SB Nation - Frank Walker

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?

Ravens' Thursday Injury Report

Bruce Raffel — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:54:34 -0000

Once again, there are no players listed on the Baltimore Ravens Injury Report as "out" after today's practice. However, long snapper Matt Katula (elbow) and DT Haloti Ngata (ankle) still are on the "Did Not Participate" list, which is not good. You almost never hear about the long snapper unless it is not good. It is also my recollection that our backup long snapper is none other than,....wait.....Willis McGahee! Is that silence and staring you are doing right now? That is not a typo, as McGahee was taking reps at the long snapper position in Training Camp and might indeed be Katula's backup. Time to cross your fingers, right? Ngata's ankle is not looking good but we are still pretty deep at defensive tackle but then again, how do you replace one of the two or three best DT's in the game so easily?

The following players were limited in participation Thursday: Todd Heap (ankle), LeRon McClain (shoulder), Haruki Nakamura (chest), Tom Zbikowski (illness). On yesterday's Injury report but practicing today were Prescott Burgess (illness), Jarret Johnson (shoulder) and Frank Walker (illness).

Practice Report: Baltimore Ravens (4-3) at Cincinnati Bengals (5-2)

Kirkendall — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:52:16 -0000

Every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evening, we'll (TRY TO) update the practice/injury chart leading up to Sunday's game. The chart is pretty self-explanatory. If the player is listed as out, they're out for the game. If they did not participate, they didn't practice. If they were limited, then they only participated during a portion of practice (typically means missing 11-on-11 drills). If the player is listed as full participation, it simply means that they practiced fully and that the only reason they're listed is because injury was an issue the week before.

Practice

BENGALS	WED	THUR	FRI
RB Jeremi Johnson (knee)	LP	LP
S Tom Nelson (shoulder)	LP	LP
S Roy Williams (forearm)	LP	LP
RB Bernard Scott (knee)	FP	FP
T Andre Smith (foot)	FP	FP

RAVENS	WED	THUR	FRI
LB Prescott Burgess (illness)	DNP	FP
LS Matt Katula (elbow)	DNP	DNP
S Haruki Nakamura (chest)	DNP	LP
DT Haloti Ngata (ankle)	DNP	DNP
CB Frank Walker (illness)	DNP	FP
S Tom Zbikowski (illness)	DNP	LP
TE Todd Heap (ankle)	LP	LP
RB Le'Ron McClain (shoulder)	LP	LP
LB Jarret Johnson (shoulder)	FP	FP

Wednesday Injury Report

Bruce Raffel — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:58:20 -0000

The Baltimore Ravens released their Injury Report for Wednesday. While there is no one listed as "out" for the game, the list of "Did Not Participate" is unusually long for the team, but should be pared down as the week progresses. So far the following players did not participate in Wednesday's practice:

Prescott Burgess (illness), Matt Katula (elbow), Haruki Nakamura (chest), Haloti Ngata (ankle), Frank Walker (illness), Tom Zbikowski (illness).

Todd Heap (ankle) and LeRon McClain (shoulder) were listed as "Limited Participation." Stay tuned for daily updates and changes as they occur when I receive the reports for Thursday, Friday and Final Game Status direct from the team.

Broncos Thoughts & Musings, Part 3: Ravens Week

Emmett Smith — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:30:20 -0000

More photos » by Jack Dempsey - AP

2 months ago: Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels reacts to the game winning touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/ Jack Dempsey )

Browse more photos »

I found myself looking around the 'Net at stats and articles, as I often do. The outcome was an increased emphasis on examining our defense (since the offense was already a big part of Part II) and a longer look at the Baltimore Ravens. Their situation brought out a chance to talk about the history of the passing game in the NFL as well as the inevitable upcoming game prediction, so settle in and let's take a walk through the last of the October BT&M.

Name that Gloom

It's been a lot of fun watching folks locally and nationally scrambling to name the Broncos defense this season. From my perspective, the search for a name for the Denver D isn't a big concern. Do you want a description? While it's not poetic, the best way to describe them may be 'sulfuric acid' - when you pour them onto an offense, that opponent's abilities quickly dissolve and it begins to stink. They are a gloomsday defense, one that shreds the confidence of the cockiest (yep, looking at you, Crimea Rivers), destroys their morale, and along with Orton's skills in the 4th quarter, ensures an outcome that is only happy to those in predominantly orange. Two third-down conversions in the 2nd halves of games, and both of those within the first two games makes it nearly impossible for an opposing team to win a close game. If you can't score, you can't win. Just ask the Pats, Cowboys or Chargers.

And Baltimore, as talented as they are, has to play the Broncos who are coming off a bye and who have had 2 weeks to prepare. I like the Ravens, but not in this matchup. I expect another great, rugged, physical game. When the Broncos are in the playoffs after this season, no one will be able to suggest that they got there any way but the toughest. There's no better way to prepare for the playoffs than going up against the best during the regular season.

The Essence of Defense

I was re-watching for the 15th time the play that ended in Darrell Reid's sack during the late stages of the SD game. Some things happened during it that defined for me a big reason that the Broncos are winning so effectively. Chargers were on a third-and-long situation, an obvious passing down. The defense lined up in its base 5-2 - apparently. But once the ball was snapped, all heck broke loose.

Vonnie Holliday, who's been a stellar pickup, was manning the RDE. At the snap, he drove into the left guard's (Pro Bowler Kris Dielman) right shoulder and bulldozed him back and then into the left tackle, Marcus McNeill, whose attention had been fixed on Robert Ayers (lined up outside on the weakside). Ayers left off and tried a stunt up the middle, but he didn't get there. While Holliday was taking out two linemen and Ayers was trying to stunt, Davis came up the middle through the exposed gap and forced Philip Rivers to the back where Darrell Reid was pushing through from the strongside - sack! Reid received a sack on the play, but Holliday, Ayers and Davis, combined, didn't scratch the scorecard. Their effort just made the play work. Not only did he tie up two defenders, Holliday opened a hole that would have created a run-to-daylight TD had it been on the offensive side. The linebackers made the play on Rivers, who is one of the best in the league at handling the blitz and who still didn't have a chance. That explained the lack of the Chargers' scoring after halftime. Another gold star to Mike Nolan, another win for Denver. And Vonnie?

"We'd love all of our players to have the same leadership qualities Vonnie Holliday does, but we knew Vonnie Holliday could still be an active, productive football player in our scheme," Josh McDaniels said.

Two more quick thoughts on this: First, check out this article on the development of Robert Ayers. The reason that I'm adding it now is that Ayers has consistently done much the same that Holliday did -- driving to the QB, tying up 1-2 defenders, plugging his gaps and letting Doom rack up the sacks. We are stat-obsessed at times and much of the distaste I've heard regarding Ayers is a classic example of that. He's doing a great job for a young OLB/DE. We're lucky to have him - but it wasn't luck at all. McDaniels/Xanders knew exactly what they wanted when they chose him.

Next, we need to keep something in mind -- the 49ers didn't do at all well with Mike Nolan's defenses. Why? They complained frequently that his shifts, adjustments and schemes were 'too confusing, too complex'. The Broncos went out and got intelligent players for whom this isn't a problem. Consider the article from the Denver Post by Dave Krieger -- in his defense, the latest columnist to chomp on blackbird and enjoy the taste -- which talks about how effectively the Broncos change things at halftime (throughout the game, really) and how their players execute the changes without a walkthrough. It's a good example of this same principle.

When I broke down the film from the Chargers game, I quickly found that they had tremendous difficulties figuring out how to block the Broncos defensive rush. That wasn't exactly a shock, but a lot of it was that they could not, as Josh McDaniels pointed out last Thursday, use the running back, for example, to block a certain player because they never really knew if that player was coming or not. LaDainian Tomlinson, in fact, often chose the wrong lane to try and stop a rusher, only to find out that someone else had blown by him and gotten to Rivers. Eventually, Rivers didn't make many throws without a Bronco in his face or on his back. Small wonder that he couldn't score late.

By the way, it was nice to see Le Kevin Smith in on a few of those tackles. He's another perfect pickup who brings the skill, experience and talent that the Broncos needed to win right away. What depth this team has!

Safety in Numbers

Josh Barrett's ability to shut down the TE was evidenced again against Antonio Gates, who is still one of the best TEs in the game. Darcel McBath's overall skill has worked in the secondary and on special teams, while David Bruton's appearance on ST blocks and tackles helped spring Eddie Royal on both returns for TDs. These are all reasons to love the Broncos' young safety squad. We have three talented, hard-working young men who are learning from some of the best players in the league,as well as some of the best coaches. All three have been among the best stories on special team. Darcel McBath appears able to do anything we ask of him and Barrett now has shown that he can handle Gates as well as Tony Gonzales. When Wesley Woodyard struggles on the TE, expect to see Barrett out on the field more often. Barrett is being developed slowly, as befits a player who came into the league so raw, and he has the physical gifts to excel as he matures. Bruton may be the slowest of the three to develop, in the end, but that doesn't mean that he's in any way a disappointment. I've already heard folks wondering what we'll do when Dawkins retires (at about age 52). We've got three solid young options to develop against that day. I know that folks are talking about Eric Berry or Taylor Mays, but we've got exactly what we need - young, smart, skillful, hardworking players that can do their jobs.

That's something that we've been conditioned, as fans, to overlook. We are drawn to glitz, to fame and personality. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but that's not how the Patriots became a perennial power and it isn't how the Broncos will stay one. Getting marquee players is fine, so don't misunderstand me. I love Mays and Berry.and they'll be solid-to-great players in the NFL. But by establishing the three young players that we have, just as we are doing with Jack Williams and Alphonso Smith at CB and Ryan McBean, Robert Ayers and several others, we're creating a team that won't have huge cap issues, that fields a squad of tough, smart players who are focused on winning and execution, and who may have less stars, but will have more winners. In the end - that's what it's all about.

Taking Your Best Shot

I had to laugh at the blurb TedB did on shots this week, with the resultant recipes and member preferences. Great stuff, folks. At this point, my choice of shots tends to be morphine or Dilaudid. Wusses... ;-)

Final Thought - The Ravens

I don't really believe that anything the Broncos did in seasons past bears much on this year. For that reason, although the Broncos have a history of winning coming off the bye week, I don't see that as relevant. On the other hand, most teams play well with an extra week of rest and the Broncos will follow suit. They will have an extra week to gameplan, too, and that's never going to be a bad thing with our coaching staff. I don't discount the Ravens staff, either.

So, let's look at Baltimore. I see a very good team on both sides of the ball and one that may have its back to the wall. They're at home, and they're coming off a bye (but so are we). They are showing some weaknesses in their defensive secondary, and that's to the advantage of Denver. Orton's arm has proven more than strong enough to pick apart a team that leaves holes, especially if the rush doesn't reach Orton. Our offensive line will have its work cut out for it in the running game, but as the last two games showed, the Ravens can be beaten on the ground. This is a great opportunity for Knowshon Moreno to shine, and Correll Buckhalter is going to get a lot of chances as well. It's close, but I believe that our offense can overcome the Ravens defense in a close, hard-fought game.

But while this is a change in Baltimore, stopping their offense will be very tough, even for a defense as gifted as the Broncos. One big reason is the running game - Ray Rice is a heck of a back and their line is blocking well for him. The other is the way that the Ravens have delved into history to establish a passing offense that takes advantage of the skills of Joe Flacco, who was underestimated by many coming out of college. The abilities of Baltimore offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, who is at the top of his game, are nothing to take lightly. As far as Cameron goes, here's some thoughts:

Everyone knows how much I enjoy the history, skills and writings of Bill Walsh. While he has a special place in my heart, I like to go out of my way to credit Sid Gillman and Paul Brown for much of what Walsh developed into his own approach. On the other side of the passing game, the vertical passing game side that also traces to Sid Gillman, you have the 'Air Coryell' style approach - the vertical game. Many coaches have used and improved upon it, but Coryell was in many ways the key to its development. There is even a legitimate argument that these are the two most important forks in the passing game road, although by no means the only important ones. Both came down from the works of Sid Gillman. Most NFL teams will tend to use more of one or the other of these two iconic approaches.

The Ravens tend to bend more to the Coryell approach. Coryell took the old 'passing tree' concept and improved on it in his own ways. Every offensive coordinator, even those that fans (including, I'm ashamed to admit, myself) tend to see as 'conservative', such as Ron Turner, takes those routes and concepts and turns them into a bewildering confabulation of lines, twists, routes, concepts and options. The Walsh-based systems tend to emphasize timing routes and the shorter game (although not ignoring the mid- and deep-passing game, as some have claimed) and prefers to name the routes, while the Coryell-ancestry systems will blend a passing game that is delineated with numbers and is more heavily based off of the '9' (go) route. But every modern system is complex, weaving incredible variations of routes that look more like a pile of malaria germs than trees.

Within all modern systems, you also have a great emphasis on having the receiver see, dissect and recognize the various coverages and to adjust his routes accordingly to find the weaknesses in the coverage. The quarterback has to instantly see, understand and adapt to those changes, which is one reason that a smart QB can be more dangerous than a stronger one. The routes are not necessarily etched in stone. Sometimes they are fluid and adaptive, making the connection between receivers and quarterback essential to success. That's something that many seem to have ignored when Orton didn't fly out of the gate like Brady in 2007. It will always take a while for the receivers and quarterbacks to learn each other's patterns, tendencies and skillsets. The skill of the receivers at coming out of their breaks instantly and smoothly is often the difference between a completion and a failure.

Here's a Broncos example: Late during the Chargers game, with the Broncos driving, Brandon Stokley made an adjustment to the Chargers coverage that Orton had never seen (and which Stokley claims that he'd never used before) on the fly. Orton saw, understood and used it, throwing the pass where only Stokes could get it and the result was adding 6 to the Broncos' total. The ability of the seasoned receiver to use the basics of the system, analyze the defense and to adapt the route to the personnel and coverage to produce a completion is an essential aspect of modern success with the offensive game.

In the same way, Brandon Marshall communicated a weakness in the Dallas defense to Orton and told him to look for a certain variation on the hitch route if Terrence Newman acted a certain way, indicating a certain coverage. That pass was good for 6 points and the victory over the Cowboys. The reason that some fans argued that it wasn't 'really' a hitch route is that it was, but Orton and Marshall had also agreed on the way that they would vary it to defeat the coverage.

This may seem a bit long-winded, but here's the point: The Ravens have gotten very, very good at this. They like the vertically-based system, whose weakness is that it takes just a moment or two longer to set up. Flacco has the intellect and the arm - the intellect scares me more. His receivers have been doing a solid job of breaking down the defenses, and the offensive coordinator has been very good this year, despite the recent three loses. Flacco has learned a lot about his receivers and they are getting very good at creating options for him to employ. If you add the power running approach that they are playing and playing well, this is a team with a lot of strengths and not that many weaknesses.

But as we've seen, they can be beaten. I think that this may be the toughest game so far, and because of that, it's the one I'm looking forward to the most. We have a very challenging schedule, but this game, like all of them, is still winnable. We have to get to Flacco, our secondary has to continue to be titanium and our offense has to put points on the board. Nothing deep there - just hard-nosed football. But the Ravens pass rush hasn't been stout and the Broncos O-line has.

I saw cornerback Frank Walker get utterly hosed by the Vikings on more than one play and he had been brought in to replace Fabian Washington, who was even worse. Our receivers need to play well, but what's new? The Ravens have also given up two 100-yard rusher games in the past two tries. They gave up 77 total points in losses to New England, Cincinnati and Minnesota and we've beaten two of those teams. I wouldn't read too much into that, though - the losses were by a combined 11 points. The Ravens are in it each week.

They miss Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard, although Ed Reed is as dangerous as ever. Tavares Gooden isn't the same caliber as Scott, not that that's an insult to him. Our visiting friend Bruce Raffel from the Ravens SB Nation site says that Gooden will probably be tasked with covering Tony Scheffler, and if so, there's a huge mismatch there. Cornerback is a tough issue for Baltimore: In addition to the problems with Washington and Walker, Chris Carr looks sloppy at times and I expect to see more of Lardarius Webb. The Ravens have given up 25 plays of 20 yards or more, though, and that's not how you win championships. At this point, a championship is what the Broncos are obviously playing for, although I don't see them getting ahead of themselves. Big plays may decide this game.

I believe that McDaniels will pull out more of his seemingly infinite bag of tricks and give the Ravens the toughest challenge that they have faced this year. Due to the factors on the Ravens side -- home field, bye and having their backs to the wall -- I'm calling it a one point victory, and I think that it will come down to the 4th quarter. The Broncos are, right now, the meanest 4th quarter team in the NFL, and that should be the difference in the game. Broncos 24-23 in a nail-biter.

I'll see you in a couple of weeks, my friends. Go Broncos!

Doc

Broncos Thoughts and Musings - A look back at Chargers Week

Emmett Smith — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:00:30 -0000

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

2 months ago: Denver Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno, center, goes over the top of San Diego Chargers linebackers Tim Dobbins (51) and Stephen Cooper (54) while gaining two yards for a first down in the third quarter of the NFL football game Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Browse more photos »

Having taken a 'bye' week of my own, I thought that I'd put together a few musings for the general group. Before getting into the meat of this week's offering, though, I'd like to take a minute to mention a phenomena that has been showing its ugly face around Broncos Country. I'm talking about the problems of our fans having a 'Shanahangover': the sinking belief that the issues of the past years, in which the Broncos look good enough to fool us and lull us into a state of complacency before succumbing to a massive blowout (often to an inferior team) and shattering our dreams, could resurface in 2009. It's a dangerous disease, but fatal only to those who believe that this year's team has something in common with the teams of the past - notably, the past three seasons. Time will tell, but I don't see this happening any longer.

I've read this from a few of the members and in other blogs and sites: "The Broncos have fooled us before." It's true, too, but that was before a new sheriff, deputy, posse, marksman and scouts came into the picture. No matter what you've seen in the past, this team has little or nothing to do with the Ghosts of Seasons Past. The improvement in the coaching, performance of players, attitude and execution is light years beyond what we as fans are used to. Whether it's our team or another, living in the past is an exercise in misunderstanding the present. This is not last year's Broncos. It's a whole new experience.

As an example, Arrowhead Stadium is likely to be a tough place to win; but it's not because the Broncos haven't played well there in the past. They often didn't, but that's not a matter for this year's team. It's a windswept, loud, raucous place to play. It's hard to hear signals if the place is full and I don't take any game lightly, particularly a division rival. While I do think that the Chiefs are in early stages of an upswing, I'm not at all concerned that they're better than Denver or that they will beat us, even in their own house. Our veterans aren't going to take games off and they're not going to let the younger players take anyone lightly. If the Broncos play anywhere near their skill level, they're just too good for most teams. We've got a lot of great contests coming up, but one thing that doesn't concern me at all is the possibility that we will revert to the habits of seasons past. It's not going to happen, so put it out of your mind.

Charging into the Future

Before the Monday Night Football game that extended the Broncos' record to 6-0, Chargers TE Antonio Gates said, "One thing that gives us a chance is that we're still in the hunt in the AFC West. We never said it had to be pretty, and it wasn't pretty last year." After the game, it was a lot uglier. If Gates believes that the Chargers are still in the hunt, he needs to define his terms pretty quickly.

"It's tough to always be in this situation," Gates said afterward. "We didn't plan on being here. We didn't plan on being 8-8 last year either. But here we are. We have to keep working, or it could snowball and turn into a losing streak."

"We didn't plan on getting here." If there are words perfectly suited for failure, I think those should be high on the list. "We didn't plan on being here." Yes, that about covers it.

Bear in mind that they also didn't plan well enough to avoid it. They didn't run the extra sprints that the Broncos endured to get in better shape than their opponents. They didn't make the personnel moves that the Broncos did, realizing that no matter how good you were supposed to be, an 8-8 record will rarely get you into the postseason. They didn't identify the weaknesses that they had, nor the ones that could arise with age, injury and contract status. They didn't do enough to prepare themselves for the fact that Shawne Merriman was very unlikely to have a great year this year. Few will, after the kind of surgery that he had. In short - they didn't plan to succeed, either.

I'm sympathetic to their injury issues among linemen. That's tough and often unpredictable. But even there - is it a shock that Jamal Williams (who's had more surgeries than an aging Hollywood ingenue) would start to break down? Nick Hardwick has had a lot of injuries, plenty of surgeries (and I thought that Scott Mruczkowski did a very good job until Mike Nolan outfoxed him). Igor Olshansky was going to be gone. I wrote last spring about the issues that the Chargers were going to be experiencing, and I'm no expert. So, what happened?

Three things, I'd argue, and all are common: arrogance, lassitude and reversion to the mean. Arrogance in this case includes believing that you can start out poorly season after season and still make up the ground - the continuing decline of their schedule argues against that. But the arrogance also includes the behavior of individuals, including fighting within the team that is seen in public. Then there's lassitude, as in admitting, as A.J. Smith did last February, that the Chargers' woes were in great part on him but not doing more about it. And reversion to the mean: this is a team that has been heading for mediocrity (and how obvious can that be, after going 8-8?) for some time. It needed major help, and it got a few band-aids.

I loved the Kevin Burnett pickup, and it's just bad fortune that he's hurt. I liked the Larry English draft pick, and he's getting there. I also liked the Louis Vasquez draft pick, and he's developing quickly. I can't even fathom the Kynan Forney (who's since been released) or Travis Johnson pickups, though. The Bolts tended to stand pat with a suspect secondary, didn't develop their depth and accepted on faith that bad performances were anomalies instead of facts. It bought them a game in which a stellar performance by Philip Rivers wasn't enough, in which Nolan and McDaniels out-coached Ron Rivera and Norv Turner and in which the best the Chargers could bring wasn't close to enough.

There will, as Merriman pointed out, be a rematch. I look forward to it, and I'm sure the Broncos do. Stating before the game that 'the Broncos can't stop me' wasn't Rivers' smartest move. Claiming that they will get revenge after the game wasn't Merriman's, but I do appreciate the help those things gave Denver. If the Broncos needed any aid in getting up for the home half of this series, which I greatly doubt, they won't after that night's statements.

Arrogance...some things don't change.

Losing the Locker Room

That same arrogance has infected the locker room and the very attitude of the Chargers. You could see in a single moment why the Chargers have problems with their team very clearly during the first quarter of the Monday night game. The Chargers bogged down at the goal line - LaDainian Tomlinson was stopped short of the goal line twice. They took him out on the third play and put in Darren Sproles, trying to take advantage of a seam that Turner had seen. Tomlinson paced the sidelines, obviously complaining bitterly about not being in. The Broncos stopped Sproles and the Bolts short again, and they settled for kicking the FG.

It got me to thinking. Last year at this time, the Chargers were starting slow, appeared unmotivated and perhaps even ill-prepared. Tomlinson was also complaining - about the play calling, the offensive line, and not getting enough carries. Now, imagine that he was in orange and blue. How likely is it that a Bronco would do that - two years running? If you consider that Turner's team has gone from 14-2 before he arrived, to slow starts three years running, you start to see why that might be true. Players fight with management in the media. The GM insults his team, as A.J. Smith did by calling their play 'soft'. Nowhere is there a sign that adults are in charge. Merriman has a public feud with Smith, dating back a couple of seasons. Smith doesn't like his side jobs, feeling that it takes away from the team. LDT fights with Turner, expresses his feelings and tussles with Smith this past offseason, very publicly. Smith gets quickly pulled into it. No one wins.

This past week, it was wide receiver Chris Chambers. A non-factor for quite a while now, he was complaining to the press that his snaps are being taken by Malcolm Floyd. I don't know what he expected - he's not gaining separation, he's not getting open and he hasn't shown a ton of skill at fighting for the ball. But he's still touting himself as if it were three seasons ago and he was doing good things. It's the kind of thing that you're not seeing from the Broncos, the kind of thing that tells you when a franchise is in disarray.

I can't even express my gratitude for the fact that Josh McDaniels has very good management skills. He won't carry arguments into the media, rarely gets flustered and keeps things behind closed doors. I've fired people for the kinds of destructive behavior that I've seen from the Chargers over the past two years. Those who claim that this is football and that it's really okay to have things this way should consider how the Broncos do handle things -- and how their team acts and plays. As in, as a unit. As a real team, one that's going good places. It matters. Once in a while, a dysfunctional team has a good year. Most of the time, though, they flame out, and the talent levels don't matter enough to get them where they want to go. That's happening in San Diego, and while it's good for the Broncos, it's an obvious sign of the Bolts organization needing a makeover.

Asked before the MNF debacle, LDT was asked what he saw in the Charger's locker room. "It's a quiet confidence. You look in each man's eyes in that locker room, you can tell there is something extra."

Did they also see that you'd be pacing the sidelines, yelling and pouting, LDT? Perhaps not. That's one reason that the Chargers are 3 games back. Even worse for the Bolts and better for the Broncos, LDT hasn't been alone.

Beating Kansas City has given the Bolts a brief respite, but that's hardly a road back into the land of the competitive. While I do think that the Denver game as been a wakeup call of Shakespearean proportions for San Diego, their problems run too deep to permit them to make the late season run this year profitable. The game in Denver will be a grudge match. Given the state of the raiders and Chiefs, that's a good thing. It may keep thing much more interesting.

Some Other Stats that Matter (With apologies to Lebowski)

What did the Broncos do right so far this year? It's a long list, but try these perspectives on the rushing game:

Stuffs per carry - Correll Buckhalter, 4th, at 0.043 Knowshon Moreno at 9th, with 0.061
Stuffed: Best in league - It only happened on 8 plays. Despite the issues that can improve in short yardage, the problem isn't with negative plays.
YPC: Buck, 1st, 6.7 Broncos 11th, 4.3
Yards: Broncos 7th, 798
Big play rushes: tied for 9th, 20
100-yard rushers against: 0
100 yards rushing by opposing teams: 0
Passes dropped, over 6 games: 5. Four of those came in the first two weeks. It's all about doing your job and doing it right.

Let's also look at the percentage of rushing versus passing plays. Going back to the offseason, Doug (nycbroncosfan) and I published the "Divining Josh McDaniels" series. We said at the time that McD had been viewed at being more of a passing kind of guy than he really deserved. It was true when McD was in NE and it is true in Denver. We're in 8th, with 47.7% rushing and therefore 52.3% passing - a very even, balanced attack. Over the last 4 years, McDaniels had averaged 43.1% rushing plays. That seems low, but it's not if you look at how the team was structured. In 2008 that number was 46.8% rushing and that was similar to 2006 as well. On the other years, the passing game was working too well to minimize it. Josh McD believes in maximizing all of your skill sets and using the ones that the defense lets you win with, whether it's the pass or the run. As you would expect, he's attempting to make sure hat both are viable options. It's that simple. By getting Moreno, Buckhalter, Orton, the O-line and the receiving corps, he can go either way with complete confidence. That makes it very hard to stop the Broncos' offense.

You might also look at how the aging, decrepit defensive secondary is doing. Teams have been challenging Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins and getting their hats handed to them. Take a look at these stats: Bailey is tied for 2nd in the league with 8 passes defensed; Dawkins is tied for 11th with 6.

The Broncos have two players in the top 11 in the NFL in passes defensed -- and both players are over 30. That's a stat that not a lot of casual fans follow, but it tells you a lot about a team. It tells you that the Broncos have age, wisdom and maturity in the defensive secondary. Experienced players know how to communicate and that skill is constantly undervalued. It also tells you that those who believe that Champ Bailey, Andre' Goodman, Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill are 'losing a step' need to find their argument. Dawkins and Bailey are among the league leaders and are getting some payback on the 'lost a step' crowd. Andre' Goodman and Renaldo Hill are playing the best ball of their careers. The young guys, Alphonso Smith and Jack Williams, are also paying well and Darcel McBath has already shown why we drafted him on defense as well as by leading the team on special-teams tackles.

I'll be back later today with more Thoughts and Musings...

The Vikings Red Zone Review, Sponsored by Comcast

Gonzo — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:12:21 -0000

More photos » by Tom Olmscheid - AP

2 months ago: Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Sidney Rice, bottom, holds on to a 58-yard pass from Vikings quarterback Brett Favre as Baltimore Ravens cornerback Frank Walker, top, brings Rice to the ground during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009, in Minneapolis. Minnesota won 33-31. (AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)

Browse more photos »

Time to take one final look back at the Vikings' last game against the Baltimore Ravens by doing a review of how they did in the red zone. And, as always, this look at the Vikings' red zone prowess is brought to you by the folks at Comcast, the providers of the NFL's Red Zone channel. The Red Zone channel is, bar none, the best way cable TV offers you to keep track of all the biggest plays and all the huge scores at one time. Red zone success is a big indicator of team success, and nobody is more successful in bringing you the biggest and most important plays of the day than the Comcast Red Zone channel.

So, how did the Vikings do against the Ravens in the Red Zone? Not nearly as well as they did the previous week, obviously, but they still fared pretty well.

Viking red zone trips - 6
Viking red zone scores - 6 (3 TD, 3 FG)
Red zone touchdown percentage - 50%

The Viking red zone offense got themselves off to a quick start on their opening drive, highlighted by a 26-yard run by Adrian Peterson on the game's second play to put the Vikings into Raven territory. A pass to Sidney Rice got the Vikings into the red zone, and after a three-yard loss by Chester Taylor, Brett Favre hit Visanthe Shiancoe for a 19-yard touchdown strike. Favre completed all three of his passes on the drive for 38 yards. The drive went 61 yards in six plays, took 3:35 off the clock, and put the Vikings ahead 7-0.

After forcing a three-and-out by the Ravens, Minnesota started with good field position at their own 40, and Favre went to work again, completing four out of five passes on the ensuing drive, each going to a different receiver. The capper came on a four-yard slant to Bernard Berrian for his second touchdown pass of the day to put the Vikings up 14-0. Favre accounted for 53 of the 60 yards on the drive, one took seven plays and took 3:21 off of the clock.

Then the Vikings spent the rest of the first half not doing much, as they scored no more points before halftime. Exciting, no?

In fact the Vikings didn't have another red zone opportunity until near the end of the third quarter. On the first play after the Ravens scored a touchdown to cut the score to 17-10, Favre hit Sidney Rice on a slant that #18 turned into a huge 63-yard catch-and-run to put the Vikings at the Baltimore 8. Unfortunately, the Vikings couldn't do anything more than that, and had to settle for a 22-yard Ryan Longwell field goal to make the score 20-10. That drive took five plays to move 67 yards and 2:08 off the clock.

On the Vikings' next drive, the Vikings seemed content to move the ball methodically down the field, until they got to the midfield stripe. Then, they got a huge pass interference penalty on Ravens' cornerback Frank Walker to move the ball to the Baltimore 2-yard line. After a couple of Adrian Peterson rushing attempts, Favre struck again for this third touchdown pass of the afternoon, this one a one yard toss to Visanthe Shiancoe. The drive moved 80 yards in ten plays, taking 5:42 off the clock and making the score 27-10. . .a result that should have iced the game for Minnesota. However, as we all know, it did not.

After a Baltimore drive that took 1:33 and ended in a Mark Clayton TD catch, the Vikings got another huge play, as Adrian Peterson took a handoff around the left side and went 58 yards, racing down to the Baltimore 15-yard line. Again, however, the Vikings could advance no farther, and settled for another Longwell field goal, this one from 29 yards away to make the score 30-17. The drive went 61 yards in five plays and took only 2:33 off the clock. This one, also, should have iced the game for Minnesota. But, again. . .it did not.

However, the Vikings weren't done making red zone trips yet. After the Ravens got not one, but two more touchdowns (sandwiched around a Minnesota three-and-out) to put themselves up 31-30, Favre went to work again, firing a laser to Sidney Rice for 58 yards down to the Baltimore 18 yard line. After making the Ravens use their remaining time outs, coach Brad Childress chose to go the conservative route, electing to hand the ball to Adrian Peterson on third-and-9 rather than risk an incomplete pass and giving the Ravens more time to respond. Peterson didn't get the first down, but Ryan Longwell came on to convert his fourth field goal of the day, this one coming from 31 yards away to give the Vikings what proved to be the final margin of victory, 33-31. The final Minnesota drive took six plays to move 66 yards and took 1:41 off the clock.

For the season, the Vikings have made 21 trips to the red zone, and on all 21 occasions they have come away with points. Twelve of those trips have resulted in touchdowns, a 57% conversion rate, and Ryan Longwell has tossed in nine field goals as well. Defensively, the Ravens only made two trips into the red zone, with one of those resulting in a touchdown (a 12-yard TD pass to Derrick Mason) and the other in a field goal. That means that, for the season, Viking opponents have entered the red zone 14 times, with only five of those trips resulting in touchdowns. Four of those have resulted in field goals, and five have resulted in the Vikings' opponent not scoring any points at all.

Yep, success in the red zone for your team and no success in the red zone for the bad guys. Sounds like a pretty good recipe for success to me, and it's a big part of the reason that the Minnesota Vikings currently stand at 6-0.

Analysis: Green Bay Packers Trade for Derrick Martin

Brandon — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 20:50:47 -0000

More photos » by Rob Carr - AP

3 months ago: Baltimore Ravens cornerback Derrick Martin (29) breaks up a pass intended for New York Jets wide receiver Britt Davis (17) during the second half of a preseason NFL football game, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009, in Baltimore. The Ravens won 24-23. At left is Ravens Tom Zbikowski (28). (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Browse more photos »

I haven't posted my game review from the final preseason game yet, but it was pretty obvious why they might trade for a cornerback. CBs Pat Lee, Will Blackmon, and Brandon Underwood are all battling injuries, and CB Trevor Ford looked just awful, and he too was hurt in the last minute. WR Brett Swain played cornerback in the 4th quarter, and except for his tackling (which is something I'm sure he never practices), he was their best CB on the field. CB Jarrett Bush and CB Joe Porter are better, but they were both playing at safety, where depth is a problem too because of injuries to S Aaron Rouse and S Charlie Peprah.

With depth an issue, they made a trade for CB/S Derrick Martin, according to Aaron Wilson at the National Football Post. Baltimore will receive a 6th or 7th round pick in 2010 in return. Although Baltimore's secondary isn't loaded with big name players, including former Packer CB Frank Walker, they were a very good unit last season, so he's been competing for playing time against some good players. Martin was injured all last season, and although he's played CB in the past, the Ravens were using him exclusively at safety this preseason. Baltimore Beatdown expected that Martin would win a spot on the 53 man roster, so he should be good.

UPDATE: Great minds think alike. Mitchell and I were writing about this at the same time and his post got up before mine. Check out his post below.

UPDATE #2: It's a straight up trade of OL Tony Moll for Martin. Moll was the starting RT at the end of last season, filling in after RT Mark Tauscher went down with an injury, but he was always prone to the occasional lapse (i.e. missed assignment, holding penalty) so he was out of favor, and never even consider as Tauscher's replacement this season. He was probably going to be released, so acquiring a needed player for the secondary was a good move.

Ravens 53 Man Roster: My Picks

Bruce Raffel — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:00:24 -0000

Here are my picks for what the Ravens will end up doing later today when they announce the 53 man roster that they will be trimming down to when they release 22 guys to get down to the NFL max.

Offense

QB: Joe Flacco, Troy Smith, John Beck

WR: Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, Demetrius Williams, Kelley Washington, Justin Harper

RB: Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, LeRon McClain, Jalen Parmele

TE: Todd Heap, L.J. Smith, Davon Drew, Edgar Jones

OL: Matt Birk, Ben Grubbs, Jared Gaither, Chris Chester, Marshal Yanda, Michael Oher, David Hale, Oniel Cousins

Defense

DB: Ed Reed, Dawan Landry, Fabian Washington, Domonique Foxworth, Haruki Nakamura, Tom Zbikowski, Chris Carr, Lardarius Webb, Frank Walker, Derrick Martin

LB: Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Jarret Johnson, Tavares Gooden, Jameel McClain, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Paul Kruger, Prescott Burgess, Antwan Barnes

DL: Haloti Ngata, Trevor Pryce, Justin Bannan, Kelly Gregg, Dwan Edwards, Brandon McKinney

Specialists

P: Sam Koch

PK: Steven Hauschka

LS: Matt Katula

That’s only 52 guys and my final spot is a tough one to decide upon. I am looking at one of the following guys:

Yamon Figurs, Jason Cook, Jason Phillips, Joe Reitz, Kelly Talavou

Figurs still has the speed and with Webb looking a bit shaky on returns, Yamon gives us another option behind Chris Carr. Jason Cook gives us another fullback along with LeRon McClain. Jason Phillips was a 4^th round draft pick in 2009 and Ozzie doesn’t like to release draft picks. Perhaps Phillips will be IR’d to keep our hands on him (I expect the Ravens to IR undrafted rookie LB Dannell Ellerbe as well). Joe Reitz gives us more depth on the offensive line as well as Kelly Tavalou does the same for the defensive line.

I don’t want to take the easy way out by only selecting 52 players, so I will have to go out on a limb and make my selection and therefore the 53^rd spot on the Baltimore Ravens roster goes to Yamon Figurs.

The other players I was undecided about go onto our Practice Squad, where we can have up to eight players. Of course, I would expect the team to peruse other teams’ cuts to add a player or two to either our roster or Practice Squad, and vice versa for the rest of the league. However, in advance of that info, my Practice Squad would look like this:

Cook, Reitz, Talavou, Foster, Riley, Peerman, Smolko, Stallings

Additionally, as I stated earlier, the team would place both Dannell Ellerbe and Jason Phillips on Injured Reserve (IR), which would end their 2009 seasons, but ensure the team retains their rights while giving the players their full 2009 salaries, which do count against the team’s salary cap. However, being rookies, that should not be much of an issue.

Your thoughts and comments on those last few slots?

Ravens Dominate Again: Finish Pre-Season 4-0

Bruce Raffel — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:14:41 -0000

More photos » by John Amis - AP

3 months ago: Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh greets quarterback John Beck (12) as he comes back to the sideline after a first half touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons during their exhibition NFL football game Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Browse more photos »

The Baltimore Ravens completed their 2009 exhibition season 4-0, by dominating the Atlanta Falcons with their reserves most of the game 20-3. Last time the Ravens went undefeated in pre-season was before the 2000 Super Bowl season.

To many of the fans, this was an incredibly meaningless and boring game. However, to the knowledgable fan, this was as important a game as there was for the team as a whole. While most of the starters were on the sidelines, the reserves were fighting for their NFL careers, hoping to make that one last impression that would convince the team's Front Office that they deserve a spot on the Ravens roster.

The Ravens must cut 22 of their 75 players to get down to the NFL maximum of 53 players by tomorrow afternoon. Almost one-third of this roster will be looking for either new teams or new jobs by late Saturday. Can you imagine the stress and fear going through some of the players on the so-called "bubble?" One moment, they are on the world's stage, being treated like royalty with a big salary, great benefits and teammates and the next moment they are returning to the factories and local supermarkets in their hometowns looking for a full time job that many of them are not even qualified to do.

This is the toughest time of the year for the Front Office personnel. Telling a player that his dream job is being ripped from his heart has to be one depressing deed to complete, much less 22 times in one afternoon. I feel for Head Coach John Harbugh and his staff on the tough decisions, much less the notification of the unlucky players. On the other hand, there will be a few surprises so the fear and disappointment of one player could be muted by the joy and aspirations of another who gets told he did indeed make the squad.

However, that's all happening tomorrow. Today is a time to exalt the efforts that the team made in their victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Our second team offense moved down the field and scored on its first possession against the Falcons' first team defense. Our deeper reserves bullied and pushed the Falcons' reserves all over the field and while it was not exactly pretty nor efficient at times, the final score showed the complete domination on both sides of the ball.

Third string QB John Beck played his most minutes and best of the pre-season, with the time to get into a rhythm, hitting on 16 of 28 passes for 232 yards, two TD's and no interceptions, with a 108.0 QB rating. The running backs did their part and there is going to be a tough decision as it appears that only one out of Jalen Parmale, Cedric Peerman and FB Jason Cook is going to make the squad.

At wide receiver, Justin Harper continues to frustrate both the team and himself, dropping two long balls after getting open on deep routes. At the same time, Eron Riley caught the passes thrown in his direction, a long ball plus a TD reception, but even that might not be enough to secure a spot for him. Little guys Jayson Foster and Yamon Figurs didn't do anything to help their causes either.

At linebacker, there are so many decisions to make and to me theyare all easy as the entire group deserves to stay on the team. That won't happen and while Jameel McClain and Tavares Gooden are locks, Antwan Barnes, Prescott Burgess, Danell Ellerbe, Jason Phillips and William VanDeSteeg are probably fighting for just two remaining spots between them. Since we didn't see the rookie Ellerbe in the game, I am hoping the team retains their rights to him by placing him on Injured Reserve to secure him for next year.

The defensive backs did relatively nothing to change the coaches opinions about their roles on the team. Evan Oglesby had a nice hit but still figures to be a long shot, and Frank Walker was,..well Frank Walker. Two penalties on one play epitomizes his style of play, which is grab and hold and hope the refs don't flag him, which they usually do. For wahtever reason, the team seems to like him but he has done nothing to prove his value to the fans this pre-season.

Once again, another great win despite the meaningless part of pre-season being wins and losses. The coaches now have to seclude themselves in the headquarters to make their final decisions by tomorrow afternoon. Post your thoughts here on what you saw and what you think will happen tomorrow when roster cuts are announced.

Until then, bring on the Kansas City Chiefs!