Ask Baltimore Beatdown: Ravens Blogger
by Bruce Raffel on Sep 30, 2009 10:04 AM EDT
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PrintHey, Pats Pulpit, it's Bruce from Baltimore Beatdown, the Ravens blog here on SB Nation. With our marquee matchup this weekend that I see as the best game in week 4 of the 2009 season, I thought I'd stop by to leave a FanPost for you to ask me questions or leave comments about the game. I'll stop by between now and gametime to respond to your thoughts from a Ravens' perspective.
Feel free to click over at Baltimore Beatdown to see our stories and join to post your own opinions as well. As always, be nice, no personal comments and try to keep it focused on this matchup. However, you better bring it, as our readers, while smaller than most NFL blogs, are sharp, loyal and know their football!
See you!
The views expressed in these FanPosts are not necessarily those of the writers or SBNation.
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What weaknesses to you see in both the Ravens defense and offense?
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Sep 30, 2009 11:09 AM EDT reply actions
Defensviely, the crossing patterns
short slants to the RB’s and TE’s that force the LB’s or safety to cover can get some serious YAC. If Moss can get one-on-one coverage by our small DB’s, just lob it up and hope he outmuscles us which SD’s big receivers did. Forget about the run game, it ain’t happening. Oh yeah, watch out for Ed Reed!
Offensively, forcing Flacco to throw by stacking the box will only get you burned- badly. The run game is dangerous inside and outside. Pressure Joe is all I can tell you and hope he throws it to your guys.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Sep 30, 2009 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions
The interception factor
is one thing I am a little concerned about if Brady’s throwing is a bit off. The Ravens have too many talented guys who have watched the film of the first three Pats games and are probably already drooling over the prospect of an overthrown or off-the-mark pass. To be fair, Brady got better as the game progressed Sunday and he’s not stupid, but he has to be more accurate to give us a chance.
Keep the faith!
Fair enough
If Brady is off, then NE will not win. If he is on, the game will be very, very interesting.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Sep 30, 2009 1:16 PM EDT up reply actions
Not sure of weaknesses
But rather a sense of getting used to a slightly different system. Even though we have the same image on defense, switching Defensive Coordinators is always going to require a little getting used to. I think that the Ravens defense is getting used to having totally revamped secondary from last year and working hard on how to utilize the secondary when our front 7 is in a main blitz package. We are still waiting on Ed Reed to come back to MVP form and I think we have yet to see what this defense is capable of.
As for offense, I see very little flaws here. Yes, it is only 3 games, but you cannot be making too many mistakes if you are putting up 30+ points in 3 victories. Our O-Line is one of the best in the league right now, and it has not even reached its full potential. Our Running Game is 5th in the league right now, and many of us in Baltimore don’t think we have seen it fully erupt yet. Then you have Joe Flacco, who has looked nothing more than an All-Pro so far. He is hitting 5-8 different pass catchers each game and that is tough for the defenses to defend. Barring any serious injuries, you could be looking at a top 5 offense, definitely top 10.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
Defense
Even with losing Bart Scott and Corey Ivy to FA this offseason, the Ravens defense has so far been holding down the fort, particularly in the run. Who has been that X Factor in that unit?
Beer is good! And stuff!
If Bruce does not mind, I will add a little to this.
That is a pretty tough question right now considering how early it is, but in my opinion the guy who has impressed me the most when comparing last season to this season is OLB Jarret Johnson. If you do not know too much about JJ, he basically took over Adalius Thomas’ spot once he left to play for you guys. And so far, he has been lights out in every category.
Johnson has been getting to the QB very well and also been a sure fire tackler on many key plays. I have heard coach Harbaugh in numerous press conferences so far this season credit Jarret Johnson for some key plays he made in our first 3 games.
Another huge X-Factor would definitely be Nose Tackle, Kelley Gregg. He spent all of last year on IR and at one point it looked like his career was over with. But now, he is back to being is own dominant self and may possibly be the best pure NT in the game today. To get a sense of how important Gregg is and has been to this unit, he is currently 2nd in tackles behind, guess who. Ray Lewis. Pretty damn good for a 6’0" 330 pound Nose Tackle. Pairing Gregg with All-Pro Haloti Ngata is just not fair to do in the league.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
Actually, on the d-line
I love DT Justin Bannan. A starter on every other NFL team, Bannan is overlooked and makes at least one great play a game. With Ngata and Gregg, much less Trevor Pryce on the d-line, he get’s one-on-one blocking assignments and sheds them like lint on his sleeve.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Sep 30, 2009 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Getting Landry Back at SS
And Brendan Ayenbadejo emerging as a great sub package LB have been big as well.
Yea, I was going to mention BA. He has been very solid for us and brings so much versatality because of his body type. He is 225 pounds and flies around. I do think that Gooden should still start, but BA brings great veteran abilities to our defense when he is in there. Oh yea, also the best special teams player in the league.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
OI believe that Brendan Ayanbadejo was just
named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his interception, one sack and six tackles against Cleveland!
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Sep 30, 2009 5:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Duh - As alwqays, it revolves around Ray
Be it Adalius Thomas, much less Bart Scott or the others that have left Ray’s shadow to only be relatively medicore players elsewhere, it all starts and stops with our All World MLB. Ray prepares himself, but more importantly, he teaches everyone how to watch tape and be ready to pounce at the offense when they go into what we see are familiar sets. That is why he blew up the Chargers last play and why he is still among the best playing and certainly one of, if not the best defensive player of all time.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Sep 30, 2009 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions
Who's playing Safetly along side Reed?
Is it Landry? This is about the best area I can see the Pats to attack, if Welker is healthy at least.
Need to make Ed Reed choose a side of the field early, and attack the younger area’s of the secondary. Put Watson in the slot on one side with Welker split out – then have Moss on the opposite side with Baker on the line.
Try and make Ed commit to providing help over top of Randy or covering Watson on the Seem route.
If Ed stays off the TE, Brady can check off to a Welker screen or cross, if Reed comes down to defend you can push Moss down the sideline or send him to the post and test Landry/ Safety X
The front 4 of the Ravens is brutal, I like the Kruger kid a lot, Ngata is a stud and with Gregg & Pyrce there is experience and strenght. I think the Pats are going to need to keep 6 and only send out 4 on passing routes, to start at least.
Once you get the Ravens coming up the field, perhaps drop a TE or RB screen behind them
Landry is playing next to Reed. He’s a good player, and I wouldn’t underestimate him.
The Ravens will use LB Brendan Ayanbedeyjo to control the pass if the Pats come out with 3 WRs. Deyjo is a major feature of our nickel package and while a liability against the run, he’s very solid in coverage.
Ed Reed plays centerfield most of the time, it’s what he does. Brady has good eyes for where a safety is on the field, but he’s been beat by Reed in the past.
RB screens were not effective against the Ravens last year. Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs in particular are really good at sniffing them out. If the guard on Haloti pulls off don’t be surprised to find 350 lbs of DT next to a running back. It’s actually kind of amazing.
The major threats for the Patriots against the Ravens are Randy Moss, Randy Moss, Ben Watson, and Randy Moss. The Ravens big weakness in general are larger receivers, and Moss is one of the best of them
That's the game plan then
We break out the Randy Moss clones. Now do we put them in the white battle armor, or the black?
That will have to be a game time decision by Lord Hoodius.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Sep 30, 2009 3:04 PM EDT up reply actions
I wonder what a Stormtrooper helmet would look like in Pats colours and logos?
And if the end-zone militia had blaster rifles. And it’d have a built-in soundtrack; Belichick can enter and leave the stadium with the Darth Vader motif. Dun-dun-dunn-dah-dun-dun-doo-dee-duh.
by Comedic.Sans on Sep 30, 2009 5:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Something along these lines.
I wasn’t going to spend alot of time on it.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Sep 30, 2009 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Sorry, but some of our fans
are always off on these tangents!
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Sep 30, 2009 7:59 PM EDT up reply actions
There's something to be said for that
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Sep 30, 2009 9:29 PM EDT up reply actions
It's beautiful
Mayyyyyyyyybe put the red trim around the faceguard, and it’d be perfect. I’m honestly amazed that you did it so promptly. That’s stunning. Hahaha.
by Comedic.Sans on Sep 30, 2009 9:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Imagine showing up for the Halloween game
with a big bunch of friends (that leaves you out, raven), all dressed in full stormtrooper armor with the team logo on it? Way geeky but way cool!
aka 'Rexx'
Jonny, not following us Ravens eh?
You like that Kruger kid a lot, huh? You mean the one who has been inactive for all three games so far? Ed Reed will be playing his typical centerfield for us, you can count on that. He might slide a bit to Randy’s side, but that’s because he’s your deep threat. Landry will cover Watson and while he’s a safety, he is built like a LB and had an INT last week. Welker will most likely be blanketed by Fabian Washington, our fastest DB. Either Chris Carr or Lardarius Webb, but probably Carr will be our nickel back.
The comment about dropping a RB or TE behind our pass rush is dead on though.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Sep 30, 2009 5:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Two TE sets
The Pats have been running a bunch out of 2 TEs, albeit with one blocking for the most part. Who would cover a second receiving TE if Landry’s on Watson? Ayenbadejo in a sub package? Lewis?
by Comedic.Sans on Sep 30, 2009 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Perhaps, but we'd
probably be in our dime or even dollar packages for those sets and it would most likely be another DB or LB, as I saw a couple sets with only two d-linemen, plus Suggs and three other LB’s and 5 DB’s. We run a lot of interesting combinations depending on down and distance.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Sep 30, 2009 8:01 PM EDT up reply actions
How dare teams other than the Pats use their players in non-standard packages?!
I must protest! I thought that was a Pats-only thing. WR’s at CB, OLBs catching playoff touchdowns, Nickel packages with no defensive linesmen at all, etc.
The Lambeau Leap is only allowed at Green Bay; strange sub-packages should only be allowed for the Pats. Hmph. Hmph indeed.
by Comedic.Sans on Sep 30, 2009 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions
We Ravens fans promise not to compare
us using non-standard packages if you Pats fans promise not to compare your defense to ours! Deal?
aka 'Rexx'
can't believe MaPatsFan is allowing dirty words on this site.
you used the ‘s’ word twice.
Keep the faith!
Sorry, Marima
I’ll never do it again. Either the ‘S’ or ‘C’ word. I won’t even mention Pittsburgh or Indianapolis.
We like that Krguer kid alot as well. But the coaches don’t…..He has yet to even dress for a game.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
It’s not because the coaches dislike him. He was awesome in pre-season when filling in for Suggs. He doesn’t play special teams well, and since he’s not a starter, it’s hard to find an active spot for him on game day. When he learns to be effective on special teams, he should be activated regularly.
A question for a Raven
While I think about it, I wondered what you could tell Pats fans about Prescott Burgess.
He doesn’t have a lot of stats to go with him, so I figured that it’d take a pretty knowledgeable Raven observer to give information – if you asked a Pats Pulpit inhabitant about BenJarvis Green-Ellis or Terrence Nunn and you’ll get screeds of text, but nobody else would have a clue. So since we temporarily have captive Raven’s fans around, I figured I’d ask for the inside information. Thanks.
He can be a thumper. There is not too much about him, but he led our team in Special Teams tackles before he was traded to NE. Just a big body and looks like he enjoys hitting someone. Maybe he will fit in with your group, because ours is so deep at the moment, that losing a roll player like Burgess does not hurt us. But your system has taken quite the hit since last season ended, so a LB from out system could really help you.
He could help you guys this week though by giving away some of our schemes he has seen in practice. That is about all he seems to be good for at this point, seeing that he was placed on Practice Squad.
I did enjoy having him here though. Just a guy who worked with what he was given and never complained. Your head coach should be able to utilize him in some way, he does with every other player.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
I was real disappointed to see him go
he was among the hardest hitters in Training Camp. He did indeed thump a few guys in one-on-one drills. Hope he didn’t give you all a lot of info on or team. Sorry to see him sign on your Practice Squad, I was hoping we’d get him back. Oh well, it shows how deep at LB depth we are (gee, what a surprise in Baltimore!?).
aka 'Rexx'
Hopefully the Ravens bring their Todds
Todd Flacco, Todd Lewis, and Todd Reed. We might do well against the Todds.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 1, 2009 11:40 AM EDT reply actions
He wasn't a Todd
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 1, 2009 3:03 PM EDT up reply actions
You're failing to see that game for what it is: an execution of Bill Belichick's secret plan
If you go back and look at that game, you’ll notice Matt Light doing a very good impression of a pirouetting ballerina. But that’s not ballet. In fact, it’s a special hypnotic dance learned in far-away Hyderabad from a secret cult, specifically designed to hypnotise any and all opposition defensive players who examine the tape of the game.
Why, you may ask? The number of twirls, hand gestures and dissappointed frowns on Matt Light’s face corresponds to a secret code – a secret code that does two things. Firstly, it mentally programs opposition defensive players incapable of sacking Tom Brady. So far, this has worked – he hasn’t been sacked since the Jets game. Secondly, it makes commentators call Matt Light “Todd Light” for the duration of the hypnotism. This lets Belichick know how long the effect is working.
It’s not quite Spygate, but it’ll do as the current conspiracy theory.
I wonder if it makes Matt Light look like
Todd Lyght, the retired cornerback. “Become another person, become another person, become another person.”
“Hey, why’s this guy old, small and black all of the sudden? And wearing a Rams uniform? What the? Oh, they snapped the ball, son of a ….”
Could work. Matt Light, Master of Disguise.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 1, 2009 3:44 PM EDT up reply actions
They did their test run on Jake "That ISN'T my team-mate?" Delhomme
When he came off the field muttering about all the Lights, he was referring to all the Todds he saw.
by Comedic.Sans on Oct 1, 2009 11:06 PM EDT up reply actions
This is what football is all about
Hats off to two professionals (pats pulpit) (baltimore beatdown) It’s nice to see intelligent comments, Kudos for putting the MEN back in commendable. Theres no need to bicker like two old bitties, every season is a new team. I’m glad no one’s bring up bad blood.
Baltimore is Charm City, but SBnation’s a close second
As a Baltimore fan…watch out for Ed Reed…Darkness is coming
Thanks from Charm City as well!
Or perhaps, “Fear City” if you want to acknowledge our contiibution to TV series (Homicide, The Wire).
aka 'Rexx'
If the X-files taught us anything...
it’s that whenever federal agents cross into Maryland from DC, they’re looking for serial killers, aliens, or alien serial-killers. Not sure they were friends with the Baltimore tourist board.
Hats off to two professionals (pats pulpit) (baltimore beatdown) It’s nice to see intelligent comments, Kudos for putting the MEN back in commendable. Theres no need to bicker like two old bitties, every season is a new team. I’m glad no one’s bring up bad blood.
I think it all has to do with the bloggers involved. Trust me when I say this, but it has gotten ugly in the past with some of the other blogs that the Ravens have faced. KC egged me on quite a bit prior to our week 1 match-up and I let them have it after we won. Browns and Steelers already hate me, so that is that. But these two blogs seem to realize that you don’t throw personal shots at us, we won’t throw personal shots at you.
We will see how things come about on game day. But overall, mad respect to Pats Pulpit. I don’t even know what the hell the name of their blog means. Lol
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
Cleveland, Cincy and Pittsburgh
are tough ones to stomach, although the Steelers fans are a bit more knowledgable and less angry than their Ohio neighbors. But I guess it’s the same when you play in-division, eh?
aka 'Rexx'
Winning changes your disposition slightly, I suppose
Pats fans can afford to soak up abuse; all they have to do is think back to the recent record against pretty much any team you can name, and it’s bound to be a fairly high winning percentage. Makes it rather easy to shrug it off and just look forward to the next meeting.
Division rivalries are not quite as clean.
With the Ravens, Colts, Chargers, and Steelers there’s a healthy respect. We see each other in the playoffs all the time.
With the divisional foes, you respect them, but if your successful, they sort of look at your team as keeping them down.
Like it’s YOUR fault they didn’t go to the playoffs, even though they’re schedule looks a whole lot like yours.
We’re used to the Pats being successful. The coach won’t let the team stay down for too long. He’ll change personnel, scheme, whatever to keep them winning. So Pats fans haven’t had to lavish in the “what could have been” land that alot of other teams do. If we beat the Ravens, it would be nice, but if we don’t the season’s not over. They’ll keep plugging away and staying competitive.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 2, 2009 6:24 PM EDT up reply actions
We pretty much feel the same way
We’re “supposed” to lose this game, but will still be at least tied for the division lead and can regain it with a win in Baltimore over the Bengals next week. However, if we do win, then now we’re legit to be considered among the top in the league.
Low risk, high reward.
aka 'Rexx'
PATS have homefield advantage and that is what will win it for us, thats why Jets beat us
Jack of all trades-Master of None.....
I not in agreement
the Jets beat you up on the field not just the scoreboard. The ravens are even a tougher bunch than the Jets were and defense travels well. I expect a tough game and while most of the Baltimore media, which doesn’t have the stones to back their team in tough games, I say we go into Gillette and come out a 24-20 victory. See you back here on Pats Pulpit to tell you “we told you” or to take our painful humbling medicine. That’s how we roll at The Beatdown, as we respect the teams we beat and humbly kneel before those who defeat us.
Thanks for the great week here at Pats Pulpit and after today, good luck the rest of the season. Stay healthy today!
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Oct 4, 2009 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions
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