After the tumultuous lockout and the hectic free agency, we’ve had a season with plenty of shocks and surprises. We’ve had the rollercoaster that has been the Philadelphia Eagles, and the capitulation of a Manning-less Indianapolis Colts. The dominance of the Green Bay Packers, and the woefulness of the Miami Dolphins.
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And then there’s the Baltimore Ravens.
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Have they been dominant? At times they’ve looked good, especially in beating the Steelers. At other times, not so good, with the display against Tennessee springing to mind. So maybe it’s time everyone started to take the Ravens a little more seriously, as not just a team that is 4-1, but as a team good enough to contend. They may not have the appeal or flashiness of others, but this win over a very good Texan team should tell us they mean business.
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As for Houston it was a case of close but no cigar once again. A third defeat against strong opposition, but the silver lining remains the weakness of their division, and the level of their play. There’s plenty of time left in the season for them to iron out the creases which have cost them so far, so let’s break some of those down in detail.
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Houston – Three Performances of Note
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A case for more snaps
I’ll be honest. In two and a bit years of watching former undrafted free agent Tim Jamison (+4.2 pass rushing) I never really thought that much of him. He never looked terrible, but just seemed the type of guy who could take over and spell an Antonio Smith or Mario Williams without being either horrifically bad, or a challenge to the spot of either man. Now, in a new alignment as a 3-4 defensive end, he’s starting to show something. His performance against the Ravens was his third consecutive game ‘in the green’, and his best game to date as he was able to pick up two sacks (one of which included a forced fumble and recovery) and two more pressures. Not bad when you consider he only rushed the passer 14 times, and not bad when you consider the sack he picked up on Marshal Yanda (+0.0) with 6:17 to go in the second, was the first piece of pressure Yanda has given up all year. Please Wade, can we see some more?
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Touchdowns are fun, but blocking is where it’s at
It’s a weird day when an offensive lineman not only recovers two fumbles, but recovers one in the end zone for a touchdown. But rather than celebrate that rare OL TD, Wade Smith (-3.2) needs to be concerning himself with yet another poor performance. Our second-ranked left guard last year has now put in four performances ‘in the red’, with this one coming down to some sub-standard run blocking. The bane of his existence in this game was primarily Haloti Ngata, with the Ravens defensive tackle constantly able to shrug Smith’s attempts to get him moving laterally from the point of attack. It very rarely led to tackles for Ravens (though Ray Lewis was able to beat Smith at the second level to make a tackle for a short gain with 13:33 left in the game), but it squeezed holes and made the running backs work extremely hard.
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Finding His Feet
It’s been coming for a while, but after some good performances, Brian Cushing (+3.7) really put it all together in this one. He may have missed a tackle, but was able to turn his 11 rushes into a hit and three pressures and was superb in run defense. Showing the kind of explosion we were accustomed to seeing as a rookie, Cushing was too quick for Raven linemen getting to the second level, and did a good job getting off blocks to make plays. The only concern? He did seem to fade as the game went on, with all of his negatively graded plays in run defense coming in the fourth quarter.
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Baltimore – Three Performances of Note
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A Ray of Light: Part One
This is the kind of Ray Rice (+4.0) you want to see. Time and time again the Ravens running back made the right cut, followed up by the right burst, to take Texans defenders out of the game and pick up yards that didn’t seem possible. 101 yards isn’t always a number that pops off the stat sheet, but forcing five missed tackles to help you get there should garner some attention. And if that doesn’t hit the spot, he also added 60 valuable yards in the air. The performance of Rice was critical in this victory, coming up with the big play when it was needed. None more so was this the case when Rice got the ball down to the 4-yard-line with 4:14 left in the game, showing a good burst, making a good cut to help break a tackle, before eventually being forced out of bounds. He didn’t get the touchdown, but that run knocked the wind out of a reeling Texans team.
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A Ray of Light: Part Two
So he wasn’t quite as active as the scorer would have you believe, but Ray Lewis (+2.3) really does look back to his best after an up-and-down 2010. Who says the lockout was bad for everyone? The Ravens' inspirational leader seemed locked in battle with Texans linemen all game, as they tried to get to the second level to take him out. Unfortunately for them, Lewis wasn’t so keen on this, and won far more battles than he lost. Still, that doesn’t excuse leaving him unblocked with 1:25 left to ice the game with a defensive stop on fourth down. You expect a physical force like Lewis to start to wear down, but right now he’s showing no signs of that.
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Left side problems
It wasn’t the greatest day for the Ravens' offensive line. Too often they looked cumbersome against a fast and active Houston front seven, and nowhere more so did that show up than on the left side of the offensive line. Both Bryant McKinnie (-4.1) and Andre Gurode (-5.0) had issues in pass protection where they gave up a sack, five hits and four pressures combined, and neither looked all that good in the run game. The Texans never overpowered McKinnie, and Gurode found himself stood up at the point of attack just once in this game, but Cushing's speed, and Antonio Smith's relentlessness saw them get beat plenty of times to give up tackles for short gains.
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Game Notes
● Was Connor Barwin (-2.5) wearing an invisibility cloak? Of the seven pressures (four hits and three hurries) he picked up on Joe Flacco, five came unblocked.
● Matt Schaub (-0.5 under pressure) completed just 37.5% of passes on the 12 occasions the Ravens pressured him, while getting sacked four times. Joe Flacco (+1.5 under pressure) posted a mildly healthier 43.8%.
● Owen Daniels picked up 0.45 yards for every route he run this week, knocking his season average down to 1.53.
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PFF Game Ball
There wasn’t the kind of standout performance that makes this an easy award to hand out, but Ray Rice came through when the Ravens needed him to.
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