With a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) on Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens have an opportunity to begin the season 2-0 for the fifth consecutive year under head coach John Harbaugh. The Ravens dominating all-around second half performance, coupled with the up-tempo success of the Ravens offense during the first half, allowed the purple and black to win their 11th straight regular season game at home. Including wins over the Bengals and Browns to close out the 2010 season, Baltimore has now won eight straight division contests against AFC North foes.
To say that Harbaugh’s squad has looked dominant as a team during their past two season openers while playing at home would be an understatement. The Ravens blew out the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-7 to open the 2011 season at M&T Bank Stadium and coupled with the 31-point romp on Monday night, have an average margin of victory of 29.5 points to start the past two seasons. These whippings not only occurred versus two divisional foes, but also against two teams that went to the playoffs last season. This stat should not be overlooked when you consider the AFC North was the only division in the NFL to send three teams to the 2011 post season. Dating back to the 2010 season, the Ravens are now 7-2 vs. the Bengals and Steelers in their last nine contests.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="312" caption="Vick did not play in well under pressure in Cleveland"]
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As impressive as the Ravens were in victory on Monday night, is as equally unimpressive as the Philadelphia Eagles were in defeating the Cleveland Browns 17-16 on the road last Sunday. Quarterback Michael Vick tossed four interceptions but thanks in part to Browns rookie QB Brandon Wheedon, who tossed four interceptions of his own; the Eagles escaped with a week one victory.
Vick found TE Clay Harbor for a 6-yard TD strike with just over 1 minute remaining in the game helping his team avoid an embarrassing start to a season in which many projected the Eagles to be Super Bowl contenders. In fact, more than a few experts and prognosticators predicted an Eagles-Ravens Super Bowl in New Orleans in February.
Dating back to the 2008 campaign, when head coach John Harbaugh took over in Baltimore, the Ravens have posted an 11-5 record (.688) vs. the NFC, tied for the third-best mark among AFC teams against the “other conference” during that span. Since moving to Baltimore in 1996, Baltimore is 10-4-1 vs. the NFC East and 5-3 on the road. As a franchise, the purple and black birds are 1-1-1 vs. the green and grey birds. The two teams tied 10-10 back in Nov. 1997 with the Ravens winning 36-7 at home in 2008. Sandwiched between the tie and win, was a 15-10 Halloween day loss in 2004. This is game that many Ravens fans will remember as the one in which Terrell Owens mocked and angered future Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis, by doing Lewis’ pre-game dance almost as good as Ray-Ray when he caught a TD pass.
Eagles coach Andy Reid is considered one of the best head coaches in the NFL but is firmly on the hot seat in the city of brotherly love entering the 2012 season. Despite leading the Eagles to 137 wins (including postseason), 10 playoff victories, six division titles, five NFC Championship appearances (four straight) and one Super Bowl, this could be his last year if the Eagles do not have a long successful run into the post season. Reid is starting to act like a coach under a little pressure as well. On Thursday, and for the first time during his 14-year career in Philly, Reid closed practice to the media.
Previously, reporters were allowed to watch the full Thursday and Friday practices, and the first 10 minutes on Wednesday. The first 10 minutes -- mainly an opportunity for TV and still photography -- will still be open all three days, Reid said, but because reporters are able to "put things together," he will not keep the remainder of those workouts open, as was the custom his first 13 seasons. Reid said that 27 of the other 31 NFL teams do not allow reporters at practice, and he has come to feel it is an issue of competitive advantage, especially now that information spreads so quickly, through social media.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="293" caption="Harbaugh alongside his mentor, Andy Reid"]
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Maybe the Eagles have an answer to the Ravens no-huddle scheme, or maybe Reid is starting to panic. Last season, with several high priced free agents signed immediately following the lockout, including the biggest name on the market in former Raiders cornerback, Nnamdi Asomugha, many chose the Eagles as the hands down favorite to win the NFC. Then back-up quarterback Vince Young touted them as the NFL’s version of the “Dream Team”. The Eagles began the 2011 campaign 4-8, but won their final four contests to finish 8-8. However, they could only manage to tie for second in the NFC East, which began the debate of should Reid stay or go.
To make matters worse for Reid, the Eagles bitter rivals, the NY Giants, won their second Super Bowl in five seasons. This quickly turned a potential dream season into a nightmare finish for Reid and Eagles fans.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh served on the Eagles’ coaching staff from 1998-2007, coaching the special teams from 1998-2006 and the secondary in 2007. Harbs is just one of the many disciples to fall from the Andy Reid coaching tree. Former head coaches Steve Spagnuolo and Brad Childress were in St. Louis and Minnesota before being fired. Current head coaches Ron Rivera (Carolina Panthers), Leslie Frasier (Minnesota Vikings) and Pat Shurmur (Browns) are all still currently patrolling the sidelines for up and coming franchises, and are all former members of Reid’s staff.
Harbaugh already has one victory over Reid back in 2008, which came during his rookie season as a head coach. That is a game that Eagles fans may remember as the beginning of the end for QB Donovan McNabb in Philly. However, in order for Harbaugh to avoid the same fate as Shurmur’s Browns last week, here are three keys for a Ravens win in Philadelphia on Sunday.
1) DESPITE HIS PERFORMANCE ON MONDAY AND YOU MAY NOT WANT TO ADMIT IT, BUT JOE FLACCO’S CONSISTENCY STILL SEEMS FRAGILE AND UNPROVEN. HISTORY PROVES I’M RIGHT AND TODAY, FLACCO MUST EXERCISE THE SECOND GAME DEMON FROM THE PAST TWO YEARS.
The Ravens started the season unveiling a no-huddle offense that propelled the team to an impressive 44-13 victory over the visiting Bengals on Monday night. QB Joe Flacco posted a 128.4 passer rating against Cincinnati, completing 21 of 29 passes for 299 yards and two TDs during the 31-point victory. Baltimore leaped out to a 10-0 first-quarter lead after a Ray Rice 7-yard touchdown run. Flacco’s 34- yard TD pass to WR Anquan Boldin, you know the one he couldn’t remember when conducting the post-game interview, made the score 17-3. The play was a thing of pure beauty as Flacco threw a perfect ball between two defenders. The Ravens offense, mainly Joe Flacco, received compliment after compliment from the National media and the talking heads at ESPN and the NFL Network throughout the week. Many experts believe that Flacco and Ravens offense is finally for real in 2012.
Sports Illustrated.com’s Chris Burke said on the Ravens’ 44-13 win, “So what’s a scarier development for the Baltimore Ravens’ future opponents and their rivals in the AFC North: That Joe Flacco and Baltimore’s new no-huddle offense looked absolutely lethal in picking Cincinnati apart in Monday night’s 44-13 victory? Or that, in the second half with the game still in doubt, Baltimore was able to rely on its defense, even without Terrell Suggs, to absolutely slam the door and put the game away?”
For his performance, Flacco was named the AFC offensive player of the week. These offensive stats were posted against a defense that ranked seventh overall last season, so this was no easy chore for the Ravens offense to accomplish.
It’s also impressive when you consider that the Bengals prior to last season, had always given the Ravens signal caller a fit with their two deep over the top coverage. Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer forced Flacco into four INT’s during a 2010 contest, but more on that in a minute. Flacco picked it apart on Monday night, as he found eight different receivers and was as precise as he has ever been between the white lines. Flacco did not exceed a completion percentage greater than 65 percent until Week 11 last season and exceeded 70 percent just once during a Week 13 win over the Colts in 2011. Flacco completed his passes with 72.4 percent accuracy on Monday, which was the highest completion percentage during a Week 1 contest in Flacco’s career.
CAN FLACCO KEEP IT UP?
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="356" caption="Flacco must remain patient today in Philly"]
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While all of this is fantastic and I don’t mean to be the messenger of bad news, but we have seen it all before. Especially during the first week of the season. During his last four openers, Flacco is 4-0 with wins over the Chiefs, Jets, Steelers and Bengals. He is 84-for-139 (60.4%) 1078 yards with nine touchdowns and just two interceptions. He averages almost 270 yards passing on opening day with a QB rating of 101. If you toss out the Jets game, which statistically was his worse, the numbers are Joe Montana like. Despite a poor night on the stat sheet two years ago against Sexy Rexy, Bart Scott and the upstart Jets, Flacco still went into Met Life Stadium, which was the first regular season game ever played there and beat NY on Monday Night Football. He took advantage of the Jets secondary that was playing with a very limited Darrelle Revis. Flacco picked on CB Antonio Cromartie, who could not for some reason keep up with Ravens receivers. Flacco threw the ball in Cromarties direction causing officials to throw several very costly pass interference penalties during a game that was won off field position.
The problem is and what Ravens fans need to watch out for against Philly is which Joe Flacco is going to show up during this year’s Week 2 contest. During that span of Week 1 wins, Joe Cool has been anything but in Week 2. He is 1-2 during the past three seasons and his numbers flat out stink. Following the big win over the Jets, Flacco laid an egg in Cincinnati by tossing four interceptions during a 15-10 loss and last year, Flacco wasn’t much better as he never seemed to solve the Tennessee Titans defense. Flacco was 15-of-32 (46.9 %) throwing two more interceptions, as the Ravens could be heard crashing back to earth after being soundly beaten 26-13 by the Titans in the Music City.
The major difference this season could be quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell. The man that had the ear of Peyton Manning during his most successful stint in the NFL seems to have Flacco saying all of the right things and more importantly, executing the fundamentals of the position better than Flacco has ever been able to execute in the past.
EAGLES “D” FINALLY GETS IT:
The Eagles defense did not start well last season as new defensive coordinator Juan Castillo installed a wide nine scheme that took time to learn. Philadelphia allowed an average of 26.4 points during the first five games last season and went 1-4 in the process. However, once the Eagles were able to master Castillo’s defense, they surrendered just 11.5 PPG to close out a 4-0 stretch to finish the season.
The Eagles love to rush the passer and have the personnel to make Joe Flacco’s miserable today in Philly. They are ranked first overall after week one and were not happy with just two sacks vs. the Browns rookie QB last week. The Eagles finished last season ranked eighth overall in the NFL on the defensive side of the ball. They were tied with the Minnesota Vikings atop the NFL with 50 sacks, two more than the Ravens who were tied for second with the NY Giants.
We will see if Flacco has indeed moved towards the elite level of quarterbacks in the NFL. He will need to keep the Ravens up-tempo offense moving in the face of players like Jason Babin, whose 19.5 tackles for a loss, including 18 sacks, ranked him in the top five in both categories in 2011. Flacco must not panic and he must stay consistent with his footwork and his release points.
His touch on the ball Monday was a real pleasure to watch. While the Bengals were a good defensive team, the Eagles seem to be a notch above in terms of talent. Defensive tackles Cullen Jenkins and Derek Landri have a combined 15 years of NFL experience. A weakness last season appears to be strength this season for the Eagles at the linebacker position. Philly signed middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans from the Houston Texans. Ryans was the franchise's all-time leading tackler, the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2006 and a two-time Pro Bowl honoree. Second-round rookie Mychal Kendricks is on the strong side and ex-James Madison star Akeem Jordan is on the weak side.
Flacco can have success against this unit in the passing game by using his two young tightends, Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson. The poor mans “Gronk” and “Hernandez” has the advantage today and Flacco needs to find them as much as he can. Pitta was Flacco’s favorite target last week in both yards (73) and number of catches (5).
Flacco will have to have patient feet, progress through his reads and his head must be on a swivel, as the Eagles defense extends well beyond the first two levels. The Eagles secondary is as good as any in the league. Ten-year veteran shutdown corner Nnamdi Asomugha is on one side and ex-Arizona corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, on the other. Rodgers-Cromartie has 15 career pickoffs, including two last week in Cleveland. He also broke up five Brandon Weeden passes during the Eagles' 17-16 win. Third-year safeties Nate Allen and Kurt Coleman lock down the middle and also picked off Weeden twice. Last week, the Eagles held the Browns rookie QB to a 5.1 passer rating, the lowest for a rookie in league history.
John Harbaugh said that Joe Flacco has the potential to be “scary good” following his performance on Monday night. If Flacco wants the talk of breakout year to continue and his contract value to continue to soar, then he needs to consistently deliver “Monday Night Football” like performances during the Sundays ahead. Let’s face it, Flacco was anything but good during those week two games over the past two seasons. In fact, Flacco’s performance was just plain scary in them.
2) FORCING MICHAEL VICK TO RUN AROUND USED TO BE A FORMULA FOR DISASTER FOR DEFENSES, IT’S NOT ANYMORE AND THE RAVENS WOULD BE WISE TO USE IT AS PART OF THEIR DEFENSIVE GAME PLAN.
Michael Vick is no longer the video game quarterback from eight years ago. At 32-years old, he is not washed up either. What Vick isn’t is durable and if the Ravens pass rush, which eventually got to Andy Dalton on Monday and registered four sacks can do the same to Vick, one of those hits always has the potential to send No.7 to the sideline.
When Vick is pressured with consistency, he is prone to making many mistakes. The former VA Tech star gained 32 yards on seven carries in Cleveland while passing for 317-yards and two touchdowns. He also threw four interceptions as the Browns blitzed Vick with fury. Last year, Philadelphia posted a minus-14 turnover ratio, tied for the league's second-worst, as Vick threw 14 INT’s, fumbled 10 times, losing four. The Ravens do not necessarily need to get Vick on his back to be successful, if they can force him out of the pocket, or at least to run around in it, they will force him into committing turnovers.
While it is not a myth that Vick is still the best passer on the run in the NFL, he is certainly not, what he used to be. His arm strength is starting to erode and having Vick throw on the run can only help the turnover situation. I’m not saying that Vick cannot hurt teams with his feet anymore, in 12 games during the 2010 season he rushed for 676 yards and nine touchdowns. However, he is becoming vulnerable to more severe injuries when creating on the run and those injuries are starting to take their toll on his small six-foot frame.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="350" caption="A little pressure can go a long way in Philly today"]
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Defensive coordinator Dean Pees used backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor to simulate Vick in practice this week, and having an opportunity to practice against what Vick can actually do may help the Ravens today in Philly.
The Ravens are one of the league’s best defenses at creating turnovers in close. Did you see Ray Lewis punch the ball out of Andy Dalton’s hand last Monday night? It was not as if Dalton was holding the ball down by his kneepad. The Eagles are careless with the football at times and Vick is the number one culprit.
During his career, Vick is 18-11-1 against AFC teams. He is 5-3-1 vs. the AFC North and 1-1 against the Ravens. He has one touchdown and one interception with a paltry QB rating of just a 67.2. No.52 and company have done a good job of spying Vick during their two contests and the Eagles QB has just 49-rushing yards on 13 attempts. The last time Vick played the Ravens was back on Nov. 19, 2006 at M&T Bank Stadium where the Ravens behind three Jamal Lewis rushing touchdowns beat the Falcons 24-10. Vick was sacked five times in the game and played mistake free football.
Despite the poor showing in Cleveland last week, the Eagles rank second in total offense (456.0 ypg), including sixth in both passing (306.0 ypg) and rushing (150.0 ypg). WR Jeremy Maclin had a team-high seven receptions for 96 yards and one score.
The Ravens were not very successful in stopping Bengals RB Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis last week when Cincy could still run the ball within the game plan. If Green-Ellis gave the Ravens fits, it is highly possible Eagles RB LeSean McCoy, who finished with 110 rushing yards on 20 carries (5.5 avg.) could down right torture the Ravens middle of the defense. If that happens, then Vick will have what he wants when he wants it and the Ravens will be playing catch up all day long. Stopping McCoy will be key to the Ravens being able to make Vick do what they want him to do, which should be running for his life throwing interceptions.
It won’t be as easy for the Ravens as it was during the second half on Monday night but look for Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees to complicate the process for Vick by mixing up his blitzes and causing confusion for the Eagles QB. Reading defenses has never been a glaring upside for Vick and the Ravens defense can be as complicated as they come in the NFL.
3) LET’S NOT FORGET THE RAVENS WERE 21-1 WHEN RAY RICE TOUCHED THE BALL 20 OR MORE TIMES DURING THE PAST TWO SEASONS.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="260" caption="The game must allow Rice to flex even more muscle"]
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A 31-point win does not leave much room to criticize the offensive game plan but it was a tad bit concerning to me that Ray Rice seemed to be more of an afterthought than forethought on Monday night. Rice had 13-total touches for 93 all-purpose yards. The last two times Rice touched the ball just 13 times the Ravens were beaten and controversy reigned in offensive Cam Cameron’s world. Rice had 13 touches in Jacksonville during the Monday night debacle last season when the Ravens offense had just 13 yards of total offense at the half and lost 12-7 to the Jags. A few weeks later Rice again touched the ball just 13 times during a 22-17 loss to the Seahawks in Seattle. Now many of you may say that is further proof of the Ravens offense evolving and while that may partially true, it is also a very-very silly statement and thought, so get it out of your head. Ray Rice is as important to the Ravens offense as Joe Flacco is and will need to touch the ball at least 20 times today if the Ravens are going to win.
The NFL is not changing into a passing league, it is a passing league. Last week, 71 percent of all offensive plays were pass plays. What the Ravens have in Ray Rice is a rare commodity these days in the NFL and they need to use him more than 13 times during a game. The screen pass the Ravens run with Rice will be a huge play against the speedy Eagles front seven and do not be surprised to see Rice bust a long touchdown after catching one. Let’s also not forget that Rice averaged almost seven yards per carry last week against a Cincy front seven that is not exactly bad. Rice is a great draw runner and that play alone could net the Ravens a ton of yards against a defense that may be susceptible to overcommitting on the rush.
Using Rice more may also help the Ravens offensive line (which started two rookies last week) pass block the Eagles very effective pass rush better. A more balanced offensive attack would keep Eagles defenders from teeing off on Flacco, who is making the 75th consecutive start (including the post season) to begin his career.
Prediction:
This is a game between two evenly matched teams. The Eagles are sure to rebound from their poor play last week in Cleveland and the Ravens are sure to suffer some sort of let down on the road in the Eagles home opener. The Eagles will more than likely start fast by scoring first but expect to see some big plays from both offenses during this contest. The Ravens and Eagles each produced 19 plays of 10-or-more yards in their respective Week one matchups, ranking as the NFL’s most on Kickoff Weekend. With the Eagles top two wideouts ailing, look for the Ravens to pressure Michael Vick early and often today, which could only turn ugly for Baltimore if they don’t force him to throw the ball while running around in the pocket, if Vick gets loose, the Eagles offense suddenly becomes very dangerous. Stopping LeSean McCoy will be critical for the Ravens defense. McCoy rushed for 110 yards on 20 carries, and the Eagles gained 150 yards on the ground, the third highest total in the NFL to start the season.
Joe Flacco will be under fire all day from an Eagles defense that could be the best in football. How Flacco responds will be critical for the Ravens. Will it be the same old Joe in game two, or will Flacco and the Ravens offense carry the day once again? This is where Ravens fans will see how far Flacco has really come and how much QB coach Jim Caldwell has accomplished with the fifth year starter.
Today will not be easy for Ravens, who are 17-15 under Harbaugh on the road. Back in 2009 during a Week two battle in San Diego, Joe Flacco was 17-of-26 for 190-yards and two touchdowns with one interception. The Ravens stunned the Chargers 31-26 for a 2-0 start to the season. A similar game by Flacco would be just fine with me today, but I do not see it happening. The key will be how the Ravens offensive line holds up and how much Cam Cameron and Joe Flacco use Ray Rice.
Eagles head Coach Andy Reid will have his team playing much better than they did last week in Cleveland and like the Bengals could not in Baltimore, I do not see the Ravens being able to match the Eagles intensity in Philly.
The Ravens won’t leave their fans scratching their heads like they did during their previous week two losses over the past two seasons, but Vick and the Eagles will win this one 28-24.
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