Indiana Flacco and the Temple of Dumb
Week Two Pre-Look
September 10, 2014
Thanks to greed and Thursday Night Football, the Stillers find themselves with a short week and a big opportunity. With Cincinnati playing the high-flying Falcons and Cleveland facing the Saints, a win over Baltimore well might put them on top of the division. More importantly, the Stillers could virtually wreck the Ravens season by sticking them at 0-2.
Complicating matters for Baltimore is the Ray Rice debacle (which I won’t comment on any further -- if you wish you can review my “Random Roger” piece from July 29th.) The mother of all distractions, this media disaster has Ravens players spending as much time in front of microphones as on the practice field. Combined with a short week, this should spell trouble for the team.
Here’s what else is trouble for Baltimore: Joe Flacco put the ball up 62 times in Sunday’s loss to the Bengals. (That’s 62 passes for a whopping 16 points.) Normally, you’d expect a $120 million QB to captain the ship, but Average Joe isn’t built to take over offenses. He thrives best in a support role, which, as I’ve noted repeatedly, makes paying him all that cash a truly asinine expenditure. If the Stillers can force Flacco to become the focus again, they stand a good chance of winning the game.
Speaking of asinine, Flacco pulled off quite a boner at the end of the first half of week one’s tilt vs. the Bengals. With eight seconds left and the ball at the Cincy 15, Flacco did the one thing the team couldn’t afford him to do: take a sack. That cost the Ravens a field goal, which mattered later when Baltimore was trying for the comeback. Even Flacco admitted it was the “stupidest” play he ever made. Yes, the big-money man keeps steaming right along since signing that big contract.
Actually I don’t know what’s dumber: Flacco’s move, or paying him all that cash in the first place.
D is for “Disturbing”
The Stillers tale-of-two-halves game left me appalled Sunday as no doubt it did you. I must say I’m perplexed; I’d thought the new infusion of speed would keep these typical later-game folds from occurring. The Brownie offense came out in the second half in a basic Pistol spread, and found easy running lanes. (Why more teams don’t just come out spreading from the start against the Stillers is beyond me.) I’m sure the Ravens were salivating watching the film.
I told my buddies the lead at 27-3 was safe, that the Brownies just weren’t built for comebacks like that. Boy was I wrong. Not about the Brownies, of course, but forgetting that this was the Stillers D trying to hold a lead.
Speaking of disturbing, was it me, or did the vaunted no-huddle seem a no-show Sunday? I don’t recall seeing much of it, especially in the second half which the offense spent mostly handing off inside. A single TD ends the game regardless of what the opponent does. Obviously the Stillers were more interested in killing clock than killing their opponents’ chances of winning.
Game Key
Flacco’s lame 71 passer rating Sunday pretty much matches his mark from 2013. Make him remain the focal point, and the Stillers should leave Baltimore with a win. Allow the Ravens to run like Cleveland did in the second half, and you’re probably looking at 1-1. Above all, -- and I’m sick of saying this before every Ravens game -- watch the deep right side for passes, where Flacco loves to go.
I thought Shazier did a nice job finishing with 6 total tackles, two of which came off good backfield penetration. He missed making a pick, but unlike, say, Jarvis Jones, has the rookie excuse. Jones picked up a sack, but failed to look anywhere near the dominant player he’s cracked up to be. Nor did Jason “I Looked Like Butkus in the Preseason” Worilds. The Stillers D cannot succeed without mean nasty edge LB play. I think it’s cool James Harrison retired a Stiller – I sometimes wish he didn’t have to retire at all.
Markus Wheaton, the man I believe controls the fate of the offense, started out of the gate nicely with 6 catches including a nice grab off a deep sideline lob. As defenses scheme to take away Brown, Wheaton will have the chance to make some big plays. Should he deliver, so will the Stillers offense.
Shout-out to Golden, who looked golden in the pre-season, for making the special teams play of the regular season. Wonder what his passer rating is?
Summary: The Stillers should take care of business against a highly distracted Ravens squad. Unfortunately, the defense looks like the same unit that’s been getting torched against spread sets for the last several years. Even Average Joe can burn you if you’re going to get all soft and cushiony. If LeBeau won’t get aggressive, then Haley needs to pick up the slack – no going into shells once you get the lead. A nice blend of Bell, Brown and Wheaton out of the no-huddle should do the trick.
The Ravens no longer have Rice. What they have is some guy named Justin Forsett, meaning there’s no excuse for giving up another 100 yards on the ground. Nor is there any for once again allowing Jacoby Jones to bail out Flacco with a big kick return. Keep Jones from doing that, and the chances look a lot better for taking this one.