Whether it was the turnovers, a lack of explosion/urgency on offense, or poor run defense, the Bears were the better team on Sunday. What went wrong? After such an inspiring performance on the road last week against the Raiders, why did the Ravens fall flat? The guys give their input.
There is plenty of blame to go around for the Ravens’ shaky 3-3 start, but who deserves most of the blame? Is it Joe Flacco? John Harbaugh and the coaching staff? Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens’ brass? Hear what Jake and Nolan think.
Sunday marked another example of an attendance problem at M&T Bank Stadium. What is causing the increased amount of empty chairs? Is there a solution to get more butts in seats?
Three of the Ravens’ next four games take place on the road, but the opponents are not forbidding. Can the Ravens turn things around, or will they continue their downward spiral? All of this and more on tonight’s episode.
As always, subscribe to the Charm City Bird Watch Podcast on iTunes and SoundCloud. Leave us a 5-star review on iTunes; we may read it on a future episode! Thanks for listening!
BALTIMORE — The Ravens got off to a slow start against the Bears and had to claw their way back into the game with some late game heroics. However, with the game on the line in overtime, neither the defense of offense showed up and the Bears escaped with a 27-24 victory.
The first half was pretty slow for both teams. The Bears went into the half with a 10-3 lead but weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders. A freak interception that bounced off of Breshad Perriman‘s hands set Chicago up with great field position. They would use that to score their first touchdown of the afternoon but that was their lone highlight in the half.
In the second half the Bears added to their lead with another touchdown. Down 17-3, the Ravens looked hopeless but they somehow managed to swing the momentum in their favor while coming back and forcing overtime.
Bobby Rainey started the comeback effort by bringing the disappointed home crowd back to their feet with a 96-yard kickoff return. The play looked to be dead when Rainey ran into one of his own blockers, but he had the awareness to get up and keep going when the refs didn’t whistle the play over.
Justin Tucker inched his team closer when he nailed his second field goal of the afternoon in the fourth quarter. With Baltimore back in the game and down by just one possession, Joe Flacco led the offense down the field into the red zone. Unfortunately, Baltimore’s wideouts let Flacco down. again.
Chris Moore let a bullet pass bounce off his chest and fall into the hands of Chicago’s Adrian Amos. The Bears’ safety then turned on the jets and raced 90 yards down field for what seamed like a game-ending touchdown.
Flacco and the offense were left with about five minuets to make something happen. To their credit, they managed to put together a quick scoring drive. The two-minute drive was capped off by a 50-yard field goal to make it a one score game once again. The defense picked up on the momentum of the score and forced the Bears into a three-and-out on their next possession.
With under two minutes to play, Michael Campanaro returned a punt 77 yards down the Ravens sideline for a touchdown. Flacco followed up the impressive return with a successful two-point conversion pass to Nick Boyle. All of the sudden, the game was tied.
With a chance to put the game away in overtime, the Ravens offense proved to be even more unreliable. A third-and-two situation should be an easy pick up, but the Ravens embarrassed themselves with a questionable play call, bringing up fourth down.
After letting the Ravens back into the game, Chicago was determined to finally put the game away. Backed up deep in Ravens territory, Mitchell Trubisky handed the ball off to Jordan Howard, who bounced to the outside. Howard was quickly met by a cluster of defenders, including Eric Weddle, but managed to slip out of their reach and race down the visiting sideline for a 53-yard gain.
Weddle had his arms wrapped around Howard, but somehow couldn’t come up with a tackle. The play took away whatever energy remained in the stadium and the Bears didn’t hesitate to move their way into field goal range and put the game away.
There is a lot of blame to go around after this loss. Up until that final drive, the defense had played a relatively clean game but they still deserve a decent share of the blame. As far as the offense goes, Flacco was not the problem for once. Both picks should have been caught by the intended receiver and Maxx Williams should have never coughed up the ball in the red zone.
Moving past a tough loss is not new to this Ravens team, but at what point do the massive swarm of injuries become too much? Brandon Williams‘ presence was missed once again on Sunday, but Jeremy Maclin being out was probably the biggest loss. Moore and Campanaro can not be relied on to make big plays and they proved that with some ugly drops.
The Ravens will hit the road next week to take on the Vikings. Minnesota is coming off a big win against the Green Bay Packers and now finds themselves on top of their division. Baltimore, on the other hand, is going to need another impressive road performance if they want to keep pace in the AFC North.
BALTIMORE – The recently jump-started Baltimore offense hits the field to see if they can find consistency for the second straight week when they take on the Chicago Bears (1-4) this Sunday. The Ravens (3-2) look to be without DT Brandon Williams again and, although they are at a semi-respectable 3-2 record, they could very well be .500 by 4:30 on Sunday.
The Bears have a very solid running game with stud running back Jordan Howard and jitterbug Tarik Cohen. This season, Howard and Cohen combine for 118 touches and 522 yards (4.4 YPC) on the ground with four touchdowns. Howard has seen an increase in action over the last few weeks while Cohen seems to be an afterthought in the Bears offense. With rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky under center, both running backs will see plenty of carries to start the contest at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Ravens came alive last week on the first play of the game against Oakland when Joe Flacco uncorked a beautiful rainbow throw to Mike Wallace for the longest offensive play of the year thus far for Baltimore. Wallace continued to add big plays to the game script with another 50+ YD catch later in the game to set up a Buck Allen TD run. There was a Breshad Perriman sighting as well, as he finally managed to catch a ball. Jeremy Maclin excelled as the main possession receiver, consistently bailing out Flacco in pressure situations. Even in the play where Flacco danced around the pocket, fell, and delivered a floater, Maclin was right there and made the play.
The Ravens offensive line played consistently and stand-ins Matt Skura and Jermaine Eluemenor were very serviceable. According to Pro Football Focus, center Ryan Jensen had the highest rating of any NFL center during week 5. The Ravens only committed one penalty against the Raiders, an amazing feat considering they haven’t had that few of penalties since the winter of 2011. John Harbaugh was visibly pleased at the line’s performance.
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR:
Bears RBs: Howard and Cohen, if not held in check, have the ability to trample the Williams-less Ravens defensive unit. In week 4, Le’veon Bell had over 150 all-purpose yards and we could very well see more of the same against this front.
Ravens WRs: With the unit seemingly catching fire at the most opportune time, the Bears shaky secondary could fall victim to the pure speed that is possessed by Baltimore. Calvert Hall Alum Adrian Amos is the best player in the secondary for this young Bears squad. Wallace will look to continue his ridiculous production after setting the record for yards-per-catch in a game by a Raven, previously held by Qadry Ismail. Perriman looks to become more of a factor and shake the premature title of bust.
Bears Defense: Surprisingly, this unit is sixth in the league in total defense, which doesn’t bode particularly well for the offensively-challenged Baltimore Ravens.
Trubisky: After a mixed bag start for the rookie, Trubisky looks to yet again step into the crucible and take on one of the toughest defenses in the NFL. He could have a very good game if the offensive line holds up, but chances are he will struggle mightily, as Baltimore’s secondary is far more talented than Minnesota’s.
OAKLAND — The Ravens entered Sunday’s game against Oakland with a two game losing streak and a lot of drama. Joe Flacco was slammed by fans and media alike all week after turning in another sub-par performance and the defense appeared to have lost their edge.
Despite all of this, the Ravens looked like a brand new team when they stepped on the field in Oakland. Even with a depleted line, Flacco and company put up 23 points of offense and jumped on a struggling Raiders team. The Ravens ended up winning 30-17, putting their season back on track.
In desperate need of a hot start, the Ravens offense came out of the gates with a quick touchdown drive. Joe Flacco connected with Mike Wallace for a 52-yard completion on the very first play from scrimmage. Third year tight end Vince Mayle capped off the drive with a nice end-around touchdown run.
The only wrinkle in the Ravens’ hot start was Terrance West going down with an injury. After busting a 13-yard run on a draw play, West was tackled and remained on the ground in pain. He would end up being carted off and ruled out for the remainder of the game.
The defense also got off to a great start. On the third play of Oakland’s first drive, Patrick Onwuasor forced Jared Cook to fumble and Jimmy Smith was right there to scoop it up and take it 47 yards the other way for a touchdown.
The Ravens maintained their lead and entered halftime up 24-10 thanks to a clock-eating touchdown drive and a field goal by Justin Tucker. By winning the time of position and turnover battle, the Ravens found more success in the first half than the past two weeks combined.
Both offenses stalled coming out of the half with a pair of three-and-outs. The Raiders put together a successful drive on their third possession of the half. Marshawn Lynch put the finishing touches on a 65-yard drive with a goal line touchdown run to cut the Baltimore lead to just seven.
With the Oakland crowd coming back to life it looked like the Ravens were in serious trouble. Flacco led his team down the field for a much needed score. The veteran QB looked like the “Joe cool” we all know and love with the game on the line.
There were two crucial third down scenarios on the drive and Flacco found the open man each time to keep the drive alive. The offense pounded their way into the red zone and had a 1st-and-goal situation, but failed to put seven on the board. Instead, they would settle for a field goal to put them back up by 10.
On the ensuing Oakland possession, the Raiders moved the ball just into Ravens territory before being shut down and forced to punt. The drive shaved an additional four minutes off the clock and put the ball back in the Ravens hands with just under nine minutes to play.
For the first time in weeks, the offensive line played a quality game and allowed Alex Collins and Javorius Allen to run downhill with ease. This was on full display in the fourth quarter when the Ravens running backs picked up 42 yards on the ground to put the game on ice. Tucker added his third field goal of the afternoon and the Ravens went on to win 30-17.
In addition to West’s injury on the first drive, the Ravens lost two more players over the course of Sunday’s win. Both Carl Davis and Matt Skura went down with leg injuries and neither one was able to return. Jimmy Smith’s health was also a big question mark. Despite having a big impact on the game with his fumble recovery, Smith was seen standing on the sideline for most of the afternoon. He only played seven snaps on defense, still dealing with an Achilles injury.
Snapping a two game losing streak looked like a long shot coming into this game, especially with all the injuries. However, the offense proved that they can get the job done even with a depleted core. A Steelers loss makes the win even sweeter as the AFC North rivals find themselves tied for the division lead once again. The Ravens will return home next weekend for a 1:00 pm matchup against the Chicago Bears.
OAKLAND, CA — Just two weeks ago, the Ravens flew high with a 2-0 record. Following a trip to London and a tangle with the Steelers, the Ravens came back down to Earth, now owning a 2-2 record and trying to stay afloat in the brutal AFC North Division. On Sunday, the Ravens will play in a third time zone in as many weeks with a trip to Oakland, where the Raiders await.
Oakland finds itself in a similar circumstance. Just like Baltimore, the Raiders emerged victorious in their first two games against the Titans and Jets, and then slipped to the Redskins and Broncos. The Raiders share a similar trait with the Ravens in the injury department. Several starters on both sides of the ball face nagging injuries, and now quarterback Derek Carr‘s name falls on the injury report.
High expectations surrounded the Ravens and Raiders for 2017, and neither team expected to hold a 2-2 record entering week 5. This may not be a divisional game, but it’s a crucial one. The winner will sport a winning record, and pick up a conference win that could help them later in the season.
Ravens’ last time in Oakland: In 2019, the Raiders will move from Oakland to Las Vegas. These two teams will meet again next season, but that matchup will take place in Baltimore. A listing of the Ravens’ future opponents through 2019 can be found here.
Injury Report (as of Oct. 6):
Friday notes:Smith returned to practice, as did Hill. John Harbaugh said he will play on Sunday. Smith has been dealing with Achilles soreness for a few weeks, put played through it. He also welcomed a baby into the world this week. Hill has not yet played this season. after an impressive preseason. Watson and M. Williams also returned to practice on Friday. Watson may play, Williams will not. B. Williams and Terrell Suggs did not practice on Friday. Probably a veterans day off for Suggs; Williams is out.
*Limited Practice (LP), Full Practice (FP), Did Not Practice (DNP)
Weather: Looking at The Weather Channel, the temperature in Oakland on Sunday looks promising. There’s a high of 77 degrees Fahrenheit, and a low of 58. Winds will blow west at 10-15 MPH. There’s a 10% chance of rain.
Offensive Offense?
That graphic says it all. With Joe Flacco‘s back injury and the state of the offensive line, expectations for the offense became low. In the first two Ravens games, the offense got help with the defense forcing 10 combined turnovers. The defense has not played as well in the last two games, and its taking its toll on the offense.
Even with the offensive line in shambles, Flacco needs to play better. Out of all 32 starting quarterbacks, Flacco has the worst QBR (65.0) and its not close. Ahead of Flacco stands Jay Cutler (80.4 QBR). To put things in perspective, the Dolphins have been shut out two games in a row.
Flacco needs to get the ball to the receivers more. The Ravens’ top three receivers have yet to make a difference in a game. Jeremy Maclin (10 catches, two TD), Mike Wallace (nine catches, one TD), and Breshad Perriman (two catches) need to do a better job catching the football too. Watson leads the team in receiving with 16 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown.
The defense needs to carry some of the blame too. With B. Williams in the lineup, the defense has given up 10 points. Without him, they have given up 70 points. Offenses, particularly running backs, are taking advantage of Williams’ absence. The Ravens will not have Williams again this week, but Oakland’s running attack has not taken off so far this season. That, coupled along with the absence of Carr, should bode well for Baltimore.
Carr will miss Sunday’s game after suffering back spasms in Oakland’s 16-10 loss to the Denver Broncos last week. Carr, who is 2-0 with a 110.6 rating against the Ravens (seven touchdown passes, one interception) will miss 2-6 games.
In Carr’s place, former Bills first round pick E.J. Manuel will start against Baltimore. Manuel went 11-for-17 for 106 yards and an interception last week against Denver. Manuel is 1-0 against the Ravens in his career. He has 3,608 career passing yards, 19 touchdowns and 16 interceptions (76.9 QBR).
After taking a year off, 31-year-old running back Marshawn Lynch has yet to rush for 100 yards in a game. His highest rushing total so far? 76 yards against the Titans in week 1. He has one rushing touchdown this season.
Right now, the Raiders possess the 15th-ranked offense and the 13th-ranked defense. Oakland has been penalized 25 times for 238 yards, where their opponents got penalized 26 times for 213 yards.
BALTIMORE — Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell skipped most of training camp because of a contract dispute with the Steelers. That showed throughout the first few weeks, with Bell failing to record 100 rushing yards in the first three weeks of the season. On Sunday, Bell finally broke out, dashing for 144 yards and two touchdowns in the Steelers’ 26-9 win over the Ravens.
For the second week in a row, the Ravens’ offense got shutout in the first half. In the opening 30 minutes, Baltimore punted four times, missed a field goal, and turned it over when Alex Collins fumbled on a run play. The ineptness of the Ravens’ offense led to a 19-0 Pittsburgh lead, and the Ravens never dug themselves out off the hole created in the first half.
The Steelers, now 3-1, take first place in the AFC North. The Ravens fall to 2-2 and occupy second place. The Bengals, now 1-3, man third place, and the Browns come in last at 0-4.
The Steelers got their 19 points on two touchdowns (with a failed two-point conversion) and two field goals. The Ravens began the game with the ball, but punted after six plays. Pittsburgh got the ball on their own 3-yard line and answered with a 16-play, 84-yard drive that ate up 10:23 of clock. Bell was all over the place on this drive, rushing for 59 yards and catching two passes for 20 yards. Baltimore made a stop when it counted, and forced the Steelers to settle for a 30-yard Chris Boswell field goal for their first points of the afternoon.
On their second drive of the second quarter, the Steelers doubled their lead with a 49-yarder from Boswell. On the ensuing Baltimore drive, Collins fumbled the football and defensive end Cameron Heyward picked it up to give the Steelers the ball at the. Ravens’ 32-yard line. On a 2nd-and-15 play, Ben Roethlisberger linked with tight end Jesse James for 15 yards. Bell and rookie running back James Conner combined for 13 yards in two carries to get the ball on the goal line. From there, Bell ran it in, scoring the first touchdown of the game with 3:24 to go in the first half.
Baltimore’s offense, much maligned by injuries and poor play, responded with a three-and-out and gave the Steelers the ball right back. With 2:13 to go in the first half, and the ball on their own 30-yard line, the Steelers marched down the field. Roethlisberger found receiver Martavis Bryant twice for gains of 24 and 19 yards, setting Pittsburgh up on the Ravens’ 11-yard line. After an incomplete pass attempt to Bell, Big Ben connected with rookie wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster for his lone touchdown pass on the afternoon. The Steelers tried to give themselves a three-touchdown lead with a two-point conversion attempt, but they did not come up with it.
Last week in London, Baltimore trailed 23-0 at halftime. The deficit was four points less than last week, but the Ravens needed a quick spark on offense to begin the second half. The Steelers collected the latter half kickoff, but Roethlisberger got intercepted on the third play of the opening drive. Receiver Antonio Brown could not complete the catch, and as he was tackled by cornerback Jimmy Smith, the ball popped into the air. Safety Eric Weddle capitalized, catching the football and taking it back to the end zone. However, after a review, the refs called it a fumble, but gave Baltimore the ball at Pittsburgh’s 18-yard line. The Ravens did not gain any yardage, and received their first points of the game off a 42-yard field goal by Justin Tucker.
On the ensuing Pittsburgh drive, Boswell missed a 44-yard field goal. Baltimore responded with a three-play touchdown drive that featured a 50-yard run by Collins. Following an incomplete pass, Joe Flacco threw a 16-yard pass to Mike Wallace for a touchdown. The Ravens went for two points with a handoff to Terrance West. The attempt was initially ruled good, but after review, the ruling got changed to no good. Baltimore would not score for the remainder of the game.
In the fourth quarter, Flacco threw two bad interceptions, with the latter leading to Pittsburgh’s third touchdown of the game. That second interception occurred with 5:37 to go in the game, essentially ending it with Pittsburgh owning a 10-point lead. On the seven-play drive, Bell recorded a 21-yard run, and punched the ball in from one yard out. Boswell’s extra point put Pittsburgh up 26-9 with 2:26 remaining, a 17-point difference.
Flacco has now thrown an interception in 10 straight games for the Ravens, which leads the NFL. He went 31-for-49 on Sunday, throwing for 235 yards. Roethlisberger completed 18 passes on 30 attempts for 216 yards. Along with Bell’s 144 rushing yards, Collins led the Ravens with 82 yards on nine carries. Bryant led Pittsburgh receivers with 48 receiving yards. Bell & Brown caught four passes apiece, but did not match Bryant’s 48 yards. 42 reception yards for Bell gave him 186 total yards from scrimmage. Wallace led Baltimore receivers with 55 yards and a touchdown on six receptions.
On defense, Ryan Shazier finished with 11 tackles (10 solo) and one tackle-for-loss. Pittsburgh’s defense combined for four sacks – Heyward with two, Mike Hilton with one, and Bud Dupree & Stephon Tuitt combining for the last one. Hilton and Shazier registered interceptions.
C.J. Mosley led the Ravens with 12 tackles (10 solo) and two tackles-for-loss. Lardarius Webb tallied Baltimore’s only sack.
Pittsburgh out-gained Baltimore 381-288 on offense. The Steelers converted 22 first downs, and the Ravens had 18. The Steelers ran 73 plays on offense, and the Ravens ran 68. In the penalties department, eight penalties for 60 yards got called against Pittsburgh, and six penalties for 55 yards were called against Baltimore. The Steelers won the time-of-possession battle, 35:29-24:31.
Coming up next week, both teams will play on Sunday, Oct. 8. The Steelers tangle with the Jacksonville Jaguars, now 2-2, at 1:00 EST from Heinz Field. The Ravens head out west to face the Oakland Raiders, which begins at 4:05 pm EST.
BALTIMORE – Yes, you read the title right. Sunday, Oct. 1st marks the 47th time the Black & Purple have taken on the Black & Yellow. Its been back and forth for so many years, but recently (starting back in 2010) the Ravens have been running the show with a 10-6 record against their biggest rival. The Ravens look to bounce back from last week’s stinker in London and take firm control of the rugged AFC North.
After a confidence-shattering loss on Christmas Day last year, Baltimore has faith in its squad to get adequate revenge on the opponent that effectively removed them from playoff contention. Pittsburgh has gotten off to a rather sluggish start this season. The Steelers lost in overtime last week to the Chicago Bears, who used their patented “Thunder and Lightning” combination of Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen to trample Pittsburgh and make their defense look like a wet paper towel, a far cry from the Steel Curtain of old. The Bears RBs last week combined for 218 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.
Things To Look For:
Steelers’ Front Seven: After getting gashed by the Bears last week, Pittsburgh is going to want to tighten up ship if they will be able to shut down second-year upstart Alex Collins. The Ravens’ offense may be ranked 32nd right now, but the way the Steelers defense has played recently, Baltimore faithful should have something to hope for.
Ravens Front Seven: After an abysmal performance last week where the absent Brandon Williams was sorely missed, the Ravens allowed 410 total yards (ironic, isn’t it?). With Williams still not a slam dunk to play, and young star Brent Urban on IR now with a Lisfranc injury, young bucks Bronson Kaufusi and Chris Wormley will be heavily relied on to stop Le’Veon Bell.
Ravens Offensive Line:Joe Flacco was pummeled last week (5 QB hits, 2 sacks). The Marshal Yanda – sized hole is not going to be filled until he returns next season, which means more of the same for the stagnant Baltimore offense. Look for Collins to be Baltimore’s biggest playmaker behind this scattershot unit.
Flacco: Coming off the worst statistical game of his career last week (8-for-18, 28 yards, 44% COMP, 2 INTs), fans will see what Flacco and the staff have done in the last week to adjust.
Expect this game to be close as all recent games in this rivalry have been.
My Prediction: 24-21 Ravens. Defense wins the day after last week’s debacle.
Catch the game on local television this Sunday on CBS with Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts on the call. You can also catch the radio broadcast on the home of the Baltimore Ravens, WBAL-AM 1090 and FM 98 Rock with Gerry Sandusky, Stan White and Dennis Pitta on the call. Gameday audio will also stream on the Ravens’ website.
Enjoy Everyone!
Follow Vasilios on Twitter at @VtheNFLGuy for more commentary and behind the scenes!
