Brent Englar's Baltimore Ravens fan blog

At the beginning of the year, I said that there were five areas in which the team needed to improve if we were to rate Year 1 of the John Harbaugh era a success. Obviously, you don't go from 5-11 to the AFC Championship game without improvements across the board. But looking back, I still say it's those five areas that were key --- or at the very least, they are the keys to building on this year's success, rather than sliding back yet again to mediocrity. These 5 areas are, in no particular order:

1. The establishment of a franchise QB, specifically Joe Flacco

2. The development of a reliable receiving corps

3. The development of a solid offensive line

4. The (re)establishment of discipline and a team-centered locker room

5. The validation of John Harbaugh and his coaching staff as the right men for the job

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers Post-Game Thoughts: AFC Championship, part II"

So this is how it ends. My own view seems to be shared by the majority in Ravensland: This was an amazing season, one nobody saw coming, and a loss in the AFC Championship game, while disappointing, represents---to echo Coach Harbaugh---a beginning rather than an end. For really, that's the key---that next season, and the season after, and many seasons to come, finds us right back in the playoffs. Because once you're inside, it's anyone's guess who survives the free-for-all and winds up in the Super Bowl. So much of what makes football these days simultaneously fascinating and maddening is the continual rising and falling of contenders. The Ravens have been no exception---in the playoffs one year, out the next ... it's a perpetual seesaw for all but those few teams that can rightly count themselves among the league's elite, with the Patriots and Colts at the top, and the Eagles, Steelers, Chargers, and Seahawks forming a slightly lesser tier.

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers Post-Game Thoughts: AFC Championship, part I"

Analysis of Saturday's Ravens-Titans game:

1. Joe Flacco: Flacco barely improved on his mediocre numbers from the Miami game: from 9 of 23 for 135 yards to 11 of 22 for 161 yards. However, he made two beautiful, absolutely clutch throws: the 48-yard TD bomb to Derrick Mason on 3rd-and-13, and the 23-yard completion to Todd Heap to convert a 3rd-and-2. The first throw tied the game at 7 all, answered Tennessee's TD drive, and gave us our first real sparks of life after consecutive 3-and-outs to open the game. The second throw kept alive the drive that culminated in Matt Stover's game-winning field goal with 57 seconds remaining.

I feel like I've been saying this every week since the Giants game, but we'll need more from the rookie to knock off PIttsburgh ... On the other hand, through two playoff games, Flacco has thrown no interceptions, lost no fumbles, and he hasn't been sacked. His two counterparts, the veterans Chad Pennington and Kerry Collins, combined for 5 interceptions, 2 fumbles, and 4 sacks. That kind of disparity in mistakes on Sunday---and Ben Roethlisberger has been known to make a mistake or two himself---will need to continue.

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens-Tennessee Titans post-game thoughts, part II"

By halftime of Saturday's Ravens-Titans game, the sense of Deja Vu was too strong to ignore. Was it 2009 or 2001?  Either way, the result was the same: a divisional round upset of a 13-3 Titans squad that completely dominated us on paper yet couldn't translate its offensive output into points. On Saturday, Tennessee passed for over 100 more yards, ran for over 60 more yards, racked up twice as many 1st downs, held the ball for nearly 10 more minutes ... and lost by 3 points. And that's not even the crazy game: In 2001, Tennessee held nearly identical advantages in passing and rushing yards, gained nearly four times as many 1st downs, held the ball for over 20 more minutes ... and lost by 14 points.

Of course, if this truly is 2001 redux, and the Ravens are Tampa-bound once more, that makes this year's Pittsburgh Steelers the 2001 Oakland Raiders. Those Raiders had the league's number 6 offense (including the top rushing attack) but a merely average defense. Those Ravens were simply too fast and too physical for Oakland, a comparison that hardly applies to this year's Steelers. The 2009 AFC title game will be as hard-hitting as any game all year---not exactly welcome news for a Ravens team that will be playing its 18th consecutive week of football.

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens-Tennessee Titans post-game thoughts, part I"

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.

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens-Miami Dolphins post-game thoughts, part II"

I'm not sure how much to take from a game that was basically handed to us during a stunning 22-minute stretch, when a Dolphins team that tied a league record for fewest turnovers in a season self-imploded. Miami turned the ball over 5 times during those 22 minutes (including 4 picks, most of them gift-wrapped by a QB who'd thrown only 7 in the previous 16 games), and a 3-3 nail-biter became a 20-3 laugher.

I'm hearing a lot of talk on the local airwaves about how we dominated this game. Certainly the final score says we did, as do the final rushing totals: for Miami, 52 yards on 21 rushes (2.5 yards/carry); for us, 151 yards on 33 rushes (4.6 yards/carry). Yet for all that, the Dolphins held the ball for nearly 7 more minutes. The imbalance in time of possession (combined, no doubt, with the Miami humidity) began to show by the final period, when our defense seemed to wear down chasing the Dolphins' short-passing game and our offense logged consecutive 3-and-outs.

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens-Miami Dolphins post-game thoughts, part I"

(Home team in ALL CAPS)

 Conference Championships

Atlanta over NY GIANTS (Sorry, New York, but there are larger forces at work here. The inspired Falcons soar to one of the most impossible-to-believe Super Bowls ever.)

Baltimore over PITTSBURGH (Accuse me of being a homer all you want, but you can't tell me the Ravens didn't outplay the Steelers for most of those two heartbreakers. Third time's the charm, as we finally close the deal.)

Super Bowl

Baltimore over ATLANTA (Joe Flacco didn't win Rookie of the Year, and John Harbaugh won't win Coach of the Year, but none of that will matter when they lift that Lombardi trophy in the air. I hear you scoffing out there. Well, but answer me this: In this craziest of seasons, when practically nothing has held to form, do you really think the football gods will give us Colts-Giants?)

Continue reading "One Baltimore fan's totally biased playoff predictions: Conference Championships and Super Bowl"

(Home teams in ALL CAPS)

Baltimore over TENNESSEE (Okay, this one's a bit more of a homer pick. But we did nearly beat the Titans in Week 5, and after treating the season closer like an exhibition, Tennessee will have gone 3 weeks between meaningful games. There should be some rust to exploit, and if we can score a TD or two early, it will be tough for that ball-control Titans offense to play catch up.)

Atlanta over CAROLINA (The last time the Falcons played the Panthers, the final score was 45-28 in favor of the Birds. I could try to justify this pick further, but the truth is I'm holding out hope for an all-rookie Super Bowl, and that means Matty Ice and company must keep moving forward.)

NY GIANTS over Philadelphia (I can justify the Eagles over the Vikings, but not over the reigning Super Bowl champs. The Meadowlands in January and that ferocious Giants pass rush add up to a long day for Andy Reid's pass-wacky offense. That plus a rested Brandon Jacobs equals win number 13 for the G-Men.)

Continue reading "One Baltimore fan's totally biased playoff predictions: Divisional Weekend"

(Home teams in ALL CAPS) 

Atlanta over ARIZONA (The Cardinals went 6-0 in the awful NFC West, and 3-7 everywhere else. Since its Week 7 bye, Arizona has not beaten a non-divisional opponent, losing 5 games by an average of 20 points. I'd take just about any team over the Cardinals, and definitely an 11-5 Falcons team that went 8-2 outside the division.)

SAN DIEGO over Indianapolis (One home team has to win on Wild Card Weekend. Give me the hot Chargers,  the only AFC team that can match the red hot Colts score for score. Besides, someone's got to clear the Colts out of the picture before they have a chance to throttle the Ravens once again.)

Baltimore over MIAMI (In truth, this isn't a homer pick. We've already beaten the Dolphins convincingly in Miami. They may have improved since then, but so have we. Give me Ray Lewis against the Wildcat, Ed Reed against Chad Pennington, and Joe Flacco against that 25th-ranked pass defense.)

Continue reading "One Baltimore fan's totally biased playoff predictions: Wild Card Weekend"

I don't know how much there is to say about yesterday's rout of an undermanned Jacksonville team (I think even the '04 Ravens had better receivers). After a somewhat shaky start, for all practical purposes we put this game out of reach with a picture-perfect, 21-point 2nd quarter. By halftime, I was more interested in the Jets-Dolphins scoreboard than in anything taking place at M&T Bank Stadium.

There is much that I'd like to say about this season---both what we have seen through 16 games and what we can expect to see throughout the playoffs (whether they consist of 1 game or 4). Unfortunately, I have very little time this week---hopefully I'll find some time before next Sunday's kickoff in Miami, but for now I shall confine my analysis to what we saw against the Jags.

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens-Jacksonville Jaguars post-game thoughts"