In the first inaugural Cam Cameron Game, the Ravens came out on top. Tough loss today, as we were outhustled, outplayed, and outcoached in pretty much all phases of the game. We were guilty of being reactive, as opposed to proactive, responding to what the Ravens were throwing at us, rather than trying to dictate tempo or style. We didn't get much in the way of breaks today, and made a few mistakes along the way that led to the loss. What I Liked In a lot of respects, this game is more disappointing than last week's loss to the Texans. Against the Texans, we couldn't capitalize on their early mistakes and allowed them to stay in the game, eventually snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Today against the Ravens, we pretty much got dominated on both sides of the ball. I really think the game turned on the Suggs Pick Six. It put us in the position of playing from behind against a tough Ravens Defense. Multiple Receivers Involved in the Passing Game - Pennington (and the coaching staff) deserves credit for turning players like Greg Camarillo and Dave Martin into legitimate pass catching threats. Davone Bess ran a nice little route to catch his first TD as a pro. In this game Chad completed passes to seven different receivers. This is promising because it does not allow teams to scheme to take away one receiver or weapon. We don't have a true #1 (or really even #2) WR, so it's good that there are multiple guys that can step up and make contributions. Wildcat Wrinkles - While the Wildcat may be renamed the Mildcat after today's performance, the wrinkles were there, and part of the game plan. Pennington at QB was interesting, although it made the package less exotic it opens up multiple options in the passing game. The Cobbs reverse was pretty, until it got gunked up. This formation isn't going to work 100% of the time. Baltimore has one of the best defenses in the league, so I wasn't surprised to see it bottled up effectively. I am hoping that we eventually see Ginn as the man in motion or back in the gun. In order for that to happen he has to stop making mental mistakes, though. Attitude - It may sound cliché, but I liked the attitude that we played with today. Solid hits on both sides of the ball, lots of pads popping. That's football. The Ravens are known as a nasty physical team. I was extremely happy to see us matching their physicality on both sides of the ball. We didn't catch many breaks today, but we kept playing hard, and kept coming back - I didn't see players quitting out there, although they were sapped from being on the field for such a long time. Sparano is a blood-and-guts coach. It's good to see the team starting to resemble his personality. What I didn't Like The Ravens today followed the Pittsburg Steeler model to beat us. Stellar Defense, solid running game, and a rookie QB minimizing his mistakes. I would have liked to see us rattle Flacco more, instead of playing conservatively and letting him have one of his best days as a pro. Let's get to the gory details: Failure at the Point of Attack - With Paul Soliai out on a suspension, we needed a huge game from Jason Ferguson, with him making as many contributions as possible. Instead Ferguson went out with a rib injury late in the first half. This opened up the running game for the Ravens, as McGahee gouged us in the second half. This in turn allowed the passing game to open up for Joe Flacco, as he used Play Action to target Derrick Mason and pick us apart. I believe this, more than anything else, contributed to our loss today. No Pass Rush - Our pass rush starts and ends with #55. If he doesn't get to the QB, no one is. After showing promise against New England and San Diego, Matt Roth has regressed. He missed several chances for tackles-for-loss behind the line of scrimmage, and failed to generate any type of consistent pass rush. The youngsters (Merling and Langford) were also quiet for most of the game, being handled by a mediocre Baltimore O-Line missing their starting RG. For us to have a chance to win, we have to be able to get pressure on the QB, often and consistently. We have not been able to do that these last two weeks. Consequently, we've lost. JV Secondary - Aside from Will Allen (and maybe Yeremiah Bell), no one else in our secondary deserves to be on the field, much less starting. Flacco's QB rating was 120.2, 50 points higher than his season average. I don't expect picks galore, but our secondary has one pick - by the spectacularly average Andre "Toast" Badman. Tackling Whiffs - After displaying good wrap up skills in the last 3 games, we saw some mental errors out there, as players took bad angles and whiffed on tackles. For us to be successful, we need to make plays behind the line of scrimmage. That doesn't mean over pursuing and allowing huge gains on the ground, like we did today. Vanilla Play Calling - One of the major reasons we moved to the Wildcat formation was because it allowed us to be unpredictable on offense. I expected us to struggle against a superior Baltimore defense, but I feel like our play calling was terribly vanilla, particularly in the first half. I'm also concerned in how we used the Wildcat. It's becoming predictable. (Granted, we unveiled a reverse to Cobbs out of it today ... more on that later) Maybe I've watched this team too long, I don't know. And the times we were not vanilla, we made strange calls, like a QB sneak on 2nd and 21. I was going to complain about the audible to the draw on 3rd and Goal - but kudos to Vendigo for correctly pointing out that the play clock was at 3 and it was the only play we could really audible to. In hindsight, Chad should have probably called timeout, but I don't know how much it would have helped us out. Gatorade Bath - When I hear people describe the Ravens as Thugs (see Lewis, Ray) I have a natural tendency to stick up for them. That said, the Gatorade Bath at the end of the game was pointless and uncalled for. You guys got revenge on that team that beat you last year. Congrats. Celebrating like you just won the Super Bowl is stupid. Standout Players I had planned on putting Randy Starks in this category, until he died in the heat in the second half, allowing the Ravens to run roughshod over us to finish out the game. (Check out the McGahee TD) ... He does deserve credit for making some plays on defense, which is more than you can say for Holliday/Merling/Langford. Aside from Starks, most of our other players played average, at best. A few had decent games. Ted Ginn - Ted Ginn finally started making some contributions today, looking like a real receiver for the first time all year. Nice to see him stepping up and making plays. Despite starting the game with a muff, Ginn returned 5 kicks on the day too, averaging 18 yards a return. More importantly, our average starting field position after those returns was the 35 yard line. This was a solid game for Ginn and should solidify his status as our return man for the near future. Emphasis on should. Patrick Cobbs - Cobbs is quietly easing into the role I initially thought would belong to Lorenzo Booker, way back in the day. He's not exceptionally quick or shift, but he's making plays and has displayed nice hands coming out of the backfield. He's playing with a high confidence level and has become a regular fixture of the offense. Joey Porter - He's playing at a Defensive MVP level. In some respects, I almost wish we would have kept Jason Taylor and paired him with Porter off the other edge. Roth is playing that role now; it's a project. He's still raw and a liability in coverage. Porter however, is a lock for the Pro Bowl, at least for the moment, and should be seriously considered for Defensive MVP. By the way, what the heck is up with punters having career days against us this year? Sam “Ray Guy” Koch boomed 3 against us that averaged 59 yards apiece. Long was 67. Ridiculous. Invisible Players Really, you could indict the entire defense, save the aforementioned Joey Porter, and I wouldn't disagree with you. In the Miami heat, you would expect the opponent to wilt - not your own team. That said, we pretty much did nothing of note to stop Baltimore, particularly in the second half. On offense, the middle of our offensive line couldn't move the pile if their lives depended on it; leading to an abandonment of an ineffective running game and a wing it/sling it approach. Teams love it when we do this; Pennington lacks the arm strength to go over the middle of the field, unless a player is wide open, so it effectively trims the area they have to defend by 33%. Credit to Baltimore for a solid blueprint on offense, and a defense that can still force teams to become one-dimensional. Anthony Fasano - After playing well to open the season, Fasano has become persona non grata in our offense. Maybe we are keeping him in to block more because Carey is struggling, I don't know. I do know that he has to step up and be more consistent. 2 catches a game isn't going to cut it. Jason Allen - Good lord, with as terrible as our secondary is, how awful must Allen be to not get a shot out there? Samson Satele - Going in, I was fearful of the matchup against Ngata, and for good reason. Giving up 4 inches and 45 pounds to Haloti Ngata, Samson pretty much got dominated at the point of attack today, as our running game could not do anything of note going up the middle against the Ravens. It's a tough matchup, but one that the truly greats would win. Satale also blew his assignment on the Wildcat reverse, allowing Baltimore to snuff out what otherwise looked to be a promising play. One of his more disappointing efforts, similar to the performance we saw against Jenkins in the first game. Justin Smiley and Ike Ndukwe didn't do much of anything either, which lead to an absolutely abysmal performance in the running game. Ricky Williams - Has Williams fallen out of favor for Cobbs? Exceptionally quiet day for #34, with 4 carries for 16 yards. Maybe the Ray Lewis hit hurt more than he let on. Akin Ayodele - Where was he today? Overall Thoughts I know that 2 losses in a row are disappointing and hard to take, but come down from the ledge. We are 2 plays away from being effectively 4-2. More importantly, we've played competitive and hard-nosed football - something last year's team never did. I predicted 6-10 during Training Camp, and I stand by that prediction. We've simply got too many holes in too many places to win too many games. The Wildcat helps to mask the fact we have next to nothing in the way of Wide Receiver. When the pass rush is cooking (it wasn't today) and Joey Porter is on, it doesn't matter who we have in the secondary. Let's face facts: For us to win games, we have to play flawless football. I'm talking minimal penalties, no turnovers, and not missing tackles. We didn't do that today. Consequently, we lost. I do like our chances against both Buffalo and Denver.
I know many are tired of this comparison but the Patriots and Brady won a Superbowl with no number one receiver. Now, I'm not saying we don't need one because we really do but I'm just pointing it out once again. Odin, Haloti is the end in their 34 scheme while Justin Bannan is the Nose. Either way, Samson has regressed since last year and I honestly don't have a clue to why. Bannan has become a very good player on Sundays but Satele has been struggling all year. He struggled against an average Bryan Robinson of the Cardinals. I really don't know what it is but I hope it gets corrected with him. Great write-up again man.
I agree, I think the usage of the multiple receivers is a positive; we are seeing development from Ginn, Camarillo, and Martin. That's a good thing. Now if Wilford and Hagan could just get on the field. Damn, I thought he was matched up against Ngata. Shows what I get for watching the game via an online stream. But yeah, Samson is definitely going through a Sophomore Slump. He's been up and down this year, looking great one game and terrible the next. I notice he is wearing a brace, it's possible there may be an undisclosed injury (separated shoulder?) that's holding him back.
Yeah. Honestly, I'm almost kind of glad Wilford isn't on the field. I'm not sure he brings anything to this team. He's very slow, he can't get separation, he doesn't use his body well which takes him away as a red zone target and he doesn't have good hands. He's not a great route runner either nor does he play Special Teams. I'm not sure what the management saw in Wilford but I'm glad they have admitted their mistake and moved on. As for Hagan, same story, new year. He impresses in camp and then is non-existent on game days. Its possible that he's playing injured. For all we know, he could be slowly healing from a pectoral injury that has caused him to lose strength and be overpowered by defensive linemen. Or a separated shoulder like you said.
might just be my opinion but usually when an OLineman is invisible in a game it means he blocked well. nice write up
Wilford and Hagan are both gone at the end of the year. I'm hoping it's an injury that's slowing Samson down.
Definitely. Hagan could be dropped as early as this week for possibly Terrence Copper who was recently released from the Saints. I'm not saying there's any rumors but I'm just speculating I guess you can say. Me too. If not, that's some serious regression.
And Goodman's actually tied with a defensive lineman for the tops in picks. Never a good thing. A rookie QB looks like a Pro Bowler against our secondary when we aren't in his face 100% of the plays.
I think that the trenches will win game for us more than anything to be honest. When we have good play on both sides of the ball, we're hard to beat but when you don't have much like today, we look like a rebuilding team in which we are. I thought you made a great point when you said you like our chances against Buffalo and Denver because I feel the same way, especially against Denver. I watched the Denver Broncos defense, which has been terrible this year and I don't know when was the last time I saw a team struggle with the basics of defense like they do. What I saw was a team that reads well but is incredibly slow in reacting. In all the games this year, aside from Tampa Bay game, they read the play and know whats going on but then after reading it, they take a step backwards instead of forward. I've never seen something like that. All three Linebackers do the same. They come up close to the LOS prior to the snap and read the run then once the ball is snapped, they almost run away from the ball carrier. To top it off, they don't tackle well at all. Its very awkward and that's what contributes to their terrible run defense as well as poor defensive line play which leads me to my next point. The defensive line struggles very bad against the run and the pass for that matter. They don't apply any type of pressure. Elvis Dumervil, who burst on to the scene last year, looks pretty bad out there. He has a small frame so he struggles against Left Tackles. Then I see them put in Jarvis Moss who looks more and more like a bust. He doesn't use his hands well nor can he do anything else. I think that this offensive line should be able to handle their defensive line with ease. I'm usually not confident like this but I truly think that they're that bad. Ronnie should have a big day. In the Secondary, they don't have any talent aside from Champ Bailey, who by the way is an incredible tackler for a DB. They have average to below average Safeties and then they have Dre' Bly on the other side who continues to regress and this is a huge problem because Bailey has only seen 11 passes total this year including 0 in the last two games. Teams constantly pick on Bly because he struggles with any type of route a WR runs. He struggles a lot with quicker WR's. I don't expect us to test Bailey this game but I do expect us to run short(er) routes against Dre' Bly. Bly is allowing nearly 70% completion rate which is horrendous. With the short routes, Pennington won't turn the ball over and we'll move the ball down the field as well as eat up clock. Furthermore, on defense, it will be a difficult task to sack Cutler as he's been sacked I think only twice this year. We can hope to bat down passes with our long-armed players like Langford. That may be our only choice to be honest. I know many have said that Brandon Marshall will tear this Secondary into pieces and will break "every receiving record" in this game. Its possible but its possible to make Marshall a non-factor in this game as crazy as that may sound. What I'm thinking is that we run a Cover 7 against Marshall. In the Cover 7, Will Allen would jam or play off of Marshall. With him playing off of Marshall, he would basically be playing for the deep ball, trying to take it away. With Allen playing the deep ball, this is where Yeremiah Bell comes in. Bell would undercut or take away any type of pass underneath to Marshall. In that scheme/play, Marshall would not have any type of opening unless Cutler is willing to throw constant jump balls. I believe the Cover 7 has been used against Terrell Owens, specifically in the Redskins-Cowboys game earlier this year in which the Redskins won. They hit Owens in the mouth every play and then Shawn Springs played the deep ball while Chris Horton used his good ball skills to undercut any routes to Owens. In that game, Owens was held to three grabs in the first half for little amount of yards. In the second half, the Redskins went away from the Cover 7 and they payed for it with Owens scoring a touchdown and hauling in four more passes.
Easy to be tied when you've mustered 3 picks all year. Like I said, I don't expect multiple picks a game, but Flacco was coming off a 3 pick game just last week. We have to sustain the pass rush to ease the pressure on this secondary, because they just aren't capable of defending down the field for long stretches of time.
Our best bet is to line straight up against Denver, and punch them square in the mouth. I want to see us go right at them, at the point of attack. That means that Smiley and Satele are going to have to bring their "A" game, something they haven't done these last two weeks. This also may be an opportunity for us to take advantages of the mismatches that the Wildcat gives us. As you said, they're a read and react D, as opposed to an attacking style like we played to day. I could see this game playing out like the Patriots game. If we can come out and get Ronnie on track (which, I agree, should be the primary focus of this game), it will allow us to work underneath with PA to Fasano and Camarillo. Bailey is tough in that he essentially takes away his side of the field, which is fine, because we don't have a deep game to begin with. I like the strategy, but I don't expect to see us employ anything too exotic to stop Marshall and Cutler. It's going to come down to the pass rush, which has to be more than Joey Porter and the six other guys watching him. I do believe we have to try to jam Marshall off the line of scrimmage, allowing him free release is suicide for this secondary. We're going to need a big effort from someone other than Will Allen to help slow down rookie phenom Eddie Royal, too. That said, if we can control the clock via long time-consuming drives, it will help immensely, because the best way to beat the Broncos is to keep Cutler on the sidelines. Shortening the game is the best strategy, and will allow the defense to rest, which in turn leads to more big plays when they do get out on the field. Should be a good test for our team.
I concur. I think for us to take full advantage of them, we're going to have to run right up the middle at Dewayne Robertson whose been a bad acquisition from the Jets. Good call on the Patriots game. It could end up like that or it could end up like the SD game IMO. Only difference is that San Diego's defense knows how to tackle or at least their 'backers do lol. Again, agree. I've seen Bailey allow short passes be completed a few times this year. Since that is our strength, I think if we would throw his away, it would be a quick one. However, he does possess excellent ball skills and breaks well on the ball so I'd rather stay away from him. I don't expect it either but I think it would be the best one to keep Marshall quiet. Royal has been inconsistent as a rookie. He's had a couple big performances and then three performances under 40 yards. He's banged up right now so I'm hoping that it will linger and cause him to miss the game but that's wishful thinking on my part. I agree.
Another thing that greatly contributed to the loss was the fact that we could not run the ball. That has to do with the middle of our line playing so bad. It usually goes that if we don't run the ball well, we don't win. Also, the loss of our NTs was obvious, especially in the 2nd. half when Ferguson went down. Starks is just not a NT. He only takes up one blocker so that gives them an extra blocker for our pass rush or lack thereof. It really showed.
I've seen it before when JT was still here. If we can't force a pick from a rookie QB, we have no business sending the secondary out on the field. No QB will ever be scared of getting an interception against us.
Great article. Just one question though, why do you like our chances against the Bills? Aren't they pretty much playing the same style of ball as the Ravens are this year?
Unfortunately I hate our chances against the Bills. Unless the Ferguson injury is minor and he comes back they are going to have a field day running and only take off occassionally to throw touchdowns to Lee Evans. It could get ugly. : (
I got asked this question earlier in Club. Some of this is taken from that original response. The Bills haven't been nearly as successful as the Ravens this year defensively. Buffalo has a relatively mediocre defense, particularly against the run (15th in the league). If you recall, Steven Jackson gained 120+ yards on them. Ronnie's a similar style back. I like our chances to gouge them on the ground, particularly going off tackle. We should be able to turn the corner on their linebackers, neither Crowell or Mitchell is particularly fleet footed. In between the tackles, we've got to handle Marcus Stroud and Kyle Williams, which I think we can do. Also, keep in mind we also have played well against both of our AFC East rivals this year, the Jets and the Patriots. We seem to do a good job getting up for rivalry games. On defense, I think that the Bills line is average at best, and we should be able to get pressure on Edwards. I'm expecting to see our young players (Roth, Langford, and Merling) rebound a bit after some average play these last few weeks. Ferguson is a huge part of stopping Marshawn Lynch, who is really the cog in the Buffalo offense, but if he's hurt Soliai can at least eat up space and blockers, providing he's not suspended again. Starks is a high motor guy, but woefully undersized at the point of attack. The Ravens were able to block him man-on-man, allowing the G and T to shift down the line to pick up our DEs, sprining McGahee off tackle in the second half. With Ferguson or Soliai out there, those big plays don't happen. Regarding the Broncos, we should be able to run roughshod over them. They have a read-and-react style of defense, I can see us having great success with the Wildcat. This is a game that we should bleed the clock out if at all possible. Cutler is arguably playing like the best QB in the league right now, and Marshall is playing like a top WR. (Alen had a great idea to run a Cover 7 against this team, but I expect us to stay pretty conservative.) The best strategy is to keep them on the sidelines. Look for us to try and mount long sustained drives against a Broncos defense that has proven susceptible to the run. We obviously have to avoid Bailey, but if we're running well the PA should be open underneath for Camarillo and Fasano. When Cutler is on the field we should be blitzing like crazy. Marshall is a weapon, but there's not much else. Both Royal and Scheffler have been dinged up. If we can force some mistakes on defense, and establish the run on offense, we should win the game.
