Ravens crush Cincinnati; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Baltimore Ravens put any lingering negative feelings about last year’s AFC Championship Game in their review mirror, and started their 2012 season with a bang. While their 44-13 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals was not ‘perfect’, there was an awful lot to like.

Most importantly, the Ravens defended their home-field, and captured an always important division win. Most impressively, the Baltimore offense scored on 6 of their first 7 possessions.

The Good:

1) The Ravens started the game with a Flacco play-fake, and a 52 yard strike to Torrey Smith.

2) Justin Tucker carried over his preseason success, hitting from 46 yards on his first attempt of the regular season.

3) The Bengals 1st series ended with Bernard Pollard coming on the blitz on 3rd and 7. He got his hands up to deflect the Dalton pass. Earlier in the series, Kemoeatu was making a positive difference at the line.

4) Baltimore’s 2nd possession started with a reverse to Smith, for a 13 yard gain. That series also included back-to-back connections with Jacoby Jones, including a 1st down coming on 3rd and 15 with a perfect back shoulder throw from Flacco. I loved the decision to go for it on 4th and 1 from the Bengals 20, and also loved the tough catch from Rice to move the chains. Pitta made an immediate impact on his return to action, with a 12 yard catch, taking the ball to the Cincinnati 7. Rice culminated the drive with his TD run. Strong blocking up-front from Oher, and Harewood on the drive.

5) Baltimore’s great offensive start continued on their 3rd series. Rice was sprung for a 16 yard run on a nice block from Yanda. Flacco found Jones on the sideline, with a perfectly placed ball. After a review, Boldin’s 34 yard TD over the middle stood; giving the Ravens a 2 TD lead. Over 2:27, Baltimore covered 82 yards in just 5 plays for the score.

6) The Bengals had picked up 3rd and 1 with a 12 yard gain on their 3rd series. Several plays later, they again faced 3rd and short. This time, Ngata collapsed the pocket and brought down Dalton. In the 4th Quarter, Ngata wrapped up Dalton for his 2nd sack. Just as impressively, he would cover Gresham in coverage several plays later.

7) Pitta would make his 2nd catch, this time for 23 yards, during Baltimore’s first series of the 2nd half. Later in that possession, the Ravens had a quick screen to Rice for 18 yards. Rice was sprung with down the field blocking from Oher. On the next play, Rice would run for 13 more, helped by big block from Leach. After failing to connect in the 1st half, Flacco and Dickson came together for a 19 throw and catch on this drive. Pitta would end the drive, going up to get the TD pass from Flacco. Pitta could easily be one of the Ravens main Red Zone targets. This drive, pushing the lead back to 11 at 24-13, was a great answer from the Baltimore offense to back-to-back scoring drives by Cincinnati.

8) Pollard and C. Williams had solid games. Pollard made several big hits, and Williams had a couple of good plays in pass coverage.

9) A good challenge from the Ravens in the 3rd Quarter, got a reversal, and forced the Bengals to punt.

10) The Ravens second series of the 2nd half, began like their first – with a Flacco strike to Pitta – this time for 25 yards. That was followed with a 10 yard gain to Boldin, a 3 yard dump off to Dickson, and a first down run from Rice on the jump cut. The Rice run gave the Ravens a 1st down from the Bengals 26th. Several plays later, Tucker knocked in his 2nd FG, making it 27-13 with just over a minute left in the 3rd Quarter.

11) Ed Reed was close to several picks on the night, and finally got his first of the year as the 3rd Quarter was coming to a close. After the interception (the 58th of his career), he took it to the house for the TD. He also set a new NFL record for the most career interception return yards. On the score, Baltimore extended their lead to 34-13. Up-front, the Ravens created pressure, and forced Dalton into a poor decision.

12) Webb came off the edge and delivered a smack to Dalton as the 4th Quarter started. On the next play, he recovered Dalton’s fumble. (Lewis might have helped knock the ball out of Dalton’s hands.) Later in the 4th, Webb was called for what seemed to be a very tough unnecessary roughness penalty. Looked to be another timely hit on Dalton off the edge. ESPN had a long time official as part of their crew, who made the point it was not a ‘late hit’, but because Webb led with the head. He seemed to get more and more active as the game went on.

13) Ray Rice got his 2nd TD, with a tough goal line run. The run itself was not spectacular, but seeing the Ravens put their foot on the pedal, and push over 40 points was.

14) With coverage down field, Kruger, Upshaw, and McPhee converged on Dalton at the same time in the 4th.

15) 7 Ravens had at-least 2 catches. Pitta 5 catches, 73 yards. Boldin 4 catches, 63 yards, Jones 3 catches, 46 yards, Smith 2 catches, 57 yards, Dickson 2 catches, 22 yards. Lots of weapons. Great to see the TE’s used like they were tonight.

16) The Bengals were limited to 4 of 15 on 3rd down.

17) Flacco was 21 of 29 for 299 yards, and 2 TD’s. He was in complete control with the no huddle offense.

18) With the extended lead; Taylor, Pierce, and Deonte Thompson got some extended run in the 4th. Thompson averaged 22 yards per on his 4 Kick Returns.

19) Tucker finished his perfect night, hitting his 3rd FG to make it 44-13.

20) The starting offensive line –  Oher, Harewood, Birk, Yanda, Osemele – had a great night overall. Prior to tonight, I would have argued that an average McKinnie at LT, with Oher at RT, and Osemele at LG was the Ravens optimal lineup. Maybe what we saw tonight, is the lineup that the Ravens think is best with this no-huddle offense.

The Bad:

1) After making it to the Bengals 21 yard line on the Ravens opening drive, Jacoby Jones did not run the route Flacco was expecting on 2nd and 4. The Ravens were not able to pick up the first down on the following play, when Flacco was sacked by Atkins. Ultimately Baltimore had to settle for a FG.

2) Boldin dropped a reverse on the Ravens 2nd series, costing Baltimore 10 yards.

3) McPhee was charged with a neutral-zone infraction on the Bengals 2nd possession. It allowed Cincinnati to go from 3rd and 7, to 3rd and 2; which was picked up on 13 yard run by Green-Ellis.

4) That 2nd series by the Bengals, saw Cincinnati attacking the Ravens through the air on 1st and 2nd downs (6 such attempts). The Ravens were getting no push on the Bengals offensive line, and Dalton had a clean pocket to throw from. Starting from their 8 yard line, the Bengals went 13 plays over 6+ minutes, and finishing with a FG to pull within 7.

5) On the Ravens 4th series, Flacco and Dickson were not able to connect on pass attempt over the middle. Dickson had room to run if the catch had been made.

6) T. Smith was charged with a block in the back, wiping out a 1st down reception from Leach. During the Ravens first series of the 2nd half, Smith was charged with a false start.

7) With just under 6 minutes left in the 1st half, the Ravens had to punt for the 1st time, when they failed to defend the corner blitz on 3rd and 11.

8) The Ravens came with an inside blitz, and Dalton beat Baltimore with a dump off to Andrew Dawkins for 27 yards.

9) Early in the 2nd half, Jimmy Smith entered the game. ESPN’s Jon Gruden stated he knew the Bengals wanted to go after him. Pretty much immediately Dalton found Green for a 17 yard gain.

10) In the middle of the 3rd Quarter, the Ravens faced 2nd and 8 on the Bengals 10 yard line. Flacco made a poor decision getting rid of the ball, and could have easily been picked off.

11) Gino Atkins got his 2nd sack of the game, bringing Flacco to the ground with the Ravens up 28 points in the 4th Quarter. There was not a great reason for Flacco to still be in the game, and the blocking (it may have been Williams), was not good.

The Ugly:

1) Cincinnati pulled within 7, at 17-10 when the Green-Ellis rushed for a 6 yard TD on 4th and 1 with 20 seconds left in the half. The Ravens defense was given the opportunity to come up with a stop, and were unable to make the needed play. Over 5 minutes and 31 seconds, the Bengals went 81 yards on 13 plays for the score.

2) Following their long drive to end the 1st half, the Bengals went on a 12 play 79 yard drive (covering another 6 minutes) to open the 2nd half. The drive ended with a Cincinnati FG to make it a 17-13 game.

3) Cincinnati averaged 4.6 yards per carry on their 25 rushing attempts. Green-Ellis had 91 yards on 18 carries.