Baltimore Ravens-Miami Dolphins post-game thoughts, part II

Analyzing Sunday's Ravens-Dolphins game:

1. Joe Flacco: The rookie posted his lowest completion percentage of the season (9 completions in 23 attempts, or 39.1%). He threw for only 135 yards, and missed on at least 3 bombs to receivers open downfield (though he would have had a TD pass if Todd Heap had held onto a catchable ball in the end zone). Still, on a day when his counterpart in teal threw 4 interceptions and took some vicious hits, Flacco made smart decisions, converted several third downs on both TD drives, and ran a perfect QB keeper up the middle for the icing score. In short, nothing special—most likely nothing that will get it done against the Titans or Steelers—but he gave his team enough to walk away with the win. The first win ever for a rookie QB making his playoff debut on the road, by the way. Not even Ben Roethlisberger can say that.

2. Wide Receivers: Derrick Mason had his usual solid game, catching 4 balls for 71 yards. The numbers will suggest that Mark Clayton had a disappointing afternoon, with only 2 catches for 16 yards; however, he was open deep at least three times, and each time Flacco overthrew him. Todd Heap can’t blame Flacco for dropping that ball in the end zone, though. Marcus Smith played but didn’t see a pass thrown his way.

3. O-Line: We rushed for 4.6 yards/carry and 2 perfectly blocked TDs, and Flacco wasn’t sacked. Jared Gaither picked up where J.O. left off, rendering Joey Porter and his 17.5 sacks virtually invisible. This group continues to show up each week and quietly, effectively go about its business.

4. Discipline: 7 penalties for 59 yards, including a late hit called against (who else?) Frank Walker. Considering how poorly he played in preseason, Walker’s been surprisingly effective this year, but if he’s with us in '09, I’ll be shocked. Otherwise, a couple of defensive pass interference penalties contributed to the Dolphins’ lone TD. The only particularly egregious lapse on offense came early in the 2^nd quarter, when a false start followed by a wasted timeout (back after a brief hiatus, it seems) bogged down a promising drive.

The real test will come next week against the Titans. In Week 5 we combined with Tennessee to commit 21 penalties, including, of course, that very questionable roughing the passer that gave Kerry Collins new life. Suffice it to say, these two teams do not like each other, even after all these years---the playoff history on both sides includes big wins on the other’s home turf---and I’m sure that controlling emotions will be a major focal point for both coaching staffs this week.

5. Coaching: It remains to be determined whether this year’s 4^th-quarter defensive collapses and near collapses are primarily due to the players wearing down or to Rex Ryan adopting uncharacteristically passive schemes. Both seemed to be the case in the 2^nd half against Miami, and the Titans will no doubt spend a lot of practice time prepping their short passing game. If Ryan can’t figure out how to stop it for 4 quarters, this magical season might come to a disappointing end. (HINT to the DBs: Better tackling might help.)

On offense, the game plan against Miami was a nice mix of runs and short, medium, and long passes, and it will be interesting to see on Saturday how much Cam Cameron’s trust in Flacco has increased since Week 5. Will we run, run, run as before, anticipating a low-scoring slugfest? Or will we continue to go after the deep ball? Against Miami, Cameron kept firing downfield even with a big lead. The O-Line didn't allow a sack against the Titans in week 5, and Flacco has certainly improved --- I say we empty the playbook if that's what it takes to secure a win.

Finally, special teams continues to be a major strength down the stretch. It appears that Yamon Figurs has lost both return jobs, and if Tom Zbikowski can keep getting 30 yards per kickoff return, no one will miss him.