After beating up each other for a couple of weeks, the Baltimore Ravens traveled north to face Philadelphia in the Pre-Season Opener for both teams. The Eagles would hold on, beating Baltimore 13-6.
The Good:
1) With Todd Heap in Arizona, and Ed Dickson unavailable tonight; Dennis Pitta made the most of his opportunity. He contributed to the offense with not only 4 catches for 47 yards, but also had a couple of good showings in pass protection. The completion to start the game with Flacco was a nice showing of athleticism.
2) Cundiff gave Baltimore the initial 3-0 lead with a 53 yard strike, and also immediately took advantage of the NFL’s new kickoff rule. He had 40 Touchbacks last year. It is only slight hyperbole to say it would be a surprise if any team runs a kick out of the end zone against him in 2011.
3) Nakamura had a couple of strong open field tackles on Ronnie Brown.
4) There have been reports of Kruger looking much more confident in Camp this year, and we saw an example of that with his 1st half sack on Vince Young. Really nice burst, and he wrapped up. Had a good tackle in run support to begin the 2nd half.
5) Good defensive penetration in the 1st half, with Arthur Jones showing well.
6) Pollard immediately made his presence felt, getting pressure on Young in the 2nd Quarter, and later coming up with 39 yard INT. In the 2nd half, he made a hard tackle on the Eagles initial drive of the 3rd Quarter.
7) Cary Williams had a big preseason last year, but was not able to build on that, after being suspended for the first two games of the season. He was active tonight.
8) On a quick slant from Taylor, Doss made a solid grab over the middle even though he anticipated the defensive contact.
9) Taylor did have a good pass to the TE Kris Wilson, and overall looked better (not good enough, but better) in the 2nd half.
10) Parmele ran hard with his 7 carries.
11) On Draft Day, McPhee was described as run-stopping DE. Tonight he showed some pass rush. Certainly looked like a guy that could contribute.
12) The former Terp (and Baltimore’s own) LaQuan Williams is having a good camp, and put some positive plays on film tonight. Still hard to envision how he can make this Ravens roster.
The Bad:
1) Have to remember it was the initial game of the preseason, but some of the Ravens tackling was sub-par.
2) On the Eagles initial drive of the game, Carr bit on a double move. On the Eagles first drive of the 3rd Quarter, Webb was turned around.
3) On the Ravens 2nd drive, Torrey Smith ran the wrong route. On the first drive with Taylor behind Center, Smith helped cause the interception.
4) On 3rd and 14 to start the 2nd Quarter, Kruger missed his 2nd sack. Young was able allude Kruger and hit Hall for 32 yards.
4a) Several plays later on that drive, McClain was run over on 2nd and 1.
5) Pitta’s night was not perfect, as he did drop a pass in the middle of the 2nd Quarter.
6) The Ravens were having some issues dealing with screens. The Baltimore defense line was at times over pursuing, and Philadelphia was easily going over the top of them for chunks of yards.
7) As the clock ticked down on the 1st half, the Ravens were in their 2 minute offense. After a 1st down to Doss, the Rookie OT Jah Reid was called for a false start.
The Ugly:
1) Baltimore being a snap away from needing Tyrod Taylor to produce is not a good thing. There have been lots of reports of him having good pocket awareness, but he looked very wide eyed trying to go through his progressions. He was clearly looking to dump off and seemed uncomfortable with looking down the field. After he made a nice move to escape pressure, Taylor had his 2nd INT of the night near the Eagles’ end-zone. Taylor was sacked 5 times.
2) On the Ravens 2nd drive, Cousins had poor pass protection on the 3rd down. On 4th and 2, with Baltimore down 10-3 and under 6 minutes left in the 1st half – Cousins was called for a penalty forcing a punt. The 1st half ended with Cousins allowing a sack he he was positioned at LT. Not a great showing.
3) The Eagles converted their first 6 third downs, and finished the night converting 10 of 16 such plays. Philadelphia dominated time of possession.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.