardinals to settle for a FG.
3a) He just missed another one in the 2nd half, but his pressure allowed Pollard to bring Kolb down. On the next Arizona series, he did get to Kolb, forcing a duck which was picked off by McClain. Suggs had 4 tackles for loss.

4) After missing 3rd and 7 on the first Ravens’ possession, Flacco picked up 3rd and 8 on the next series with a strong strike over the middle to Smith. Later on that drive, Flacco would be under a lot of pressure, but was able to keep the play going with his legs, and finding Boldin for a 12 yard gain to the 2 yard line.

5) Ricky Williams picked up 24 yards on 3rd and 2 with a combination of second effort, power, and sloppy tackling from Arizona.

6) At the end of the 1st half, the Ravens went to a 2 minute sugar-huddle offense, with Flacco out of the shotgun. It is no secret, that this is the offense Flacco prefers to run. As soon as they went to this, the passing attack improved.
6a) Pitta had a couple of nice grabs on this series. He finished with 6 grabs for 44 yards.

7) The sugar-huddle continued after half-time, with the first series including a 14 yard pass to Dickson, and a beautiful 37 yard strike to Boldin. The Ravens got the immediate scoring drive they needed to get back into the game.
7a) Dickson finished with 6 receptions for 46 yards.

8) Carr would have the Ravens 4th sack of the day, as he was unblocked on a corner blitz.

9) Superior 1 handed catch from Boldin in the 3rd. On that drive, Boldin had 4 catches for 80 yards. He also picked up the penalty on Patterson in the end-zone which set up Rice’s 2nd TD run. I’ve been hard on Boldin at times, it was great seeing him have one of his better days as a Raven, against his former team. Boldin finished with 7 grabs, for 145 yards.

10) McClellan had a nice Special Teams hit.

11) Leach opened up holes, with crushing blocks on Rice’s 2nd and 3rd TD runs.

12) Again, the Ravens passing offense under Flacco looked much better with the sugar huddle, and the QB in the shot-gun formation. Flacco finished 31 of 51, for 336 yards and a pick. This should be the base offense for the Ravens going forward.
12a) After missing Smith numerous times during the game, Flacco was finally able to connect with the rookie down the field to position Baltimore to close out the game.

The Bad:

1) After Johnson’s sack to start the game, Arizona was still able to pick up a three first downs. This was aided by a penalty, but it was a missed opportunity to have the Cardinals punting from deep in their own territory.

2) The hit Webb took on Arizona’s initial punt, was an example of the unnecessary increased risk there is of having him back there.

3) On the Ravens first series, they faced 3rd and 7 from the Cardinals 45 yard line. Flacco would miss Boldin badly, and Baltimore was forced to punt. The Ravens were forced into 3rd and long, when Flacco’s 2nd down pass attempt was also not completed.

4) Flacco was able to hit Boldin for 12 yards, giving the Ravens the ball on the 2 yard line. They would be pushed back when McKinney was called for a 5 yard false-start penalty. The Ravens would move no further, and have to settle for a tying FG.

5) Flacco never had a chance on the Schofield sack and strip. Obviously this turn of events gave Arizona a gift TD, and the 10-3 lead.

5a) After the fumble and Arizona TD, the next possession for the Ravens included a 1 yard Rice run on first down, Flacco running for his life for 10 yards and another first, two incomplete Flacco passes, and a 6 yard pass to Rice, on 3rd down with Flacco again under duress. The Ravens would punt, resulting in the Patterson PR TD.

6) As the 1st half ended, the Ravens had 3rd and 6 from the Arizona 18 yard line. The Cardinals brought the house, and Baltimore’s offensive line was not able to do anything to slow the rush.

7) Jimmy Smith was called for a Special Teams penalty, backing the Ravens up 10 yards for their 2nd possession of the 2nd half.

8) The Cary Williams penalty negated the Ngata forced fumble. On that same drive, Webb would be called for pass interference, which wiped out the Reed interception.

9) I write below that I did not have a problem with what Rice did, and do not believe he should have received the flag for taunting in the 4th. That said, the result of that play put the Ravens in a difficult position and gave the ball right back to Arizona, after the Cardinals had tied the game at 27 on their previous series.

10) Beanie Wells was limited to 3.8 yards per carry on his 22 carries, but he did have some success in both getting outside, and moving between the tackles.

11) LaQuan Williams dropped an easy pass over the middle, which should have been a 1st down with just over 3 and a 1/2 minutes left in the 4th.

The Ugly:

1) Webb missed the tackle on Fitzgerald’s 66 yard reception, allowing the Arizona to get a ton of yardage after the catch.

2) Started to write about the good hit from Pollard, but his talking after the play cost the Ravens 15 yards. Might be hypocritical, but I still do not think that the taunting call on Rice was justified.

3) Patrick Peterson will be named an All-Pro many times in his career, and make many plays against everyone. You know there was discussion all week about not allowing the Rookie to turn the field against you in the Return game. His 82 yard PR for the TD gave Arizona the 17-3 lead.

4) Smith’s drop resulted in the interception on Flacco, and again positive field possession for the Cardinals. Arizona would quickly go 25 yards for the score, and a 24-3 lead.