This season the Ravens are going to be very rough on the opposition, but it’s not tough at all to follow your favorite team on RavensLocker.com. This is the place where you’ll catch up on all the news related to the future Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. We’ve got the latest on roster moves, injuries and fantasy updates. Come back daily for constant info!
The Ravens fired offensive co-ordinator Jim Fassel on Tuesday and Head Coach Brian Billick will serve as his own offensive co-ordinator. Billick is under fire to make the playoffs….or he will be fired at the end of the season. The Ravens offense hasn’t produced very well this season. The Ravens are only averaging 271.7 yards per game and 18.3 points.
The linebackers for the Ravens have been making big plays all over the playing field. MLB Ray Lewis is having his best season in a long time. The defensive tackles are doing a good job keeping him clean and he’s responding with a big season so far. Lewis has made 50 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery. OLB Bart Scott has been dominating from his post on the edge. Scott already has 45 tackles, 5 sacks and has recovered a fumble. The other OLB, Adalius Thomas has been good so far too. Thomas has 34 tackles, 5 sacks and 1 fumble recovery.
The Ravens are getting a good pass rush from the linebackers and they have dominated on run defense, as the Ravens are holding their opponents to 71.2 yards per game rushing and 2.7 yards per carry.
The Ravens just waited to long to get going on offense. Steve McNair was knocked out early in the game with a neck injury and did not return. McNair completed 2 of 4 passes for 4 yards and an interception. Kyle Boller replaced him and played quite well. Boller completed 17 of 31 passes for 226 yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT. Boller also ran the ball 6 times for 27 yards (4.5 ypc). Jamal Lewis didn’t get to run the ball much, because the Ravens were playing catch up. Lewis carried the ball 9 times for 41 yards (4.6 ypc). WR Mark Clayton had a fantastic game, catching 5 passes for 101 yards and 2 TDs. TE Todd Heap caught 5 passes for 55 yards and a TD.
The Ravens were hitting hard, but they gave up a lot of yards passing. MLB Ray Lewis had 9 tackles and recovered a fumble. OLB Adalius Thomas had 6 tackles, a sack and defensed a pass. CB Chris McAllister had 6 tackles and an interception. The Panthers tried to run the ball, but couldn’t! The Ravens held the Panthers to 58 yards rushing on 30 carries (1.9 ypc). The Panthers shredded the Ravens secondary. The Panthers completed 24 of 39 passes for 356 net yards thru the air.
This loss hurt in more ways than one. It would be hard to believe the Ravens competing for the division title if Kyle Boller starts too many games.
The Ravens have been waiting for Clarence Moore to do something for a couple of years now and got sick of waiting for him. The Ravens cut him earlier today. Rookie Demetrius Williams and Devard Darling will battle it out for Moore’s old spot.
The Panthers come into this game needing to protect the football against the greedy Ravens defense. To do that, they will need to have some semblence of a running game. DeShaun Foster has been good this season (373 rushing yards), but he’ll have to go alone against the Ravens because DeAngelo Williams is out for this game. If the Panthers can be effective running the ball (Ravens allow only 73.8 yards rushing per game and 2.9 yards per carry), then the pass rush of the Ravens will have to slow down a little bit. The Ravens already have 18 sacks and 9 interceptions this season and have held opposing QBs to a 52.0 QB rating. If given time, Delhomme should be able to get the ball to Keyshawn Johnson (27 rec, 373 yards) and Steve Smith (23 rec, 261 yards). Smith has to catch the ball when it hits his hands this week, because the Ravens defense won’t give them alot of opportunities to score.
The Ravens prefer to run the football, but it hasn’t worked out to well for them this season. The Ravens have only averaged 97.2 yards rushing per game and 3.5 yards per carry. That is hard to believe with Jamal Lewis, Mike Anderson and Musa Smith at running back. Nevertheless, look for the Ravens to come out running with Jamal Lewis (311 rushing yards) to start the game. If the Ravens get the running game going (the Panthers allow 122.0 yards rushing per game) then Steve McNair can run some play-action passes and take a few shots deep to his buddy Derrick Mason (23 rec, 310 yards). The linebackers and safeties of the Panthers will be challenged by TE Todd Heap who has already caught 22 passes for 180 yards with 3 TDs. McNair can be forced into mistakes if the Panthers bring the heat, and you know Julius Peppers will be in his grill a few times on Sunday.
This should be a great football game. I think the QB that makes the least mistakes wins this football game.
Â