SP RAVENS STEELERS LAM

The Ravens season officially begins on Monday night in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Any of you out there who might be asking yourselves, “What about the last eleven games?” are kidding yourselves. Those scrimmages don’t matter. Not anymore. What matters now are the next five games.

The Ravens final opponents have a combined winning percentage of just .400 (tied for lowest in the NFL). Will that translate into easy wins and a shot to crack the playoffs? Well that all depends. The Ravens must first take on the dangerous Packers at Lambeau Field under the lights, then they must face the Lions and the Bears (oh my) before making a trip deep into the heart of darkness to face off against Pittsburgh. Finally they must hit the road a final time to play Oakland.

To make it to the Promised Land the Ravens in all likelihood have got to win out. That’s five victories in five weeks. There’s a somewhat decent chance that a 4-1 record could hoist them into a wildcard slot, but it’s unlikely.

So what do the Ravens have to do to make the magic happen for another improbable run?

The Good:

The Ravens must continue to favor a multi-faceted attack. News Flash Cam! Everyone in the world now knows your quarterback is hurt and that he ALWAYS checks down to Ray Rice. Predictability is poison. Winning out is going to take creativity and mixed packages featuring all three running backs and all four receiving targets.

The Ravens beat Pittsburgh’s defense by running Rice, McClain, and McGahee every which way but loose. It kept the Steelers guessing and it allowed the offense to control the game and gash the field with play action passes and some big gains (see Clayton’s 54 yard catch). Additionally, the Ravens beat Pittsburgh by not relying solely on Derrick Mason. Todd Heap, Kelley Washington, and Mark Clayton especially, were all targeted. Beating the likes of Green Bay and Chicago will require getting every available man in on the action.

The Bad:

The defense has got to find a way to do two things: 1.) apply pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and 2.) defend the big play. They haven’t been particularly good at either over the course of the season.

The defensive line hasn’t been doing its job in winning one-on-one matchups. Often times opposing quarterbacks have had virtually all day to move in the pocket, make decisions and release the ball. Against Pittsburgh the defensive front made Dennis Dixon look like an absolute stud. Facing an injury depleted offensive line with bigger holes than the Grand Canyon; the Ravens should have stomped all over the inexperienced young signal caller. To win out, the Ravens will need big plays from this unit, it starts with pressure.

Look we’ve been saying this all season, so it’s not anything new. The Ravens have simply got to find a way to keep from giving up the big plays. Whether it’s through improved fundamentals, improved conditioning, or even a personnel change, this team cannot win and cannot make the playoffs without finding a way to keep offenses from cashing them badly.

The Ugly:

The weakest link is Dominique Foxworth. He’s a good player with a better than average head on his shoulders, but teams have begun to zero in on him. If he’s not flat out falling down, he’s missing coverage, and more often than not he’s struggling to keep up with his targets. Foxworth was brought in to be the speedy shutdown corner this team had been coveting since C-Mac went down with a knee injury. To date he has failed to live up to that expectation. Rookie Lardarius Webb is outclassing Foxworth week in and week out.

For the Ravens to win, and win out, Foxworth will have to dig deep and find that player inside himself who we all know is there. He has the tools to get the job done, but for now, he’s killing this team.