SB Nation - Steven Hauschka

Gee, you think the Ravens regret letting Matt Stover walk?

BigBlueShoe — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:46:10 -0000

29 days ago: Indianapolis Colts kicker Matt Stover (3) kicks the game winning extra point during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009 in Indianapolis. Colts beat Patriots 35-34. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

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Yesterday, the Baltimore Ravens cut kicker Steven Hauschka . Hauschka was handed the starting place kicker job during the off-season after Ravens management decided not to re-sign longtime, legendary kicker Matt Stover who, like Adam Vinatieri, has made a career making big, money, clutch field goals.

Gee, you think Ravens football guru Ossie Newsome regrets that stupid decision?

Prior to getting cut, Hauschka was hitting only 3-5 field goals between 40 and 49 yards and had missed two FGs from less than 39 yards. Against the Cleveland Browns Monday night, Hauschka missed a gimme FG from 36 yards out. Apparently, that's was all Newsome needed to see.

Stover, meanwhile, has found a temporary home with the team that used to play in Baltimore, the Colts. With fellow legend Adam Vinatieri on the shelf for a while recovering from surgery, Stover has come in and been his usual, automatic self. He is 6-6 on FG attempts, hitting all four tries in the 30 to 39 yard range. While sTover likely does not have the leg power to blast a 53-yarder through the uprights, he does do what every good kicker is paid very handsomely to do: Make the gimme FGs.

This is why, for my money, kickers with "big legs" are over-rated. Give me the clutch kickers any day; the guys who make the FGs when the game is on the line. Sure, even the great ones miss one or two here and there, but more often than not they are the ones who propel your team to wins by hitting the big money FG.

Guys like Stover and Vinatieri have made their careers doing that. This weekend, the Colts and Stover will return "home" to Baltimore. Hopefully, he can provide the Ravens with even more regret for letting him walk away from their franchise.

Ravens Release Hauschka

Bruce Raffel — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:27:51 -0000

More photos » by Amy Sancetta - AP

28 days ago: Baltimore Ravens kicker Steven Hauschka (6) watches as he misses a 36-yard field goal during the first quarter against the Cleveland Browns during an NFL football game on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, in Cleveland. Holding for Baltimore is Sam Koch. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

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According to the Baltimore Ravens, the team waived placekicker Steven Hauschka Tuesday afternoon. GM Ozzie Newsome said, "We will sign a new kicker by tomorrow's practice."

The Ravens have tried out both Mike Nugent and Billy Cundiff, but are said to like Nugent better, so I am expecting them to sign him by tomorrow. Good luck Steven and hopefully you'll have another chance in the NFL, but not with the Ravens.

NOTE: (Added at 7pm) Here's the entire Press Release from the Ravens PR Dept.:

The Ravens released kicker Steve Hauschka this afternoon, it was announced by general manager and executive vice president Ozzie Newsome.

Here’s a statement from Newsome:

"We entered the season knowing that we would have to go through some growing pains with Steve. That happens with most new kickers in the NFL. But, for where we are as a team today, we need more consistent production from our kicker. Every one of our players has to step up to a Ravens’ level of play, and that was not happening for Steve right now.

"While we do believe Steve will kick successfully in the league eventually, we need better right now. The string of important games coming up that are likely to be close, tough battles and his lack of production are reasons we needed to make this move now. We will sign a new kicker by tomorrow’s practice."

Hauschka met today with Newsome, head coach John Harbaugh and assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg before leaving the team’s facility in Owings Mills.

Perhaps Ravens Played Flat Last Night For A Reason

Bruce Raffel — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:23:15 -0000

More photos » by Scott Heckel - AP

28 days ago: FIreworks shoot from top of Cleveland Browns Stadium prior to the NFL game between the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns Monday, November 16, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Ravens won 16-0. (AP Photo/The Repository, Scott Heckel)

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Everyone from the announcers to the media to the fans were ragging on our Ravens about the boring, unoriginal and "flat" play last night in their 16-0 shutout victory over the woeful Cleveland Browns. The offense could only muster a little under 300 yards of total offense that was giving up an average of over 400 yards per game. They joined the Browns in combining to have the only non-scoring first half in the 2009 NFL season thus far. The Ravens could only muster 9 points of scoring offense all game, and scored 13 of their 16 points in a 17 second span of the third quarter.

But as the title suggests, perhaps the Ravens played "flat" on purpose for a reason that borders on strategy with a side helping of over confidence?

Everyone knew the Ravens were clearly the better team going into the game and it wouldn't be surprising to know that the team was likely already looking ahead to their next two opponents, much less the remainder of the season. While the team knew it desperately needed a win to remain in the hunt for a post season berth, they probably figured that just short of showing up was going to be good enough to pull out a win, as ugly as it may look to the rest of the football world watching last night.

I'm sure the team knew what it had to do to win the game, and only opened the playbook far enough to get the job done. Without revealing anything in that binder of formations that the Indianapolis Colts and the Pittsburgh Steelers could practice to prevent, the Ravens just concentrated in bullying the Browns enough to score more points while playing solid defense. Hence the game totals in plays ran from scrimmage, 36 rushing versus only 19 passes. The 19 passing attempts include an ill-timed 3rd down trick play with Ray Rice trying to get the ball downfield to a wide open Todd Heap, underthrowing him for an incompletion. Why they even brought out that play, much less on a third and two where they could have probably just ran the ball for the first down with the game in hand at that point confounded me as well as the announcers.

So before you decide to go off on the team for its bland game plan, try to see that the coaching staff couldn't care less what everyone thinks about their strategy as long as it ends with a victory, which it did. They may be a lot smarter than they are given credit for, as they got the win without revealing anything unusual about the game plan that the Colts and Steelers can take away from the game. However, the defense did shut out an NFL team, which has only happened a handful of times this season and is still a sense of pride regardless of the team they beat. This defense needed this shutout and can use the solid play from many of the guys who have not gotten a lot of reps this year, such as Dwan Edwards, Lardarius Webb, Jameel McClain and even Paul Kruger. Both corners played well, especially Fabian Washington against the run. Terrell Suggs has every reason to be angry at Brady Quinn, who had no reason whatsoever to be blocking Suggs after throwing an interception, much less below the knees and his post game excuse was obviously lame. Losing Suggs for the next stretch of games will hurt this team, as well as the loss of safety Haruki Nakamura, who broke his right ankle on the opening kickoff and should miss the rest of the season. Get well props to both of them, along with Tavares Gooden who suffered another concussion and Todd Heap, who bruised his chest late in the game.

On the Browns side, here's hoping return man Josh Cribbs is okay after taking a hard shot on the game's final play, although Dwan Edwards hit was legal and besides, the play was a stupid one for a team trailing by 16 points.

Finally, we can't end this post without mentioning the pathetic job our placekicker has done all season. Sorry to call you out Steven Hauschka, but when you put on the team's colors, you are in the spotlight and are only as good as your kicks, which have been hooking left since the first game of the season. Missing those easy ones will keep the talk about letting Matt Stover go fresh on the tongues on your detractors. While I was in favor of replacing Stover, he was money inside the 40 but was shaky beyond that. You are missing wide left regardless of the distance and have pretty much proven that the pressure of kicking in the NFL is well beyond your capabilities. Now the team should be signing someone else as they have tried out other kickers but for some reason decideed to give you another chance, which you blew big time last night. While the readers of The Beatdown know whom I'd like to see here, at this point I'm sure everyone agrees that anyone other than you will be an upgrade, as there can't be a single person over at One Winning Drive that secretly or openly has any confidence when you trot onto the field.

Other than that, I'm not discouraged, I'm satisfied that we are where we needed to be before last night to set us up for the next two games which will absolutely define our season and with that, our post season.

Ravens Fall Flat: Now What?

Bruce Raffel — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:03:14 -0000

by Ed Reinke - AP

about 1 month ago: Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson (32) heads upfield against Baltimore Ravens linebacker Jarret Johnson (95) in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

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When the Baltimore Ravens dismantled the Denver Broncos last week, most people, including the oddsmakers, thought the Ravens' defense from last year had returned and that we would put a revenge beating on the Cincinnati Bengals yesterday after losing so embarassingly in the teams' first meeting, won by the Bengals 17-14 a month ago.

However, neither the Ravens, their fans or the oddsmakers realized that the Bengals weren't buying any of that, proving that their first victory was no fluke by doing almost the same thing in dominating the Ravens yesterday at home 17-7. While Cincinnati had to pull out the victory in the first game in the final seconds, this one was pretty much over in the first quarter, when the Bengals scored on their first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead that blossomed to 17-0 by halftime.

The Ravens scored their only points of the game in the fourth quarter and even had a chance to cut the Bengals lead to one score late in the game, but placekicker Steven Hauschka missed another critical field goal attempt that now has his job in serious jeopardy. At the same time, there should now be a bunch of positions that players' jobs should be in jeopardy as well, as the Bengals once again beat the Ravens in just about every phase of the game, starting with the trenches on both sides of the ball.

On offense, Cincinnati pushed Baltimore's front wall three and four yards backwards on every rushing attempt. Fans can complain all they want that we missed the injured Haloti Ngata, but the exact same thing happened in the first game when Ngata was healthy. The Bengals offensive line protected QB Carson Palmer perfectly whether we blitzed or not. When we didn't blitz, he sat back and waited until one of his receivers got open and hit him in the numbers, including a couple of circus catches by the big mouthed 85 guy who certainly backed up his words. In the few times we did blitz, the Bengals picked it up enough and there was always a wide open receiver to bail Palmer out. How many times did you notice our cornerbacks falling and slipping while the receivers made cuts and caught the ball for key first downs on their first two TD drives?

Defensively, we couldn't open holes for RB Ray Rice nor protect Joe Flacco. When Cincinnati blitzed, the pocket collapsed and Flacco couldn't find the open receiver anyway, as the Bengals secondary blanketed our receivers all day. Both Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph played their best games of their seasons in our two meetings, effectively taking Derrick Mason out of the game and frustrating Flacco into throwing interceptions to take away any momentum that we might be on the verge of.

So now what? Looking at the remaining schedule and the way we've played with our backs against the wall, it appears two things are becoming clear. First of all, the Denver Broncos must have either played a terrible game in losing to us or they are merely pretenders and will get their clocks cleaned by a better Pittsburgh Steelers team tonight. Secondly, if we continue to lose the key games we need to win against the better teams in the league, we will finish no better than 8-8 this year. At this point, the games against Indianapolis, Pittsburgh (twice) and at Green Bay on MNF in the bitter cold all look like probable losses and if so, then the remaining games against Clevelnad, Chicago, Detroit and Oaklnad better be wins or a sub-.500 season is a very real possibility.

Time to see what is truly inside the Ravens hearts and heads and how, much less if, they can recover and salvage what is turning out to be such a disappointing season when there was so much promise.

Denver Broncos @ Baltimore Ravens; Friday Injury Report

Tim Lynch — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:06:11 -0000

DENVER BRONCOS
Player	Injury	Wed. Participation	Thur. Participation	Fri. Participation	Friday Status
Ronald Field (DL)	Hamstring	Did Not Participate	Limited Participation	Full Participation	Probable
Brian Dawkins (S)	Hamstring	Limited Participation	Limited Participation	Full Participation	Probable
Spencer Larsen (ILB/FB)	Shoulder	Full Participation	Full Participation	Full Participation	Probable
BALTIMORE RAVENS
Player	Injury	Wed. Participation	Thur. Participation	Fri. Participation	Friday Status
Tavaras Gooden (LB)	Head	Did Not Participate	Limited Participation	Full Participation	Probable
Ed Reed (S)	Illness	Did Not Participate	Full Participation	Full Participation	Probable
Joe Flacco (QB)	Ankle	Full Participation	Full Participation	Full Participation	Probable
Jared Gaither (T)	Neck	Full Participation	Did Not Participate	Limited Participation	Questionable
Jarret Johnson (LB)	Shoulder	Full Participation	Full Participation	Full Participation	Probable
David Tyree (WR)	Hamstring	Full Participation	Full Participation	Full Participation	Probable
Steven Hauschka (K)	Right Ankle	Not Listed	Full Participation	Full Participation	Probable

How to Beat the Denver Broncos

Bruce Raffel — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:56:27 -0000

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That's a tough one. One might think that a 3-3 team is just going to beat a 6-0 team and that the Denver Broncos will walk, run and throw all over the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday. However, while the records are vastly different, these are two pretty good teams and the Ravens are definitely no walk-over.

People look at the Broncos top rated defense in just about every category, although before the season those same people would have expected those gaudy stats to be associated with the Ravens defense, not the Broncos. But just like the turnaround that teams have enjoyed this season, the games can do the same thing.

(More on "How to Beat the Denver Broncos" after the 'Jump')

Sixty minutes may seem like a long time, but a lot can happen in just a couple of plays, much less an entire game. Change a few plays in each game that both teams have played so far and we could just as easily be looking at the 6-0 Baltimore Ravens hosting the 3-3 Denver Broncos. However, we're not and while some may look at it as the Broncos have been good enough to win those close games while the Ravens have not, I'll take the thought that the Ravens are a lot better team than their 3-3 record indicates.

So then how does this .500 team, with the trend of blowing winnable games in the final moments overcome this issue against a team that probably won't be doing Baltimore any favors that say, a Cleveland team, might hand us? That's the easy part, just play sixty full minutes of football for a change of pace. Don't let the game come down to the final moments and have to put the pressure to win the game on the defense, much less the offense either. Return to what made this team a Championship Game team last season and that is by running the ball and by playing stout defense. Shutting down the Broncos running game is not out of the question, despite the run defense issues the team has had the past two weeks. Being able to move the ball on the ground against one of the NFL's best defense is also a possibility for the Ravens if they stubbornly stick to utilizing their dangerous trio of backs to wear down Denver's smaller but athletic front seven as the game goes on.

While many talk about the Ravens poor pass defense, the team had the entire Bye week to address that obvious issue and while we should expect Denver to try to exploit it, they won't try to win the game through the air, as that is just not what got them this far in the first place. Remember the Ravens really didn't amp up their defense and safety Ed Reed didn't unleash his great 2008 season until week nine of last year, so there's no reason we can't overcome this problem starting a week earlier in the eighth week in 2009. Tied into the defense's improvement would be taking a lead and stopping the Broncos' run game, forcing Kyle Orton to go to the air earlier and more often than their gameplan would prefer. Covering Brandon Marshall with extra help and not letting their TE get loose across the middle will be the best way to contain the big plays.

Offensively, the Ravens will need the big play and have been able to get them with surprisingly regularity this season. Doing it against the stingy Broncos defense is a tougher task but we still should be able to move the ball. Scoring against the Denver defense has proven tough, especially in the second half, which will determine the victor in this game. Coming out the gate to start the second half needs to be critical and not waiting until the fourth quarter when we enter the desperation mode is not the way to win.

Speaking of big plays, Sunday would be a great time to see the explosiveness of kick returner Lardarius Webb break out with a long one or even take it all the way to the house. At the same time, the Broncos' Eddie Royal did that twice in one game last time they played, so limiting his effectiveness is as big a key as our returns.

Finally, while our placekicking game is behind the eight ball right now, this would be a perfect chance for Steven Hauschka to quiet the naysayers by hitting all his attempts to either keep us in the game or even win it to erase the memories and the ghosts that are still haunting him.

All together, this is a very winnable game Sunday, but it will take the Ravens playing their best for sixty full minutes, while hoping the Broncos give us a couple of gifts along the way. If that does happen and it is definitely a possibility, the Ravens can begin the same turnaround of the season that they did last year on their way to the AFC Championship Game.

Jared Allen: Michael Oher is an Idiot

Anthony21 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:03:02 -0000

The matchup between Jared Allen and Michael Oher attracted a lot of attention. Of course, there was quite a bit of speculation that Oher would end up in a Vikings uniform, so that added to the intrigue. And whenever a highly-regarded rookie is matched up against one of the league's best defensive ends, you have a nice little storyline.

But if you thought the storyline ended when Steven Hauschka's last-second kick went wide left, you were wrong. Here's what Oher said about Jared right after the game:

"In the second half, I feel like I shut him out," Oher said. "There is nothing really special about him. I think if we played them [in Baltimore], it would make a big difference. The false starts were just mistiming the snap."

Allen offered a calm response yesterday when told about Oher's comments. Today, though, he went off:

"Well that’s just some idiot trying to talk himself up," Allen said. "I beat that dude like a red-headed step child, let’s be honest. If he was so good why did they have to chip me all day? Ask him that. That's just a rookie trying to build his self confidence up. Besides, you lost and your quarterback spent his whole day on the back of his head until the fourth quarter. That guy [Oher] will watch film today and realize. Everybody else in the world saw me abuse him."

Dang. File this one away until the next time the Vikings meet Baltimore. Some other quick notes:

Brad Childress = Mr. Brightside. You may have noticed Chilly saying something to Adrian Peterson right before Hauschka attempted the field goal. I was wondering what reason he'd possibly have to talk to AD at that moment, but as Kevin Seifert reports, Chilly simply said, "We’re going to win this football game right here." And then the Vikings won. Coincidence? I think not. [NFC North Blog]
Holy crap, 59-0? And we thought 41-donut was bad. SBNation's fine Patriots and Titans blogs have hometown reaction from this epic butt-kicking. [Pats Pulpit] [Music City Miracles]
As Gonzo pointed out, the Vikings are now 2.5 games ahead of both Green Bay and Chicago. After all that happened on Sunday, that's what we're left with -- a strong early-season lead. The Packers shut out the Lions yesterday, while the Falcons beat the Bears. [Acme Packing Company] [Windy City Gridiron]
Antoine Winfield confirmed on KFAN that he was having an MRI this morning after getting knocked out of Sunday's game. He was lobbying to return in the second half of the game, so hopefully that's an indication that the injury isn't too serious. At this point, the most we know is that he has a sprained foot and the time of his return remains undetermined. We'll keep you posted. [Vikings.com]

Ravens Loss for Third Time in Final Seconds Hurts

Bruce Raffel — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:53:42 -0000

More photos » by Tom Olmscheid - AP

about 1 month 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)

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Perhaps we would be better prepared to handle yesterday's loss if the scored ended at 27-10, which it was early in the 4th quarter. Losing by a bunch to what looked like a better team at that point in the game would have hurt, but this much? Losing three straight games that we could very well have won by making one more play on either offense or defense feels like a stab in the heart rather than just a knife in the back.

While that is a pretty sorry analogy, I'd rather be put out of my misery early than suffer to the very end of the game, only to see the same thing happen again. Each time the offense gave us hope, the defense snatched it away the very next time on the field. When the game came down to the final play again and the onus was on our kicker, how many of you actually had the confidence he would make that kick after seeing him nervously pacing the sidelines moments earlier?

More on "Ravens Loss For Third Time in Final Seconds Hurts" after the 'Jump')

I had to google the kid from the movie, 'Superbad' (Michael Cera) who was so nervous during his chance to lose his virginity, and found out his name was Evan. Steven Hauschka looked like and reminded me of Evan before attempting the kick, as he flinched on the timeout that Minnesota called to "ice" him, which it did. Even his post game interview reminded me of Evan, where he was still shy and nervous about being in front of the camera, much less the opposition. If he can't make a 44 yarder indoors in a close game, how can he make one in Pittsburgh, much less at home? I've said since Training Camp that the better pro would have been Florida State's Graham Gano, who lost the placekicking battle to Hauschka before the season. Gano didn't look that good in the few attempts he had in the pre season, but looked better in Camp and had the better college experience, playing at FSU in all those close games. His leg was stronger and he seemed to have a stronger spine as well to deal with the pressure, which pre season games do not take into consideration.

Do not start the "Matt Stover would have made that" talk here on The Beatdown! The current Stover not only wouldn't have made it, but he wouldn't have even reached the goal line with his leg. However, we all know the airwaves and internet will be flooded with the "Stover" talk, but please spare me.

However, this game was NOT lost, nor would it have been won, by the kicker. The other 59 minutes and 58 seconds determined the game, not the final :02.

This one's on the defense. While the offense seemed bland for three quarters, the team still put up 31 points on an undefeated Vikings team. If we had won that game, no one would have anything negative to say about the offense. Joe Flacco has another career high, Ray Rice settled the issue of whether or not we will be clamoring too much for Willis McGahee after playing lights out again. However, every time we inched closer to the Vikings, they just moved down the field with big plays and stupid penalties against a Ravens defense that looked lost, confused and overmatched all game long. It almost seemed that the Vikings knew they could move the ball at will and did just enough at the end to hold on for the win.

We'll have two weeks to dissect and spread the blame around, but as much as we want to say we're three plays away from being undefeated, we're 3-3 and in 3rd place in the AFC North, albeit just one game out of first place. The good news is that last season we had the same record before Ed Reed came alive and took over the game like we know he still can and remember, we did what we did with a relatively weak offense, so try to imagine....

Ravens @ Chargers: Prediction and Gametime 'Open Thread'

Bruce Raffel — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:27:32 -0000

More photos » by Gail Burton - AP

3 months ago: In this Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, photo, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice carries the ball during an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Baltimore. Rice led the Ravens in rushing with 108 yards. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

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Keep it here on Baltimore Beatdown all throughout this afternoon's week 2 game of the 2009 NFL season between two 1-0 teams, the Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers. Both teams are coming off of wins that were closer than either team expected, yet were still able to pull out victories when the pressure was on them.

Check back with us here at The Beatdown to see our comments and post your thoughts as well as you watch the game unfold. While Baltimore is a three point underdog, many people are still expecting a Ravens victory, as we look to be going into this game stronger and healthier than the Chargers. Besides, when a visiting team is just a three point 'dog, that pretty much means the game is dead even, with the FG advantage to the home team. I'm probably not the only one who hopes it doesn't come down to the kicking game, but that would be a great confidence booster for Ravens placekicker Steven Hauschka, who appeared to be shaky last week in going one for two in his attempts.

How do I see this game going?

(More on 'Predictions ..." after the 'Jump')

The Chargers will be limited or without a bunch of key components to their team. Foremost will be the loss of running back LaDainian Tomlinson, but his backups, Darren Sproles and Michael Bennett plan on making that loss insignificant. Either way, I don't see the Chargers running game getting untracked against this Ravens defense, although the short swing passes and screens to Sproles could give us fits if we don't blow them up early before he gets into space. San Diego also has injuries on the offensive line, which doesn't bode well for them against the Ravens' front seven.

Defensive lineman Jamal Charles has not only been ruled out for the game, but was placed on Injured Reserve yesterday, ending his 2009 season. Combined with a less than 100% Shawne Merriman, the San Diego defense has shown a tendency to give passers time to pick apart their secondary, as evidenced by the success that Oakland Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell had last week in their near upset. The Chargers defensvie backs are solid cover men, but give any QB in this league enough time and he'll find the open receiver. Joe Flacco has found that Todd Heap does indeed get open and can catch the ball when thrown to him and he has enjoyed decent success against San Diego, as I have the signed photo hanging in my Ravens-themed basement of him diving across the goal line in the last minute thrilling victory over the Chargers here in Baltimore back in 2006. Combined with the deep threat of Mark Clayton and the best possession receiver in the league in Derrick Mason, expect the Ravens passing attack to continue their aggressive playcalling and test the Chargers secondary early and often.

Don't forget our running game which racked up almost 200 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs and plan on getting a lot of work today as well. The Ravens have their own answer to the Chargers' speedy Sproles in the form of small but game breaking Ray Rice, who went over 100 yards last week and is also a threat out of the backfield. Both Willis McGahee (2 TD's last week) and LeRon McClain figure to get the rock a bunch of times this afternoon to test the trenches of San Diego.

Defensively, expect to get a heavy dose of Chargers QB Philip Rivers, throwing to a bevy of receivers, most dangerlous the combination of WR Vincent Jackson and TE Antonio Gates. Both guys are tall and present difficult matchups for our pass defense. Both are too fast for the bigger guys to match up against and too strong for the speed guys to cover one-on-one. Therefore, the key will be help from the safeties in back of them and more importantly, pressure from the guys up front. Pass pressure on Rivers will cause him to release the ball before his receivers break from their patterns and limit the long completions and big plays. Frustrate Rivers with stunts and blitzes, put him on the ground early and he will get angry and start yapping like he is prone to. Force him to adjust his drops and timing and he can throw interceptions or put the ball on the ground for the Ravens to jump on and create the short field that this defense has been able to do for the offense.

The good news is that this offense is fully capable of moving the ball on their own and we shall see that this was not a specific case of being able to move it against a weak defense in Kansas City. In terms that will certainly raise the ire of the Chargers faithful who visit The Beatdown to read this, I firmly believe that San Diego is highly overrated, playing in arguably the worst division in the NFL and still barely made the post season last year. The Baltimore Ravens are on a mission to make not only the playoffs but have every intention of advancing further than they did last season. While any away game in the NFL is a tough one and this may be one for most of the game, I see the Ravens physically pounding the Chargers on both sides of the balll and forcing turnovers that they use to put enough points on the board to frustrate the opponent into giving the ball up in key situations.

Although I don't expect this to be a shootout, the Ravens will score on the Chargers defense enough to win the game and the defense will ensure that the points hold up to leave San Diego at 2-0 and firmly announce to the league that they are among the NFL's elite.

Ravens 24-16

Good Grief, Ravens Fans: It WAS a Win!

Bruce Raffel — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:04:39 -0000

More photos » by Rob Carr - AP

3 months ago: Baltimore Ravens tight end Todd Heap breaks free of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Corey Mays. left, and scores in the third quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

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I am shocked at all the negative comments being left on these blogs and heard on sports-talk radio after the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 38-24 at M&T Bank Stadium yesterday afternoon. I guess that last year's success and our great run with a top notch defense has made everyone think we should win every game by a shutout.

Even 501 yards of record setting offense isn't enough to quiet the naysayers. Our defense gave up a total of 188 yards to the Chiefs, 50 of them coming on one play after Kansas City's drive was extended by another phantom roughing the passer penalty.

(More "Grief" after the "Jump.")

The Chiefs had one long drive, aided I as said before by a penalty and long pass, but still had a tough time all day long. They were 2-10 on third downs and RB Larry Johnson, the last player to run for over 100 yards on us (2006) was held to 20 yards on eleven carries! We didn't have the picks that this defense is known for and that is a surprise to everyone but then again, most of Brodie Croyle's throws were short and had more YAC that air under them, averaging under six yards per attempt.

The defense confused and pressured Croyle all day and he seemed to fail to utilize his biggest target in Dwayne Bowe until later in the game. Why the Chiefs stubbornly continued to try to run the ball inside confused me as well as why they didn't try to let their wideouts outmuscle our smaller DB's all day.

Offensively, there are those who are lamenting the fact that QB Joe Flacco missed on 17 passes, rather than the fact he hit on 26 of them to a bevy of his receivers for his first career 300 yard passing game as the Ravens rolled up a franchise record 501 yards of total offense on the day. Both Flacco and RB Ray Rice had great days, as did Willis McGahee (2-TD's). It was great to see Todd Heap back to his old self and even Mark Clayton seemed to not be feeling any effects from his hamstring injury with a lead taking long TD recdeption late in the 4th quarter.

Got to give kudos to rookie RT Michael Oher for run and pass blocking like a stud, and while there were times that Flacco had to take off and run, he was protected well all game long and only sacked once. His run total of 18 yards wasn't from pressure as much as it was from his receivers being covered, but it's nice to know he can move around pretty well for a big kid. The one interception was a mistake but with 300+ yards and three passing TD's, I'll take the tradeoff any day.

Don't despair about the kicking game - just yet. Having a punt blocked is rare and should not happen again, much less having one blocked and recovered for a TD! Placekicker Steven Hauschka missed a FG that he should have made and looked tentative on his other kicks. Even his made FG just cleared the crossbar when we saw him nailing 50+ yard kicks in Training Camp and his leg is "longer" than that. Any talk of bringing back Matt Stover is ridiculous because Stover was absolutely horrible the first few games of 2008 and finished rated 27th in the NFL last year in accuracy.

Overall, the win showed that this team is not going to be considered one-dimensional anymore and the offense can win games for us if we need them to. That has been the knock on this team and with this opening day performance, regardless of whom it came against, it should send a clear message to any team that thinks it's going to attack our defense and shut down our offense.