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Baltimore Ravens eliminated: Five Things We Learned
Cold, Hard Football Facts for January 22, 2012
By Jonathan Comey
Cold, Hard Football Facts Raven Quother
1. Joe Flacco had to be perfect, and he wasn’t.
Did Flacco have a decent day? Sure. He finished with a 95.4 rating and made some nice plays with his legs. But when the Ravens had chances to put the game away, he came up small.
In the first quarter, he had Ray Rice wide open for a touchdown on a third-and-goal, but instead went to Anquan Boldin short of the marker. End result? 20-yard field goal. They could have used those four points.
Then, in the second quarter, he had Torrey Smith wide open behind the Patriots defense. He cocked, threw … and overshot Smith by five yards (coincidentally, the distance between Smith and the nearest Patriot DB). They could have used those seven points.
In the third quarter, after a Danny Woodhead fumble, Flacco missed on a pass from the 11 to Kris Wilson that likely would have resulted in a touchdown. The end result? Another Cundiff field goal. They could have used those extra four points. And his fourth quarter interception should have meant the end of the game, were it not for an equally poor decision by Brady on the next play (a deep interception).
Flacco came into the game with a reputation for not having that special something, and he did little to shake that tag.
2. Baltimore’s Offensive Hogs didn’t get it done.
The Ravens had our No. 2 ranked Offensive Hogs this year, but on Sunday they didn’t win the battles against the Patriots’ No. 25 Defensive Hogs.
It should have been a mismatch, but it wasn’t by any measure.
The Ravens allowed four Negative Pass Plays in 40 dropbacks, a 10.0 percent mark higher than their season average of 7.8. They did go 9-for-17 on third downs, but much of that was thanks to Flacco’s pocket presence. And they only managed 3.7 yards a carry, getting off to a seven-carry, seven-yard first quarter.
When you hold the ball for 33:33 and win the turnover battle 3-1, you should pretty much figure on winning the game. But losing the battle in the trenches cost the Ravens … although not as much as the errant right leg of Billy Cundiff.
3. The elevator ride was tense.
As it turns out, your humble correspondent was alone in the back of the media elevator when the entire Ravens leadership group came in – ownership, front office, even baseball legend Cal Ripken.
You could legitimately feel the anger shimmering off this group – keep in mind, this was probably two minutes after Cundiff’s missed field goal – and why not?
Baltimore has put together a championship team with a legitimate chance to go to the big game four years running, and four years running they’ve had to watch
someone else represent the AFC.
Ray Lewis and Ed Reed could both be considering retirement, Terrell Suggs will turn 30 in the fall, and Flacco’s plateauing has to be a concern for everyone involved. If they couldn’t win it during a down year for the AFC, will they have a better shot again?
There’s little doubt that the Ravens will continue to field competitive teams – they haven’t suffered through any consistent down periods since the 2000 Super Bowl run, and GM Ozzie Newsome is one of the best in the business.
But the sight of the great Hall of Famer, head down, shaking it ever so slightly from side to side, suggests that it’s going to be a long January for everyone in that organization.
4. 20-yard field goals don’t get it done.
The field goal that Billy Cundiff missed at game’s end was obviously the final difference in the game, but coach John Harbaugh probably deserves some heat for opting for a 20-yard field goal in the first quarter with his team down 3-0 and facing fourth and an inch.
A failed try, and the Ravens have the Patriots backed up in their own end against a furious Baltimore defense. A converted try and the Ravens probably score a touchdown, cause doubt in what was then a fired-up New England defense, and take a 7-3 lead.
Instead, Harbaugh played it safe and kicked the field goal, and in the end they lost by three points.
The Ravens play conservative ball and are proud of it, but on the road, against an explosive offense, sometimes you need to be a little more aggressive. It’s one of many things that will surely be haunting Baltimore for the forseeable future.
5. Wait, the Ravens lost?
It’s hard to look at the final stats and imagine that the Ravens actually failed to win the game.
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Total yards: Baltimore 398, New England 330
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Third down conversions: Baltimore 53 percent, New England 45 percent
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Turnovers: New England 3, Baltimore 1
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Yards per rush: Baltimore 3.7, New England 3.1
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Yards per pass: Baltimore 7.8, New England 6.5
And yet, thanks to a missed field goal, missed opportunities, and a general sense of being born under a bad sign, Baltimore didn’t win the game.
If there’s one thing this team needs, it’s clearly to boost their big-game offense. They have yet to hit the 400-yard mark in offense in eight tries under Harbaugh, and couldn’t even quite do it against a New England team that gives that up every week.
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