Week 1, Game 1; Game WON!

Well, that was easy...,

Said NO ONE at the game this past Sunday.  But what it was, was, fun.  Watching the Ravens that we fans have all come to expect and love was a welcomed sight.  After the year that we fans and the players and coaches, experienced last season, the game against the Rex Ryan coached Buffalo Bills was a great cure all.  If you have been a long termed fan of the Ravens you had to appreciate the close, hard fought, Defensive struggle that actually formed the identity of the team.  Smash mouth is what it used to be called.  Holding the other team's Running Back to less than 100 yards, heck, the entire running game to less than 100 yards; getting after the Quarterback; off the edge blitzes that disrupted that Quarterback; that is Ravens football people, and if the win against the Buffalo Bills yesterday is any indicator, it is BACK Baby!

Knocking Down the Hard Knocks

I will address some of these later but I wanted to address some "knocks" on some of the guys on this team for this season.  Several "experts", pundits, even some fans had some negatives or "critiques" that they were SURE of for the 2016 Baltimore Ravens. That all seemed to be forgotten after this game...,

• Mike Wallace - "lost a step, not the same deep threat he was with Pittsburgh"
• Steve Smith Sr - "too old to come back after that kind of injury, should retire" 
• Justin Forsett - "clearly is not the leader of the RBs anymore, should be replaced"
• Ronnie Stanley - "not the sexy pick, Leremy Tunsill would be a better fit"
• Alex Lewis - "stupid move, starting a rookie Guard and Tackle against Rex's Defense"
• Breshad Perriman - "fragile; wasted draft pick, a bust with no hands"
• Terrell Suggs - "washed up and unmotivated, he doesn't take the game seriously anymore"
• Shareece Wright - "how did he make this team? What a waste of good cap space"
• Lardarius Webb - "he's about to get cut, they put him at Safety so they can cut him"
• Dennis Pitta - "2 hip injuries in 3 years? He should retire"

Well I guess that just proves that the nattering naysayers of negativity are once again, wrong.  In Ozzie Newsome We Trust.  #IOWT

 

Buffalo Bills Game, some observations

Let's do a breakdown okay?
There were some really good take-aways to celebrate. Let's start with the Offense.
Quarterback - Old steady Joe was back.  Even though the Offensive Line gave up 4 sacks; at least 2 can be attributed to Joe holding the ball just a little too long.  Flacco will tell you himself that he held onto the ball just a tad too long, but some blame has to be shared by the O Line.  I will get to them in a second.  For hitting receivers in stride, for bringing back that long accurate deep ball, for distributing the ball to 10 different receivers, for managing the game well and for calling an audible OUT of a called running play; and all while throwing ZERO INTs; I am giving Joe Flacco an A-.  Yeah I said minus, he did have those 4 sacks that I mentioned and 2 were totally his fault.
O-Line - Those 4 sacks are disturbing; especially when you remember that the QB was starting in his first game after suffering a mid-season major knee injury.  Those sacks were not devastating, but they could have been.  But they were starting 2 rookies on the left side (QB's blind side) and against a Rex Ryan/ Rob Ryan Defense, the rookies graded out really well.  #1 pick Ronnie Stanley; a player I was initially upset we drafted with that 6th pick, had 1 false start but after that, I never heard his name called.  I would like him to get stronger and he will grow bigger, but with his inside help also being a rookie, and some help from RBs and TEs, the kid was outstanding.  None of the 4 sacks that were given up were attributed to Stanley, and again he and fellow rookie LG Alex Lewis held up against Rex Ryan's blitzes.  Moving further inside I am really disappointed in Center Jeremy Zuttah.  All preseason the shotgun snaps between the Center and the QB have been suspect; high and sometimes wide snaps were bothersome.  The thought was that once the season started and regular practices with starters were the rule, that foolishness would stop.  It resurfaced with disastrous results.  On a drive that was looking pretty good, while Joe was making calls at the line, up came the ball from Zuttah and being unprepared Flacco scrambled to catch the ball but it was fumbled and lost to the Bills.  Pressure up the middle and from the Right was far too frequent.  Marshall Yanda had his name called 3 times for penalties, again, disturbing.  That all has to be fixed immediately.  Overall grade for the O Line? B-
Running Backs - Only 2 were dressed as last year's 4th round pick Buck Allen was a healthy scratch, (that to me is kind of troubling).  But Forsett and West came to play yesterday.  They each had clutch carries and neither of them fumbled.  They both blocked effectively though West missed a free runner that contributed to a sack.  The running game did not produce 100 yards, but against Rex Ryan that was a tall order anyway.  But again, they had clutch and effective runs.  I would have expected in a game where a productive running game would have been the best thing to help the starting left side rookie O Line, I guess it wasn't critical or to the team's success.  Running backs grade?  C+
Receiving game - Breshad Perriman had a clutch catch that was pretty spectacular and for 35 yards!  So much for his "bad hands" knock.  Dennis Pitta had three catches, 1 that was pretty sly as he so clearly pushed off at the last minute to gain separation everyone in opposite end zone could see it.  Thank goodness the officiating crew was in "game 1 mode" and missed it clean.  But that catch had the crowd juiced and up out of our seats.  Steve Sr had 5 nice catches in his return after his torn Achilles injury; not a lot of yards, but he no longer has to be "THE" man on the team.  Not that Mike Wallace has supplanted him, but he is now a compliment and option that will give Defenses fits.  Oh and about Mr Wallace?  1 great bomb play that had everyone in the stands wearing purple, and I suspect all Ravens fans watching on TV, dancing in their seats.  66 yard TD?  Are you kidding me?  All of that and rookie Chris Moore also had a 13 yard reception though he dropped an initial target.  But that kid's potential is clearly evident.  Last year's season hero; Kamar Aiken? 2 catches for 14 yards; again serviceable.  But the beauty of it all is that no one had more than 5 catches and all contributed to the win.  Grade for the group?  B+ with an uptrending arrow.
Offensive Coordinator - Marc Trestman called an effective if not exciting game.  The potential to do more is there and it was clear.  But this was game one, and after watching games literally fly away from us because we threw the ball too much.  The running game was designed to keep the Bills D honest and keep the ball away from their Offense.  Without going into deeper detail, I will give him a B-.  I am hoping for and expecting more in week 2 against the Browns.
I will detail the grades for the Defense in tomorrow's blog but I am relinquishing the following space for a guest blogger.

A word from Marcus Wyche

Game 1 Thoughts 

Watching the Ravens play the Bills brought me great joy and great frustration as well. The defense gave me much joy and the offense, well not so much. The defense was getting after Tyrod Taylor and the Bills offense all game and if it wasn't for one missed tackle, the Bills may have only scored 3 points. Who would have thought that a corner back, Shareece Wright, would lead the team in tackles, with 11? Wright was all over the place making tackles. This was not the same guy I saw in the preseason giving up play after play with his soft coverage. The next closest defender in tackles was Zach Orr, who played a pretty good game himself. I was really impressed with Timmy Jernigan. He got a sack, but he didn't get flagged for any of those stupid penalties he has been known to get in the past. I haven't seen this defense fly around like this; not since the Ray Lewis, Ed Reed show. We actually did a Rex Ryan on the Bills. We showed who’s defense was the best; yesterday. I will say this much about the Bills; Tyrod Taylor is hard to bring down. We should have had about 50 sacks (just kidding), but should have had at least 4 to 5 sacks on him yesterday, but his elusiveness really showed.
The Offense gave (me) much frustration, but I have to remember, these guys have not played together much this year, so this was like a preseason game for them. At times, they looked lost and confused, with some early penalties causing early drives to stall. I will not go on a rant, but Jeremy Zuttah needs to play better and not get his QB killed or hike the ball when he feels it’s the right time. The Ravens looked out of sync at times and I am not sure if it was the Bills’ defense that caused it or the lack of continuity that the offense showed due to lack of playing together. For the Ravens to get to where they want to be, they will have to run the ball better. They did run the effectively when it was needed, but I feel as though we left too many plays and too many yards on the field. Flacco, looked tentative when in the pocket, like he didn’t trust his knee. I am not used to seeing Flacco just stand there in the pocket and not move around to avoid the rush. I do understand that the offense is normally a step behind in the beginning of the season, but I am hoping the Ravens show more consistency against the Browns.
Next up, we have the Cleveland Browns. I do expect to see more continuity from the offense and more points. I would expect the run game to be better as well as the passing game. I also do not expect to see Marshall Yanda with the penalties he had. The defense should be on point like it was against the Bills and we should come away with the win.