NEWS
The Baltimore Ravens will have more issues in the secondary after the season-ending injury to cornerback Fabian Washington.
Washington tore his ACL near the end of the team’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts and had to be carried off the field.
While Washington was part of the team’s secondary struggles, he is certainly much better than the alternatives.
Rookie cornerback Lardarius Webb should do a fine job replacing him, but it’s the domino effect that will hurt the Ravens.
Increased playing time for Chris Carr and Frank Walker is sure to have a negative impact on the defense.
Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 12:03 pm by steve
The Baltimore Ravens threw away a golden opportunity in a 17-15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
The Ravens forced three turnovers, including two interceptions by quarterback Peyton Manning, but could manage to put just five field goals on the board.
The offense could not get into the end zone on first and goal from the one-yard line and Joe Flacco later threw an interception with the Ravens well in range for the game-winning field goal.
It’s a devastating loss to Baltimore’s playoff hopes, which would have been greatly helped by a surprise victory over the still undefeated Colts.
Instead, the Ravens will have to regoup yet again after another tough loss and come back ready to play Sunday against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 6:16 pm by steve
The Baltimore Ravens have lost safety Haruki Nakamura for the rest of the season due to a broken ankle.
Nakamura was injured on special teams when his leg got caught underneath of teammate L.J. Smith.
The loss is yet another hit for the special team’s unit, which already lost Brandon Ayanbadejo for the season.
It will also be a hit to the team’s struggling secondary, as Nakamura was one of the better blitzers.
The injury could mean more time for some of the more maligned secondary players on the roster.
Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 6:06 pm by steve
In the ugliest Monday night game of the season, the Baltimore Ravens shut out the Cleveland Browns, 16-0.
The first half ending with a 0-0 score, marking the first time that has happened this year in the NFL.
Baltimore finally got things going in the second half on a 44-yard pass play to Derrick Mason that set up a Ray Rice touchdown.
On the next series, Dawan Landry got a tipped pass and returned it all the way back for a touchdown, giving the Ravens a commanding lead.
Baltimore cannot afford another similar sluggish start next week when they host the Indianapolis Colts.
at 6:05 pm by steve
The Baltimore Ravens are still fuming two days after pounding the Cleveland Browns into submission.
Ravens players have been speaking out in defense of linebacker/defensive end Terrell Suggs, who took a cheap shot from Browns’ QB Brady Quinn on Monday night after a Quinn interception (made by cornerback Chris Carr). On the return, Quinn laid Suggs out with a chop block that drew a 15-yard penalty, and that drew the ire of other Ravens defenders.
“Heck yeah, it was a cheap shot, when you’re running down and you’re looking at the quarterback going at somebody’s knees who doesn’t even have the ball,” Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis said. “I want to see if he gets the same fine I got or even higher. Now this man [Suggs] is out four or five weeks because of some baloney like that.”
Reports broke today that Suggs could miss extended time, as the hit caused a partial tear of Suggs’ MCL. Suggs’ agent, Gary Wichard, says Suggs may even miss the rest of the regular season.
“That cat should be fined as much as anybody is fined that hits the quarterback,” Wichard said, according to a report in the Carroll County Times on Wednesday. “That’s ridiculous. I don’t understand what he was trying to do. It was blatant. It’s absolutely criminal. It’s about as nasty as it gets.”
“The guy had total control and went right for his knee. You can’t call that an accident. It was premeditated. The quarterback zeroed in on Terrell’s knee. That’s absurd. The ball carrier was right in front of him,” Wichard said.
For what it’s worth, Quinn went on the record after the game to clear his good name.
“I was trying to go for the ball carrier,” he said. “Suggs came across at the last second in my vision. I would never wish that upon anyone. I was upset about it on the field. We worked out in Arizona together. I couldn’t be any more sorry about that. That was never the intent. I’m sorry to Terrell and the rest of their team.”
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 7:11 pm by bryan
For a half, the Baltimore Ravens made the Cleveland Browns look respectable. In 17 seconds, they went from shockingly okay to laughing stock.
The Ravens turned a scoreless game into a blowout quickly in the third quarter, as they beat the Cleveland Browns 16-0 on Monday Night Football.
In the first half, the Ravens demonstrated the uncharacteristic sloppiness that’s earned them four losses on the season already. They’d burned all three of their timeouts with only 6:15 expired in the half, committed a number of careless penalties, and only converted one third down all half.
But RB Ray Rice scored on a 13-yard run on the Ravens’ first drive after the half, and safety Dawan Landry intercepted Cleveland QB Brady Quinn for a pick-6 only 17 seconds after Rice’s score. All of the sudden, a slopfest turned into a blowout.
“I guess I agree it wasn’t pretty,” quarterback Joe Flacco said. “It was an ugly win, but that’s the way some wins are in the NFL.” Flacco had a mediocre day, only going 13-of-18 for 155 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions.
Quinn generated some controversy late, as following his second interception, he was called for an illegal chop block on the Ravens’ Terrell Suggs, which sent Suggs into the locker room for the night.
“Heck yeah, it was a cheap shot,” Lewis said after the game. “When you’re running down and you’re looking at the quarterback going at somebody’s knees who doesn’t even have the ball. I want to see if he gets the same fine I got or even higher. Now this man is out four or five weeks because of some baloney like that.”
“I was trying to go for the ball carrier,” Quinn said. “Suggs came across at the last second in my vision. I would never wish that upon anyone. I was upset about it on the field. We worked out in Arizona together. I couldn’t be any more sorry about that. That was never the intent. I’m sorry to Terrell and the rest of their team.”
Regardless of Suggs’ fate, the Ravens escaped the Dawg Pound with a win, moving them to 5-4 on the season and keeping their playoff hopes alive.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 11:59 pm by bryan
The Baltimore Ravens wasted an opportunity to climb right back in the AFC North race in a 17-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
It was another disappointing and puzzling performance from the Ravens, who didn’t even show up until the fourth quarter.
The defense gave up two touchdowns early in the first quarter and the Ravens were never able to dig out of the hole.
For the second time this year, the offense struggled mightily to move the ball against one of the worst pass defenses in the league.
Baltimore now sits at 4-4 and is nearing desperation mode for their suddenly dwindling playoff hopes.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 1:43 pm by steve
The Cincinnati Bengals may have finally announced that they’re for real this year.
With a resounding 17-7 victory over the Baltimore Ravens, the Bengals have moved to 6-2 overall, 4-0 in the AFC North, while the Ravens fell to 4-4 on the season.
A year after going 11-5 and making it to the AFC championship game, the Ravens are in danger of potentially missing the playoffs, as they’ve dropped four of their last five games. After not allowing a 100-yard rusher in 39 games in a streak dating back to 2007, the Ravens have now allowed a 100-yard rusher in three of their last four games, including Bengals RB Cedric Benson twice.
“We’re not in a great spot,” said Ravens QB Joe Flacco, who threw a pair of interceptions and finished 18-of-32 for 195 yards. “We’re in a tough spot.”
The Ravens were frustrated offensively all day by an aggressive, physical Bengals defense, while Cincinnati marched down the field and scored on its first three drives of the game. The Bengals’ physicality on defense was very reminiscent of the Ravens’ defensive glory days – something they seem far removed from this season, as they’ve struggled to keep teams out of the end zone.
“None of us played well,” defensive end Trevor Pryce said. “They had [solid] techniques and played physical. And they are a physical team — don’t let anybody tell you they aren’t.”
With two games against Pittsburgh and a game against the Colts still left on the schedule, the Ravens have dug themselves into an early hole if they hope to make the playoffs.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 7:19 pm by bryan
With their backs against the wall, the Baltimore Ravens came out smoking in a 30-7 victory over the previously undefeated Denver Broncos.
The Ravens set the tone early with their defense, which played with an intensity that had not been see before this year. They just overwhelmed Kyle Orton, who quickly grew tired of being thrown to the ground.
Running back Ray Rice started to take over in the second half as the Baltimore offensive line began to open up some holes, especially in the fourth quarter.
The Ravens did not turn the ball over and made big plays when they had to, especially on third down.
The Ravens now must prepare for next week’s huge showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals, which gives them a chance for revenge after their controversial loss earlier in the year.
Friday, November 6, 2009 at 5:57 pm by steve
Coming into the game, the Baltimore Ravens had the dubious honor of being the best 3-3 team and football… and a real danger of falling to 3-4 after advancing to the AFC championship game last season, especially with undefeated Denver on the other side of the field on Sunday.
The Ravens put a complete game together on all three sides of the ball and handed Denver their first loss of the season as they beat the Broncos 30-7.
The game was a defensive slugfest in the first half, with neither team able to generate huge drives or big points. The Ravens shut the Broncos out in the first half en route to a 6-0 lead, thanks to two field goals from kicker Steven Hauschka.
The Ravens exploded in the second half, started off with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Lardarius Webb to open up the half.
“All 10 guys got their body on someone,” Webb said. “I just saw a hole and ran.”
They kept rolling from there. The Broncos marched right back and scored on a Knowshon Moreno 1-yard TD run, mainly due to killer penalties on Baltimore’s defense, but the Ravens answered with a field goal in the third quarter, then put the game more-or-less out of reach early in the fourth with QB Joe Flacco tossing a TD to WR Derrick Mason.
RB Ray Rice capped the day with less than two minutes left with a touchdown, giving him a total of 84 yards on the day (the most one running back has rushed against Denver all year). The Ravens’ defense, after looking lackluster these past few weeks, appeared as shades of their former selves as they held the Broncos’ offense to just 200 yards of total offense.
“We know we’re capable of doing this kind of thing,” said Flacco, who finished 20 for 25 for 175 yards and one score. “We had a chance in the other games. Today we finished. That’s why we won.”
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 6:44 pm by bryan
