Monday Morning Leftovers: Burned By The Cheesesteak
PATRIOTS NEXT UP; REED CLIMBS INT LADDER
By Joe Platania
PHILADELPHIA 24, BALTIMORE 23
The Ravens return to the Sunday-night spotlight next week against the visiting New England Patriots (8:20 p.m., Sept. 23; WBAL-TV; WIYY-FM), the only team in the NFL Baltimore has never beaten in regular-season play (0-6). Four of those games have taken place at Foxborough, with one of them, the most recent meeting back in 2010, ending in overtime. ...
With this relatively short trip to Philadelphia on the schedule, the Ravens get to stay close to home for most of the season. They won't leave the Eastern time zone until Week Five, when they travel to Kansas City. Two weeks after that game, the Ravens will be in Houston before making their longest trip of the year, a Nov. 25 West Coast sojourn to San Diego. ...
The game marked a homecoming for Philadelphia native and inside linebacker Jameel McClain (five tackles) as well as third-round pick and rookie running back Bernard Pierce (4 yards, three carries), who attended Temple University. Also, Ravens majority owner Steve Bisciotti was born in Philadelphia in 1960 before being raised primarily in Anne Arundel County. ...
Ed Reed's third-quarter interception was his 59th, giving him sole possession of ninth on the all-time list. ... Justin Tucker's 56-yard field goal tied a team record set by Wade Richey, who booted one of the same length against Cleveland in 2003. Steven Hauschka has a 54-yarder to his credit, while Matt Stover's career-long kick as a Raven was a 52-yard effort in 2006. ...
According to a broadcast report Sunday morning, contract talks between the Ravens and Joe Flacco have been temporarily suspended. ... The Ravens are 33-22 in September, their best-ever month, and a league-best 10-4 under Harbaugh. ... Despite battling knee and hamstring problems, center Matt Birk played in his 196th game and his 50th straight game as a Raven. ...
Punter Sam Koch played in his 98th consecutive game, tops among all current Ravens and breaking a tie with kicker Matt Stover for the fifth-longest streak in team history. That tandem is surpassed only by linebackers Jarret Johnson (129) and Peter Boulware (111), Stover (110) and Terrell Suggs (105). Joe Flacco and McClain each played in their 66th straight games. ...
Ray Lewis' second-quarter fumble recovery, off a Lardarius Webb strip, resulted in his 51st career takeaway, second all-time among linebackers (Jack Ham, 53). It was Lewis' 20th career fumble recovery to go with 31 interceptions, tied for sixth all-time among those at his position. Ex-Baltimore Colts Don Shinnick and Stan White top the list at 37 and 34, respectively. ...
The Ravens committed six penalties and now have 12 for the year. Last year, the team was flagged for 92 infractions, the third-lowest single-season total in team history and just three fewer than the all-time mark of 89, set in 2001. After the first two games of 2011, the Ravens had been charged with 14 accepted infractions. ... Webb led the defense with seven tackles. ...
The Ravens have now played 160 straight regular-season games without being shut out. They have scored in 256 of 258 lifetime games and haven't been blanked on the road since a 1997 Sunday-night loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Including postseason, Baltimore has scored points in 273 of its 275 all-time games. ... Guard Marshal Yanda turned 28 on Saturday. ...
Baltimore ran the ball 21 times and attempted to pass it 44 times, with two sacks allowed. The team's run-pass ratio through two games is now -35 (44 runs, 79 passes, including five sacks allowed), a respectable number for the league's current pass-laden era. ... So far, the Ravens' two games have been decided by an average margin of 16 points per game. ...
The hit that tight end Ed Dickson suffered at the hands of Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Taylor Mays last week has netted the latter a $21,000 fine. But Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb was not fined for his takedown of Andy Dalton. ... The Eagles' Jason Babin was docked $15,750 for a hit against Cleveland Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden last week. ...
Both the Ravens and Eagles' regular-season schedules have a potentially damaging stretch of four games during 17 days. The Ravens are in the middle of theirs, which includes three games on national TV and at home. The Eagles' busy spell runs from Nov. 26 to Dec. 13, with two road games (at Dallas and Tampa Bay) sandwiched by two home games. ...
Former Ravens running back Matt Lawrence, an undrafted player from the University of Massachusetts, has reportedly joined a legion of former NFL veterans in a concussion-related lawsuit against the league. Slowed by injuries during his two years in Baltimore, Lawrence didn't come close to cracking the team's running back rotation, getting little playing time during eight games. ...
The Eagles won the coin toss and chose to receive. ... The Ravens wore their home purple jerseys and white pants while the Eagles wore white jerseys and green pants. ... The Eagles and Ravens won't meet again during the regular season until 2016 in Baltimore. ... The Ravens are 10-5-1 against NFC East teams during their history, including 3-2 under John Harbaugh. ...
The Ravens again sat backup guard/tackle Jah Reid, but linebacker Sergio Kindle was activated for the first time this season, with Paul Kruger (back) taking his place on the bench. The rest of the inactives list was the same as last week: cornerback Asa Jackson, tight end Billy Bajema, defensive end DeAngelo Tyson, wideout LaQuan Williams and defensive tackle Bryan Hall. ...
Philadelphia, plagued by injuries to the wide receiver corps all week, had to sit down only wideout Riley Cooper (collarbone). Also deactivated for the host team were cornerback Curtis Marsh (hamstring), third-string quarterback Trent Edwards, offensive lineman Dennis Kelly, running back Dion Lewis, defensive end Vinny Curry and offensive lineman Nate Menkin. ...
Defensive tackles Cullen Jenkins and Derek Landri combined for one tackle and a pass breakup. The duo has a combined 15 years experience, but both are entering just their second year with the Eagles. Landri was with Carolina, while Jenkins won a Super Bowl ring with Green Bay. ... The Eagles leave the Eastern zone next week when they play at Arizona. ...
Going into Sunday, the Eagles' special-teams coverage units had not allowed a kick or punt return score since Dallas' Felix Jones ran a kick back 98 yards four years ago last Saturday. Conversely, the last time an Eagles' player scored on a kickoff return was when then-rookie Quinton Demps accounted for his team's only points during a 36-7 loss to the Ravens in 2008. ...
Despite its fans' well-known penchant for voicing frustration through the years, Philadelphia has been one of the league's most consistent franchises. During the last 10 years, and including this week, the Eagles have an NFC-best 101-60-1 record. The only AFC teams that have surpassed that 62.2 win pace during that span are New England, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. ...
Being in different conferences, the Ravens and Eagles can't meet during the postseason unless it takes place in a Super Bowl, which nearly happened when both advanced to the conference-title games in 2008, but lost. The Eagles and Ravens had just three games between each other before Sunday, tied for the fewest the Ravens had with any foe (Detroit, NY Giants, Dallas). ...
Lincoln Financial Field is opening its 10th season of operation and is the 11th different facility to serve as the Eagles' home during the team's eight decades of existence. Before Sunday, the Ravens had played there only once, on Halloween in 2004, losing a 15-10 game. The teams have seen each other a lot more during the preseason, matching up for a dozen games. ...
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was a special-teams coordinator and secondary coach from 1998-2007, while running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery -- who turned 58 years old Sunday -- played eight of his nine seasons with the Eagles. Montgomery's touchdown run during the 1980 NFC Championship Game helped send the Eagles to their first Super Bowl. ...
Eagles linebackers coach Mike Caldwell played on the 1996 Ravens squad and scored the first defensive touchdown in team history. ... Eagles radio voice Merrill Reese has been on the job since 1977, tied wth New England's Gil Santos as the longest-tenured play-by-play voices in the NFL. ... Eagles defensive end Darryl Tapp and tackle King Dunlap had birthdays last week. ...
The head official was replacement referee Robert Frazer, whose crew had trouble spotting the ball at several points during the game. Frazer handled three preseason games as well as the New York Jets' blowout win against the visiting Buffalo Bills during Week One. ... The game took 3:38 to play, just one week following a Ravens opener that came in at a respectable 3:04. ...
Kickoff temperature was 74 degrees with sunny, clear conditions.
Posted Sept. 17, 2012
