Tyler Ferguson

The Baltimore Ravens played the Tennessee Titans this Sunday and lost 13-10. The Ravens played another great game but didn’t get the win. This game was all about defense and hard hits. The fist half ended at only 3-3. I believe the Ravens lost the game on a bad call by the referees. On the Titans game-winning touchdown drive the Ravens stopped the Titans on third down when they were in Ravens territory. The referees called a personal foul roughing the passer a blow to the helmet call on LB Bart Scott. This play LB Bart Scott was being blocked by one of the Titans offensive lineman. Bart Scott put his hand out to block the pass and after Kerry Collins passed the ball his arm was extended out and it hit Kerry Collins helmet. The Titans got an automatic first down and drove down the field and scored. I believe that bad call took the momentum away from the Ravens after just getting the big third down stop on the Titans. The Ravens couldn’t recover and gave up some bad plays that led the Titans to the game winning TD. It was just a bad call by the referees.

The Ravens did open up the game’s scoring after a Justin Bannan interception. The Ravens drove down the field with the help of a couple Titans penalties and got a 38-yard field goal. The Titans answered with a field goal of their own and sent the game 3-3 into halftime. The first half both teams played amazing defense and there were barely any good plays on offense. There were some turnovers as well and the Ravens offense could not come up with a legitimate drive, until just before the half. The Ravens offense drove down the field but ended up missing the field goal attempt. The Ravens got the ball at the start of the second half and wasted no time continuing there offensive success that they ended the first half with. The Ravens drove down the field and Le’ron McClain capped the drive off with a one-yard touchdown run. Going into the fourth quarter the Ravens had a 10-3 lead. To open up the fourth quarter the Titans got a field goal to put the game at 10-6. The Ravens later in the quarter drove down the field looking very impressive and making some good plays against a very tough Titans defense. The Ravens came up short of getting into field goal range and had to punt it away. On the ensuing drive the Titans drove down the field and scored a touchdown that was an 11-yard pass from Kerry Collins to Alge Crumpler. The Titans drove down the field after a missed call by the referees, which I explained earlier in my blog. When the Ravens got the ball back, on the second play Flacco threw an interception with 1:16 left in the game. The game finished Titans 13 and Ravens 10.

Joe Flacco had another impressive game although his numbers weren’t the greatest. Flacco has established a number one target in Derrick Mason. Flacco always seems to find him when he is being flushed out of the pocket and in trouble. Flacco also looks for him on crucial third down plays. Flacco managed the game well for the Ravens even though they were up against a very tough Titans defense. Flacco’s final numbers were 18 of 27 for 153 yards and 2 interceptions. Flacco got good protection from his offensive line and running backs. C Jason Brown and LG Ben Grubbs blocked Albert Haynesworth very well. As for Kyle Vanden Bosch the Ravens stopped him on some plays by getting the running backs to chop block him and it seemed to stop him. FB Le’ron McClain had another solid weak proving his versatility once again playing RB and FB. He is also thriving on tough fourth quarter yards. McClain had 11 rushes for 51 yards and 1 TD. RB Willis McGahee also had a solid game and is getting back to 100 percent. McGahee had 22 rushes for 64 yards. The Ravens defense had another solid game. They had 2 interceptions one by DT Justin Bannan and the other by CB Chris McCalister. The Ravens defense pretty much shut down the Titans offense until the last fourth quarter drive. The Titans-Ravens game was another typical game by these two teams. This game was all about hard hits and solid defense. The Ravens played another solid game just did not come out with the win.

For more post game coverage check out Titans blogger Victor Minicozzi’s blog.

Ty

Tyler Ferguson

The Tennessee Titans travel to Baltimore to face the Ravens this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EST on CBS. The Titans have had a strong start to the season and the Ravens will have a tough time at winning this game. The Ravens will be fatigued after having a short week and playing in a very hard hitting game. The Ravens and Titans have had some great games in the past that have mostly been all about defense. The Ravens will be without three key players on defense DT Kelly Gregg, SS Dwan Landry, CB Samari Rolle. On offense RB Willis McGahee suffered a chest injury last week and he is listed as probable for the game. I suspect that McGahee will play. Joe Flacco hopes to build on a very solid start to the season. To do that Flacco will need help from his offensive line. The Titans have one of the best defensive lines in football if not the best. The Ravens will be in tough. Likely they will double-team Albert Haynsworth and hopefully that doesn’t free up too many holes for the Titans linebackers. LT Jared Gaither will have a tough time as he has to take on Kyle Vanden Bosch. The Ravens offense will have to establish a run game if they want to get past a tough Titans secondary. Hopefully RB Le’ron McClain can improve on his good start to the season and help the Ravens establish the run game. If McGahee is out McClain will be the go-to guy for the Ravens. TE Todd Heap will hopefully get more involved in the passing game this week as he has been dead this season barley getting thrown to. The Ravens have mostly been using Heap as a blocking TE instead of using him in the pass game more. The Ravens will have to have short quick passes if they want to have any success against the Titans secondary.

The Ravens defense will be the main key for the Ravens if they want to win this game. I believe the winner of this game will have more turnovers on defense. The Ravens- Titans match ups have always been know for defense. The games are always very close and low scoring. The Ravens for the second week straight will be without Rolle and Landry. I think this hurt them last week as Fabian Washington had a terrible game and the Ravens gave up a couple plays in overtime through the pass game that lost the game for them. I think the key for the Ravens defense in this game will be not letting the Titans establish a run game and force them to throw more then run. I think the Ravens will cause some turnovers this way and be successful. Although they are injured in the secondary, the Ravens linebackers at least I have found through the start of the season have been very good in pass coverage. If the Ravens can play good defense and not turn the ball over on offense they will have a good chance at winning this game. I think this game will be a close one and a good game to watch.

For the Titans side of things checkout Titans blogger Victor Minicozzi’s blog.

Ty

Tyler Ferguson

The Baltimore Ravens lost 23-20 in overtime to the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Monday night. This game was back and forth and all about hard hits and playing defense. The Ravens dominated the Steelers in the first half but the Steelers turned the momentum around in the third quarter and scored two touchdowns in about 15 seconds. The first quarter ended 3-3 but Derrick Mason caught a pass from Flacco where I think he was in bounds but he was called out, it would have been a TD. The Ravens did not challenge and took the field goal on the next play. After another field goal by the Ravens, Flacco had a touchdown pass to TE Daniel Wilcox to end the half. At the start of the second half Ray Lewis popped RB Rashard Mendenhall hurting Mendenhall’s shoulder on the play and he had to leave the game. After the offense got the ball, Flacco had a huge play when he ran from sideline to sideline and then threw a pass to Derrick Mason for a 28-yard gain. The Ravens would end up punting the ball on that drive. The Steelers started to use the hurry up offense in the second half and it made the Ravens defense confused. The Steelers got some success on offense. On a first down play Ravens LB Jarret Johnson had a 15-yard personal foul play on Hines Ward. It gave the Steelers good field position moving into Ravens territory. Three plays later the Steelers scored a touchdown when QB Ben Rothlisberger hooked up with WR Santonio Holmes. When the Ravens got the ball back after the kick-off, the Steelers LB James Harrison sacked Ravens QB Joe Flacco. Flacco fumbled the ball while being sacked and the Steelers LB LaMarr Woodley picked up the fumble and returned it for a touchdown. In the fourth quarter the Steelers added a field goal to take a seven-point lead on the Ravens. Later the Ravens answered by scoring a touchdown after RB Le’ron McClain punched it in from 2-yards. The touchdown sent the game into overtime. The Ravens won the toss but had to punt it away after a three and out. The Steelers got the ball and drove it down the field for a Jeff Reed 46-yard field goal to win the game.

The Ravens did not play that bad of a game but they could not capitalize in overtime. I thought Flacco was very impressive in the drive where the Ravens put the game into overtime. Flacco showed great composer after the big shift in momentum went to the Steelers. Flacco was making more great throws and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron is only giving Flacco throws that he is confident in and Cameron is not trying to force anything. Flacco also looked impressive when moving around as he mad a couple of good throws outside of the pocket. Flacco went 16 of 31 for 192 yards for 1 TD. The touchdown pass was his first of his career. At running back Willis McGahee left the game with a rib injury in the first half. Also RB Le’ron McClain left late in the 4^th quarter after another solid performance. McClain seems to be developing into a nice power back to compliment McGahee. McClain is also splitting the fullback duties with Lorenzo Neal so McClain is on the field all the time. McClain had 16 rushes for 63 yards and 1 TD. As for the receivers Joe Flacco has developed a number one target in WR Derrick Mason. Flacco and Mason have very good chemistry and create a lot of plays together. The defense had another great game creating big hits and a turnover. The Ravens defense hit every Steelers player who touched the ball hard. The Ravens played as a unit and shut down the Steelers offense in the first half. They let up a little in the third quarter when the Steelers got the touchdown. They also gave up a couple plays in overtime, which led to the Steelers game winning field goal. Overall it was a pretty well played game by the Ravens they just did not come out with the win.

For more post-game coverage checkout Steelers blogger James Van Dusen’s blog.

Ty