So how did last night’s Ravens-Redskins game measure up in terms of the 5 “keys” to success in ’08:
1. Joe Flacco: The stats say this was a step back for the rookie QB: 10 of 21 for 134 yards, and 1 interception on an unnecessarily risky throw into triple coverage. (John Madden had just pointed out that with a 17 point lead, there was no need for the Ravens to “open up” their passing game --- don't you listen to Madden, Joe? Irony watch, part 2: How many times did NBC flash that note about the Ravens defense not allowing a TD in X number of quarters? One Jason Campbell TD pass later …)
Flacco started the game with a perfect strike to Derrick Mason for 26 yards. He then threw 6 straight incompletions before connecting with Todd Heap for 30 yards. The pass was dropped nicely between the linebacker and the DB, but there was a bit too much air under it, and Heap made a terrific adjustment on the ball, otherwise it would’ve been incompletion number 7. Similarly, Flacco’s game-icing TD pass owed more to a terrific individual effort by Mason than to Flacco’s underthrown pass.
And yet, why am I not worried? (Yet … talk to me again after the Steelers and Cowboys thrown open their defensive playbooks the next two weeks.) For one, the Redskins secondary is probably the team’s greatest strength. (It’s certainly its deepest.) But also, as Madden repeatedly pointed out, the Redskins threw us a nice little curveball last night. According to Madden, Flacco and his receivers had spent all week preparing to face man coverage, and they were caught off guard by the amount of zone Washington played. If there’s one thing we can say for sure about Flacco, it’s that he’s a quick study, and I’d be surprised if the passing attack is unprepared for zone coverage again this year.
The bottom line is that Flacco and the offense cashed in on a short field to start the game. That TD (coupled with Ed Reed’s fumble recovery/return 3 minutes later) put the Redskins in a hole from which they were simply unequipped to escape. He’ll have to play better for this team to do anything in the playoffs (and lest we forget, making the playoffs is hardly a foregone conclusion), but as learning opportunities go, last night’s was a good one.
2. Wide receivers: When you only complete 10 passes, chances are your wide-outs didn’t put up impressive numbers. Mason and Heap made two of their best catches all year, but as I've said before, the key to this key is Mark Clayton. He was covered well all night — Flacco did throw to him 6 times, completing 2 passes for 19 yards (including a third down conversion on the field goal drive), but he was unable to connect for anything big. After last week’s rout of the Bengals, that’s disappointing, but we’ll give Clayton a mulligan (again, Washington has a terrific secondary) and hope that he bounces back next week. (I know, Pittsburgh has the No. 1 pass defense, but hope springs eternal when your team is 9-4 in December.)
3. Offensive line: Ah, now this is more like it. No sacks. Hustle from start to finish. (Was that Jared Gaither some 15 yards downfield to recover Le'Ron McClain’s fumble-that-wasn’t?) And of course, those 11 consecutive 4th quarter runs, when every single person in the stadium knew they were coming. The line will need to do it all over again next week (and the following one) to have a chance, but they've played well all year, they're starting to get healthy, and I think they're up for it.
4. Discipline: The Redskins aren’t really rivals—not to the players, at least. Next week against Pittsburgh will provide a much more legitimate test of this team’s ability to control the emotions without sacrificing intensity. Still, the Ravens pounded a desperate opponent on national television and didn’t embarrass themselves with personal fouls or showboating. 4 penalties for 35 yards isn’t great, but neither is it cause for concern … though they did negate a few decent punt returns by Jim Leonhard. (Speaking of Leonhard, has there a better under-the-radar pickup all year? Throw in Lorenzo Neal, Willie Anderson, and a draft already paying major dividends, and Ozzie Newsome had as good an offseason as any GM in the league.) Leonhard may not be a flashy returner, but he does one thing that Yamon Figurs should take note of—he catches the ball and heads straight upfield. Right now, Figurs just doesn’t have the instincts or the speed (due to injuries, we can only hope) to dance around as much as he does.
5. Coaching: Hard to quibble with a defense that seems driven to prove that Giants game never happened, or an offense that shook off two turnovers to close out the game with an 8-minute TD drive. Special teams were solid --- punt coverage has actually been very good this year (currently 5th in the league, with opponents averaging 6.7 yards/return), and for once I didn't feel the need to close my eyes on every kick return. In a week that saw the team rally around a mini-controversy (really, it was comical) concerning Mike Preston's "some of the vets aren't buying in" article, the Ravens once again showed up on Sunday focused and confident. The result was another dominant win. Bring on the Steelers indeed.
