Ravens lose in Seattle; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

With apparently no lessons learned from the loss in Jacksonville, the Baltimore Ravens lost 22-17 today in the Emerald City. Playing a Seattle Seahawks team which entered the game 2-6, and had been outscored by opposing teams 185-122; the Ravens got down early and quickly abandoned their game plan.

As great as the win in Pittsburgh was last week, it only means so much when you have multiple losses to the dregs of the league.

The Good:

1) Nice play from Webb, jumping the pass rout on 3rd and 4 for Seattle, on the Seahawks opening possession. Webb would later make a good play in the end-zone, preventing a Seattle TD.

2) On the Ravens first series, Smith took an end around for 16 yards. This was followed by an end around the other way from D. Reed for another 16 yards.

3) Maybe we will look back on today, as the day Ed Dickson really emerged as a weapon in the Baltimore offense. The Ravens got back into the game with a 5 minute, 12 play, 66 yard drive with Dickson catching a 1 yard pass from Rice for the TD. During that drive, Dickson had 6 catches for 49 yards. The 2nd Dickson TD was a beautiful throw and catch from Flacco to the TE. Dickson finished the day with 10 catches for 79 yards, and the 2 TD’s.
3a) Pitta also contributed, finishing with 4 catches, and 49 yards of his own.

4) After the Flacco INT to start the 2nd half, the Ravens defense was able to limit the damage, and hold Seattle to a FG. Paul Kruger added a sack on 3rd down, his 5th of the year.

5) Jackson under-threw the ball, but Williams made a nice play on the attempted bomb to S. Rice in the 3rd.

6) Beginning on their own 18 yard line, the Ravens had a 12 play, 65 yard, 5 minute drive which resulted in a FG near the end of the 3rd Quarter.

7) The Ravens Special Teams did their job in the 4th, with a good punt from Koch and a strong play from the coverage team to pin Seattle within their 5 yard line.

8) Even if Flacco had not picked up the yardage (or without the benefit of the Seattle penalty) I still would have thought it was the right decision for the Baltimore offense to go for it on 4th and 5 to go in the 4th.

9) Rice was not given the chance to do anything on the ground (5 rushing attempts), but he did have 8 receptions for 54 yards.

The Bad:

1) After advancing to the Seattle 34, the Ravens first drive would stall. Facing 3rd and 7, Flacco attempted a drop off to Rice, which gained just 2 yards. Cundiff would miss a FG from 50 yards out.
1a) Cundiff would miss a 2nd FG attempt (from 52 yards) to end the half. I’m thinking there is little reason to have Cundiff attempt another 50 yard FG this year.

2) On the 2nd Seattle series, the Seahawks would go 60 yards over 6 plays, grabbing the 7-0 lead. The big play was a 21 yard reception from Lynch. The Ravens brought a pass rush, and nobody picked-up the Seattle RB out of the backfield. Lynch was sitting all by himself, and was able to put the Seahawks offense in good position.

3) Flacco missed Smith deep, on what should have been a big gainer down the field. This has become a bit of a pattern in recent weeks. On the Ravens initial scoring drive, he could have been picked off in the end zone, and he also missed Pitta on 1st and Goal.

4) Following the Ravens first TD, Seattle would get some of the momentum right back with a drive resulting in a FG. The big play on that drive was Jackson and Baldwin connecting for a 50 yard gain.

5) Smith dropped a quick out which should of resulted in a 1st down. Boldin had a similar drop in the 3rd.

6) Late in the 1st half, the Ravens were unable to come up with a stop on 4th and 1 on the Baltimore 33 yard line. The Seattle drive continued and ultimately resulted in FG, giving the Seahawks a 16-7 lead.

7) Baltimore was able to get a FG near the end of the 3rd Quarter, but that FG attempt came after the offense stalled. The Ravens had a 1st and 10 at the Seattle 17. Williams would rush for no gain on 1st, and Flacco had incomplete passes on 2nd and 3rd. Aside from the blowout victories, the Ravens red zone struggles have been an issue in nearly every other game.

8) On the Ravens first possession of the 4th Quarter, Baltimore had 2nd and 4 yards to go on their 41. On 2nd down Flacco attempted to thread the needle with a very difficult slant to LaQuan Williams. On 3rd down, there was another incomplete pass to Boldin. I think there should have been two runs in that situation, with a 1st down being the priority.

9) With 5 minutes left in the game, Seattle was able to pick up 3rd and 5 from their 25 yard line. Two minutes left, the Seahawks picked up another 3rd and 5. Jarrett Johnson and Ray Lewis both had the opportunity to get Lynch short of the 1st down marker, and both whiffed. An elite defense has to be able to get the ball back to their offense in that situation.

10) I did not like Harbaugh’s challenge on the last series.

The Ugly:

1) The game in Jacksonville should have been a reminder to the Ravens, that they could lose to anyone, anywhere if they were not ready to play. In all sports it is a given, that when you face an inferior opponent, you have to stomp on their throat early, and take away their will to compete. When you let such teams strike first, you let those teams believe they have a chance. Seattle had not led at the half in any of their previous games, and had scored no more than 13 points total in their previous 3 games. Today, the Seahawks went to the half with a 19-7 lead.
1a) The other lesson that should have been learned from the Jacksonville game, is that you can not abandon your running game, just because you fall behind early. There is no defense for the Ravens finishing with 12 carries for the game.

2) Arthur Jones was called for a penalty on the Ravens FG to end the 3rd, which cost Baltimore 15 yards on the subsequent kickoff.

3) Immediately following Seattle’s initial TD, D. Reed coughed-up the Kickoff Return giving the Seahawks great field position. On another Kick Return, Reed would be penalized for taunting, moving the Ravens back towards their goal line. After the Seattle FG (which had given the Seahawks a 16-7 lead), Reed would fumble again. This time the Seahawks actually got contact on Reed, but you have to think Reed was trying to make-up for his previous errors. After taking over possession, Seattle would convert another FG with under a minute left in the half.