Ravens win on MNF; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Despite an auspicious first-half of play in Cleveland, the Ravens made the plays necessary in the 2nd-half to advance their record to 5-4.

The Good:

1) The Browns were playing inspired ball on National TV, and their crowd was into the game. Tied at half-time, the Ravens could have started to point fingers. Instead they ratcheted-up the intensity and left Browns Stadium with a win.

2) The Cleveland offense obviously has plenty of problems, but that does not take away from the Ravens defense throwing a shutout. Baltimore held the Browns to a ridiculously low 160 yards of offense. The defense also put 7 points of their own on the board, and had 4 sacks. It was a dominating performance.

3) Ray Rice had his usual solid game, but I was most excited about seeing McGahee finding his way onto the field again. McGahee’s 2.7 yards per carry on his 13 attempts was obviously low, but him touching the ball with some regularity was a positive.

4) Coming off the bench, and having his snaps limited is the best use of Trevor Pryce at this stage of his career. He actually looked explosive as he beat his man (I believe it was Joe Thomas?) coming off the edge. If he just plays passing downs, and can bring pressure on those plays, that is an improvement.

5) Webb’s athleticism becomes more apparent each week. He might be the best pure athlete on the team. It is also not out of the question that he is the best CB on the team by next year.

6) Landry not only had the INT return for TD, he also had a nice stop behind the line of scrimmage. It was nice to see him make a few plays.

7) One on of the first few plays of the game, Reed came-up and made a hard tackle. I think that was a direct answer to his lack of tackling in the week prior.

8) Heap made an excellent catch over the middle before being crushed. Was also impressed with his ability to come back to the ball and make that sliding catch on Flacco’s scramble and throw to the outside.

9) Cameron seemed more willing to look down the field some as the game progressed. That has been missing from the offense the last few weeks, and needs to be reincorporated with increasing regularity down the stretch.

10) Paul Kruger saw some action, and ‘surprise’ he actually rushed the passer a bit. I am not sure where he is as a overall LB, and I do not care. The Ravens need a pass rush, and he can help provide it.

11) Cleveland was consistently in 3rd and long situations, and the defense played very aggressive on passing downs.

12) I am guessing Ngata could have played last night, but it was the right move holding him back. If you needed him to beat Cleveland, you were not a playoff contender anyway. Now he gets a whole other week of rest and should be feeling good for Indy.

The Bad:

1) While Mason had his 78 yards, no other Raven receiver caught a pass. The crowd I was with bemoaned a miss over the middle for Clayton. I would have liked to have seen a replay, as I thought the ball was behind him; but the general point was correct. To often Clayton goes missing. I consider myself a Clayton fan. I think he is a capable 2nd or 3rd receiver, but something is missing. Last night was his 3rd game of the year with 1 catch or less. At the end of last year the Ravens had success throwing to him down the field, and he responded with a 17 yard per reception average. Where has that gone from the offense? Why not find ways to get him the ball in space in the slot?

2) Go back and read the quotes from the organization when they obtained LJ Smith over the winter. Where are the 2 TE formations? How can the team be going into their 10th game of the season, with Smith having 1 reception?

3) Flacco was sacked 3 times last-night. Some of that falls on the offensive-line, who should have dominated that Cleveland front 7. Some of that, you have to credit to the defensive schemes of Rob Ryan. You also have to give some of the blame to Flacco who has taken a number of sacks this year by holding the ball too long.

4) I did not like the replay challenge, or the fact the Ravens burned through their timeouts to start the game.

The Ugly:

1) The injuries to Suggs, and Nakamura are not good. Nakamura broke his ankle and is done. That hurts special teams, and the depth at safety. I do not know the extent of Suggs injury, but that was a cheap shot by Quinn. If Suggs had made that same play on Quinn, it would be a major story. People might be down on Suggs, but the Ravens can not afford to be without him for any length of time.

2) Have we reached the point where Hauschka can not kick from one hash-mark? If Stover kicks a Game-winning FG for the Colts in Baltimore this week, there is going to be armageddon in the stands. You can not keep bringing people into to compete against Hauschka. You either tell him the job is his, and let him relax, or you make the move for the best free-agent veteran available.

I continue to tell people my biggest disappointment with Hauschka has been his kickoffs.

Up-next:
Peyton Manning and the 9-0 Colts come to town. I do not see the Colts as a Super Bowl team, and do believe some of their injuries will catch up to them. That said, I will not believe the Ravens can beat Manning, until I witness it with my own two eyes.