Another Loss for the Ravens
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by E-ROC
The Seattle Seahawks found a running game against the Baltimore Ravens. After not being able to run the football ALL season, they got healthy against one of the top run stuffing defenses in the NFL. The Ravens looked really disorganized on defense, and were sometimes not aligned correctly. That's what happens when you're missng a future HOFer. Seahawks bullied the Ravens for stretches in that game when running the football. But the defense did keep the Ravens competitive for most of the game. Derrick Martin played a very disciplined game and caught an interception. Ed Reed had one too. Haloti Ngata is probably the fastest 340lb man in the NFL. He is definitely gifted for a big man. Then there is the offense.
The Ravens will be going through the growing pains of grooming a QB for the future. Troy Smith wasn't terrible. In fact, he played extremely well for a guy who started a game for the first time in his career, and it was on the road. Smith handled himself well. One thing for sure is that Troy Smith has one of the strongest arms in the NFL. The ball comes out of his hands with ease. He threw a deep pass to Derrick Mason for a 79 yard TD. Yup, you read that correctly. Derrick Mason still has the wheels to go deep. The DB was gaining a lot of ground on Mason on that play, but it was too late. Smith would have better stats if the receivers were able to catch the ball, particularly Mark Clayton. They were dropping passes that would hit them in the chest or hands. You won't win games doing that. Troy Smith threw a couple of deep passes to Mark Clayton who was one-one with a DB, but Clayton couldn't make the play. The inability of the offense to make plays has hurt the Ravens all season long. Yesterday's game was proof of that. Willis McGahee left the game in the first half due to an injury to his ribs. The commentators said McGahee was having trouble breathing so he didn't return to the game. Mike Anderson fumbled the football which was returned for TD. He was clearly down, but the referee didn't think so. That football came really late after he was clearly down. Even without McGahee, the offense still managed to rush for over 100 yards in the game. But this game was all about the rookie QB and how he faired.
Troy Smith did make some rookie mistakes. One of the Seahawks defensive lineman knocked the football out of Smith's hands while the Ravens were in Seahawks territory. The former Heisman winner was holding the football with one hand which makes it easier to fumble. The depth that he gets when drops back to pass is too much. It puts the tackles in a tough position to pass proctect and it allows the defensive ends to just speed rush up the field on every pass play. Troy does step up in the pocket when the rush was coming from the outside, but that wouldn't even be needed if he shorten his depth when dropping back. The former Buckeye stared down a couple of receivers which can and sometimes will result in a turnover. The fumble on the handoff to Le'Ron McClain was on the FB, even though it was charged to Smith. It looked as though McClain was leaning too far forward, so there wasn't enough to fit the football into the chest of McClain. Tipped passes will always be a problem for the rookie because of his height. He'll learn to add more touch to the football in certain situations.
All of these mistakes are correctable with more repetitions and experience. Troy Smith showed a lot of poise and promise during the game. His body language was always positive throughout the game which is always a good thing. For it being his first start of his NFL career and to do it on the road, Smith played really well. The Ravens may have found their QB of the future. I know it's one game (small sample size), but he wasn't rattled at all in that game. Did some things you can't teach and has a real feel for the game. If Troy Smith is the QB of the future, the Ravens may not draft a QB next year which could result in the Ravens drafting Howie Long's son. Go Ravens!
