Week 8: Finally a WIN! Ravens beat the Broncos ending their winning streak

FINALLY!! We got a win! This was a great win & confidence builder. Ray Rice & the offense played well again. Our special teams rookie: Lardarius Webb, had a huge return for a TD. Our defense shut them down on the run & forced a fumble recovery early in the game. Overall they played well & got a well deserved win. Hauschka even redeemed himself kicking a 43yd field goal. Another redemption was Mark Clayton who caught several huge passes to get us down the field. The Broncos were shut down most of the game, Orton couldn't connect with his WRs & we did a decent job keeping targets out of his sights. A lot of the tight defense came from an improved coordination from Mattison. "The linebackers gave defensive coordinator Greg Mattison credit for putting them in the right position. Johnson said the Ravens were more “multiple” this game and he was freer to “do more things than normal,” like blitz." -BR.com Our defense definitely came out to play, Jarret Johnson is emerging as a new play maker in the pass rush & coming up big with a huge sack. We showed we are still a leader in defense & our offense is a force as well. Now we just have to do the same thing next week as we play the Bengals again next week & have to get a win to get back to a lead in our division.

Week 7: Ravens BYE, time to regroup & get to work fixing problems

Things we need to work on:

Offense: Flacco seems to be taking too much time finding a reciever or making a descision to either get rid of the ball, run it, or throw it away. A lot of times he gets sacked because our line can't hold the Line Backers forever. The camera needs to pan our so we can see whats actually going on in the back field because I feel there's guys open but Flacco isn't getting it to them. And if they aren't open maybe Cameron needs to go back to some Wildcat plays with multiple RBs & QBs on the field. I haven't seen Troy Smith but once this season & I think a lot of our success from last year stemmed from confusing the defense. It's gusty but if it works it gets wins.

Defense: SECONDARY!! Are these guys NFL players? We really need to rethink our secondary. Washington has been a thorn in our sides since he replaced Rolle. He can not make a tackle except accidently. Foxworth is a little better but I haven't seen anything spectacular from him either. We depend on these guys to stay on top of WRs so our Offense can get to work, but if they keep allowing TDs then the Offense has to do double the work. I think we need to put in some of the Rookies & see how they perform. They can't be any worse than what we have now. I thin the other issue may be from poor coordination. I think Greg Mattison is not coordinating as well as Ryan did. With a subpar secondary I think you need to call the plays for these guys to be ready. They need to be told where to go depending on how the offense is set up. He may need to step down & let someone else in that can call the plays a little better. But ultimately it'll be up to Harbaraugh to decide.

After all is said & done I think this bye will be a good time to regroup & fix things to end our losing streak. We face the Broncos next who should be a good team to regain some confidence. Although undefeated I think we will play better especially since we're at home again.

Week 6: Vikings pull a close win making Ravens 3-3

A close game that ended with a missed 44yd field goal gave the Ravens another loss. Bumping us to 3rd in the AFC with the Steelers & Bengals ahead of us! This was a hard hitting game where, in the end, we were just outplayed. Our offense played a little better making a couple drives late in the game. Farve destroyed our (already terrible) secondary giving the Vikings an early lead in the first half. The second half of the game new secondary guys came in who don't see the field as often. But I felt they played better than Washington & Foxworth usually do. The first TD was a result of both those guys running into each other as the WRs crossed...isn't that a peewee football move? Washington really needs to be benched & they need to let the Rookies step up. Obviously, he isn't doing his job when we're ranked 25th in the league against the pass. Even the 2nd string Walker came in but he caused 2 critical penalties that gave the offense an easy TD. Rice was our only answer to Andrian Peterson. He had 2 TDs, one a 33yd rush. Petersan ran for 69 yards but had another 60 yards receiving. He also got 1 TD but we did a relatively decent job shutting down him & Chester Taylor. In the end it was really a battle of the kickers Longwell kicked a 40yd field goal earlier which gave them a 3pt lead throughout the rest of the game. Hauschka had the last couple seconds on the clock to kick a win, but kicked wide & gave us another loss. Ray Rice said after the game "It is frustrating,But at the same time, 3-3 going into a bye week is not always the worst thing in the world. I think we were in the same position last year, if I am not mistaken. I don’t like to compare this year’s team to last year’s team. One thing we are doing is establishing our identity. -BR.com

Week 5 Loss to Cincinnati bumps us down in AFC N

The play on the left was one of the defining moments that caused this loss. Although awesome, Lewis was penalized for unneccessary roughness giving the Bengals a chance to get 15 yards closer to the end zone & for the game winning TD pass. This game was tough for our offense, we didn't really make any significcant drives as Flacco usually does. I think it was mainly because of the absence of our lineman Gaither who was carried off the field the last game with a back injury. With a week line Flacco seemed flustered getting the ball off & had trouble looking for open recievers. He made a lot of short passes & only with the help of Ray Rice was he able to get a TD. The first half of the game our Defense wasn't playing as well as they usually perform in the Red Zone. Our defense was 3rd against the rush but the first TD came from Cedric Benson who ran the first TD in for Cincinnati. In the end we basically beat ourselves again with penalties. "On first-and-10, Ravens cornerback Chris Carr was flagged for illegal contact, which negated an incomplete pass. Later, linebacker Ray Lewis earned a 15-yard penalty that was enforced from the 50-yard line for unnecessary roughness. Then, a Palmer throw fell to the turf on third-and-16 with 43 seconds remaining, but cornerback Frank Walker was tabbed for pass interference. " -BR.cm You can't make those mistakes in the 4th & expect to pull off a win. The only praise of the game went to Ed Reed who had a 52 yd interception for a TD & a forced fumble before halftime. The rest of the squad did little to help gain a win. The loss puts the Bengals tied with us for 1st in our division. Next week we need to pull a win over Farve.