Postgame thoughts: Miscues doom Ravens
When you have 10 penalties, turn the ball over twice and have a field goal blocked, you're probably not going to win many games.
When you're playing the defending champs and you make those mistakes, you pretty much have no shot.
That was the formula today in the Ravens' 30-10 loss to the Giants, who now sit at 9-1 on the season after the drubbing over Baltimore. In addition to the mental errors, the Ravens (now at 6-4 on the year) gave up a 77-yard run and a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown. Oh, and then there's the 207 rushing yards allowed.
When you play the Bengals, you might be able to get away with all that. Maybe. But not when you head into the Meadowlands to play the Giants. No chance.
John Harbaugh's crew did not play, as he is so fond of saying, "Ravens football". Today's performance looked more along the lines of "Raiders football".
Trailing 7-0 mid-way through the first quarter, Joe Flacco drove the offense down the field and had them set up for a 32-yard Matt Stover field goal. Possibly trying too hard to boot the kick through the heavy winds, Stover barely got the ball off the ground, and Fred Robbins broke through the line for the block.
How low was the kick? Robbins blocked it with his elbow.
Ugh.
The wind blew the ball all the way back to the Baltimore 33, setting up another New York TD.
Despite trailing 20-0 at one point, the Ravens fought their way back. Flacco cut it to 20-10 and had things moving to potentially cut it to a one-score game. Then, the dreaded turnover bug bit again.
Flacco's pass for Derrick Mason (who played a fantastic game despite dealing with the effects of a dislocated shoulder) went off Mason's helmet and was picked off by Aaron Ross. Ross took it 50 yards to the house, the comeback was squashed, and the game was pretty much over.
On another note, the penalties continue to be an issue. Nine penalties in the first half, ten overall. Last week against the Texans, the Ravens were flagged seven times in the first half.
If the Ravens want to be considered a legitimate contender, they have to cut down on the miscues. Have to. They cannot continue to see 8, 9, 10 hankies thrown at their expense per game.
This team will never get too high after a win or too low after a loss -- that's just the mentality that Harbaugh has instilled in them. They'll regroup. They'll get back out there this week in practice, and as Flacco says, "we'll get after it".
They got spanked today, and they're not done, but they need to "get after it". They face three more NFC East teams this season, as well as the Steelers, and if they want to be playing into January, they've got some work to do.
Lots of mistakes today. I did think however that Flacco played pretty well considering being down so early in the game.
Has Flacco been talked to about his non-play on the interception return for a TD? He had a shot at the four yard line to knock Ross out of bounds, but he just pulled up. He could have given the defence a chance to hold his mistake to only three points. Instead, he just gave up. The defence's lack of confidence in the offence was evident in the next weeks ill advised lateral by Reed on his return.
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Joe,
Don't think the coaches made much of a fuss about that play. While Flacco might have had a shot to knock Ross out of bounds, no one wants to see him get injured trying to make a diving tackle on a play like that.
As for the defense's confidence in the offense, I actually think it's higher now than it's been in years. You're right -- in the past, the D hasn't trusted the offense to cash in on opportunities, but from talking to defensive players, they've said that trust is there this time around. Ed Reed's boneheaded lateral was just him trying to make a play when one wasn't necessary.
-Dan