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WEEK 9 IN REVIEW |
| Pre Game Analysis: |
Ravens/Steelers: Unwilling
twins One thing is for certain, there is no love lost between Baltimore Ravens' and Pittsburgh Steelers' fans. For years, the face-painted, fanatical, Terrible-Towel waving Steeler fan stood for all that is right with the love of one's football team. With the ever-growing popularity of the Ravens Nests and Roosts, the evolving of the team into a playoff contender and the ultimate hype-building head coach, Baltimore fans are not far behind, if behind at all. No one can forget CBS's shot of Baltimore fans holding the famous "Pittsburgh is Ravens Country" banner at Three Rivers Stadium in early September during a 16-0 shutout of the Steelers. The cities are similar, the fans are similar in their support and this year, the two teams are strikingly similar. The Steelers will present their latest version of "musical quarterbacks" this week, re-installing the once-benched Kordell Stewart, while the Ravens will try their luck with the aforementioned Trent Dilfer, in hopes of igniting their offense. The Steelers boast a rough-and-tumble defense and are coming off of back-to-back shutouts of the woeful Ohio teams, much as the Ravens did earlier in the year. On both teams, the pendulum swings far in the direction of aggressive defense, while instability at the quarterback position has the rivals still searching for their offensive identities. Among the keys to this game will be the Ravens' defensive corps' ability to discipline themselves and not over-pursue Stewart, who, by himself, can win a football game with his elusiveness and scrambling ability. On the flip side, there is Dilfer, facing his first NFL start in over a year. How he performs in this game will determine the mood of Baltimore fans for quite some time. This game has all of the makings of a classic defensive struggle, one in which the two teams are all too familiar. The home field advantage is a very tangible asset in the NFL and will tilt this matchup in favor of the Ravens. Kordell Stewart, for all of his running ability and occasional hot streaks is easily rattled and not exactly a favorite of Baltimore's "12th man". Look for the crowd at PSINet Stadium to be the difference-maker in this game…..if only they had the opportunity to score a touchdown. Steeler fans hoping to avenge
loss, takeover September 3rd, 2000 is a
day that many diehard Steeler fans won't soon forget.
Well-known for their invasion of opponents' stadiums with
their cleverly crafted banners, the famous Terrible-Towel
waving gang got a taste of their own medicine. Hoards of
fanatical Ravens fans packed Three Rivers Stadium and
actually disrupted the offensive flow of the Steelers in
their own yard. One can bet that this traveling band of
face-painters have broken their piggy banks in recent
weeks in an effort to secure every last ticket available
for Sunday's game at PSINet.
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Ravens turn tables Team hopeful of TD's from Mr. T.D. Speaking of turntables, the Ravens situation is reminiscent of the old Steve Martin "Google-o-Phonic stereo" bit. After building his stereo up to a ridiculous 1,000-speaker system and still not impressed with the sound quality, the “Wild & Crazy Guy" concludes: "Hey....maybe it's the needle". For all of the offensive weapons that the Ravens took great pains to gather in the off-season, they have failed to score a touchdown in 5 of their 8 games this year. Were it not for a stellar defense, this season would already be marked as one of the most disappointing in Baltimore sports history. This touchdown-less streak is the type of stuff that Jay Leno feeds upon.....easy prey for David Letterman's "Top Ten List" writers, etc. Not exactly what Brian Billick and Ozzie Newsome had in mind when they drafted Jamal Lewis & Travis Taylor and signed free agents Shannon Sharpe, Ben Coates and Sam Gash. This week, Billick has determined that the "needle" may indeed be the problem. Having bent over backwards in an effort to give Tony Banks an opportunity to work out of his 4-game "funk", the head coach decided that it was time to cut his losses. What a pity. Banks seems to be able to move the Ravens up and down the field at will. That is, until the team reaches the magical area called the red zone. For whatever reason or reasons, Tony transforms into a blundering fool, mishandling snaps from center, forcing the ball into interceptions and flat out missing wide-open receivers. It is an amazing transformation to watch, actually. Regardless, the Ravens have too much at stake to sit by and idly hope for different results from the same situations. In some circles, that is the very definition of "Crazy". Hence the switch to Trent Dilfer for this week's matchup with Pittsburgh, a team with similar struggles at quarterback. Dilfer, if nothing else, bring some improvisational skills and a fire-in-the-eyes demeanor to the table. Perhaps it is just what the Ravens need at this juncture. The shame of the situation is that the Baltimore Ravens are but a few bone-headed, self-defeating plays from being a 7-1 team, with back-to-back wins over Super Bowl contenders and the talk of the NFL. This team, as many have believed since training camp, needs a quarterback who can perform merely adequately, while avoiding the big blunder….everything else is there. Dilfer, assuming that he can keep his emotions in check and simply take what is given to him, may just be the man. Rematch
should be ugly When the Pittsburgh Steelers (and their fans)
come to Baltimore, it is usually anything but a friendly
rivalry. This time, however, it may be downright nasty.
In week 1, the Ravens thoroughly dominated the Steelers,
walking away from a half-empty Three Rivers Stadium with
a 16-0 shutout and packs of Ravens fans celebrating in
the once proud shrine to the Steel Curtain. Much has
changed since that glorious day. Baltimore has struggled
mighly on offense, going four consecutive games without
scoring a touchdown. The Steelers, on the other hand,
have rebounded after opening the season with three
straight losses, winning four in a row, including back-to-back
shutouts. This game will likely turn out to be the
proverbial bloodbath, with both teams scrapping to regain
some respectability. The Ravens have gone from media
darling to laughingstock as the touchdown-less streak
grows. If pride alone does not motivate the offense this
week, it may be time to throw in the "Towel".
With the unpredictable Trent Dilfer and Kordell Stewart
running the respective offenses, anything could happen
but the smart money is on a classic defensive struggle,
with a big play making the difference. Week
9 Predictions:
(open dates: Chicago, Denver, New England) |
| Post Game Analysis: |
"0" for October In search of a touchdown The Baltimore Ravens are dangerously close to knocking, of all teams, the Indianapolis Colts, out of the record books. Since the AFL-NFL merger, the 1991 Colts have the dubious distinction of having gone 21 consecutive quarters without scoring a touchdown. But watch out you dirty Colts, the Ravens are breathing down your necks. Baltimore sits at 20 consecutive TD-less quarters and counting as they head into Cincinnati. The irony abounds here. On September 24th, the Ravens completed perhaps their most dominating performance ever, steamrolling the hapless Bengals 37-0. Immediately afterwards, Brian Billick found himself in the position of defending the team against a charge of "running up the score". Surely it is coincidence but the Ravens have not scored a single touchdown since. An amazing string considering the potential scoring weapons both on offense and defense. In all probability, this woeful streak will end on Sunday while facing an inferior Bengals team. It won't end, however, until the Ravens make it end. The Ravens need to learn how to finish a drive --now. Not so much for the sake of the TD-less streak but to keep their hopes and dreams alive for the postseason. Week 9 |
Same old story for Ravens It's uncanny. I could reprint my story from last week's game ....or the week before and just change a few names and numbers. Opposing teams have figured out a sure-fire method for beating the Ravens: Just make one big play. For the Ravens have become a team that simply can't make any. Despite a quarterback change, the Ravens performed identically as they had in consecutive losses to Washington and Tennessee. The offense moved the ball well enough but staggered and stumbled in the red zone once again. The defense put forth their usual outstanding effort but gave up one big play, a 45-yard TD toss from Kordell Stewart to Hines Ward. That, once again, was the ball game. Snake-bit? Cursed with bad luck? Hardly. It seems to be nothing more than a complete lapse in concentration at a critical time in the game, coupled with too little offensive firepower to compensate. Whether it be Stephen Davis' late-game TD run or Steve McNair's scrambling scoring pass, the "big play" has put the Ravens behind the eight-ball, with too weak a cue to fight back. In Sunday's game against the Steelers, Duane Starks, who otherwise put in a stellar performance, missed on two big chances to turn the Ravens' tide. After being beaten by Ward for the go-ahead touchdown, Starks then dropped an interception, with nothing but daylight between him and the Steelers goal line. This game doesn't fall on Starks or the defense's shoulders, however. It simply serves to reinforce how frustratingly close the Ravens are to being a viable contender. Trent Dilfer, making his first start at quarterback in over a year, made the same bumbling mistakes as his predecessor, Tony Banks. He fumbled the snap on a key 3rd down play in the red zone, threw an interception in the end zone and missed a few wide open targets, particularly late in the game. Concentration. That's all it is. Baltimore is severely lacking it and it is killing them. In today's parity-laden NFL, the team that concentrates for only 58 minutes will generally lose. The Ravens, who should have learned this valuable lesson from the Redskins game, didn't. The Titans and Steelers arrived to drive the point home even further. Now, it is off to Cincinnati, a team with Corey Dillon, a back with the ability to break off the "big play" every time he touches the ball. Let us hope that the Ravens have learned by now. Ravens: Their own worst enemy Were it not for a fumble here or an interception there in each of the last three games, the Ravens could well be sitting atop the division, much as the Oakland Raiders have done in the West. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Three words spoken frequently by losers. There is room for optimism, however. If Brian Billick, who some have termed a "genius", can figure out how to eliminate these self-inflicted wounds, I am not sure that there is another team in the watered-down NFL who can honestly claim to be superior. The defense of the Ravens is rapidly becoming one for the ages. There is almost no give in any area. After being burned badly by Mark Brunell in week 2, cornerbacks Chris McAlister and Duane Starks have come back strong, adding the final pieces to a nearly airtight defensive squad. Offensively, Jamal Lewis has performed exactly as advertised. A big, bruising back with blazing speed, he has been the lone consistent offensive highlight for the Ravens. Overall, the team has moved the ball fairly well, both in the air and on the ground. It has been those self-defeating mental lapses which have stopped the team, as opposed to being stopped by an opponent's defense. The good news is that the problem appears to be within the Ravens' hands. What remains to be seen is whether or not they have the ability to fix it. |
