Ravens Week 12 Recap: A Wild Win In Cleveland
Is that a win streak I smell? I think it is!
I’ve tried my best to do this whole tank thing. I really have. I’ve tried to chew it up and swallow and but I just can’t seem to digest it. I just like winning football games too much. Coach Harbs gave one of those pregame interviews where his eyes lit up talking about football and playing with heart and it struck a chord with me. I don’t have the spine to root against the Ravens, as much as I’ve tried. I’ll happily embrace losses as a great silver lining for that draft pick, but I just can’t root for the Ravens to lose. Last night’s finish was one of those games that reminds you of why you’re a fan, even if it was a disgustingly ugly football game. Some notes on what I saw out there:
– Matt Schaub is who we thought he was. He made some of the throws that Cleveland gave to him and not much more, and made a few exceptionally bad throws that should’ve lost the Ravens the game. The pick-6 was just astoundingly terrible.
It was so terrible that it was a sure interception whether Dansby was there or not. The corner behind him was actually heated that Dansby stole his pick. And then Schaub had two opportunities to run the 2 minute drill and win the game, and went 3-and-out and threw an awful pick too. Matt Schaub is going to get eaten alive if he’s still QB against Seattle and Kansas City in a couple weeks. He can’t be the backup next year, and I’m not opposed at giving Jimmy Clausen a whirl at some point. We’re not looking for a franchise QB, just a guy who can manage games next year in case Flacco doesn’t make it back for Week 1 or gets hurt again.
– Buck Allen and Terrance West both looked solid, but not overly impressive given that the Browns’ run D is the worst in the league. I would’ve really liked to have seen Trestman run the ball more and get those guys into a rhythm, but that’s what you get with Trestman. The guy had the ball at his own 1 foot line and threw 3 times against a D that showed no ability to stop us on the ground. Ridiculous. But I digress. Each of those two guys showed flashes, which is an encouraging sign.
– Hellooooooooo Kaelin Clay! Maybe we’ve finally found our guy in the return game. What I liked best is that on every punt return he had, he didn’t try to get cute. Got right down to business and got downfield. Easy to fall in love with a guy when he houses one, but I liked the fact that he took what the coverage gave him on his other returns. It’s okay sometimes to just secure the ball, plunge forward, and take the 7 yards. Jim Leonhard was great at that in his couple of seasons here in Baltimore and was beloved for it. Maybe Clay can be that sure-handed guy for us.
– Shareece Wright actually played a really great game in the secondary. Ozzie has brought in a boatload of corners the past couple of years, and Wright is one of the more experienced. It’s a nice change of pace to see one actually seize the opportunity and win a job. Problem is, every time one seems to emerge, he ends up with a season-ending injury. Praying for Shareece Wright’s ligaments.
– The Browns are so bad they can’t even hit an open mascot smh
– Kamar Aiken continues to handle the WR1 duties admirably. Or at least as well as you could hope for. He was never going to light the world on fire, but at least he’s holding his own. 6 catches, 80 yards, and a TD is a nice performance. He’ll be a nice complementary WR in the future.
– Justin Tucker killed a man last night.
– Tip of the cap to Brent Urban for coming through in a big way in his debut. He was advertised as a 6’7″ behemoth who could get his mitts on some passes and kicks, and he didn’t disappoint.
Pretty special moment for the kid to experience his NFL debut on MNF, and come out the hero. You could see what it meant to him in the postgame interview:
Kid was glowing. Hope to see a lot more of that moving forward.
– Still awesome
Which begs the question:
So 4-7 it is. Technically 2 games out of a playoff spot, but there’s about 80 teams knotted at 6-5, so don’t get your hopes up. The Ravens were outgained, lost the turnover battle 2-0, and had to score 2 special teams TD’s to win that football game. The Ravens are still decimated and just don’t have what it takes to overcome that hole. But things are looking up for 2016, and they gave us plenty of hope last night.