SB Nation - Mark Clayton

Week 15 Preview: Bears (5-8) @ Ravens (7-6)

SackMan — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:00:26 -0000

Hey, wait a second... that's the wrong Devin!

Lovie Smith, Ron Turner and Co. escape from the Chicago microscope for one weekend and head to Baltimore. The Ravens are a team fighting for a wild card birth, but the only wild card on the Bears is: which player will throw the coaching staff under the bus next? 3:15pm CT on FOX.

Week 14 Recap

The Ravens played host to the Lions last week... who were more than gracious guests, as they brought plenty of party gifts for the holidays. Detroit hand wrapped a 48-3 victory for their hosts, allowing the Ravens to score 6 TDs... including a 59 yard TD run by Ray Rice, and a 62 yard TD reception by Derrick Mason. Nearly all of the damage was done on the ground, as Baltimore racked up an incredible 308 yards rushing (I loved every bit of it, as I had Ray Rice in my fantasy lineup... and McGahee on my bench).

The Bears put themselves in a position to play spoiler and beat Green Bay at home, but ultimately fell short in a 21-14 loss. The highlights of the day were 13 penalties, two timeouts wasted on one lost challenge, and a team leading 8 catches and 1 TD for Devin Aromashodu... who basically wasn't allowed onto the field all season prior to this game. The long list of penalties, repeated mis-communication issues, bizarre coaching decisions and poor clock management have become a staple of the Chicago Bears 2009 season.

Quick Numbers:

3: Consecutive seasons without a playoff birth for the Bears
10: Million dollars remaining on Lovie Smith's contract through 2011.
2: Active roster game days for the Bears top draft pick, DL Jarron Gilbert
0: Active roster game days for the Bears 2nd highest draft pick, WR Juaquin Iglesias

Key Injuries:

CHI HC Lovie Smith (bruised ego) P
CHI LT Orlando Pace (way too old) Q
CHI DE Gaines Adams (missing in action) P

BAL - Half the roster is listed as questionable, most noteworthy are

S Ed Reed (hip/foot)
WR Derrick Mason (finger)
LB Terrell Suggs (knee)

When the Ravens have the ball.
The Ravens are a little similar to the Bears, in that they've been looking for a QB for forever, and finally got one in Joe Flacco. They also don't have a WR who's really worth a crap on their entire roster. However, this team can run the ball with the best of them. The Ravens are averaging 4.6 ypc, and have 19 rushing TDs. In comparison, the Bears are averaging 3.4 and how a lowly 6 TDs on the ground. RB Ray Rice is the center piece of the whole offense... leading the team in both rushing and receptions (ala Matt Forte version 2008). And, Willis McGahee vultures many of Rice's TDs in the red zone. When Flacco's looking anywhere but Rice's direction, he finds trusty veteran WR Derrick Mason, who wasn't even going to play this season, save for a last minute decision to push off retirement.

The key match-up for the Ravens: RB Ray Rice vs MLB Hunter Hillenmeyer
Rice is the Ravens #1 receiving option, and Hunter will have to shadow him in pass coverage all day. Considering that Hunter couldn't keep up with TEs during his career on the strong side, this should be interesting to say the least. Maybe Hunter can slow him down with savvy investment talk.

The X factor on offense for the Ravens: WR Mark Clayton
No... this isn't Dan Marino's Mark Clayton, but considering Derrick Mason's age, that wouldn't be impossible. Clayton is the Ravens best deep threat, and with the Bears atrocious safety combo, deep route runners are always a problem.

When the Bears have the ball.
In between the finger pointing from the players to the coaching staff, the offense will actually be be asked to run some plays as well. Perhaps this is the week that Cutler says "F" it, and starts calling his own plays in the huddle. Anything would be an improvement at this point. Will Devin Aromoshodu see continued action, after his career game last week? Or will he return back to his seat on the bench? Will some more changes happen on the offensive line? Or will the coaching staff stick to the crappy status quo? Sadly, these are the things we have to look forward to on Sunday.

The key match-up for the Bears: LT Chris Williams vs DE Trevor Pryce and OLB Jarret Johnson
All eyes are on Chris Williams, as we watch to see if he's really our LT of the future. Pryce and Johnson each have 6 sacks on the year, and should provide a decent test for the young tackle.

The X Factor on offense for the Bears: Contract Incentives
Who's got bonuses to make? Who's looking forward to testing the FA market? We'll see on Sunday.

Side notes from the NFC North:

The Bears season is lost, but the Vikings and Packers are fighting it out for the division crown, and both are likely to make the playoffs. That's sickening to me. I'll just leave it at there.

Packers-Ravens Retroactive Live-Blog

Mitchell_M — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:13:49 -0000

It's been two months since I've really been active on the site. For some of you, that is a terrible tragedy. For many, many more, it is a source of endless joy. But today I decided to cater to the minority and make my presence known by throwing a mini-fiesta with my DVR, a bowl of Reese's Puffs, and a strong pot of coffee.

Before we get going with the retroactive live-blog, let me just share some of the knowledge I've gained over the course of working for 80 out of a possible 168 hours in a week:

There are few things more traumatic than the transition from college-life to real-life. I imagine it's somewhat like being born, except you're slightly more conscious and slightly less sticky.

Unlike most co-eds, I worked my way through and avoided drinking my way out of school, but nothing can truly prepare you for the real world. There's chores? You have to do them, otherwise you're living in filth. There's bills? You have to pay them, otherwise a large Italian gentleman will break your ribs. There's family gatherings you'd rather not attend? You have to go to them, because you don't have the homework excuse anymore.

Real life blows, I'm going to grad school.
Trying to keep in shape? Don't work overnights. You will have no energy whatsoever during the daytime hours. I play basketball to keep myself in shape and satisfy my over-competitiveness, and I love it. But I haven't played in two months, and I've gotten noticably soft. Amazing, considering I've lost weight.
Dry spells. Guys, when women say that they're too tired, it's generally a toss-up between them actually being tired and not wanting to deal with you. When a guy says it? Definitely tired.
Caffeine has an odd effect after consuming too much for it. The most noticeable symptom is when you're lying down after finally getting home and you get the ringing in the ears. It keeps me up for at least half an hour, and my mom (who worked 3rd shift for over a decade) says it doesn't go away. Awesome.
Watching sports is a major hassle. Not only do I miss the majority of my Sunday NFL-watching, but working nights has ruined any chance I have of watching any NBA games during the week. DVR has been my best friend, but it somehow isn't enough.

On to the live-blog! I DVR'd this last night and watched it immediately as I got home. I did not check the score at any time on Monday night, and I have no knowledge whatsoever of the outcome. Enjoy!

Pre-game observations:

I forgot how cool of an environment Lambeau is on national TV at night. Other cities have their stadiums surrounded by other big buildings with big, bright lights, but Lambeau sort of stands alone in the still-tiny Green Bay. It's kind of cool, even though it's quaint.
Another thing I forgot? Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski are still in the MNF booth. Let's put it this way: it took roughly two minutes for Gruden to make the first (of what I predict will be many) "Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood" jokes. Ugh.
Ed Reed is announced as inactive for the game. Good timing to get the Ravens without their ball-hawk extraordinaire, not to mention good time by ESPN's cameras, who immediately cut to Reed spitting an enormous loogie. Between that and the beard, he looks like a homeless guy (who makes roughly 100,000x my salary).
Ray Lewis may have lost a step or four, but he's still quite the motivational speaker. It's like if Lil' Jon was coherent and dread-less.
The Nike Kobe and LeBron puppets are back. Frowny-face.
And here comes the Ray Rice love. Am I pleasantly surprised by my alma mater's best football product? Yes. Am I ecstatic to have drafted him (against my then-better judgement) in the ninth round of my keeper league? Yes and yes.

Alright, enough of that. Let's play some ball, gentlemen.

First Quarter!

15:00 - Green Bay receives, and Jordy Nelson avoids both tacklers and fumble-itis all the way to the 43-yard line. Decent start.

14:34 - A play-action draw pass? Sounds terrible, but it gained 7.

13:59 - So that's why we still have Brandon Jackson. Excellent scramble by Rodgers to find Jackson in the flat for the first down.

12:44 - Ravens call a timeout (symptom of missing Ed Reed #1), and the next thing we see is Jimmy Football. If someone were to kick him in the groin, I would not object. Extra points for wearing a Billy Mays mask and demanding royalties from Budweiser.

12:32 - ESPN shows a graphic illustrating Aaron Rodgers' awesomeness on 3rd down, and he promptly finds James Jones for a first down. Outstanding blitz pickup by both Chad Clifton (the blocker) and Scott Wells (the center).

11:22 - Korey Hall and Josh Sitton pancake Ray Lewis, opening a hole for Grant to gain a first down. In other news, Did you know that Ryan Grant is 8th in the league in rushing yards? When did that happen?

10:08 - ESPN continues the Rodgers love-fest by displaying his red-zone stats. Apparently, he has 30 TDs and 0 INTs over the past two seasons when inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Yikes.

9:17 - Mark Tauscher comes up with a tipped pass and gets tackled for a loss. I'd criticize his decision to catch it versus batting it down, but whenever linemen get the ball, they seem so damn happy. I can't ruin it for him.

8:41 - Mason Crosby nearly shanks a 28-yarder. The Green Bay offense stalls in the red zone again, settling for the "easy" 3. Sadly, neither are surprises this season.

8:30 - Le'Ron McClain's smile is hilarious. Mark Clayton looks like 50 Cent. I can't wait to see the offensive linemen.

8:30 - And for good reason. Not only is Marshal Yanda's name funny, but he looks like an uncomfortable 7th grader who hasn't gotten used to his new body yet.

7:40 - Good containment on Ray Rice in the flat, but not good enough. First down, Baltimore.

7:01 - Flacco tightropes for a just-barely first down after being flushed out of the pocket. He may have looked like an idiot doing it, but it was probably better than getting pasted by Cullen Jenkins. I'll make fun of him either way.

5:05 - Bad decision by Nick Collins to go for the pick instead of batting down the ball. Another first down for Baltimore.

4:18 - Well, a fumble recovery certainly absolves Collins of any wrongdoing on the previous play. Clay Matthews is closing in on the "if a huge defensive play happens he must've had something to do with it" status currently held by Charles Woodson.

4:08 - Ryan Grant tries to return the favor, but his right knee looked like it could be down. Maybe. Possibly. Could go either way. This time, it goes the Packers' way.

3:48 - A great play by Dominique Foxworth that was (un)fortunately flagged as interference. The replay shows a grab or two, but probably

3:39 - No matter, Rodgers throws it directly to Tom ~~I-can't-spell-his-last-name-unless-I-check-the-recap-which-will-ruin-the-ending~~ Zbikowski.

2:06 - Now that's how you commit pass interference! Thanks ~~Atari Bigby~~ Tramon Williams! /facepalm

1:52 - Nick Collins makes everyone forget about Williams' transgression by picking off an ill-advised flea-flicker pass into quadruple coverage. Yeah, Flacco shouldn't have done that.

0:00 - An underwhelming first quarter filled with above-average defense and one boneheaded interception for both sides. 3-0, Green Bay.

Second Quarter!

14:52 - B.J. Raji sheds a block and drops Ray Rice for a big loss. Lucky he didn't get called for face masking, but a good play nonetheless.

14:12 - Derrick Mason just barely misses a catchable ball to force 4th down. I thought veteran receivers were supposed to make that play? I guess having Donald Driver on your team gives you a skewed expectation for aging wideouts.

13:14 - Great adjustment by James Jones to come back and grab the ball for a first down. He's definitely taken control of the 3rd WR spot on this team lately.

11:59 - By my count, that's three catches in this game that Jennings should have had but failed to come up with. This troubles me.

11:55 - Punting inside the 50-yard line? Greg Easterbrook would be appalled, then proceed to write a 10,000 word article about it. Shoot, if I included random interstellar factoids, referred to certain teams by ridiculous self-coined nicknames, and added superfluous cheerleader facts that allowed me to post their photos, I'd be Greg Easterbrook.

11:13 - Trey Wingo informs us that Jimmy Clausen will be entering the 2010 NFL Draft. Brady Quinn advises him to stay in school.

11:06 - Charles Woodson gets busted for mauling Derrick Mason. The groping wasn't necessary, Chuck.

11:01 - Clay Matthews asserts himself all over Joe Flacco. Jared Gaither doesn't know what just happened.

10:21 - Offsides on Clay Matthews? Jared Gaither claims to know what happened on the previous play.

9:48 - I know Jordy Nelson was dynamite at Kansas State, but I haven't seen enough promise out of him to merit keeping him on punt returns. Then again, it's more important to keep Woodson and Williams fresh, and Will Blackmon made his yearly trip to I.R. early this season.

8:30 - Haloti Ngata owns Daryn Colledge to drop Ryan Grant at the line. I wonder how long until Colledge loses his spot?

7:51 - It's plays like this that got Frank Walker traded. Thanks for the yardage!

7:42 - Ahman Green exhibits remarkable blitz pickup to spring Jermichael Finley on a big gain. Mike Tirico noted this, and Gruden promptly refers to him as Brandon Jackson (twice!) before correcting himself.

5:08 - Jermichael Finley makes another big play, thanks to another great third down throw from Rodgers. First and goal, Packers.

4:35 - I'm no psychic, but as soon as I saw Finley split out wide, I saw the quick fade coming. Fantastic throw, outstanding catch, b-e-a-utiful play. 10-0, Packers.

4:35 - I just remembered my fantasy football situation. Going into this week, three teams in my division were 7-5, with me among them. I play one of them this week and the other next week, and the other already has his victory wrapped up. I'm up 130-24 in a game I need to win to move into a tie for first place and help secure a playoff spot next week (the final week of the season). My opponent has Aaron Rodgers, Jermichael Finley, and the Packers defense playing. I have Ray Rice. Man, am I glad that his other players (Adrian Peterson, Reggie Wayne, Ricky Williams) all laid eggs.

2:00 - The two-minute warning comes up, and Mike Tirico just got done "highlighting" the Packers' 38-28 loss to Tampa Bay. In the team meeting the described, he said that the offensive line stood up and said something to the effect of "hey, you have to help us out too". I hope I misheard him.

1:50 - Rodgers gets the first on a sneak, and a fight nearly breaks out because Brandon Jackson is protecting Rodgers from what he thought was a late hit. Whether he was right or wrong, it is nice to see that kind of fight in your team.

1:24 - Donald Driver goes flying, earning Baltimore its 11th pass interference penalty on the year, leading the league.

1:18 - Green Bay ruins the momentum by giving up their first sack of the game. /facepalm

1:09 - And Rodgers gets it right back with a 20-yard scramble right up the middle. I take back my /facepalm.

0:38 - Rodgers delivers a Jon-Gruden-Quarterback-Fraternity-Approved LASER to Greg Jennings' back shoulder. Nice, except for Gruden's rambling.

0:32 - Rodgers connects with Donald Driver for a score, punctuated by two acrobatic leaps by Driver (one into the end zone, one into the stands). The Packer fan in me is ecstatic: the fantasy football owner is frantic.

0:00 - A solid defensive stand by Green Bay keeps the shutout alive. 17-0 Green Bay, at the half.

Halftime observations:

None. I have to be at work again in 8 hours (as of 1 PM), and I haven't slept yet. But the score doesn't lie. This game is totally worth staying up for.

Third Quarter!

14:07 - I don't know how they practiced for the past week and a half, but Green Bay is absolutely starving Ray Rice. He's trying his damndest, but he can't make anything happen. Why'd I start him against the #1 defense again?

12:31 - Brad Jones notches a sack from the strong side. Rookie 7th round pick? No matter. Boring name? Who cares? Buried on the depth chart? Not for long, I hope.

12:05 - Ryan Grant doesn't gain a ton of yards on this play, but it looks as if he's churning his legs and fighting for extra yardage more than I'm used to seeing from him. Did anyone else notice this?

9:57 - Rodgers gets time in the pocket, makes even more time, dances around, and finally gets sacked. Somehow, the play is negated by an illegal hands-to-the-face penalty. It seems like one of those games for Green Bay tonight.

9:30 - Then Scott Wells gets called for holding. Yep, it's definitely one of those games for Green Bay tonight, even if the score doesn't reflect it.

9:04 - Wow, I'm going to stop complaining about stupid penalties. I almost feel bad for Ravens fans. P.I. number twelve on the year for Baltimore.

8:27 - Jermichael Finley re-injures his knee. Not at all happy to see that.

8:23 - Nice connection to Driver that results in a fumble that quite possibly could be ruled an incompletion, if it was reviewed. Blah, a 17-0 lead in the third quarter shouldn't be this frustrating.

8:01 - Jon Gruden: "Somebody has to rescue the Ravens' offense right now." Yeah, that's Ray Rice's job, and he didn't come in today.

7:50 - As if on cue, Ray Rice rips off a big run. Jon Gruden gets to feel smart, and I lose a little bit of my soul.

6:07 - Jon Gruden praises Charles Woodson's ball-raking ability. The adolescent-me giggles uncontrollably.

5:18 - "Nobody strips a ball like Charles Woodson!" Adolescent-me is now crying with laughter.

5:13 - Todd Heap drops a sure-fire 1st and goal, then Tramon Williams forces Mark Clayton to drop one in the end zone with a slightly-more sneaky arm bar. Illegal? Yes. Effective? Absolutely, that's why it's illegal.

3:35 - I don't know what the refs were talking about before this drive, but they are letting the defense play. You don't see many drives last this long against a defense that's getting away with everything.

3:28 - A free play and a Kelley Washington touchdown deflates the stadium. The play gets challenged, but I'm skeptical.

3:28 - Modern Warfare 2 commercial, set to Eminem's "Til I Collapse". Best 30 seconds of non-football I've seen today. Get that game, if you can handle it.

3:28 - Turns out that I was right; the score stands. Green Bay is out of challenges for the game, unless of course they used the item cheat and got one for free. 17-7, Packers.

3:22 - Evan Dietrich-Smith comes up with the kickoff. My immediate thought: "This cannot end well." Of course he fumbled, but Green Bay was lucky enough to regain possession.

3:14 - Jared Johnson gets an interception off of Driver's shin. I'm not liking this third quarter. Too much bad mojo.

3:07 - More bad mojo with Tramon Williams' P.I. in the end zone. Actually, this one is relatively tame compared to other plays the refs have allowed tonight (today?).

2:58 - Willis McGahee pushes his fantasy-irrelevant self in from the 1. Makes my Ray Rice decision feel even better. 17-14, Packers. /double facepalm

2:43 - Jennings manages a nice gain on a 3rd and 10 slant. I was just about to start considering wondering whether or not Green Bay was possibly maybe starting to lose it.

1:52- Ray Lewis nearly decapitates Greg Jennings, and the flag takes forever to come in. But it does, which is all that matters.

0:42 - A Mark Tauscher hold takes Green Bay out of the red zone the same way they got in: on the yellow cloth road.

0:00 - I knew this game seemed too sloppy to be a blowout. 17-14, Packers, but our guys are in scoring position.

Fourth Quarter!

14:50 - Mason Crosby shanks a field goal, leaving the drive with nothing to show for it. Same score, same story. I sure hope the defense can regain its first-half composure.

13:53 - Flacco unleashes the dragon deep, Derrick Mason gets past Charles Woodson and makes the catch over him, but somehow got called for offensive pass interference. At this point, I don't know which team is trying to give the other team more breaks, honestly. And an unsportsmanlike penalty on Mason is tacked on at the end of it. A huge gain turns into a huge loss in a heartbeat. 3rd and 32 (!).

13:05 - So of course Baltimore decides to run the ball and Ray Rice nearly fumbles. Green Bay gets the ball back with decent field position.

12:30 - And here comes the replay of the Mason interference/unsportsmanlike penalties. There was definitely a hook-and-push around Woodson's waist, and Mason follows up that number with a plea for leniency to the referee. Pretty standard, right? Nah, just kidding, he pretty much shouted in the ref's face, "What the f--- was that, man?" Yeah, that's a flaggin'.

10:31 - Jermichael Finley gets another touchdown after a couple of nice short passes to get within 20 yards. Aaron Rodgers' red-zone stats improve, Jermichael gets the "Mr. Monday Night" nickname, my fantasy team starts to quiver in terror, and the score jumps to 24-14, Packers.

10:21 - Ah, Green Bay special teams, you never cease to disgust me. A massive kick return puts the Ravens deep into Green Bay territory. Then again, how hard is it to juke out Mason Crosby? The goalposts do it to him on a weekly basis.

9:46 - Tramon Williams earns yet another pass interference flag in the end zone. I thought there was a cap to how many times a player could get flagged for the same thing over and over?

/conveniently forgetting the Ahmad Carroll era

9:30 - How? How? How does a cornerback make that play? Tell me how Charles Woodson just stopped McGahee when he had a massive opening to go through? Between that and flustering the Ravens to the point of calling a timeout, I'm pretty sure Charles Woodson should gain an edge for the DPOY award after tonight.

8:47 - Joe Flacco rolls nearly 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage, avoids a sack, and tosses it nicely into Tramon Williams hands. Mike Tirico exclaimed "That is terrible!" as the ball was still in the air! I cannot believe Flacco made that throw. Downright Bad Favre-esque. Kudos to Williams for not retreating into the fetal position after all the penalties tonight.

8:38 - Still trying to figure out the last three plays of that Baltimore drive. Tackle for loss, timeout, interception, all from within the 5-yard line. When's the last time Green Bay came up with that kind of stop?

7:12 - Baltimore's defense forces a 3-and-out as the King of Third Down and James Jones miscommunicate on a fly-stop route.

6:48 - Yeah, Joe Flacco's having a bad day. This time he throws it right into the hands of A.J. Hawk, who was quietly having another solid game (which is EXACTLY WHY WE DRAFTED HIM! FOR QUIET, SOLID GAMES!) before this play. Back-to-back interceptions for the Unibrow, and I'm almost sad to see it. Remember, my fantasy team is up 130-24, but I'm playing Rodgers, Finley, and the Packer defense while starting Ray Rice. The offense I can deal with, but this stifling defense is killing me!

6:00 - Ahman Green smashes his way to gain a short first down, and the running out of the clock commences. How much time can they milk from the clock?

2:56 - Turns out they can burn a whole lot of time. Interesting graphic on Green Bay receivers, going from Sharpe to Brooks to Freeman to Driver to Jennings.

2:15 - "Hey Coach Gruden, I found a pair of your old practice shorts." If there's a better setup for a pasty white guy wearing green-and-gold short-shorts in below-freezing weather, I've never seen it.

1:56 - Crosby avoids the shank-osaurus and makes it 27-14, Packers. Solid lead.

1:52 - Gruden brings up the possibility of a Vikings-Packers rematch in the playoffs. I say, don't get ahead of yourself, but the prospect of facing what might be a slowly-fading Favre, a possibly nicked-up Peterson, and a banged-up defense in Minnesota isn't nearly as terrifying as it seems.

0:29 - Fittingly, Clay Matthews chases Flacco down for his second sack of the day. Ted Thompson deserves all the slack in the world for having the stones to trade up for this guy. He could draft Jimmy Clausen next season and I'd still like him.

0:00 - The sack is the last play of the game, and the Packers earn the win, 27-14.

Post-game thoughts:

Not many, again due to my exhaustion. But I will say this: the offense played relatively well, Aaron Rodgers carried the team with his passing. The defense was stifling for much of the game, and Charles Woodson should be the front-runner for DPOY, and even in the conversation for defensive-players-who-deserve-the-MVP-but-won't-get-it-because-they're-not-a-quarterback-or-running-back (if he wasn't already). The playcalling was really well thought out on both sides of the ball, and the execution of many of the plays was awfully impressive.

But two things stand out as glaring negatives. First was the penalties. So many penalties. If Baltimore didn't flag it up more than we did, it would stand out more. Tramon Williams has a lot of talent, but he cannot ~~get caught using~~ use that armbar anymore. It simply costs too much yardage. And Chad Clifton needs to get his business together, because he's smarter than he's playing.

The second thing was the final score. 27-14 seems like a solid win, but with all of the opportunities that the Ravens gave up, it should have been a much wider margin. Playoff teams win games like this soundly, which the Packers did. They should, they're a playoff team. But championship teams beat their opponent senseless when they come up with as many takeaways as they did (4).

All that said, this is Green Bay's fourth straight win after falling to 4-4. You can't ask for a better setup for the final quarter of the season.

And my fantasy team? They hung on for a 137-80 victory, largely because I had actually started Rashard Mendenhall instead of Ray Rice. See what working third shift does to you?

How To Beat The Green Bay Packers

Bruce Raffel — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:07:12 -0000

As part of our weekly stories, this week we turn to trying to figure out which Packers team will show up to protect the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field in Green Bay on Monday Night Football. Will it be the one that has one three in a row, including an impressive almost-shutout of the Dallas Cowboys (17-7) or the one that barely beat the 49ers and lost in Tampa Bay?

I can pretty much guess which one both the Ravens and Packers' fans hope to see in what will be the first night game in December in Packers history this Monday. Last I heard, temperatures are expected to be in the teens with a chance of snow. The weather will certainly play to Green Bay's favor, as they are a lot more used to those conditions than the Ravens are, and the worse it is, the bigger the Packers' advantage, which is already big enough, considering the game is on prime time TV and the Packers, along with the Ravens are both still thick in the middle of the playoff hunt.

Both teams are fighting for Wild Card berths, with the Packers three games behind the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North and the Ravens the same distance behind the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North. So then how do the Ravens go onto the hallowed grounds of Lambeau and roll out of there with a win to go 3-0 on national TV this year?

Simply put, this game appears to break down to just one of the group battles that we talk about so often on The Beatdown. Usually we go right to the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball. I usually say it all starts and stops with the big guys inside and if we control the offensive and defensive lines then we will win the ballgame. This week, we can get even more specific than that. The Packers either win or lose their games based on their ability to protect their prolific passer, Aaron Rodgers in the pocket. He has been sacked and hit more often than any other NFL quarterback and when he is pressured and harassed, he is nowhere near effective then when he is comfortable sitting back there waiting for his great group of wide receivers and tight ends break into the open. When untouched, he will torch the secondary and the Ravens DB's can ill afford him that luxury. We have not been very good at all at covering for any length of time and with so many solid targets, time is absolutely at the essence of what the Ravens need to do in order to win.

Therefore, it all is pointing at Baltimore's ability to get a pass rush on Rodgers enough to force him to release the ball sooner than he intends to or hold onto the ball too long that will lead to either sacks, hits and ultimately, interceptions to shorten the field for our offense to score. Better yet, rather than sack Rodgers, make him throw into coverage (translated: Ed Reed) so that we come away with a sweet defensive TD for a change of pace and to unlevel the playing field.

I have a lot of confidence the Ravens will be able to move the ball against Green Bay's #1 rated defense. Ray Rice should make their linebackers miss and if they choose to put Charles Woodson on Rice, then Derrick Mason will make their other DB's pay with key completions off the rocket arm of Joe Flacco. Mark Clayton seems to make the difficult catches (even if he also drops the easier ones!) and the Ravens have proven in the past that they can move the ball and score on anyone. If the Ravens can get off to a good start with points early in the game, they can put the pressure on the Packers to play catch up. If the game plays the other way around, it could be difficult for the Ravens to play from behind and that could get ugly.

However, if the Ravens go back to the formula that had them beat the San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers and almost catch and beat the Minnesota Vikings, then they can certainly hang, compete and even defeat the Green Bay Packers. That means going back to the old fashioned gameplan of giving the ball to our running backs and let them wear down the defense with the pounding form our big FB and the darting around by our elusive RB. Then throw when they least expect it and are forced into tougher coverages as they creep up to stop the run game.

Solid Special Teams play on both sides of the ball and not allow the big play from the Packers high flying offense (or at least not too many of them!). Play like a Raven (did last season and the beginning of this one!). Pressure the QB, pressure the QB and after that, pressure the QB.

Is that clear enough?

Preview: Ravens at Green Bay Packers

Brandon — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:00:29 -0000

by Tony Dejak - AP

View full size photo »

This is going to be a good game. On paper, the Green Bay Packers seem to be the better team, but it's not a huge advantage. The Packers are favored by 3, but it's probably a pick if this were played on a neutral site. Every play is going to count, and any missed opportunity might be the reason someone loses.

The official team rankings (based on yardage) from NFL.com:

Team	Run Offense	Pass Offense	Run Defense	Pass Defense
Packers	11	6	4	6
Ravens	14	13	6	12

RB Ryan Grant vs. the Ravens run D. Opposing running backs are only averaging 3.5 yards/carry against the Ravens. While this makes it appear that the Ravens have the advantage, it's been hard to predict how Grant will play lately. The offensive line was great at opening running lanes against the 49ers excellent run defense, but they didn't help him much against the Lions when he only had 3.1 yards/carry. Also, the 49ers run a 3-4 defense, just as the Packers and Ravens do, so since the Packers see the 3-4 in practice, maybe that gives them some advantage against a 3-4 defense during a game.

QB Aaron Rodgers vs. the Ravens pass D. Based on the yardage rankings, this looks like a matchup that would favor Rodgers. But the Ravens have held opposing QBs to a rating of 79.0, with 12 TDs (12th fewest) and 12 INTs (7th most). Their pass defense is currently ranked No. 5 overall by Football Outsiders, which would be the best pass defense he's faced so far this season. Though they have lost both starting CB Fabian Washington (torn ACL) and star pass rusher LB Terrell Suggs (torn MCL) in recent weeks. Those injuries are similar to what the Packers have gone through, except LB Aaron Kampman is gone for the season and Suggs should return later this month. In their 2 games without Suggs, who has 3.5 of their 21 sacks on the season, the Ravens were without a sack against the Colts or Steelers, which should help the struggling o-line avoid any disaster. This is a tough matchup for Rodgers, but he's been good to outstanding in every game this season and I wouldn't bet against him.

RB Ray Rice vs. the Packers run D. The Ravens ran the ball a lot in 2008 (37 carries/game), but not nearly so much in 2009 (27.5 carries/game). But their yards/carry has actually gone up from 4.0 to 4.2, in large part to the outstanding season by Rice. I'll still pick the Packers great run defense to win this battle because they haven't struggled against an opponent since RB Cedric Benson's big game in week 2.

QB Joe Flacco vs. the Packers pass D. WR Derrick Mason and RB Ray Rice are having great seasons, and are the leaders in their passing game. Unfortunately they aren't getting much help from the rest of their receivers, though WR Mark Clayton had a great game against the Steelers last week. Football Outsiders has the Ravens pass offense ranked No. 12 overall, but the Packers pass D is ranked No. 3 by them. This looks like a matchup that would favor the Packers, but with two contrasting points. Flacco has a 90.2 QB rating with 13 TDs and 8 INTs, which is similar to QB Carson Palmer (86.7 rating, 15 TDs, 8 INTs) and he threw for 3 TDs against the Packers, in Lambeau, back in week 2. However, that was the first and only game started by SS Aaron Rouse, who was so bad he was released shortly after the game. If the forecast for snow holds up, that might throw all those stats out the window.

Special teams and penalties. Though Mike McCarthy won't admit the special teams have been a disaster in 2009, they've been a disaster. The Packers have been getting killed by hidden yards lost on sacks, special teams, and penalties all season. The sacks might not be a problem, as I noted above, the Ravens haven't had a sack in three weeks. The Ravens special teams have been generally good this season, and they recently signed K Billy Cundiff to have fix their only significant weakness: FG attempts. The Packers will lose at least some yards to the Ravens on special teams. Though the Packers have been awful with penalties this season (66.4 yards/game), the only team worse is the Ravens (66.6 yards/game). This has been an area that's killed the Packers this season, but the Ravens can only expect a slight bump from it.

If the snow turns this game into another HD Bowl (aka 2008 playoff win over the Seahawks) I've got no idea how it could turn out. Which ever team can control the line of scrimmage will win a snow game. Assuming there's no snow, this is still a game I expect the Packers to win. Packers 24, Ravens 17.

Winning, Regardless of How, Still Beats Losing

Bruce Raffel — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:37:27 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

22 days ago: Baltimore Ravens' Billy Cundiff (7) is congratulated by snapper Matt Katula, left, and holder Sam Koch, right, after kicking the game-winning field goal in overtime to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-17 in an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, in Baltimore. The Ravens won 20-17 in overtime. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Prior to last nights 20-17 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens had lost five of their last seven games, some of them in classic 2009 Ravens' frustrating fashion. Therefore, winning a game, any game, much less one over their hated AFC North division rivals, feels pretty good by my standards.

Even without their top offensive and defensive players, Pittsburgh is still a tough team and played well enough to keep the game close and even had a chance to win it in the extra session. But the Ravens, faced with certain elimination from any real chance at playing in the post season, persevered and with a little help from a couple of rookies and a couple of second year players, pulled out the win off the foot of new kicker Billy Cundiff.

Rookie CB,Lardarius Webb, pressed into starting due to a season ending injury to Fabian Washington last week, almost ended the game with an interception but just couldn't hold onto what would have been a pick-six. Seldom used rookie LB Paul Kruger, who is also getting playing time due to Terrell Suggs' injury, made the totally unexpected interception in OT and ran the ball back deep into Steelers territory. From there, it was just a matter of seconde year QB Joe Flacco handing it to 2nd year RB, Ray Rice, to get the ball into better field position centered for the game winning Cundiff FG.

A lot of fans will say the team looked boring and flat and should have won this game going away. Remember, other than Troy Polamalu, this was the same Pittsburgh defense that shut down the Ravens three times last season and would know they needed to have a solid game to help their offensive issues. Third string QB Dennis Dixon had a great game up until that final interception, passing for one TD and running for another. Overall, the Steelers offense moved the ball pretty well, especially on the ground. One might have thought that the Ravens defense would do whatever it took to shut down the Pittsburgh running game and force Dixon to beat them through the air. However, that didn't happen as the Steelers ran for 153 yards, with 95 from Rashard Mendenhall.

Offensively, the Ravens might have looked boring and inefficient, but they still racked up decent yardage on the ground (132 yards), led by Rice's 88 yards and through the air on Flacco's 23 for 35 for 289 yards and the one TD pass to Derrick Mason(7 receptions for 62 yards). Wide receiver Mark Clayton had one of his best games of his career, catching seven passes for 129 yards, including a great catch off of a long bomb of 54 yards.

All in all, the win keeps us int he playoff hunt and looking at our competition for the post season, we now have the ability to control our own fate. Continuing the progress will require going up to Green Bay to face the Packers next Monday night in what will be the first night game in December in Green Bay history. Why is this? Because it's so damn cold there this time of year, so why do our Ravens get the honor of dealing with those elements? That should be a great game against a very good offense and a Packers team that has played pretty well the last few weeks and are chasing a post season berth themselves. More will follow on the Packers game but for now we can dissect and debate the Ravens win over the Steelers last night, a phrase we haven't uttered for well almost two years now.

Uninformed Recap: Ravens Beat Steelers in OT, 20-17

Brandon — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:00:27 -0000

The Steelers at Ravens game was a twofer. Here's the boxscore. It had 2 of the Green Bay Packers' next 3 opponents.

In between their games against the Ravens and Steelers, the Packers play the Bears in Chicago. I watched a little of the Bears at Vikings game, but what I did see was ugly (for the Bears). Their defense has looked bad for weeks, and they couldn't do anything to stop the Vikings. 537 yards for the Vikings, and the Bears only had 169. In the 2nd quarter, despite their meager offensive performance, the Bears drove twice into Vikings territory, only to watch QB Jay Cutler throw back-to-back drive killing INTs. And why did they give up their (high) 2nd round pick in 2010 for DE Gaines Adams? He only has 3 tackles in 6 games.

As far as the Steelers at Ravens game goes, my recap is uninformed because I don't know a lot about either team. They both have great defenses, through week 11, according to Football Outsiders, the Steelers had the No. 3 defense and the Ravens' D was No. 4.

The Steelers were able to run straight up the middle, which was where RB Rashard Mendenhall, who had 24 carries for 95 yards (4.0 YPC), went every time he carried the ball. The Ravens D might have lost a step. Just as the Packers have lost Kampman and Harris, the Ravens have lost their top pass rusher, LB Terrell Suggs (torn MCL), and a starting cornerback, Fabian Washington (torn ACL). But the Steelers were forced to start 2nd year QB Dennis Dixon, his first career start, and he was just overmatched. On the Steelers final offensive play, Dixon misread a zone blitz and he threw an INT right at the Ravens' rookie defensive lineman. Overall, Dixon only completed 12 of 26 attempts for 145 yards, but you could tell at times during the game that the Steelers offensive coordinator had lost some faith in him.

The Ravens offense is built around getting the ball to WR Derrick Mason and RB Ray Rice. Though WR Mark Clayton had a big game, 7 catches for 129 yards, that was due in large part to the awful coverage by Steelers CB William Gay. Mason is still a good, Donald Driver type receiver. Rice is an explosive playmaker and he's maybe even more dangerous as a receiver. I don't see how any team can cover him with a linebacker. Despite generating 393 yards of offense, it was boom-or-bust. Most of that yardage came on their 3 scoring drives, while the rest of the time they struggled and were forced to punt 6 times. Their offense isn't any better than the Vikings or Cowboys.

And while the Packers are still No. 1 in most penalty yards allowed per game, the Ravens are a close 2nd. They had 9 penalties for 80 yards against the Steelers, including a killer special teams penalty that erased a huge punt return near the end of regulation. If that return hadn't been called back, the Ravens would likely have kicked a late game winning FG, instead of having to win in OT.

The Packers and Ravens are two comparable teams, and both teams need to keep winning to keep pace for a wild card spot.

Oakland will start Bruce Gradkowski at quarterback against the Bengals. Yes, that same Bruce Gradkowski in 2006

Kirkendall — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:55:47 -0000

More photos » by John Froschauer - AP

3 months ago: Seattle Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry hits Oakland Raiders quarterback Bruce Gradkowski (5) during the second quarter Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009, in an NFL preseason football game in Seattle. The Seahawks won 31-24. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

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The date was October 15, 2006. The weather was a warm 77 degrees at kickoff, with light winds. The game featured the 3-1 Cincinnati Bengals and the 0-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers quarterback, Bruce Gradkowski, was making his second NFL start. With Cincinnati leading 13-7 and 4:21 left in the game, the Gradkowski led Buccaneers offense takes the field. After converting a first down, Tampa Bay lined up at the Bengals 32-yard line. What happened next is bound to be etched in the memory of many Bengals fans. Since I got the way-back machine out yesterday for our Chris Henry piece, I figure, why not reference an old entry during Cincy Jungle's first year in existence.

But the bigger controversy was Justin Smith's roughing the passer. Smith wrapped up Bruce Gradkowski, who lowered his head, hitting the ground with the top of his helmet. Gradkowski lost the ball and I put my arms up thinking this game was over. But since Smith tried to tackle the quarterback - which is illegal - the Bengals were penalized 15 yards; Tampa Bay scored the winning touchdown a few plays later.

I understand the idea of protecting helpless children, women and quarterbacks. Let's be honest though, hard knocks are what injures quarterbacks; not being rolled onto your head or the extension of arms. A cornerback, safety or linebacker, with a full head of steam, will devastate a Quarterback's body (Google the Ohio State Buckeyes and Drew Stanton... or Chris Simms). It took until this off-season to make a rule that defensive players couldn't shred the knee of a quarterback. Smith's sack was minimal in scope to the health of the quarterback but monumental in scope to the game.

The penalty not only pushed the Buccaneers to the Cincinnati 25-yard line, but Cincinnati lost a fumble recovery which would have likely sealed the game. The Bengals couldn't stop the offense after that, even though Tampa Bay was forced to make a third-and-13 conversion -- which they did on fourth down when Gradkowski completed an eight-yard touchdown pass to Mark Clayton. Game over.

Peter King wrote at the time, "... HORRENDOUS roughing-the-passer call in Tampa, giving the Bucs good field position as they drive, with a Toledo Rocket at quarterback, Bruce Gradkowski, to try to beat the hanging-on-for-dear-life Bengals at the Pirate Ship." And Justin Smith said at the time, "That was the ballgame," Smith said. "There was no whistle call, nothing like that to stop the play. I didn't slam him (or) pick him up. He doubled over, went down and fumbled the ball."

Why bring all of this up, you ask? For one, I can. For two, the Bengals will be seeing Gradkowski again this weekend in Oakland.

The Oakland Raiders benched former No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell on Wednesday, handing the starting job to journeyman Bruce Gradkowski for the foreseeable future.

Coach Tom Cable made the announcement of the change following practice as the Raiders (2-7) prepare to play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Cable said this was not a temporary move, that his plan is to stick with Gradkowski.

"I don't want to be like that," he said. "This is where we're headed and what we're going to do. He'll take this team and go with it."

If the Bengals bring their best game to Oakland, I don't see this as remotely being a problem. Cincinnati, I believe, is fielding the best overall team this year compared to the entire Marvin Lewis era. And the players are well aware of the implications of playing a 2-7 team. However, sometimes the football gods mix it up a little. And they did that weekend in 2006. When the 3-1 Cincinnati Bengals lost to the 0-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Ravens' Win Follows Last Year's Gameplan

Bruce Raffel — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:51:12 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

about 1 month ago: Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton, left, lies on the field after being sacked in the fourth quarter by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Chris Carr (partially obscured) and defensive tackle Dwan Edwards, top, during an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009, in Baltimore. Baltimore won the game 30-7. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Watching the Baltimore Ravens complete domination of the Denver Broncos in yesterday's 30-7 victory had the team looking just like the one that went 8-2 in their last ten games to make the AFC Championship Game than the one that had blown the previous three by a total of 11 points.

Everything that most fans have complained about here on The Beatdown, on the airwaves and across the internet, seemed to disappear on a day that started off rainy and ugly but finished bright and beautiful. Whatever happened during their Bye week must have sunk in because the guys who showed up certainly improved in so many areas that were blatantly obvious issues prior to the game.

(Click on the 'Jump' to read more on "Ravens' Win Follows Last Year's Gameplan")

Going into the Bye week and up until gametime, the fear that most fans had was that we were not able to put pressure on the passer and even Kyle Orton would be able to pick us apart and use the huge Brandon Marshall to embarrass our secondary. After allowing two straight 100+ yard rushers, our defense faced the brunt of the fan's criticism and combined with he lack of the pass rush, needed to come up with the big plays to change those jeers into cheers.

Well, they all responded in a huge way. Denver's Kyle Orton was only 23-37 for 152 yards and while he did not throw an interception, he didn't complete a pass over 23 yards for a QB rating of 71. Speaking of Brandon Marshall embarrassing our DB's? Marshall had only four catches for 24 meaningless yards, including a long of nine measly yards. His best play was the ridiculous long pass interference penalty called on the Ravens after the referee right at the play called it incomplete only have another ref from the complete other side of the field run over and throw the yellow flag. Two more penalties kept the drive alive as the Broncos scored their only points of the day. Take away that pass interference penalty and the penalty at the other end of the field after we had a first and goal negated by a sissy personal foul call on Michael Oher that took away a possible TD for a FG and the score could have been as bad as 34-0.

The Ravens defense held the Broncos to 200 yards of total offense and totally shut down the Broncos running game, limiting them to 66 yards, holding starter Knowshon Moreno to just 39. The pass rush may have only had two sacks for the day, but seemed to have constant pressure on Orton all day. LB Jarret Johnson got it started on the Broncos first possession by rushing in untouched off the edge and slamming Orton to the turf a la Bart Scott's hit on Ben Roethlisberger three years ago. Amazing how much better the DB's looked with a decent pass rush, eh? Remember how many times I kept writing that for the past month or so? The Ravens pass rushers were in Orton's face all game and that showed by the hurries that caused incompletions and totally domination in the trenches against what was considered one of the top offensive lines in the entire league.

Offensively, the Ravens weren't rolling all over the Broncos top rated defense, but we were efficient and effective. Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron stuck to his game plan and kept pounding the ball into the Broncos athletic yet undersized defensive front seven, finally breaking through as the game progressed. Denver's vaunted pass rush did little to faze Joe Flacco and their top pass rusher, Elvis Dumervil was held sack-less.

Speaking of efficiency, I heard that Flacco complete his final 14 passes in a row to finish 20-25 for 175 yards, the one beautiful 20 yard TD pass to Derrick Mason and a stellar QB rating of 109.2. WR Kelley Washington made the most of his four receptions, each resulting in a key first down. Denver's Champ Bailey pretty much shut down Derrick Mason for most of the game, necessitating key plays from Washington and a couple of acrobatic ones by Mark Clayton to pick up the slack.

Lardarius Webb proved why he continues to deserve to get the ball in his hands on kickoffs and may be closer to doing the same on punt returns as well. Camera shots of Head Coach John Harbaugh on the sidelines imploring the fans to get out of their seats and cheer on the defense got huge reactions throughout the stadium as it was as loud as it have ever been, proving why this stadium is among the toughest places to come to for visiting teams.

Make no bones about it, the Denver Broncos are a good team and for real. You know all Ravens fans will be rooting for them as they host the Pittsburgh Steelers next week in the Mile High city on Monday Night Football. However, the Ravens proved they were a much better team than their 3-3 record indicated and yesterday were a much better team than the Denver Broncos. The Ravens have scored over 30 points in five of the seven games in 2009 and if their defense continues to play at the level they did yesterday, which was a lot like last year's one, this team could very well reel off a string of victories to get us firmly back in the hunt for the AFC North lead, starting next week with a revenge game at the Cincinnati Bengals.

Ravens v. Broncos: Prediction & 'Open Thread'

Bruce Raffel — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:07:46 -0000

Stay with Baltimore Beatdown all day and post your comments and thoughts as you watch us shock the world and certainly the Rocky Mountain area and yank the Denver Broncos from the ranks of the NFL unbeatens! I'll join in the aftermath of the carnage when I return home from the game, where I'll be drinking Dom Perignon and eating baked brie off of silver platters served by french maids with long black gloves and high boots in the Club Level. It's the Ravens' annual Halloween game and the cheerleaders will be dresses in all sorts of provocative outfits to bother and distract me. However, they won't be able to distract the Ravens from returning to their early season form as the Bye week that both teams enjoyed last week ends up helping the home team more than the visiting one.

(See more on "Ravens v. Broncos: Prediction & Open Thread" after the 'Jump')

If the Denver Broncos can fly 2500 miles and beat an angry, tough, hard hitting Baltimore team in their own stadium in front of 70,000 screaming fans who are just as angry and frustrated by the results of the last three games, well, then I'm right on their bandwagon with them. Until then, I see the Ravens offense putting points on the stingiest team in the NFL, even in the second half, when the Broncos have shut down everyone up until now. I also see the defense getting back on track, with enough pressure to harass and fluster Kyle Orton into throwing more than just a useless last second Hail Mary interception. For the first time in three games, the Ravens run defense returns to its past of keeping the opposition's rusher under 100 yards and forces the opposition to throw much more and sooner than they want, leading to the game changing plays that we know this defense is all about.

Joe Flacco continues to show why he is the best young QB in the game today, as he withstands the pressure and his offensive line gives him the time to find his open receivers. I expect Todd Heap, Mark Clayton and Kelley Washington to make big contributions and even won't be surprised to see a significant appearance from seldom seen Demetrius Williams and perhaps even L.J. Smith. Derrick Mason will be blanketed by Denver's Champ Bailey, which should have Flacco looking elsewhere for the big plays on offense. Speaking of big plays, right now there is no one in the league putting together a better all around season than Baltimore's Ray Rice. Whether it be running the ball or catching it out of the backfield, expect him to get the touches necessary that he's sure to make at least, if not a handful of big plays that turn the tide of the game in Baltimore's favor and keeps it there for all sixty minutes. Between Rice, Willis McGahee and LeRon McClain, the running attack will wear down the Broncos athletic, but small defensive front seven and take its toll as the latter stages of the game roll around. This time, the last couple of minutes won't be needed to either pull one out for either team as the Ravens finally prove that they could have came into this game at 6-0 just like the Broncos. The differences are that we are 3-3 and pretty damn angry about it and the Broncos and their fans will see what this team is made of as Denver falls for the first time all season.

Ravens 27-16

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:30:29 -0000

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

2 months ago: Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall tries to pull away from San Diego Chargers cornerback Quentin Jammer after a pass reception for nine yards during the third quarter of the NFL football game Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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Happy Tuesday friends, and welcome to another (shortened) edition of Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations. This is MileHighReport.com, the premier source of Broncos new and analysis in the entire world. I have been feeling like we're still kind of peripheral, in the eyes of the rest of the worldwide media, but we beat the bejesus out of them every day, when it comes to covering the Broncos.

As they say, game recognizes game, and correspondingly, it also recognizes groupthink and suckiness. By your being here, reading this today, and hopefully, every week, you mark yourself as having good sense, and at least a partial desire to be part of what is a collaborative learning and growth experience for us all. I'm a front-page staff guy, obviously, but I learn interesting things from FanPosters all the time. Those people are the lifeblood of the MHR community, and they should be commended for their outstanding contributions.

If you're a lurker, you obviously have the good sense to consume our front page content. I wanted to take a minute to ask you to consider joining as an MHR community member, and participating in the discussion. We always welcome people just like you, and chances are, you know something that will be of value to the rest of us, or you have a question which will spark a discussion, which has value to the rest of us. Either way, we all win.

Okay, Ted's Own Personal Membership Drive is over. My local NPR affiliate, 90.3 WCPN in Cleveland, has been doing a drive lately (seemingly, every time I am in my car), so I decided to do a quick one in Donny Deutschland this week. I don't want your money, just your participation. (For one thing, I think this is a great week for my lurking brother Chris to join.) Do a smart thing, and get down with MHR. As we say in the US Navy, welcome aboard.

OK, on to football, and whatever else pops into my head. Out of the echo chamber, and into the fire, y'all. Ready....?

Y'all weren't ready. Okay, get ready, and let's try this again. Ready.... BEGIN!!!

1. I have some early thoughts on the Ravens game, which i consider to be a pretty favorable matchup for the Broncos. First, the Ravens are extremely physical, so it's good to be playing them, healthy and coming off a bye week. The Broncos will have to match their physicality on both sides of the ball, and I have every reason to expect that they will.

Offensively, the Broncos need to attack the Ravens outside the numbers, with Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, and Tony Scheffler. The Ravens are bad at CB, and really their only good DB is Ed Reed, so throwing it where he isn't is a solid plan. They also need to run the ball, and I believe that they'll have good success in doing so. The Ravens went about 3 years without giving up a 100-yard rusher, and then got hit back to back by Cedric Benson and Adrian Peterson in their last two games. This is a good defense, but it's not the vintage great defense we're used to.

Defensively, the Broncos absolutely must tackle Ray Rice, who has arguably been the second-best RB in the AFC this season, just behind Benson. Rice is averaging 6 yards per carry (73-441-3) and 9.8 yards per catch (33-325-1). Rice is very short, and very stocky, which makes him hard to tackle. Joe Flacco can make all the throws, but I love the Broncos secondary against Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, and Todd Heap. I'm not worried about any of those guys consistently beating anybody in the Broncos secondary. Rice is the key player.

2. Information From My Eyes:

a. I like the vision and decisiveness with which Ryan Grant ran on Sunday. There have been some rumors that the Packers want to replace him, but he hasn't been the problem with the running game in Green Bay. He could use a good tandem back to work with, and better play from the offensive line, but Grant is definitely a starting-caliber back.

b. The Browns are just unwatchable, so I haven't been talking about them much lately. If I were Eric Mangini, this is the all-inclusive list of guys I'd want to keep on the roster after this season: Joshua Cribbs, Joe Thomas, Shaun Rogers, Eric Steinbach, Alex Mack, Mohamed Massaquoi, David Veikune, Eric Wright, Brandon McDonald, and D'Qwell Jackson. (I like Brady Quinn better than he does, but since he clearly doesn't like him, I excluded him). That's the only 10 players who I think are good players (or potentially good players) on winning football teams. Maybe you keep 10 more for next year, which is still going to be transitional. For the rest of the roster, you take a page from your friend Josh McDaniels, and go out and find some professionals to fill your holes, and try to have a very good draft. It is a talent problem in Cleveland, and all the other stuff is red herrings, until they fix the talent.

c. At a total team level, I am very impressed with the Cincinnati Bengals, and I think that they are a serious threat in the playoffs. I know I have smart readers, and I exchanged emails with a guy in the UK named Jake last week. He thought that the Bengals were a lock against the Bears, and I agreed. The Bengals controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and they hit and frustrated Jay Cutler all day.

d. I don't want to be too inflammatory with any of our Cutler lovers (if any are left), but has anybody noticed that he took his personal tendency for being on the losing end of blowouts with him to Chicago? I am sure the Broncos will eventually lose a game, but I find it impossible to imagine this team losing any game 45-10. It takes a certain kind of team to have the wheels just totally fall off in all phases of the game. I looked at the Bears Sunday and saw a complete lack of gameness and mental toughness. We all remember the games the 2006-2008 Broncos had like that, and I don't mean to attribute it personally to Cutler, or take a cheap shot. You simply can't deny, though, that this bad team-wide trait followed him out of town, and joined him in Chicago.

e. Cutler still seems to have the Favre-ian effect on the media and his fan base, where he manages to completely avoid personal blame, even when he plays very poorly, as he did Sunday. I visited the Bears' SBNation side, Windy City Gridiron, and there was virtually no criticism of Cutler, and you can see that he has again escaped much MSM accountability, too. I know I used to rationalize his bad play, and I think everybody here pretty much did too, at least to some degree. It's really a pretty amazing phenomenon, in a bad way. (By the way, I was proud to see that none of our members were over there trolling. Big up, MHR.)

f. Nobody gets picked in the top 5 of a draft because they look like they can't play in the NFL. Cedric Benson's talent just jumps off the screen. He's so fast for his size, and he has changed everything for Cincinnati. He's the main reason that the Bengals are so good on offense, because defenses are having to play eight in the box against him. That allows their good WRs to run wild, and Carson Palmer to hit his choice of open players. Benson is 10 times the player that Matt Forte is. The magnitude of the difference is akin to comparing Brian Dawkins to (Safety) Roy Williams.

g. The Bears' 7-man fronts were getting blown off the ball consistently. Just wait until Andre Smith gets started playing at RT. He is going to flat-out dominate in the running game, if he can keep his head on straight. He was clearly the best lineman in the 2009 Draft, and only his erratic pre-Draft behavior made him last to the sixth-overall pick.

h. Tank Johnson has been excellent all season for the Bengals, and was particularly terrific Sunday. Frostee Rucker and Robert Geathers had big games too, and the Bengals didn't seem to miss Antwan Odom too terribly (for one game, anyway).

i. Remember that business about top-5 guys going in the top 5 for a reason? ST&NO favorite Alex Smith had that on display Sunday. If he is ever put in a position to succeed, and can stay healthy, he will be the second coming of Rich Gannon. He's had 5 offensive coordinators in 5 years, and had the really bad shoulder injury, which he foolishly tried to play through for awhile. Remember, he is still only 25 years old. He's smart, athletic, and throws a pretty nice ball, and he's a humble, team-first player. I think Smith has an opportunity to get his career back on track, because Shaun Hill has played poorly for most of this season. There is no question that Smith is more talented than Hill.

j. It took him awhile, and some tough love from Mike Singletary to get there, but Vernon Davis is the best two-way TE in the NFL. I'd say the next best guy is probably Jason Witten, but there's a big drop-off between the two. Davis is such a fantastic blocker, and he's improved greatly as a receiver.

k. On the topic of pride and mental toughness, you have to be impressed with the job the Saints did Sunday, in coming back from a 24-3 first-half deficit against Miami. They just kept plugging away, and started executing, and eventually overtook the Dolphins. It was a great team effort, on a day where they didn't have their best stuff.

l. One serious concern I have for the Saints is how susceptible they looked to backside pressure on Drew Brees, with Jermon Bushrod filling in for Jammal Brown at LT (Brown is out for the year). Brees was shaky when he was getting pressured Sunday, like most QBs. You especially want to pressure the "A" gaps against him, because he has a strong predisposition for aggressively stepping straight up into the pocket. The Dolphins were especially successful when they generated interior pressure.

m. The Dolphins are probably going to miss the playoffs this year, and they'll look back with regret on letting the Colts and Saints get off the mat, when they had both teams pretty well beaten. Miami is a good team, which has just whiffed on opportunities to beat other good teams.

n. I don't think there is anything particularly noteworthy about Miles Austin, from a skills perspective. I watched the Dallas/Atlanta game when I got back from Dallas on Monday afternoon, and my first thought was that a good portion of the torching Austin put on the Falcons was from the slot in 3-WR packages, against base defensive personnel. I got all set to rip the Falcons for not subbing to match the offensive personnel grouping, but then I thought about it, and found myself wondering if I wouldn't be sticking to base too, if I were their Defensive Coordinator Brian Van Gorder. The Falcons lost their best CB, Brian Williams, to injury last week, and, remember, he was a Jaguars training camp casualty. Behind him are Chris Houston (who is talented but inconsistent), and Brent Grimes (who is not really talented, but tries hard). Nickel offense is the way to beat the Falcons, because they severely lack the quality players in the secondary to match up with it. I think Sunday was the first step to them having that deficiency cost them a playoff spot this year.

o. Isn't it great to have 4 CBs we can trust, as well as two safeties, in Darcel McBath and Josh Barrett, who are very good in man-to-man coverage?

p. One thing that jumped out in the Dallas-Atlanta game was that the Falcons receivers (including Tony Gonzalez) had a great deal of trouble separating from the man-to-man coverage they were getting from the Cowboys (whose secondary is average, at best). Matt Ryan had a lot of really tight spots to throw to, and largely since he got hit a great deal Sunday, he missed a lot of those throws.

q. So, I promised I'd interject some fraternity-man wedding hijinks, whether anybody wants it or not, so here goes. Have you ever had a snakebite? It's a shot my contemporaries and I favor, and it consists of Yukon Jack and lime juice. It strikes a good balance between being masculine and manageable, and it's kind of that one shot that everybody agrees is doable. Anyway - apparently, Yukon Jack hasn't penetrated the Dallas-Fort Worth market very effectively, because these local bartenders there have never heard of it, or a snakebite. Well, Scott (the groom) came to play, and he made sure that there was Yukon Jack at the reception, and that the caterers knew how to make the shot.

So, at some point, when the music shifted from craptastic country dinner music, and moved on to Run DMC, the 5 Tekes who were there did a snakebite. Good times. Then we did another, and we were joined by the cool girls in the wedding party, and a couple of Scott's cousins. The Tekes put it down like it was water, the rest of them struggled, and made faces while choking it down. Scott looked at me, with this extreme solemnity, and he nodded and said, "This is how we do."

Five eloquent words, and truth was achieved. This is, in fact, how we do. He was absolutely right. There's an easily discernible identity about us, as a group of men, and part of that identity is that we dominate some snakebites. I thought of this, as I watched the Short Cut of the Colts-Rams game. The Colts have an easily discernible identity. They play a lot of Cover-2 on defense, and try to limit their exposure to big plays. On offense, they take the whole play clock, try to shorten the game, and Peyton Manning works to always take what the defense gives him. They want to get a 10-14 point lead, and then send Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis after your QB, once you have to throw the ball. There's no secret or mystery to it, and they don't even particularly game-plan much for specific teams, beyond adjusting some protection schemes, maybe. There is a great deal of comfort to knowing exactly what you're going to do, and exactly who you are.

r. Why in the world would the new Twilight movie be advertised during Monday Night Football? I am sure a few people like (or would like) both Twilight and pro football, but can it possibly be more than 10% of the viewers? Seems like little value for the advertising dollar, there, pinning your hopes to a mostly male audience being interested in the visual depiction of chick lit.

s. So, I have a half-sister, Abby, who is going to be 8 in November. She's a smart kid, but when I was over last week, her mother was telling her that she needed to learn how to think outside the box a little more. Abby didn't know what that meant, so I drew her the classic MBA school exercise that our father shared with me when I was about 13 (and he was in MBA school, and this was a brand new idea). This exercise is actually where the now-tired phrase came from.

The objective is to connect all 9 dots, using 4 or less straight lines. As the term "outside the box" indicates, this is how you complete the objective.

I dislike the term "outside the box," because people who have no idea what it means use it all the time. (It's one of those concepts that would have been better off being compartmentalized to smart people only, like any number of concepts I can think of, actually). Anyway, I am taking a long route to applauding the Eagles for making an "outside the box" huge trade last week, just ahead of the deadline.

Will Witherspoon is not particularly famous, because he has toiled on irrelevant teams for his whole career (first, some mostly bad Carolina teams, and then some awful St. Louis teams). He's very good, though, and he has experience both in the middle, and on the weakside. He's a run-and-hit player, like the kind of guy you'd probably see in a Jim Bates- or Larry Coyer-kind of design. It seems to me that Steve Spagnuolo didn't think that Witherspoon particularly fit his system, which is, of course, basically the same system used in Philadelphia and with the New York Giants. It's a big, blitz-happy 40-front, which is designed around getting A-gap pressure consistently. It's stylistically similar to a Phillips 3-4, and it favors interior front-seven players who are basically 3-4 profile guys.

The Jim Johnson tree has always favored big, downhill thumpers in the middle. Power trumps speed at that position. The quintessential guy is Jeremiah Trotter, who was the size of a DE in his prime, and is now closer to a DT. (Trotter, you'll remember, once struggled mightily when he signed a big contract with Washington, and they tried to make him fit their scheme.) The Eagles brought him back this season, and he was a huge liability in the passing game (to wit, see the Raiders game last week). By bringing in Witherspoon, the Eagles went outside of type, but the impact single-handedly returned them to real-contender status. He had a huge game Monday night, with an interception for a TD, and a strip-sack, and I expect that it's only the beginning.

t. I hope Jon Gruden doesn't get and/or take a coaching job next season. He is fantastic on Monday Night Football, and y'all know I am not too prone to wantonly complimenting much of anything about ESPN. He had a great piece of information on the Redskins, which was really shocking to me, actually. Clinton Portis told him that the last time he heard an audible, he was a Bronco. Gruden's point was that if Jason Campbell could at least change the protection scheme to account for overload blitzes, it could put him in better position not to get crushed, while knowing the crushing is coming.

Umm, you think? That's just scratching the surface of the benefits of audible-ing. The Redskins are a total Mickey Mouse operation, and I am just shocked that they didn't have anything in place, even when Joe Gibbs was there. That strikes me as having to be an organizational policy, and if it is, it's the stupidest thing that I have ever heard of, in 22 years of being a serious football observer. I know high school teams that audible, for God's sake.

u. Jason Peters, who I have been wanting to take a close look at, looked pretty cockamamie to me on Monday night, which agreed with my long-held perception of him. He gave up a sack, and generally looked like a low-effort, I-already-got-paid kind of guy. There were several plays where I saw him watching the play, and not looking to hit anybody. I see and hear all these glowing reports on the guy, but where's the beef? I am starting to understand why Buffalo thought paying Peters was a bad idea.

v. I don't like gambling, but I had to take the bet my friend Paul offered me. I had Philadelphia, straight-up against Washington, with dinner as the stakes, the next time Paul is in Cleveland around Thanksgiving. That was such a lock, it's almost unbelievable that he offered me the bet. And, no, he's actually a Dallas fan, in case you were wondering if he was just a silly Washington homer.

3. I have been something of a Brett Kern apologist, but he wasn't getting it done. I like the message that replacing him sends to the rest of the team. Even a 6-0 team has room for improvement, and everybody needs to handle the job they're hired to do.

4. I was thinking about roles over the weekend, how we all have certain roles to fill in life, and how that's true of football too, which was the context I was thinking in. All good teams are full of role players who understand their roles. As a member of the MHR creative team, I have a role, and so do the rest of the guys. (I don't know if what my role became is what John had in mind when he asked me to join last year, but it is what it is now.) Snark, discussion about offense, courage, media criticism, pop culture, snark, meandering, community building, snark, detailed football analysis, play diagrams, obscure references, lots of (now correctly punctuated) parentheses, righteous indignation, commentary on other teams and games, optimism, prescience in 2009, and snark. That's my role, and that's ST&NO.

I like that the Broncos were constructed and operate with a lot of thought devoted to roles. As a coach, when you sign a veteran like Vonnie Holliday on the eve of the season, and you tell him that he'll be a rotation player, primarily on the field in pass-rush situations, there's a clarity of understanding between you and the player. That clarity is good for business, and it comes through when you see all 53 players knowing their roles, and playing them well.

5. I think MSM NFL reporters are mostly dorks; that's pretty well-established here. (I don't mean the stringers and the local AP guys, per se, I mean the scoop-seeking talking heads.) The most dork-tastic one, in my opinion, is Jay Glazer from Fox, and he's several laps ahead of the field. Here are some recent Glazer tweets:

i'm reporting dallas and d ware have agreed on new 6 yr deal worth up to 13 per yr and nearly 40mil guaranteed. well worth it!

about 9 hours ago from txt

I reported Dan Snyder was urged to give Zorn vote of conf but opted not to. Also didnt wanna speak to press, fearing he wouldn't bite tongue

11:24 AM Oct 25th from web

i'm so tired from spending the whole dang day workin the phones for scoopage i really don't wanna go out. wait, wait... my arm is a twistin

8:28 PM Oct 23rd from txt

Cindy Crawford was here at this party, gotta admit she is one of the my physically beautiful and elegant women I have ever seen! stunning!!!

12:37 AM Oct 23rd from web

dumbest line of our night! Strahan: "There's TWO things i can do: spell, add and subtract." yes, he really said that! my friend is a moron

6:42 PM Oct 19th from txt

Have you ever known a person who is always name-dropping, and was at this party, and saw that celebrity, and is always claiming credit for themselves, because they're so much better than everybody else? That's Jay Glazer. Really, how hard is it to be an MSM NFL reporter? You offer yourself up as a convenient mouthpiece for anybody who wants to use you, and then they use you. You try to make them let you use them once in a while, too.

The Cowboys signed DeMarcus Ware; okay, that's admittedly news. Does it matter if Glazer heard about it 10 minutes before Adam Schefter did? With these guys, it's always about who had information first that everybody was going to have soon anyway. None of these guys is ever finding out anything significant which wasn't meant to come out. The Snyder thing is meaningless. Who cares? Everybody knows he's going to fire Jim Zorn after the season, so how he felt last week, when he didn't make any news, is worthless. It's just something Glazer can claim that he knew, that nobody else did. There's no Woodward or Bernstein covering the NFL, you know?

Since we're all friends here, I just wanted to vent, because Glazer makes me crazy, with his "scoopage," and his name-dropping, and his day-drinking in Beverly Hills. Thanks for listening/reading.

6. From Stuart Scott, trying to sound smart by saying that Donovan McNabb is an H-back when he's lined up outside in the Eagles "Wildcat" look:

H-back means good speed, some heft to him, runs good routes, and can catch the ball.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I don't care for Stuart Scott, and all of his contrived, Berman-esque, shucking and jiving, but I would like him a little better if he'd not talk about things he has no clue about. Just stick to worshipping Michael Jordan, mmmmkay, Stu? And while we're at it, how is Matt Winer the analytical counter-balance to Trent Dilfer, on the ESPN Monday Night 3-man set? Those two with noted other shucker/jiver Scott Van Pelt is a weird trio.

7. Retired for John Elway

8. I had occasion to drive by the new Dallas Cowboys stadium over the weekend, and TV doesn't do justice to how enormous it is. It's a really impressive-looking building from the outside. One thing, though, which I found interesting about my DFW experience, was how few people and cars I saw rocking Cowboys gear. I saw more on Monday morning, which is probably no surprise.

I hope everybody has a good Ravens week. All you get is about 4,200 words this week, because I am out of interesting things to say, and we're on some all-killer, no-filler here, like always. Really, that would be about an 18-20 page term paper in college, so it's still not too shabby. Look for Lighting Up The Scoreboard Saturday afternoon, and follow me on Twitter @TedBartlett905. And join MHR, if you haven't yet. There's no time like now.