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| Photo - ESPN.com |
Guess it will be Nantz and Simms on the call for CBS; you can feel my excitement over that, can't you.
FIRST QUARTER
Oh, man, is the pregame chant reason enough to change a pick? Lewis firing up his teammates in the huddle a minute ago gave you goosebumps, if you're alive. And I've never been that much of a Ravens fan.
Colts win the toss and immediately make the first mistake of the game, electing to receive. Letting Lewis and the Raven defense go out first is a move they're going to regret.
Or, DONNIE AVERY could immediately gash the Ravens for 15 on an end-around. Coby Fleener drops a pass that might have gained 1. Smoke route to T.Y. Hilton doesn't do much more. Ravens blitz on 3rd-and-9 and Ed Reed tips Andrew Luck's pass for a near-INT. Sorry, not the start the Colts needed. Nor Jacoby Jones running through 4-5 tackles for a 31-yard punt return. Looks like Colts bettors can write this one off right now.
The bootleg pass that never works for the Rams works for Baltimore for 25, as Ed Dickson puts the Ravens quickly in scoring range. The awesomely-named Cassius Vaughn gets flagged for a DPI he probably didn't deserve at the 15. Ray Rice follows with a five-yard run, but FUMBLES on the next play, with Jerrell Freeman falling on the ball for the Colts. Marshall Yanda clouds the issue by coming out of the pile with the ball and displaying it for the crowd, but Mike Carey and crew stick with the call, which is NOT reviewable even though every turnover is supposed to be reviewed? CBS' replay shows Freeman trying to get up with the ball, which is when Yanda appears to fall on it. I think Yanda's right. That should be Baltimore's ball. Freeman should have just lain on it.
And, WTF, Goodell? EVERY turnover is reviewed, EXCEPT SOME? What kind of freaking stupid rule is that? Nobody on the Rules Committee could figure out how stupid it is to have that kind of loophole in the rule?
Wait a minute, is Jeff Fisher still on the Rules Committee? How did this stupid exception get by him?
While I'm typing that, Luck gets forever to throw against a 3rd-and-7 blitz, barely escapes and barely dives for a first down. The Ravens sure like to blitz in non-blitzing situations. Luck throws a wobbly bomb from his own 22 that turns Reggie Wayne the wrong way. The Colts get an illegal contact flag to keep the drive alive, then Cary Williams somehow takes Vick Ballard down legally, by his head. There's another stupid rule. If you happen to tap a QB's facemask, 15 yards on you. If you twist a RB's head off by tackling him up around the facemask, but don't grab it, nice tackle. Jeff Fisher better have that Rules Committee busy this spring fixing a few things. Quick screen to Hilton for a first down. Paul Kruger rips off about half of Luck's uniform on a 2nd-down play, but Luck stands tall and gets rid of the pass. Near-INT, but he avoided the sack. Reggie Wayne makes a pretty sideline catch to put the Colts across midfield. Vick Ballard bounces outside right for 6, then outside left for another 5. The Colts have admirably withstood the Ravens' first wave. Play-action gives Luck another hour to pass, but he underthrows another poor wobbler short of Wayne. What's with all the bad throws by Luck today? And on 3rd-and-5, it's Kruger again, bull-rushing Winston Justice back into Luck and smacking the ball free for a fumble recovered by Pernell McPhee. As good as the Colts looked that drive, Luck sure looked like a rookie.
Ravens take the turnover nowhere. The Colts get away with a blitz on 3rd-and-6, and Flacco gets away with a terrible throw that Vontae Davis should have picked off. Momentum seems to have flipped back to Indy's side.
Ballard busts off another 7 behind a Fleener block. You kind of forget that the Ravens actually had a terrible run defense this season. Substitute OC Clyde Christensen's doing a fine job of mixing run and pass so far. Flare to Fleener for the first. That's it, though, as Luck's arm is hit on a 2nd-7 throw and Dannell Ellerbe flushes him into Lewis, Terrell Suggs and company. Baltimore has blitzed almost every 3rd down regardless of distance. I think they'd blitz on 3rd-and-98. I had to think that over. There's no such thing as 3rd-and-99; that would technically be 3rd-and-goal.
Scoreless first quarter makes my over bet look like the Worst Bet of the Day.
SECOND QUARTER
Hey, Jim Caldwell remembered the Colts can't stop the run, either. Bernard Pierce gets them a first down across the 40. Then a pretty deep slant from Flacco to Torrey Smith for 20+. Pierce for 5 more, then a quick out to Dennis Pitta for another first down. Easy 18 for Pierce down to the Colt 8 behind awesome drive blocking by Yanda. After a run by Pierce down to the 5, Flacco throws twice for... TANDON DOSS?, who can do no more than get a hand on a couple of tough throws. The Ravens take a 3-0 lead on a chippie by Justin Tucker, who reminds me that the Rams only had the THIRD-best rookie kicker in the league this season. Baltimore 3, Indianapolis 0
Luck has ANOTHER pass deflected at the line but Lewis blows the interception. Come on, Luck, you're 6-foot-4. Hilton gets 8 on another smoke route but drops a first down catch with Bernard Pollard poised to light him up. 17-yard punt return by Jones, who's averaging 19 today. This one gets nullified by a hold, though.
Rice gains 5 and then cuts back for 15 more to get Baltimore out to the 40. So of course, Caldwell goes right back to the pass, and Flacco nearly gets sacked. Joe Lefeged stops Rice for 2, and blitzing big on 3rd-and-8, the Colts get a piece of Flacco and throw off the throw for... Jacoby Jones? Story of the first half is that the Colts have neutralized Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin.
Here's a rule I just learned, if a player, like say Ravens gunner David Reed, goes (barely) out of bounds and is the first person to touch a punt inside the 5-yard line, it's ruled a touchback. Gotta give Mike Carey props for remembering that rule. Provided he didn't just make it up.
Slant to Wayne on 3rd-5 prevents a 3-and-out for Luck. Luck then finds Dwayne Allen barely open in the zone, and he bulls for 22 across midfield. Screen to Allen beats a blitz for about 15 more, and Christensen's showing us some sweet adjusting on the fly here. No, Corey Graham completely embarrasses Anthony Costanzo, ripping by him like he's standing still to sack Luck. Luck does hit Fleener to put the Colts back in FG position for Adam Freaking Vinatieri, who hits from 47. 3-3
Jones is nearly out to the 40 on the kickoff return, and he, and Indy's poor special teams coverage, have been major factors in this game. Rice gains 4 at the 2:00 warning. The Ravens don't look to be in a hurry, with another handoff to Rice for 3. Flacco hits Jones on a slant at midfield to keep the drive alive, and avoids a sack with 1:08 left. And good grief, here comes that deadly screen to Rice. Is this the same play they ran on 4th-and-forever in San Diego? Because it works even better here. He gets a key block up top from Matt Birk, stiffarms Freeman to the ground and catches Tom Zbikowski in classic flat-footed Craig Dahl position, getting all the way down to the 2. 47 yards. Vonta Leach vultures the TD, giving Baltimore the lead with 0:50 to go. Ravens 10, Colts 3
Nice job by Simms breaking down the big screen pass. Robert Mathis had it blown up before Rice made a nice move to cut inside of him. Nice block downfield by Torrey Smith, too. And Flacco should get some credit, because I now doubt that play went where it was designed to go.
Don't sleep on the Colts like I just did, though. Luck hits Wayne across midfield with about 30 seconds left. That was about a 20-yard gain. Dropping back on a zone blitz, Kruger breaks up a slant to Avery that looked like a big play. Ellerbe, blitzing yet again, harasses Luck into a throwaway that comes up short of the LOS by a yard, bringing a grounding flag with 12 seconds left after the Colts take a 10-second runoff to save their last timeout. Luck follows that with an impressive play, stepping up in the pocket to find Hilton, who wheels away from his defender and gets out of bounds at the 34 with a 25-yard gain. Vinatieri barely sneaks a 52-yard FG in from there as the half runs out. Ravens 10, Colts 6
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| Photo - Cleveland Plain-Dealer |
It's not really in Indy's offensive DNA to leave extra blocking protection in for Luck, so I'd like to see Christensen build on what he was doing right before halftime to help Luck out with all that Raven blitzing. Quick stuff should be there, throws to the TEs should be there, handoffs to Ballard, who's run well, should be there. The Colts are right in this and can come back with patience and counter-attacking. Let's see now if the Ravens don't go to blitzing less and really mixing up coverages on Luck more. They keep swinging the blitz hammer, I think they're going to hit their thumb.
Flacco's about where I expected he'd be at halftime. Sub 50% and one big play from having a really dismal outing. They'd better feed Ray Rice in the second half until he bursts. Looks like if they plan to complete another pass to Smith or Boldin all day, they'd better do some quick-hitting stuff. Maybe they can work some double-moves off of those. The Colts D better trust their secondary to keep up the good coverage work and load up for the run. They need a better game out of Freeman, who's carried their defense all year, than they're getting so far.
THIRD QUARTER
I agree with my colleague, Mr. Marino: the Colts have to feel good they're right in this game, which is being played at a defensive pace. Like Nantz said a couple of times in the first half, this is more of a game the 2000 Ravens would have played.
Jones does not give Baltimore great field position to start the half, only getting out to the 17. Leach is injured on the first play of the half, which could dent the Raven running game. So could Flacco taking a TERRIBLE sack, losing 13 on a blown bootleg TE pass as Mathis comes in on him unblocked. That is followed, unimaginably, by Flacco scrambling right out of danger and flinging a bomb that Boldin catches in double-coverage for a 50-yard gain. Boldin catches another long sideline pass inside the 15, but correctly gets called for OPI against Vaughn. Indy breaks up a screen for Rice on 2nd-18, and Doss again gets his hands on a ball without catching it on 3rd down. They're tough catches I'd hate to call drops, but you need to come up with one of those sometime.
Luck overcomes a false start, beats a blitz on 2nd-and-long with a pass to Wayne for 15. The Ravens go into domination mode from there. They stuff Ballard on 1st down. Suggs nearly sacks Luck on 2nd down, coming in unblocked. Kruger then buries Luck on 3rd down, as a poor, high snap never gave Luck a chance to react to the RT, now Bradley Sowell (Colts website) or Sewell (Nantz and Sims), completely whiffing on him. Wonder what happened to Costanzo. Or what the new Colts' RT's name actually is.
Naked boot to Boldin off play-action for 10. Rice cuts back for 4. The Colts put no pressure on Flacco at all on 2nd down, and Boldin beats Vaughn deep again for 45. Perfect throw by Flacco. Baltimore's suddenly inside the 20 and the Colts are suddenly in danger of getting blown out of here. Flacco makes that threat reality by slipping Dwight Freeney (who's name I'm calling for the first time) and finding Pitta, left wide open by Moises Fokou at the 10, for a 20-yard TD. Ravens 17-6
Indy'd better have a quick answer here. Ravens try a zone blitz again on 3rd-and-4 but Luck beats them with a 17-yard pass to LaVon Brazill. Avery gets his second touch, a quick screen for 5. We learn Costanzo's back in the game when he false-starts. Actually, he's at LT; sorry I've completely botched the Colts' o-line. Simms and Nantz are too busy oohing and aahing over Kruger's rush on 3rd down at midfield that they ignore Sowell-Sewell pancaking him to free Luck for a scramble for another first. Hilton gets racked up after a smoke route at the 36, and Luck converts the 3rd-and-2 with a nifty play-action screen to Ballard. Luck gets plenty of time two plays later to hit Wayne between Lewis and Ed Reed for 20. Mewelde Moore nearly breaks away for a TD, gaining 6 around left end down to the 8. Arthur Jones stuffs Moore on 2nd down, though, and Luck misses Wayne inside the 5 with a mega-blitz coming on 3rd down. Another FG for Vinatieri. Baltimore 17, Indianapolis 9
Heading into the 4th quarter, a couple of names I'm surprised we've heard very little today: Dwight Freeney, Haloti Ngata. Is Ngata even playing? He was introduced before the game. Throw Jerrell Freeman in there, too.
FOURTH QUARTER
Flacco opens the quarter by striking to Boldin for another big gain, 21 this time across the 40. But Rice FUMBLES FOR THE SECOND TIME at the end of a nice 15-yard run. Lefeged knocked the ball out and Pat Angerer recovered it. Huge break for the Colts here.
Luck to Wayne for 20 across midfield. Ballard bounces a run outside for 24, taking advantage of poor containment by Kruger and Ellerbe biting on his counter move. The Colts stall just outside the red zone, though, after Avery drops a third-down slant. Vinatieri leaves it right from 40. That funny sound you just heard was about a million folks in Indiana smacking their foreheads.
Ravens are passing when they should be running, but Flacco hits Smith for 9. Mathis and Freeney stuff Pierce for no gain. Baltimore calls timeout with Freeney off the field getting his shoe fixed. That didn't seem like very good timing. Au contraire, Pollard busts a 43-yard run off RT at Freeney, off blocks by Oher, Yanda and Leach. Any one else enjoying Simms' pronunciation of Billy BAH-zhema's name, btw?
Flacco lobs an 18-yard moonball to Boldin in the end zone, beating tight coverage by Darius Butler, who was hurt by the slightest of stumbles. Sadly, it looks like Coach Pagano can start the bus. Ravens 24, Colts 9
Colts obviously need a TD now. 9 to Allen, who Nantz mistakes for Ballard, followed by another 7. Hilton slips at the sideline for an incompletion, but the Ravens help out with an offside. Ellerbe's injured on a draw to Ballard. 3rd-3, Luck hits Avery on a quick slant at midfield for 7. Wayne takes a big shot from Chykie Brown on a 5-yard flare. Avery loses the ball after an 18-yard catch that's ruled incomplete. He didn't "control the ball throughout the process" because Pollard knocked it loose. Pagano challenges the call, but I don't think he's going to win it.
He doesn't; 3rd-5 from the BAL45. Luck steps up from the rush and scrambles by Lewis for a big 18-yard gain. Hilton whirls away from a defender again to get 9. Allen slips on 3rd-and-1 with Lewis covering to force 4th down.
And, game, set, match. Graham tips a quick out intended for Wayne, and Carey Williams fields it and runs it back across midfield with 5:24 to play. Welcome to garbage time; congratulations to the Ravens. Also, isn't that Baltimore's top two corners double-teaming Wayne there? Luck should have been doing anything but throwing into that.
Final score: Baltimore 24, Indianapolis 9.
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| Photo - ESPN.com |
Little doubt from here that Anquan Boldin is the POTG: 5 catches for 145 yards and a TD, and his first long catch really broke things open for a Ravens offense that had been stagnant.
If Denver hadn't already handled the Ravens in Baltimore last month, I'd like the Ravens' chances next week better. There's the theory that the Broncos peaked too soon, plus DC Mike McCoy's been distracted all week interviewing for other teams' HC jobs. But you don't blitz Peyton Manning; Denver's D was tied with the Rams for most sacks; they can stop the run and will make Flacco beat them. Looks like I'll go chalk in the AFC next week after my little upset try today fell flat. 2-1 outright, 2-1 spread, 1-2 over/under.
I'm working on the lines in the offseason if I'm the Colts' front office. Luck has to stand way too much pressure and punishment; it's been remarkable how much he's done with the little protection he's granted. Colts are getting old at DE and need to bolster that rotation. Freeney was almost invisible today. Appears they could use a big run-stuffing tackle, too.
I need a short break before I dig into the Seattle-Redskins game, so I'll be embarrassingly behind recapping that game as well.
I'll be even slower if Fox keeps throwing it to Erin Andrews on the sidelines. BTW, Fox, PLEASE KEEP THROWING IT TO ERIN ANDREWS ON THE SIDELINES. All game if you could.
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