Tue., Nov. 17: Team Still Inconsistent; S. Hauschka Booted
RAVENS PLAYING TO THE COMPETITION'S LEVEL; KICKER CUT
By Joe Platania
PressBox Staff
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
OWINGS MILLS -- It's a common malady in any sport: playing to the competition's level.
When a good team lines up across from the hometown squad, it makes them raise their game to a place it may not have known it could occupy.
The result: a thrilling run at a team perceived to be better and a down-to-the-wire finish.
When a bad team is the opponent, it can occasionally give the locals a false sense of security and dull the fine edge it may have brought to the table.
The result: a sloppy, boring slugfest that leaves the winners' fans feeling just as bad as the losers' rooters.
That kind of inconsistency can leave a team looking rather average and relying on the respect-your-opponent crutch to mask their own deficiencies.
Baltimore Ravens, come on down...
"I thought they did a heck of a job," head coach John Harbaugh said of the Cleveland Browns, the Ravens' 16-0 victims Monday night.
"They played with great emotion, tremendous intensity and it was a dogfight," Harbaugh continued. "I’m proud of our guys. It was a tough first half. We played tremendously well on defense throughout the game. We put 13 points up early in the second half and separated us a little bit. That was really the key to the game.
"A shutout is just a credit to your defense. We were dealing with some difficult formations and alignments. Things they were giving us were challenging to line up against. I thought our guys handled that really well."
However, they weren't handled well enough to assuage the fan base going into an ultra-tough three-game, season-defining stretch against Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Green Bay.
With the Ravens currently sitting outside the top six AFC playoff positions, consistency and efficiency -- and not playing to the level of the competition -- is a must at this point in the season.
“These teams are great teams," running back Ray Rice said. "We have to go out there and prepare for these teams. This is where the season begins. We stumbled a bit in the beginning but these three games right here, and the rest of the season, will tell the tale of the season.
"We’re looking forward to it.”
The Ravens would be best served to look forward, because looking back would reveal a few not-so-pretty truths:
- It wasn't enough for Baltimore to launch a 17-point fourth-quarter comeback against Minnesota or to rally from ten down at New England. Big plays were not made at the crucial times against those teams, meaning that the Ravens don't yet belong in their class.
- It also wasn't enough for the Ravens to hold a home, fourth-quarter lead against a Cincinnati Bengals team that has proven to be one of the AFC's best over the season's first half. Ill-timed penalties dulled the defense's effectiveness and led to a three-point loss.
- A Week One struggle against an outmanned, outclassed Kansas City Chiefs squad had a few fans and media members expressing concern, as did a fitful first-half performance at Cleveland last Monday night.
But the Ravens have persevered and remain in the wild-card race with a 5-4 record, a new sense of purpose and, most importantly, no margin for error.
"Now we have games (coming up) where we know we have to start fast," Rice said. "That’s one thing we’re going to start preaching is that we need to start fast. We’ve got Indy and we have to actually score points against them.
"That team is always going to be ready to play.”
However, will the Ravens, authors of three first-quarter points in the last five weeks, be able to say the same?
“This three game stretch is probably everything for our season," Harbaugh said. "It is a one-game stretch (against Indianapolis) as we look at it, but big picture-wise, it is very important for us.”
If the Ravens are to keep playing to their competition's level, there's no better time to keep doing it than right now.
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JOEY P'S TRIVIA TIME: While there may be no prizes in it for you, Trivia Time is just another way we at PressBox have fun whetting your appetite (and ours) for the game to come.
Today's question:
As we noted in Monday's Ravens Report, the blocked point-after touchdown following Dawan Landry's 48-yard interception return was the Ravens' first missed conversion after a string of 416 in a row going back to October 27, 1996.
Obviously, Matt Stover was the culprit that day, which saw the Ravens outlast the St. Louis Rams in overtime, 37-31. But what former Ravens receiver caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Vinny Testaverde just before Stover's missed PAT?
The answer appears towards the end of this column.
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HAUSCHKA CUT: Perhaps the most inevitable roster move of the season came to fruition Tuesday afternoon as second-year placekicker Steven Hauschka was released.
Hauschka was successful on nine of 13 field-goal tries through the season's first nine games and had just three kickoff touchbacks.
“We entered the season knowing that we would have to go through some growing pains with Steve," general manager Ozzie Newsome said in a statement. "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.”
The Ravens had previously worked out ex-Dallas and Tampa Bay kicker Billy Cundiff and Mike Nugent, a former Ohio State kicker so highly touted he was the New York Jets' second-round draft pick several years ago.
Last season, Hauschka, an unsigned free agent from North Carolina State, was cut from the Minnesota Vikings' camp and landed with the Ravens' as a long field goal specialist. He was 1-for-2 in that capacity while Matt Stover was still the team's primary kicker.
In the offseason, Stover's contract had run out and the team chose not to re-sign him, similar to what the Brian Billick coaching staff decided to do with quarterback Trent Dilfer in 2001.
Even though Hauschka's percentage was good, his misses were ill-timed and usually off to the left.
He missed his first attempt as a Raven in the Week One win over Kansas City, not a good way to make a first impression. He also hooked wide a game-winning kick at Minnesota and another attempt at Cincinnati that would have brought the Ravens to within seven points in the second half.
A missed 36-yarder Monday night in Cleveland and a conversion try that was too low and blocked were the final straws. The blown extra point was the Ravens' first after 416 consecutive successful points-after touchdown going back to October, 1996.
Stover, the Ravens' all-time leading scorer who returns to Baltimore Sunday as the Indianapolis' Colts kicker, hasn't missed a kick in four games since joining the Colts. He has been successful on all six field-goal tries and 13 conversions.
Stover -- who missed 20 of his first 73 field-goal tries during his first three years in the league -- holds the NFL record with a current streak of 402 straight successful conversions.
He has a pair of Super Bowl rings, one with the Ravens and another won while on injured reserve with the 1990 Giants in his rookie season.
***
SUGGS' STREAK OVER?: After Monday night's shutout win in Cleveland, the Ravens emphatically denied that Dwan Edward's jarring game-ending hit on Cleveland receiver/return specialist Josh Cribbs -- one that required his being stretchered off the field -- was a payback for quarterback Brady Quinn's low cut-block on linebacker Terrell Suggs in the third quarter.
But no matter what the cause of the hit could have been, a local hospital reported that Cribbs had movement in his extremities and would be fine.
However, Suggs is another story.
The seventh-year linebacker, who has never missed a game in his Ravens career, was expected to have a magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) test Tuesday to determine the extent of the damage on his sprained knee.
(Harbaugh did not hold a day-after-game press conference, so definitive word on the injury and other team news will come during his regular Wednesday media session.)
With only six days to go until the Indianapolis visit Sunday, it's possible that not only could Suggs' streak of 105 straight games be snapped, but he could be out for even longer.
Suggs showed tremendous grit in playing in last year's AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh with an ailing shoulder, recording two sacks. But a knee sprain could be too much to overcome for someone who relies on speed and sideline-to-sideline mobility.
Suggs was only six games away from tying Peter Boulware's club record for consecutive games played as a Raven (111). Wideout Derrick Mason has played in 115 straight, but the first 42 games of that run were in a Tennessee Titans uniform.
On the other hand, there seems to be little doubt that safety Haruki Nakamura's season could be over after he suffered a broken ankle as a result of a collision with Cribbs on the opening kickoff.
Nakamura is a Cleveland native who always looks foward to playing in the Ravens' annual game there, but he is also a valuable member of the Ravens' special teams corps with seven tackles and a forced fumble.
Speaking of the secondary, cornerback Fabian Washington played in Cleveland despite a thigh bruise and registered two tackles, one for a loss. Cornerback Chris Carr recovered from the flu to record one of the Ravens' two interceptions as well as two tackles.
There is still no word whether defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (ankle sprain) will be ready to face Indianapolis. He has missed the last two games after playing in the first 55 contests of his career.
Also, tight end Todd Heap (chest) and linebacker Tavares Gooden (concussion) left the Cleveland game and did not return.
***
FLEX APPEAL: The Ravens' home game with the Pittsburgh Steelers on November 29 will remain in the Sunday-night time slot.
With the two teams languishing behind the AFC North Division-leading Cincinnati Bengals, there was speculation that the game would be moved to an afternoon window on CBS, but NBC has decided to keep the game where it is.
The only changes in the November 29 schedule were to move the Arizona-Tennessee and the Chicago-Minnesota games from 1 to 4:15 p.m. Both are Fox games; there were no games slated to be on that network in the late-afternoon slot.
Truth be told, there is no game on the schedule that day that currently looks appealing enough to have been moved to the Sunday-night flex spot in place of Steelers-Ravens.
The only possible option may have been that day's Indianapolis-Houston game, but with the Colts holding a huge AFC South Division lead and that game likely being protected by CBS as part of the flex program, it wasn't going to be moved.
***
MCCLAIN IN FRONT: Le'Ron McClain leads all AFC fullbacks in the first Pro Bowl voting update.
Internet and cellphone fan voting for the NFL's annual all-star game (www.nfl.com/probowl) began a few weeks ago and continues through December 21.
The Pro Bowl teams will be announced at 4 p.m. (ET) on December 29.
McClain, the first-ever Ravens fullback to make the Pro Bowl when he earned his berth last year, has over 78,000 votes.
Two other Ravens lead their positions as well: inside linebacker Ray Lewis (over 148,000 votes) and free safety Ed Reed (146,000).
The Pro Bowl will be played at Dolphin Stadium in Miami at 7:20 p.m. on January 31, one week before Super Bowl XLIV is to be played there. It will be shown on ESPN.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees leads all players with over 540,000 votes. Elsewhere in the NFC, Minnesota Vikings players lead at ten of 19 positions.
***
RANK AND FILE: As you might expect, the Ravens' offensive ranking took a hit in the Cleveland game while the defensive numbers improved.
It's a rare occasion when Baltimore's offense is more highly-ranked than its defense -- that hasn't happened over a full season since 1997 -- but that was the case going into the Cleveland game. The Ravens were ranked tenth offensively and 12th on defense.
After the 16-0 win, the offense fell from tenth to 13th while the defense rose from 12th to seventh.
In the long run, the more relevant stats deal with putting points on the board, as well as preventing them.
A Ravens' offense that had been averaging north of 30 points per game and had once trailed only New Orleans in the league standings is now 11th at just over 24 tallies per contest.
Meanwhile, a defense that had allowed 24 or more points in three of the season's first four games has buckled down and permitted more than 17 just once in the last five contests.
As a result, Baltimore's scoring defense is now fifth in the league, allowing a mere 17.1 points per game.
***
BY THE NUMBERS: A few more Ravens notes, stats and facts:
- The Ravens have scored 12 rushing and 12 passing touchdowns through nine games. They have never completed a season with that kind of touchdown balance, but they came close in 2004 and 2007 (11 rushing, 13 passing both years) and in 2003 (18 rushing, 16 passing).
- Ray Rice's 13-yard touchdown run Monday night was the only offensive touchdown scored in the AFC North Division in Week Ten. Cincinnati's 18-12 win at Pittsburgh featured eight field goals between the two teams and a Bengals' kickoff-return score.
- Before Monday night, the Ravens run-pass ratio was getting alarmingly close to minus-100. But thanks to 36 rushing attempts -- the second-most in any game this year -- it is down to minus-81 (242 rushes, 323 passes, including sacks allowed).
- Seven more penalties Monday night gave Baltimore a nine-game total of 67 accepted infractions. Last season at this time, the Ravens had been flagged 65 times.
- Lardarius Webb's second-half sack of Brady Quinn made him the ninth different Raven to record at least a half-sack this year. Last season, 13 different Ravens took down opposing quarterbacks.
- Dawan Landry's 48-yard interception return helped him become the ninth different Raven to score a touchdown in 2009. In '08, there were 12 players that reached the end zone at least once.
- Before Monday night's game, kicker Steven Hauschka was 8-for-11 on field-goal tries. Last year, in his first 11 attempts, Matt Stover converted -- you guessed it -- eight of them.
- Punt returner Chris Carr gathered in four more fair catches Monday night, giving him ten on the year and keeping him on pace to match last season's total of 20. Most fans don't like fair catches, but they helped the Ravens achieve an average drive-start of their own 35-yard line.
***
O-LINE LOVE: Long ago, offensive linemen were nameless, faceless players, not getting much mention at all unless they were called for holding or did something dirty or unethical on the field.
Now, there's a way to quantify what they do.
Along the usual myriad of skill-position stats, NFL.com now has a page of numbers measuring the best offensive line units in the league.
The table measures lines by how experienced the starters are and the number of sacks and quarterback hits allowed, as well as a team's efficiency in short-yardage rushing situations.
Using all the measurements, the table has determined that the Ravens' offensive line is the league's 11th-best out of 32 teams.
Among the four AFC North teams, it's no surprise that the Cincinnati Bengals line is sixth, the highest overall offensive line ranking of the four squads.
What's most interesting about the Ravens' numbers is the direction of the rushes that have produced first downs.
Of Baltimore's 53 rushing first downs through eight games, 16 of them went to the left side, 16 to the right and 21 up the middle.
That means that even though the line is one of the league's youngest -- four of five starters are 26 years of age or under -- the Ravens have an equal amount of trust in each and every one of their linemen.
During the Ravens' dominant run-first days of yore, most runs that got first downs -- for that matter, most of their runs, period -- went to the left side behind tackle Jonathan Ogden and guard Edwin Mulitalo.
Now, the team feels just as comfortable running behind rookie Michael Oher as it does going u the middle through 12th-year center Matt Birk.
***
COLTS CORRAL: As much as Ravens fans express angst over the upcoming tough schedule, starting with this weekend's visit by the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts (Sunday, 1 p.m., WJZ-TV, WIYY-FM), it's no surprise that fans in other towns do the same thing when Baltimore appears on their team's schedule.
In fact, of their last seven games, the unbeaten Colts still have four games to play against teams with winning records.
All four of those games will also directly impact what happens to the Ravens in the wild-card race that has now begun.
Besides their game here Sunday, the Colts still have to go on the road to play intra-divisional games at Houston and Jacksonville. Both squads are 5-4 and are in competition with Baltimore for wild-card spots.
Not only that, but a home game with the slumping Denver Broncos (6-3) is on the Colts' agenda. An Indy win would definitely serve the Ravens well, seeing as they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Broncos.
- Also, Colts safety Marlin Jackson -- no, he's not the one from the Jackson Five -- has been selected as Indianapolis' representative to the annual Ed Block Courage Awards banquet at Martin's West.
Jackson is being honored for fighting back to return from reconstructive surgery on his right knee that cost him the 2008 season. Ironically, he hurt his left knee two weeks ago and will miss the rest of this year as well.
Jackson was the one who intercepted Tom Brady's last-ditch pass in the 2006 AFC Championship Game to cap a furious second-half comeback and send the Colts to Super Bowl XLI, which they won over the Chicago Bears.
***
PAST GLORY: It's obvious why ESPN Classic was showing the 1995 Ohio State-Michigan game on Tuesday afternoon. The two bitter archrivals are meeting again this weekend.
But the '95 game was especially notable, since the host Wolverines registered a 31-23 upset over the unbeaten and second-ranked Buckeyes, paced by future Heisman Trophy-winning defensive back Charles Woodson.
Ohio State was paced by receiving talent such as Terry Glenn and Rickey Dudley, both of whom played in the NFL.
But Michigan had an answer for them: their defensive coordinator... a man named Greg Mattison, currently holding the same job with the Ravens.
***
ALUMNI REPORT: Former Ravens running back Jamal Lewis burst through the center of his old team's defensive line for 14 yards on his first carry Monday night.
Unfortunately, that was about it for the Ravens' all-time leading rusher (7801 yards) as he finished with a pedestrian 36 yards on ten carries.
Not only that, the Browns' version of the "Wildcat" nearly enabled receiver Josh Cribbs to surpass Lewis; he had 34 yards on six attempts of his own.
Ex-Woodlawn High defensive back Vince Fuller had missed most of the Tennessee Titans' season so far with a broken forearm.
But he came back in a big way Sunday, picking off Trent Edwards and running back the interception 26 yards for a touchdown during a 24-point fourth-quarter blitz that sealed the Titans' blowout win over the Buffalo Bills.
The Titans have won three straight after an 0-6 start.
Former Maryland linebacker Moise Fokou recovered from a two-penalty performance against the Dallas Cowboys to lead the Philadelphia Eagles in tackles in their loss at San Diego on Sunday.
Fokou not only had a team-high ten tackles, but also contributed a pair of special teams stops.
In that same game, Gilman product Victor Abiamiri -- brother of Mount Saint Joseph's grad and ex-Ravens practice-squadder Rob Abiamiri -- had a tackle and half-sack of Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.
***
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Leave it to defensive lineman Trevor Pryce, who had one of the Ravens' four sacks Monday night, to come up with an interesting analogy on dealing with Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn:
“It’s like playing chess in the dark. I ran past the lineman and got to the QB. We could have had a lot more (sacks), but he got rid of the ball quickly.”
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LET US KNOW: What do you think of the daily Ravens Report, or, for that matter, the Ravens material in the PressBox monthly print edition?
Is there stuff in there you like, don't like or would like to see more of?
Let us know what you think by either leaving a comment in the space provided below or e-mailing us at joeyp@pressboxonline.com, and we'll occasionally list and answer the best and most compelling questions and comments right here.
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TRIVIA TIME ANSWER: After the Rams put the first 13 points on the board in that wild overtime game at Memorial Stadium, Testaverde finally got the Ravens going with a 27-yard touchdown pass to receiver Floyd Turner.
It was one of only two touchdowns Turner would score that year. After missing 1997 with an injury, he returned the following season and caught five scores, including a 66-yard bomb from quarterback Jim Harbaugh in a two-point loss at Tennessee.
Despite his productive numbers, Turner's time with the Ravens coincided with the short, unhappy tenure of former Colts head coach Ted Marchibroda, who was brought back to lead the Ravens over what turned out to be only three seasons.
At one point, Marchibroda wanted Turner to switch from flanker to split end, a move Turner flatly refused to make and one that did not endear him to the coaching staff after that.
Turner would retire after the '98 season, his ninth and last year of action in the league.
He came into the NFL with the New Orleans Saints in 1989, averaging 25 catches, 12 yards per catch and six touchdowns per season over five years.
After two seasons at Indianapolis, Turner became a Raven in 1996 after several high-priced veterans like Andre Rison were let go in a salary-cap purge before the team completed its move from Cleveland to Baltimore.
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ABOUT JOE PLATANIA
Ravens beat writer Joe Platania, 45, is a Baltimore native and has been a multi-award-winning sports journalist for over 30 years, covering many different sports at all levels with insight, humor, a near-photographic memory and a keen, prescient eye.
A longtime member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and the Pro Football Writers Association of America, Platania (pluh-TAN-ee-uh) will in 2009 enter his 16th season covering pro football, having manned the CFL Stallions beat for The Avenue Newspaper Group of Essex and the Ravens beat for The Avenue as well as several other publications and radio stations.
On top of many years’worth of appearances on several local sports television networks and radio stations, Platania can be seen this fall on WMAR-TV (Channel 2) on Monday mornings with Jamie Costello on “Good Morning Maryland.”
Also, Platania makes occasional appearances with PresssBox publisher/founder Stan “The Fan” Charles on Channel 2’s”Inside PressBox”, which airs Saturday nights at 11 p.m. and Sunday mornings at 11:30 a.m.
He is one of only three Baltimore-based print reporters to have covered the Ravens during their entire history.
Platania is a four-time Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Press Association award winner and was named Maryland Sportscaster of the Year in 1998 for his work on WCBM-AM (680).
