...but you will hear me give credit where credit is due. Man, those Ravens put a hurtin' on New York that the NFL won't soon forget. Baltimore put together, in the biggest game ever, what every team wishes they could do: The Three-Phase Complete Game. Everybody scored, everybody did what you expected them to do. That, Norv Turner, is what preparation is all about.
There are no flaws in the Ravens' D. Ze-ro. I was expecting to see something throughout the playoffs, but like my Dad said, "Everybody knows what the defense plans to do, and they do it anyway." Their safeties and corners make one on one tackles on running backs, their linebackers intercept passes and maul any crossing route receivers, their front four cause fumbles and get sacks. Running game? Bah. They shut down Tyrone "Whoo-Whoo!" Wheatley, Eddie "Don't hit me, Ray!" George, and Robert "0-41" Smith on their road to the Bowl. Only person who did anything against the Ravens would be...hmm...Stephen Davis. He plays for the Redskins. Who beat the Ravens. Ahem. But I digress.
I was hoping for a shutout; heck, right before the Giants ran the kickoff back, I thought "Man, New York may not score at all!" Shame there was a breakdown, otherwise you gotta say the Ravens put together the perfect game.
Now I'm sure somebody--probably Ryan "Mr. Baltimore" Palmer--will disagree with me, but I think that this is the last we'll see of Trent "Miss 'em by a mile" Dilfer as a Raven. The Giants' D was good, granted, but Ismail, Coates and Shannon "Calculate a PE Ratio" Sharpe were open pretty often throughout the game. Jason "Pretty Boy" Sehorn had one of his worst games I've seen (and I see a lot yearly against the Skins). The commentators suggested early in the 4th quarter that Dilfer might be a good MVP candidate. Uh, did they forget that WIDE OPEN reciever Dilfer missed in the first half? There was no one--nobody!--around him (Sehorn fell) and Dilfer threw it out of bounds. Way out of bounds. Yeesh. Lots of Dilfer's passes were low, some too high for the receiver to catch and run with. But he did just enough to get the Ravens over the Giants, so God bless him. Liked him testifying on the winner's stand, too!
What would've been a great Super Bowl? Rams vs. Ravens. Best offense vs. best defense. Kerry "Holding Back the Tears" Collins was overmatched and, I dare say, overconfident.
OFFENSE: B- (100+ yards rushing)
DEFENSE: A+ (I might even attend the rally on Tuesday)
Sp. TEAMS: A
COACHING: A+
There. Is that enough praise for the Ravens, Mr. Derrick "Watch One Game a Year" Claggett?
Best commercial? I liked the post-Super Bowl Jordan commercial using the Mos Def "Umi Says" song. The rest were just okay. The E*Trade commercial with the horseback monkey riding past dead dot-commers was cute. Especially liked the dead Pets.com hand puppet they showed.
Worst performance? Oy. Maybe N*Sync. Aren't they tired of singing "Bye Bye Bye?" I'd say Mary J. Blige, but you couldn't hear her mike anyway. Where was Run DMC for the 8-minute "Walk This Way" rendition? Did Britney have a tube sock on her arm? They should'a brought back Ray Charles, gave him a piano, and shut off the pyrotechnics.
By the way, I have given permission to Mrs. Jones to wear her purple and black scarf. On the condition that she announce that her husband is in no way a fan of the Ravens.
Go Skins.
Monday, January 29, 2001
Tuesday, January 09, 2001
Email Discussion w/ Speed & Big Wes
-----------From my boy Dominic---------------
Waz up PEEPS???
The Ravens still don't have much to RAVE about at this point. It seems they have to WIN IT ALL in order to get the respect they, to some degree,deserve. They still have a bit to be desired on offense. I think theywill overcome the Raiders sunday. However, regardless of who they play inthe Superbowl, I think they will be shaky because they are 1 and 4 after abye week only having beaten Arizona this season after their bye week. Thatis my real concern with them taking it all. The comforting factor is thatthis has been somewhat of a turnaround season for the Ravens so maybe alltrends are changing.
Last season, they found ways of losing games in the fourth quarter. Thisseason they found ways of not letting teams score in the 4th quarter. Theyare now able to make needed adjustments as games proceed to the 60 minutemark. Think about it, Eddie George had 87 yards at the start of the 4thquarter. He ended up with 91 yards. 91! They found a way to stop him.In addition, most if not all teams know they can not successfully runagainst the Ravens especially with the Ray "THE BEAST" Lewis around. Oncethe Ravens got up on Titans, the game became 1-dimensional. The Titans hadto resort to the passing game. To depend on the run against the Ravenswould not have been a good idea. They were able to move the ball with thepass but the Ravens were able to play some pass defense as well; just notas good as their rush defense.
I'm looking forward to the game next week. It should be a good one.
On a side note! Prepare yourselves'. I'm having a house built up here inRandallstown. It should be done in the May/June time frame. I'm gonnaneed some movers at that time. It shouldn't be much to move because Idon't really have any furniture now so most of it will be delivered to thehouse shortly after I move in. I'll keep you abreast of the details as Ilearn more....
Peace Out and GO RAVENS!!!!!
DMAN
--------------From by boy Wes------------------
How about dem' Ravens!!? Talking about finding ways to win. Who woulda'thunk it that you could put 24 points on the board and score only 1offensive touchdown? Special teams had more yards than the offense. Theoffense produced 6 first downs in the game. The offense had like 158yards of total offense. The defense is like awesome. They held EddieGeorge to under 100 yards (like 93) for the third straight time. Great winfor the Ravens. Yet . . . . .
They get to face the Raiders who love to pass. The passing may be thekiller for them. Baltimore has shown flashes of brilliance in the past byputting up some good numbers on the board. They will need to have one ofthose kinda' games against the Raiders. And should they get past theRaiders, they will want to face NY Giants over Minnesota. I personallywould love to see the Giants and the Ravens, for I feel the Ravens D wouldstop the NYG offense. Minnesota and their passing tandem will be touch todefend and keep in check.
But that's why they play the game.
On a smaller note, why was the channel 7 commentator last night trying toget some plugs for the Redskins. Speaking about the Philadelphia Eaglesand the NYGiants, he was plugging "And the Eagles and the Giants . . . . .2 teams the Skins beat, . . . . . . . ." Yet, he neglected to mentionhow these 2 teams are in the playoffs and the Skins weren't!! Punk!!
Oh well, hope all had a good Holiday season and all. And Speed, I foundthe pictures and the CDs from the wedding (I had the pics placed onCDs). I will filter them out slowly but surely over the next week or 2.
Peace and Happiness,
Wes
------------------
I gotta agree with you, Speed, that Ray "Not Guilty" Lewis is an absolute beast. Reminds me of the old-school 70s and 80s defensemen who were everywhere on the field knocking people silly. The commentators mentioned his name in like 75% of the defensive plays because he was either making a tackle or getting a hit on somebody. I dunno what the Ravens' D would be like without him. Steve McNair looked like he had nothing left in the 4th. His passes were short, long, and incomplete. Ray's hit on him was almost as good as LaVar Arrington's on Aikman.
The Ravens offense? Eww. (FIVE passes?!? "It's PLAYOFF TIME!!! Show me somethin'!") They're gonna have to bring a lil' more thunder against Oakland--who ain't to proud to run the score up on you. Even the best D cracks at some point, and that Dilfer offense will have to step up. Happened to the Skins against Dallas. They Ravens can run a little, but their passing game looks bizarre. If I were Oakland, I'd lower the boom with blitzes every down for the first half. Dilfer isn't mobile, and this will force him to find the hot read quickly. The Raiders' corners are good enough to go one on one if they take the chance. Dilfer'll be on the sidelines with smelling salts by 4:00 in the second quarter.
I was bored watching NY/PHI. Since they're in the East, I watch 'em half the #$@# season. Neither of them looked all that potent. How in the world did the Eagles get this far with that offense?!? The Giants' D is good, yes, but the Eagles looked so inept I even wished the Ain'ts--I mean, Saints--were playing. At least they looked like they had a fighting chance.
All of Baltimore is abuzz with dem Ravens. Their D definitely gets respect, as does their special teams. The offense hasn't earned much respect. (Remember October's touchdown drought?)
Go Skins.
Waz up PEEPS???
The Ravens still don't have much to RAVE about at this point. It seems they have to WIN IT ALL in order to get the respect they, to some degree,deserve. They still have a bit to be desired on offense. I think theywill overcome the Raiders sunday. However, regardless of who they play inthe Superbowl, I think they will be shaky because they are 1 and 4 after abye week only having beaten Arizona this season after their bye week. Thatis my real concern with them taking it all. The comforting factor is thatthis has been somewhat of a turnaround season for the Ravens so maybe alltrends are changing.
Last season, they found ways of losing games in the fourth quarter. Thisseason they found ways of not letting teams score in the 4th quarter. Theyare now able to make needed adjustments as games proceed to the 60 minutemark. Think about it, Eddie George had 87 yards at the start of the 4thquarter. He ended up with 91 yards. 91! They found a way to stop him.In addition, most if not all teams know they can not successfully runagainst the Ravens especially with the Ray "THE BEAST" Lewis around. Oncethe Ravens got up on Titans, the game became 1-dimensional. The Titans hadto resort to the passing game. To depend on the run against the Ravenswould not have been a good idea. They were able to move the ball with thepass but the Ravens were able to play some pass defense as well; just notas good as their rush defense.
I'm looking forward to the game next week. It should be a good one.
On a side note! Prepare yourselves'. I'm having a house built up here inRandallstown. It should be done in the May/June time frame. I'm gonnaneed some movers at that time. It shouldn't be much to move because Idon't really have any furniture now so most of it will be delivered to thehouse shortly after I move in. I'll keep you abreast of the details as Ilearn more....
Peace Out and GO RAVENS!!!!!
DMAN
--------------From by boy Wes------------------
How about dem' Ravens!!? Talking about finding ways to win. Who woulda'thunk it that you could put 24 points on the board and score only 1offensive touchdown? Special teams had more yards than the offense. Theoffense produced 6 first downs in the game. The offense had like 158yards of total offense. The defense is like awesome. They held EddieGeorge to under 100 yards (like 93) for the third straight time. Great winfor the Ravens. Yet . . . . .
They get to face the Raiders who love to pass. The passing may be thekiller for them. Baltimore has shown flashes of brilliance in the past byputting up some good numbers on the board. They will need to have one ofthose kinda' games against the Raiders. And should they get past theRaiders, they will want to face NY Giants over Minnesota. I personallywould love to see the Giants and the Ravens, for I feel the Ravens D wouldstop the NYG offense. Minnesota and their passing tandem will be touch todefend and keep in check.
But that's why they play the game.
On a smaller note, why was the channel 7 commentator last night trying toget some plugs for the Redskins. Speaking about the Philadelphia Eaglesand the NYGiants, he was plugging "And the Eagles and the Giants . . . . .2 teams the Skins beat, . . . . . . . ." Yet, he neglected to mentionhow these 2 teams are in the playoffs and the Skins weren't!! Punk!!
Oh well, hope all had a good Holiday season and all. And Speed, I foundthe pictures and the CDs from the wedding (I had the pics placed onCDs). I will filter them out slowly but surely over the next week or 2.
Peace and Happiness,
Wes
------------------
I gotta agree with you, Speed, that Ray "Not Guilty" Lewis is an absolute beast. Reminds me of the old-school 70s and 80s defensemen who were everywhere on the field knocking people silly. The commentators mentioned his name in like 75% of the defensive plays because he was either making a tackle or getting a hit on somebody. I dunno what the Ravens' D would be like without him. Steve McNair looked like he had nothing left in the 4th. His passes were short, long, and incomplete. Ray's hit on him was almost as good as LaVar Arrington's on Aikman.
The Ravens offense? Eww. (FIVE passes?!? "It's PLAYOFF TIME!!! Show me somethin'!") They're gonna have to bring a lil' more thunder against Oakland--who ain't to proud to run the score up on you. Even the best D cracks at some point, and that Dilfer offense will have to step up. Happened to the Skins against Dallas. They Ravens can run a little, but their passing game looks bizarre. If I were Oakland, I'd lower the boom with blitzes every down for the first half. Dilfer isn't mobile, and this will force him to find the hot read quickly. The Raiders' corners are good enough to go one on one if they take the chance. Dilfer'll be on the sidelines with smelling salts by 4:00 in the second quarter.
I was bored watching NY/PHI. Since they're in the East, I watch 'em half the #$@# season. Neither of them looked all that potent. How in the world did the Eagles get this far with that offense?!? The Giants' D is good, yes, but the Eagles looked so inept I even wished the Ain'ts--I mean, Saints--were playing. At least they looked like they had a fighting chance.
All of Baltimore is abuzz with dem Ravens. Their D definitely gets respect, as does their special teams. The offense hasn't earned much respect. (Remember October's touchdown drought?)
Go Skins.
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