Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Rams not hiring Rob Ryan

USAToday
The Rob Ryan Era at Rams Park has come to an abrupt end almost as puzzling as the idea of hiring him as defensive coordinator here in the first place. After Ryan interviewed a second time with the Rams on Monday, the team decided today they would not hire him as DC after all, with Jeff Fisher’s explanation, “It wasn’t a scheme fit.”

Well, duh. But it didn’t take two interviews to figure out Ryan, a career 3-4 coach, wasn’t a fit for the Rams’ 4-3 defensive scheme; something else must have been up. Adam Schefter has reported that the Rams had a contract agreement with Ryan, (which justifies media reports that the team was on its way to hiring him) but that Ryan never signed it.

That makes me think Ryan either found a situation he likes better, or ultimately decided the Rams job was a no-win proposition for him. Could be the pay wasn’t quite right, could be he found a 3-4 team he’s better-suited to, could be, assuming he’s staying a DC, he found a team where he’ll have more freedom to run the defense than he might have had under Fisher. 

That last thought is my guess as to where things actually broke down between Ryan and Fisher. I don’t know how Fisher used to run things in Tennessee, but he had a firm hand in the defense here this past season, and if he was pulling it out any time soon, it wouldn’t have been by much. The Rams don’t need two strong-willed coaches fighting over how to call the defense.

Rob Ryan didn’t get hired because he wasn’t a scheme fit, he didn’t get hired because he wasn’t an ego fit. Ego is not necessarily a bad quality for a coach to have, but clashing egos are bad for a coaching staff. The Rams will ultimately be better off for not having made this move, and if Ryan’s landing somewhere else like I’m guessing, he may be better off for it, too.

The Rams have, however, officially hired Frank Bush as their new linebackers coach.

Postscript: my initial thoughts have been essentially confirmed by Pro Football Talk and by Bernie Miklasz. Sounds like Ryan was going to push for the Rams to switch to 3-4, and that's not happening.

-$-

Monday, January 28, 2013

Senior Bowl 2013: South practices, days 3-4

There is OBVIOUSLY a big difference between being at a practice live and attempting to recap that practice from home as it’s televised. NFL Network’s coverage of this week’s Senior Bowl practices has been excellent for my intents and purposes. But at home, we can only get 5-10% of what’s going on in Mobile. Shoot, I go to several Rams practices a summer and am probably lucky to get 10% of what’s going on when I’m there in person. So when it comes to any year’s draft prospects, many players are going to slip through the cracks at RamView, because I simply haven’t seen as much of them.

A prime example of that issue this year is South CB Robert Alford (Southeast La.), who’s frequently touted as one of the week’s top performers. I cannot say that from what I’ve had to review. My notes from Wednesday’s coverage keep asking if Alford was awake today. He looked way slow to close from zone coverage, interfered with receivers, and got himself in such poor position after a comeback to Tavarres King, he never would have made the tackle and would have given up a big gain after the catch. He did make a nice play in run support in 11-on-11, but I still haven’t seen what makes Alford fussworthy. YMMV. 

A DB who did stand out on the broadcast was safety Bacarri Rambo (Georgia), who covered TEs well, breaking up a hitch to Michael Williams (Alabama) and blanketing the best TE there, Vance McDonald, on a deep post. He did NOT look good against WRs, which opens up a Craig Dahl-sized question about him, but he looked so good against the TEs that he’ll be worth a good, long look at Rams Park. Plus, the Rams are almost obliged to get a player named “Rambo” in their uniform, aren’t they?

Despite King’s earlier exploits, and his absolute torment of Alabama safety Robert Lester in red zone 1-on-1 Thursday, Terrance Williams emerged as the best receiver on either roster by the end of the week. He beat B.W. Webb pretty easily just on deep speed. He drew a brutal DPI from Marc Anthony thanks to a well-run stop-and-go route, and still fought through contact for a deep catch. Shawn Williams (Georgia) defended red zone slant routes to him very well, yielding no ground, but Terrance came back and beat Alford for a TD in red zone 11-on-11. Get Williams coached up as a red zone receiver and he looks like a solid receiving weapon who can break big plays and make plays all over the field. TE Mychal Rivera flashed as a red zone weapon, winning a couple of TD balls 1-on-1, and he wasn’t going up against midgets. The strangest red zone performance was by Duke WR Conner Vernon, who attempted to catch everything one-handed.

E.J. Manuel (Florida State) threw one of the prettiest balls of the week Wednesday, dropping a 40-yard bomb right in the bucket to Quinton Patton (La. Tech), who was covered just about perfectly by Lester, who failed only to look for the ball. Manuel also threw a ball so poor in 11-on-11 that Ziggy Ansah didn’t really need to jump to block it, but when he did, he blocked it with his shoulder pad. I believe that pass was deflected to Zaviar Gooden of Mizzou for a pick-six. NFL-N’s Senior Bowl promos have been thick with mentions of former participants Colin Kaepernick, Joe Flacco and Russell Wilson, so I guess I should keep an open mind about this year’s QBs, but I haven’t been thoroughly impressed. Landry Jones can probably make the first round with a big Combine or pro day, so there’s your potential Flacco. Manuel took off one time 11-on-11, and he is pretty much Kaepernick’s size, but I haven’t seen that kind of speed or the arm strength from him. Tyler Wilson (Arkansas) will need more mustard on some of the sideline throws I saw or he’ll be a pick-six machine. If anybody’s going to pull a Russell Wilson, I’d put my money on Ryan Nassib from the North team.

The South o-line continued to stay well in front of the d-line. That o-line is thick with pro prospects. Lane Johnson continued to just stuff people. He doesn’t quite have Eric Fisher’s strength or foot quickness, but still has those qualities in spades. He can outflank a rusher or meet him right up in the hole and keep him there. He’s got the patience as a pass-protector to let his man make his move and hasn’t been eaten up by spin moves or quick inside moves. Larry Warford and Brian Schwenke continue to be more difficult to move than trees. Despite his 350-pound girth, Johnathan Jenkins (Georgia) failed to move Warford much in several tries, and was gassed and barely moving by the end of 1-on-1. Schwenke didn’t get in trouble 1-on-1 until lining up at guard and having to deal more with lateral speed. At the same time, though, he was the best red zone blocker Thursday, opening up great running holes several times, both at LG and RG.

The o-line’s domination extended beyond the week’s early standouts. Garrett Gilkey (Chadron State) put Everett Dawkins (Florida State) on the ground, twice. Dalton Freeman (Clemson) dominated Cory Grissom on two occasions; once, Grissom couldn’t even get out of the patch of ground he’d lined up in. Terron Armstead (Ark.-Pine Bluff) showed up fresh from the Shrine Game, got beat once by Cornelius Washington’s edge rush, but pounced on his inside move the next snap and threw him on the ground. Oday Aboushi had trouble with Lavar Edwards’ edge speed initially but figured out how to use it against him. That was at LT. Aboushi looked much more comfortable and effective at guard, handling Montori Hughes (Tenn.-Martin) convincingly. Jordan Mills (La. Tech) built on an excellent practice Tuesday by manhandling Josh Boyd (Mississippi State), who was beating Schwenke when he lined up at guard. Mills could be a real sleeper from this game; he’s a replacement but has been consistently good.

How much of this is good o-line play vs. bad d-line play is yet to be seen. Malliciah Goodman spends way too much time on the ground. He was also easily blocked inside by TE Michael Williams on a simulated 4th-and-inches in 9-on-7. I just don’t see that he brings anything to the table. I didn’t see Dawkins beat anybody all week. Ansah continues to go on athleticism alone. He made the nice leaping play 11-on-11, but failed to do much of anything 1-on-1 all week, consistently playing high and failing to make a second move on anyone. He’s even high working the tackling dummies in drills; nice coaching, Detroit. You, too, BYU. Jenkins rallied in the Thursday 11-on-11. He blew up one run by swimming past Freeman, and another by beating a double-team from Gilkey and Johnson. Jenkins finished the practice week with a flourish by flattening Warford to stuff a goal-line run. Ladies and gentlemen, Johnathan Jenkins: the 2013 draft’s poster child for conditioning.

Apologies again that I don’t get a good feel for the RBs from this week’s coverage. Mike Gillislee (Florida) and Stepfan Taylor (Stanford) look like the main men for the South. Gillislee seems quicker to the hole; Taylor uses his blocks better and does a good job finding running room. Taylor also absolutely stuffed Ansah Thursday with a chip block. I think Kenjon Barner’s the top prospect in the game and the likeliest 1st rounder, but I can see these south RBs getting off the board day 2.

Gooden and Nico Johnson (Alabama) were the linebacking stars of Wednesday’s 11-on-11. Gooden not only had the pick-six but did a nice job working through traffic to blow up a draw to Gilleslee. Getting caught in traffic sets back a lot of LBs. Johnson looked up to the task, too, actually getting off a Schwenke block to blow up one run and beating Gilleslee to the hole to stuff another.

Takeaway: Assuming I make it to recapping the game itself (which will be a RamView first if it happens), the offensive lines of both teams should be fun to watch, and should be the units where the most money is made in Mobile. If the Rams have a shot at Lane Johnson at #16, I’d have a hard time not pulling the trigger. He’s close enough to Fisher’s skill level, with upside, to make that pick pay off quickly. The South line is stacked from one end to the other. With Ansah almost completely a project, Jenkins is the most interesting d-lineman, but needs to be in better shape for the Combine and pro days. I find it hard to believe Tavarres King and Terrance Williams aren’t ahead of where Brian Quick was this time last year. Maybe even where he is right now. They have the size and ability to separate to be attractive picks in the Mayock Zone (late 1st-early 2nd, where he annually projects about 100 players to go). Add Rambo to the list of South players I hope the Rams have their eyes on, and the Senior Bowl should be a draftable feast.

-$-

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Senior Bowl 2013: North practice, day 3

One of the cool things about Wednesday's North practice was the number of players who raised their level of play. DT Brandon Williams (Missouri Southern) hadn't really been on RamView radar all week, but may have been the dominant player of Wednesday's practice. It looks like he picked up, or remembered, a move or two. In 1-on-1 drills, he beat Brian Winters once with a fake to the left, and another time faking to the right, showing nice quickness off the ball and nice handwork. Williams also blew up a draw play and a screen pass in 11-on-11. He blew up the screen after smoking Winters with a pull-through and beat Justin Pugh on the draw despite getting a late start.

The North quarterbacks looked better than they have all week, especially Ryan Nassib. In 11-on-11, he threw a nice quick out to Marquise Goodwin and, with Datone Jones bearing down on him, a perfect pass up the seam to Markus Wheaton, between two defenders. Haven't seen a lot of QBs getting nice passes off under pressure so far. Everything was good about that throw. Mike Glennon threw one of the best long balls of the week in 11-on-11, a deep strike to Aaron Mellette.

North RBs did a fairly good job at blitz protection, especially Johnathan Franklin (UCLA), who absolutely blew up Travis Johnson (San Jose State) once at the point of attack, and more than held his own against Jonathan Cyprien (Fla. International) and Kevin Reddick, who have been tough nuts all week. A positive surprise was Robbie Rouse, who fought off Khaseem Greene well. Kept leverage and stayed in front of all his moves. Nice rebound for Rouse, who had struggled at blitz pickup till now. He also burned Greene later in receiving drills. A negative surprise was Kyle Juszczyk, who got beaten twice by late arrival Sio Moore (UConn), one of the Shrine Game's standouts. Moore knocked Juszczyk back on his pins on one rush. The Harvard FB has looked off ever landing that big hit Tuesday. Nick Kasa (Colorado) consistently struggled with hard inside moves.

Wheaton had probably his best day of practice, beating everyone he faced. He won on hitches, won on comebacks, burned Jamar Taylor deep and turned Desmond Trufant inside out on a beautifully-run corner route. Goodwin likewise won on slants and comebacks, and burned Duke Williams (Nevada) deep, double-catching a TD bomb. Denard Robinson looked better having been cleared for full practice participation. He turned Blidi Wreh-Wilson inside-out on a double-move route and won a couple of slant routes, getting off a solid jam by Jordan Poyer on one. Mellette struggled to separate on shorter routes, and probably should have been matched up on Wreh-Wilson more often, who never closed decently on one. Mellette did beat Dwayne Gratz deep. He really leaves his feet at times on his breaks; it looks like he's jumping on a bicycle. That seems likely to get him knocked into next week, but I guess we'll see. Chris Harper similarly couldn't separate on short routes, but unlike Mellette, won a lot of physical battles to make catches anyway. Made a couple of catches despite being blatantly interfered with, and also beat a great jam by Phillip Thomas (Fresno State) to beat him late on a deep route. For better or worse, if the Rams draft Harper, his RamView draft profile will contain the line “Compares to: Brandon Gibson”. Trufant and Aaron Dobson had some good duels. Trufant jammed well and can stay with just about anybody downfield. Dobson continues to show excellent moves to free himself at the line.

Another good duel was Alex Okafor vs. Eric Fisher. Okafor actually won the first contest, getting Fisher high and off-balance with a strong punch and bull-rush, and bothered him with it the second time. Ricky Wagner (Wisconsin) took care of Okafor's bull-rush on the undercard, but Okafor smoked him right off the snap another time. Fisher warmed up for the main event by swatting Datone Jones aside with little problem. Finally, it was the Big Deal in Mobile. Okafor-Fisher III. Okafor tried to bull-rush Fisher again, and Fisher destroyed him. Okafor barely even got off the LOS, and Fisher put him into the ground right behind the line with an exclamation point. Silly big-fight imagery aside, you have to love matchups like those – they make both players better. (Even though Margus Hunt pulled a Buster Douglas during 11-on-11 and beat Fisher to blow up a screen.) Fisher's still the North's best player, and Okafor has lifted his stock.

Brian Winters continues to look great when he gets his hands on his guy, but continues to have BIG trouble with any initial quickness. Like Winters, Wagner has the strength but the question is his quickness. Justin Pugh shows better ability to adjust to speed rushers. Joe Madsen won his matchups against Jordan Hill. Braxston Cave does a LOT of holding. Michael Buchanan just looked lost during 1-on-1 drills, looked like he was thinking way too much. He did bounce back to make one of the best plays of 11-on-11, beating a double-team, spinning off a chip from Franklin and stepping up right into Glennon's face for a sack. On another play, Datone Jones came in unblocked and chased Glennon BEHIND the rest of the players, who line up 10 yards or so behind the LOS. He continues to show good edge speed and a good swim move. Dan Quessenberry had an inconsistent day. Buchanan did not challenge him in 1-on-1 but burned him with a spin move in 11-on-11. Sylvester Williams also beat him with that, so there's something to work on. He had good run- and pass-blocking plays 11-on-11, but also got beaten by a club move from Datone Jones. Just wasn't all quite there Wednesday, though Quessenberry has continued to look more comfortable at guard than at tackle.

Takeaway: with apologies for repeating myself, Fisher is the best player on the North team and has made himself a top-ten pick. The Rams could take almost any of the guards off this team and have themselves a good player, though. Okafor and Datone Jones were the most consistent d-linemen. The North LBs showed well, but the best ones don't have the size to be high draft picks. I'll begrudge Trufant the title of best CB, at least for the North, but T.J. McDonald has looked a pretty complete package at safety. Not sure I saw any first-round skill players. The QBs aren't. Barner should be able to slip in there with a good Combine. He has a good all-around game. Franklin could surprise a little. Goodwin looks the best WR, but I don't know about a first-round grade at 5'9”. Wheaton is bigger and looked almost as good, and I still like the Marshall receiver Dobson, who gets off the line well, runs good routes and competes well. Buchanan and Kyle Long, among others, will need to rally a little between now and the Combine.

-$-

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Rams hire Rob Ryan; Bush to coach LBs

ESPN.com


Oh joy, the Rams have produced another hiring from the Jeff Fisher Friends and Family Plan and have officially hired Rob Ryan to bring his completely underwhelming professional record to Rams Park as the team's new defensive coordinator.

RamView has already recounted the many reasons that make Ryan a less than ideal hire. The reasons to like the hiring: it ends the limbo and committee approach at DC Fisher went with after Gregg Williams' suspension, and Fisher knows more then me. That's about it. Grade for this hiring: D


Tennesseean.com
The Rams have also hired Frank Bush away from the Titans to be the linebackers coach here. Bush was formerly a linebacker for the Houston Oilers but was forced out of the game early in his second season in 1986 due to a narrow spinal canal. He became the Oilers' LB coach in 1992. He won two Super Bowl rings as the Broncos' LB coach from 1995-2003 and coached Big Dead LBs from 2004-06. After a failed two-year run as the Texans' defensive coordinator, he's coached the Titans' LBs the last two seasons. Looks like he's always been a 4-3 coach. Bush developed Karlos Dansby at Arizona. With Denver he developed three-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker Al Wilson at Denver and one-time AP All-Pro John Mobley. Detestable pill-popper Bill Romanowski went to two Pro Bowls as a Bush LB. Al Smith made the Pro Bowl for the Oilers in Bush's first year coaching there.

RamView likes the Frank Bush hiring much more than the Rob Ryan hiring. His good past work with veteran LBs gives James Laurinaitis and Jo-Lonn Dunbar opportunities to continue to improve, and his good record developing young LBs will come in handy with the Rams figuring to draft an OLB or two this year. That's a grade A hiring.

-$-

Senior Bowl 2013: North practice, day 2

* The Fisher and Quessenberry trains kept rolling Tuesday for the North team, though they both hit a little bump in the tracks. Eric Fisher looked amazing picking Alex Okafor apart early in 1-on-1s. Perfect handwork and footwork, mirrored him perfectly to squash Okafor’s preferred speed rush. The second rep, Okafor tried to run past him, couldn’t. Tried to put a power move on him, couldn’t. Then Fisher blew him backwards ten yards. The most impressive work I have ever seen at these Senior Bowl workouts. A hiccup at the end, though, as Datone Jones pulled off the major upset and became the first man to beat Fisher this week. Fisher got a little bit overextended anticipating a speed move, and Jones took advantage of that to whip by him inside with a swim move. I’m already looking forward to seeing Fisher look for revenge Wednesday against the speed rushers.

* David Quessenberry, to my surprise, because he has looked very good here at right tackle, is actually a guard. At either position, he mostly toyed with people, especially the well-overmatched Margus Hunt (SMU) and Jordan Hill. Quessenberry pancaked Hunt the first time they squared off and stonewalled him the rest of the way. He put Hill on the ground one time, and another time, Hill put himself on the ground just trying to generate any push on the Great Wall of Quessenberry. He’s just too strong and quick off the ball for these guys. (NFL Network sure talks Hill and Hunt up, too, even though neither one of them has beaten anybody in two days.) In 11-on-11, though, finally, a crack in the Wall, as Okafor beat Quessenberry at RT to knock down a screen pass. At 295 pounds, I figure teams are going to want another 20-25 pounds on Quessenberry and move him inside. But I’d like to be his agent if he comes to the Combine bigger and maintains his quickness.

* Syracuse o-lineman Justin Pugh has been running with the front of the o-line pack all week, too; my apologies for letting him slip by me Monday. Pugh pretty much owned Michael Buchanan, who struggled all day and didn’t really show any moves. Pugh consistently locked him up and kept him safely outside. Similarly strong outing for Joe Madsen (West Virginia). This whole North o-line is going to be a bear for the South. Even the early strugglers are getting better. After getting whipped off the line by Jones on one rep before he could even break his stance, Hugh Thornton (Illinois) got off the ball much better the rest of the way, which allowed him to wait on his opponent to make a move and then lock him down.

* Other than Kawann Short (Purdue), it was a bad day in the middle of the d-line. Besides Hunt’s and Hill’s flailings, Sylvester Williams failed to get any headway against Thornton or Braxston Cave, who have not been standouts themselves so far, and got pancaked, with syrup, by Brian Winters (Kent State). Short, though, showed quickness to whip Cave right off the snap, and solid handwork to defeat Winters another rep. Avoid Winters’ exceptionally heavy punch and you’re good. And Short was one of the defensive stars 11-on-11, beating Thornton with a swim move to get a pass pressure and whipping past him later to blow up a screen pass. No screen passes off Kyle Long’s head today because he was down with the flu, which easily could be throwing off his performance this week.

* Robbie Rouse (Fresno State) was terrible in blitz pickup, and there’s little secret why: dude is 5-foot-6. He got whipped badly twice, and then when he finally got in the right position the 3rd time, Khaseem Greene just ran over him. I don’t see how any team in the league can afford to have Rouse on the field. And how did a 5’6” dude get this high up the chain anyway? Shouldn’t he have been in the NFLPA game? We don’t see special teams drills on NFL-N, so I hope Rouse is a heck of a good kick returner. That is his only chance to play in the NFL.

* If you’re going to have a rookie protecting your QB’s back this season, you’ll be better off with Johnathan Franklin (UCLA), TE Jack Doyle (Western Kentucky), or especially, Harvard fullback Kyle Juszczyk. Kenjon Barner was also effective enough in blitz pickup to make you feel really good about him as a third-down back. Franklin showed the strength to absorb an initial blow and lock on to his man, and good footwork to mirror his movements. Juszczyk showed he can hit like a truck, stoning Greene with one of the hits of the day. (Teams practiced in full pads Tuesday.) He got jumpy and whiffed on a blitz later trying to duplicate that hit, though. Don’t lose your technique going for the kill shot. 

* Kevin Reddick flashed as a good blitzer, which is little surprise since he’s been good at everything in Mobile. My pick for least impressive blitzer was Steve Beauharnais (Rutgers), who kept trying to put spin moves on people. By the time you get done with a spin move on a blitz, they’re going to be lining up for the next snap. Reddick “popped” for the second straight day in 11-on-11. He has excellent speed and shows up in the right place all the time, blowing up a pitch to Rouse and getting Barner for a loss.

* One-on-one receiver drills were frustrating today. We got to see very little of yesterday’s star, Aaron Dobson, but a lot of the meh Michigan QB Dennard Robinson, who’s trying to convert to WR. Marquise Goodwin had to fight through some jams today, and did once against Jordan Poyer for an excellent back-shoulder catch, but couldn’t solve Jamar Taylor, who showed a strong jam and also good positioning to cut off slants. Chris Harper (Kansas State) made some good catches in tight coverage, which he’s going to have to be able to do in the NFL, because I didn’t see any separation ability. Robinson’s going to be a major project at WR. Needs work on everything. Aaron Mellette ran better routes Tuesday and sold them better than he did Monday, so don’t count him out just yet.

* The Oakland staff continues to make no effort to coach DBs to cover without committing blatant penalties, and the guy NFL-N’s making out to be the star there, Desmond Trufant, is so full of himself he’s about to explode, and yaps way too much for a guy who has to commit a penalty almost every rep. Shut up and cover. Trufant shows nice break to the ball in zone coverage and good feet and speed to stay with receivers, but by the end of things his priorities were hacking, grabbing and talking smack. Jordan Poyer’s another DB who gets gushing praise from NFL-N despite committing a penalty practically every rep. Poyer ended the day on a strong note, reading a comeback route to Goodwin perfectly, jumping the route and undercutting it. Did everything right except make the pick. He had another near-pick in 11-on-11, so he’s definitely a ball hawk. T.J. McDonald (USC) starred in 11-on-11. He won a train-wreck collision with Winters on a run play, which is saying something, because Winters is not only a tough SOB, he was pulling on the play and had a head of steam. McDonald also blanketed TE Ryan Otten (San Jose State) on an attempted bootleg pass.

* The UConn backs continued to struggle, along with Will Davis (Utah State), who got beat by every move anybody tried. Dwayne Gratz jams and gets physical effectively but is lost in space. He looked better in 11-on-11, where he made a good play to shut down an end run and would have had an opportunity to light up Alec Lemon (Syracuse) on an ill-advised throw from Ryan Nassib. Robinson and Mellette are at the bottom of the North’s receiver pack, but had little trouble beating Blidi Wreh-Wilson. 

* Nassib looked nice throwing on the run in 11-on-11, but I’m still far from convinced in his ability to throw the deep ball. The other QBs were inconsistent at best. Mike Glennon rifled a beauty to Harper down the seam, but had a weak, wobbly bomb for Dobson broken up with ease later. Zac Dysert (Miami, Ohio) threw some bullets and threw some floaters.

The North team’s going to be able to protect their QB like Fort Knox, but who knows if they’re going to take advantage of that to throw very well? Wouldn’t surprise me at all if Barner shines Saturday as an all-purpose weapon.

Lastly, to the good folks at seniorbowl.com: could you PLEASE update your online rosters? They do not include late-arriving players, and I much prefer to refer to players by name and not number. If I have to, I will tomorrow, because a couple of them have looked good.

-$-

Senior Bowl 2013: South practice, day 2

The first televised action of the South team at this year’s Senior Bowl practices featured the biggest hit I’ve ever seen at this event and 3 QBs who are all better than any of the QBs on the North team. In receiver drills, we got to see deep balls consistently overthrown instead of underthrown for a change. I’m not sure if NFL Network has stopped airing these live or has taken complete control of the team practices, because they again covered the 1-on-1 receiving drills and 1-on-1 pass protection drills, also known as Mike Mayock porn, brilliantly, giving us tons of reps to watch and not interrupting it with stupid garbage like they’ve done in the past. For instance, in past years, they would have done the stupid interview with Jerry Jones instead of showing us drills. This year, he’s shoved back in the 9:30 recap show where he belongs. Some more stabs at who belongs in the spotlight or doesn’t:

* Best-looking wide receiver for the South was Tavarres King (Georgia). He’s 6’1” 200 and runs beautiful routes. He ran a perfect out route to beat J.J. Wilcox (Ga. Southern) after making a sweet side-to-side fake to beat the press. He ran an excellent corner route and lost college teammate Sanders Commings, and beat him again later with an excellent catch. King has nice hands, runs excellent routes, makes great fakes without losing speed, is quick, is sudden, and can create separation. The NFL-N analysts obviously have “their guys” – that’s how we heard so much about Terrance Williams (Baylor) Tuesday even though he didn’t beat anybody, not on camera, anyway. King is the receiver to watch from this group so far, though he may have gotten a wrist injury when Leon McFadden (San Diego State) ripped a ball away from him in 11-on-11.

* The eye-opener of the DBs was B.W. Webb (William & Mary). He showed he could get both physical with Terrance Williams (probably illegally) and blanket him on deep routes. Broke up at least three passes and was the only DB I saw who could stick with King. Webb had a lot of good company. Marc Anthony (Cal) showed tight cover skills in man and zone. Shawn Williams (Georgia) was pretty much a blanket on TE Mychal Rivera (Tennessee). 

* Rice has had two tight ends play in all-star games this month; apparently the NFLPA game got the backup. Vance McDonald’s getting graded as the best TE in Mobile. He beat safety Robert Lester (Alabama) deep but is showing a nasty habit so far of double-catching the ball. Lester’s about the only DB that looked like he struggled Tuesday. He’s behind in speed and quickness. The best throw of the day came early in 1-on-1. Robert Alford (SE Louisiana) had pretty good deep coverage on Quinton Patton (La. Tech) but Landry Jones hit Patton in the end zone with a perfect pass. We haven’t seen anything close to that kind of pass from the North team’s QBs. Tyler Wilson (Arkansas) made a nifty play in 11-on-11; he dropped the snap but managed to scoop it, bootleg left and hit Rivera.

* Vince Williams (Florida State) won the hit of the day award, possibly also the hit of the week award and the all-time Senior Bowl practice hit award. Coming downhill on a run play, he fired into the gap and had a massive head-on collision with pulling guard Dalton Freeman (Clemson), and Williams won, bowling the bigger lineman onto the ground. Not only did Williams win the trainwreck, he got a piece of the ballcarrier on the tackle and got interviewed by NFL-N for the play.

* 2013 looks like a good year not to need a defensive lineman in the draft. The South offensive line dominated 1-on-1 drills. Ziggy Ansah (BYU), the most hyped of the group, lost three out of four reps. His bull rush failed against Xavier Nixon (Florida), though he was able to beat Nixon with a nifty spin move. Everett Dawkins (Florida State) likely saw Larry Warford (Kentucky) in his nightmares Tuesday night. Warford stuffed him decisively three times and never let him get even a sniff of the pocket. Brian Schwenke (Cal) was impenetrable at center, combining tree trunk-like immovability with excellent handwork and footwork that can mirror anybody. Tied up everyone he faced and put Corey Grissom (South Florida) on the ground. The South d-linemen could really use some coaching from the Detroit staff, though, which I’m not sure is doing any. None of them really look like they have a second move; if their bull rush fails, they’re dead in the water. A lot more to pro pass rush than bull rushing.

* Did I say it’s a bad year to need a defensive lineman? Really, it’s a great year to get an offensive lineman. I didn’t even get to Lane Johnson (Oklahoma) yet, who’s expected to be a first-round pick who could be on the board when the Rams pick. He plays with excellent leverage, as seen when he put Malliciah Goodman (Clemson) on the ground. TWICE. He also stonewalled speed-rushing LSU DE Lavar Edwards, so he seems able to handle whatever’s thrown at him. All the South o-linemen looked like Eric Fisher Tuesday; Johnson bears keeping an eye on.

* About the only d-lineman who did anything was Cornelius Washington (Georgia), another speed rusher. He whipped across Oday Aboushi’s (Virginia) face at left tackle with ease, though Mayock said Aboushi should be limited to the right side. Washington could also bull-rush well because he had the o-linemen worried about his edge speed. He put a solid punch on Nixon another time to get pocket penetration. He was also pulled out of the DE rotation at one point for jumping offside, but got back in later when his replacement jumped offside.

That’s just another “benefit” of being coached by the Lions staff, I guess. The pass pro drills and 11-on-11 were plagued by offsides and false starts; it’s no surprise seeing players coached by the Detroit Lions committing poor-discipline penalties. I hope the South’s players will be able to overcome their week of exposure to that staff.

-$-

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Senior Bowl 2013: North practice, day 1

While the Senior Bowl is easily the game with the best overall talent among this year’s college all-star soirees, it’s still notable which players are missing, a list that includes Geno Smith, Montee Ball, Chance Warmack, Matt Barkley, Tavon Austin, and last and certainly least, Manti The Freaking Idiot Te’o. Also missing, naturally, are BOTH players Mel Kiper recently mock-drafted to the Rams in the first round, Texas safety Kenny Vaccaro and Alabama guard D.J. Fluker, who has a groin injury, possibly from getting his 355 pounds up on a scale. He was only present for the weigh-in, where he impressed, actually, because he’s a massive 355, not a flabby 355.

But even if the Senior Bowl doesn’t help Rams Nation figure out the team’s draft options as easily as we’d like, there is still a ton of draftable talent on display in Mobile, and on the NFL Network, which is doing a bang-up job of covering the festivities so far. Far better than RamView, which you’ll no doubt notice is already TWO days behind. What can I say, Mike Mayock’s got a hell of a lot more time to devote to this than I do. Barring technical problems, I’ll get everything recapped, just slowly. After all, there’s a lot to try to keep up with. 

Keeping with tradition, NFL-N only covered the North team’s practice the first day. Players were not in pads. Here’s who and what stood out:

* The star of the first day was Central Michigan OT Eric Fisher, who seems to protect the pocket with the skill of Bruce Lee warding off evil henchmen. In the time NFL-N’s televised Senior Bowl practices, Fisher’s the best tackle I have seen. He has the strength to move people wherever he wants. He made Michael Buchanan (Illinois) look silly, shoving him outside the pocket and not even giving him so much as a look back in. Fisher is also impressively light on his feet, mirrors beautifully and can stay with even the fastest of speed rushers like Alex Okafor (Texas). He’s tenacious, he stays on people; as a pass protector, Fisher already looks Pro Bowl-quality. Too bad there’s no way the Rams will be able to draft him. Not after today.

* The hidden performer of the first day was 6’6” 295 San Jose State tackle David Quessenberry. Strong with good footwork, stays ahead of his man well. He went up against Datone Jones (UCLA) late in 1-on-1, a mouthwatering matchup because Jones had been speeding by everyone in sight and Quessenberry had been driving people into the ground. Jones threw a wicked spin move at Quessenberry, but he stayed in front of it and held his own. Might have gotten outpushed at the end, but being able to handle the speed rusher after pushing some of the bigger rushers around made the Spartan tackle look very credible from my seat.

* Kyle Long (Oregon) has gotten a lot of attention because he’s Chris’ brother. He does not have Chris’ ability on the edge, though, and should be kicked inside to guard, where he was at least a little effective. He looked pretty bad at tackle, getting pushed around in 1-on-1 drills and 11-on-11, where he got driven back into the QB and had a screen pass thrown off his head. He does show good hand quickness, which helps him out a lot more inside than out. Similar story for Hugh Thornton (Illinois), who struggled mightily with speed – Datone Jones was around him on one rep before he was barely even out of his stance – but showed the strength as an inside blocker to put Jordan Hill (Penn State) on the ground at the end of one rep. Same deal for Brian Winters (Kent State). Struggled with speed but showed good strength against Hill, and threw Brandon Williams (Mo. Southern) to the ground.

* Defensive backs were hard to evaluate because they would have been flagged for clear holding or pass interference half the time had this been an officiated game. You can tell these players are being coached by the Raiders. In fact, with the Lions coaching the South, I’d bet the over for number of penalties committed in this year’s game. Expect a record. (Yes, I know the RAMS led the league in penalties.) Dwayne Gratz (UConn) jammed the receiver well but struggled with change of direction. Marquise Goodwin (Texas) turned him inside out on an arrow route, and even on simpler routes against Markus Wheaton, he was slow, late and off-balance on breaks. He even failed on a slant route even though he lined up with inside leverage. Blidi Wreh-Wilson, also of UConn, looked comfortable in zone coverage but got whipped off the line trying to man up on Goodwin. Jordan Poyer (Oregon State) showed good recovery speed to break up a slant after getting beat off the line but clearly held to break up a quick out. Desmond Trufant (Washington; Marcus’ brother) looked excellent cutting off a slant but later defended a bomb to Wheaton by choosing to mug him. Jamar Taylor (Boise State) looked strong cutting off a slant route but appeared to take a later rep completely off. Laid 10 yards off his receiver, never closed, let him run by him for a TD. Puzzling. It looks like a solid group of physical DBs for the North. As a group they’re jamming well and cutting off routes well. I’d like to see more consistency, better movement and reaction to breaks, and certainly fewer penalties, before getting enthusiastic about any one of them.

* The defensive line group doesn’t really have me sold yet, either. Buchanan bounced back from a humbling during 1-on-1 to be one of the standouts on 11-on-11. He beat Joe Madsen (West Virginia) and would have blown up a screen pass or even gotten the sack. Buchanan also made an excellent play to close the lane on a draw play and knock down the runner. When he’s not up against Eric Fisher, he shows a good bull rush and good edge speed. Brandon Williams spent too much time on the ground during drills, getting pancaked twice, but bull-rushed Long on the screen pass that doinked off Long’s head. Sylvester Williams (North Carolina) made Cave Braxston (Notre Dame) whiff on him 1-on-1 and beat him again to stuff a run in 11-on-11. Braxston’s taking a while to adjust to the improved speed out there, or maybe he’s still trying to recover from the Alabama game. Okafor and Datone Jones showed speed rush skills that looked elite at times. I’m not sure either has a second trick in their bag. Then again, Bruce Irvin got drafted in the first round last year; they may not need one.

* Goodwin obviously stood out among the receivers, and could be a player for the Rams to look at if they don’t keep Danny Amendola. At 5’8”, he’s going to be a slot guy, and he looked like Amendola running arrow routes, while also showing big-play speed up the field. The receiver who really caught my eye was Aaron Dobson (Marshall). He’s 6’2” 205, was beating guys deep, ran tight routes and beat jams with impressive moves and elusiveness at the line. He did get in trouble with coach Dennis Allen for leaving the huddle early, tipping when plays weren’t going to him. Aaron Mellett (Elon) I thought struggled. He didn’t fool anybody. His breaks were soft, lacked explosion and he didn’t sell them.

* Mike Glennon (NC State) looked the best of the North’s mediocre batch of QBs, though he had a poor overthrow picked off in 11-on-11. He did look sharp throwing timing routes. I think very little of Ryan Nassib’s (Syracuse) chances so far. He persistently underthrew deep passes in the receiving 1-on-1 drills, clanged a screen pass off Long’s helmet, and in 11-on-11, I swear he was tipping off plays by wearing his mouthpiece on run plays but not on passes.

* Kevin Reddick (North Carolina) had the best practice of any of the linebackers. He had trouble in drills trying to cover backs in space, but may have been the star of 11-on-11. He recognized an end-around on the first play and got outside to blow it up for no gain. Reddick made excellent run fills and also broke up a pass downfield. John Simon (Ohio State) showed poor movement skills and balance and had a terrible time trying to cover backs in drills, but also did a good job in 11-on-11 to recognize end-arounds and string them out. Khaseem Greene (Rutgers) was one of the few to stick tight in coverage, and he diagnosed a run perfectly in 11-on-11 and blew it up.

* Running backs rarely stand out well to me at these things. Kenjon Barner (Oregon) was impressive as a receiver, though. Showed impressive edge speed and ability to get his defender off-balance.

Tuesday’s action, which I might get reviewed by Thursday, gives us our first look at the South team, and I imagine both teams will be in pads this time around. Will be eager to see if Fisher continues his dominance, if Buchanan can continue to rally, and if sleepers Quessenberry and Dobson can continue to climb.

-$-

Monday, January 21, 2013

NFLPA Collegiate Bowl 2013

ESPN committed to four hours of practice coverage of the NFPLA Collegiate Bowl this week, and their commentators spent a significant amount of time playing up the Home Depot Center facilities, and the effort needed to get better players into the game to raise the game's profile. The network then joins the game 20 minutes in progress because they scheduled it right behind a basketball game. Some commitment from the network. Maybe we were supposed to be considering converting Creighton's Doug McDermott into a tight end.

Then again, how seriously does the bowl take itself, when it takes the measurements of all the players off its website the day the game arrives? Granted, both rosters are stocked with players who are going to be lucky to make training camps. In two years, it's established itself as the home for really undersized players at all positions (Todd McShay calls them “measurable misfits”), players who couldn't finish seasons due to injuries or suspensions, and NFL family relatives who wouldn't otherwise get a second look.

But the Rams did get a practice squad player from last year's game, tackle Brandon Washington, and a training camp body, LB Alex Hoffman-Ellis. Josh Hull played in the first edition of the game. And Nationals head coach Dick Vermeil OWNS this game, winning it for the second straight year, as his Nationals crushed Herm Edwards' Americans, 34-zip. Some takes on the notable performers (measurements are from NFLDraftScout.com):

* DT Byron Jerideau, South Carolina, 6'0” 334
Another all-star game, another game dominated by a South Carolina player. How did the Gamecocks lose a game with the d-line they had? Jerideau beat Darius Barnes (Southern Miss) every which way. He stuffed at least three running plays, and showed not just a strong bull-rush, which you'd expect, but good quickness off the snap. Dominant player of the game, though in a losing effort.

* DT Mike Purcell, Wyoming, 6'3” 303
Called out by Bill Polian for playing an excellent game, and rightly so. Clogged the middle against the run and showed the quickness and penetration to blow up draw plays. Also showed the brute strength to throw the guard to the ground to set up a near-sack and force a FG in the 2nd. American team had the strength in the trenches to dominate this game, if they only hadn't committed FIVE turnovers.

* DE Shane McCardell, Mississippi State, 6'5” 260
Speed/penetration DE, who like many, will get caught upfield. Just whipped Michael Zordich to stuff a goal line run, but two plays later, bit too hard inside and Dayne Crist bootlegged around him for a TD. Can set the edge well against the run and has excellent pursuit speed. RB Eric Stephens couldn't get away from him on one play. Gets after QB well, got pressures with edge speed and flew unblocked through a gap to sack Ryan Higgins. Should have the ability and size to earn some longer looks.

* TE Luke Willson, Rice, 6'5” 252
Probably the best receiver in the game, though he looked a bit of a blocking liability. Beat Dominique Battle for a TD after the American defense botched coverage of trips formation. Showed soft hands and ability to go strong and compete for the ball. Got open at all three levels. Runs very good routes and catches the ball well, away from his frame.

* LB Jordan Campbell, New Mexico Highlands via USC, 5'10” 244
Campbell blew up several running plays. Showed good speed and closed very well to the ball. Showed good range to string out edge runs and some ability to fight off blockers and still get to the ball carrier. Had trouble on one play dropping back into coverage, got lost in traffic trying to double back to the runner. McShay said he needs more consistency and doesn't always get himself in the right place, but he shows instincts, quickness, athleticism and a little pop.

* RB Orwin Smith, Georgia Tech, 5'11” 202
Probably the best offensive player in this game. Ran for 39 yards on 8 carries. Good, but not elite, speed, got the edge a couple of times for big gains. Caught the ball well and showed some moves on kickoff return.

* LB Bruce Taylor, Virginia Tech, 6'1” 234
Taylor looked really good in pass coverage. He showed good quickness and recognition picking up receivers out of the backfield, and read the QB's eyes for an interception in the 3rd. Has good instincts and diagnoses plays quickly.

* QB Jeff Tuel, Washington State, 6'3” 221
The broadcast crew gushed about Kansas' Dayne Christ all game – gee! he went to Notre Dame at one time! - but Tuel was the best QB, going 8-for-8 for 64 yards and a TD. He had the best combination of arm strength, accuracy and mobility there, as well as ability to move the offense. Made a nice play early to wheel out of trouble and fire a bullet on the run for a first down. Perfect sideline pass.

* QB Jordan Rodgers, Vanderbilt, 6'1” 212
Aaron's brother didn't get very good protection but showed nice scrambling ability, breaking out of collapsing pockets for a couple of good gains. Also threw some nice, tight slant passes. Did show poor pocket presence on a play in the 4th. Receiver tripped on a screen and he held the ball FOREVER until getting sacked.

* C Kyle Quinn, Arizona, 6'3” 288
Showed really good movement. Threw one of the best pull blocks of the game and got out front of screen passes.

* FB Michael Zordich, Penn State, 6'0” 233
Fullback was having an excellent game till he left with an injury. Made a great down block to seal the edge on a sweep and wiped out a LB in the lane on another nice gain. Tough and physical. Did get whipped at the goal line by McCardell on a run stuff.

* CB Demetrius McCray, Appalachian State, 6'1” 185
Had a big game, stripping Jamal-Rashad Patterson for a late fumble and picking off a weird deflection to kill the Americans' last attempt to score.

* LB Alex Debniak, Stanford, 6'1” 235
Was a persistent pass rush threat with at least three pressures and was called out by Polian as one of the best players of the game.

* DT Deon Goggins, Syracuse, 6'1” 270
Bull-rushed Jeff Nady (Nevada) for a sack and helped force a fumble by tripping up Isi Sofele. Is going to have tough time making the NFL at that size, though.

* WR Greg Jenkins, Alabama State, 6'1” 211
Doesn't look that size to me. Came to game as a QB but practiced at both QB and WR. Played most of game at WR. Took him till the 4th quarter to settle down. Had a drop early, but got a lot smoother. Wheeled away from a safety on a short hitch to gain 20 in 4th and followed it by deking the LB on a drag route for 8. Caught well and ran good routes once he got the feel of things. Got two series at QB, showed some scrambling ability but threw wobbly passes and the offense stalled badly.

* WR Jamal-Rashad Patterson, Stanford, 6'2” 213
Leading receiver in the game, 8-86. Soft hands, worked the sidelines well, made a one-handed catch late in the game. Showed a nice stiffarm on Allen Chapman to turn a quick screen into a 10-yard gain. Showed ball security issues, though, getting stripped late in the game for a fumble. High and tight!

* WR Myles White, Louisiana Tech via Michigan State, 6'0” 179
White also got a lot of action: 6 catches for 46. Showed some quickness gaining 20 on an end-around but was mostly short WCO stuff other than that. Didn't show separation downfield. Reliable hands.

* QB Dayne Crist, Kansas via Notre Dame, 6'4” 232
Broadcast gushed about him a little too much, but he showed good pocket presence and accuracy leading the Nationals to their 2nd TD. Did a good job finding his checkdowns, and handled the ball well, other than blowing an exchange with Monroe in the 4th. I don't see an elite, field-stretching arm, but he did show he could run an offense with some tempo.

* DT Terrence Stephens, Stanford, 6'1” 294
Showed some bull-rush, and Dick Vermeil compared him to D'Marco Farr. That can't hurt to have on your resume.

* RB Mike James, Miami, Fla, 5'11” 220
Didn't get a whole lot of blocking or anything done on the ground (6-21), but I do want to single him out for unselfish play, taking over at fullback after Zordich's injury. Struggled there a little but did manage to throw a couple of good blocks.

* DB Jakar Hamilton, South Carolina State via Georgia, 5'11” 196
Hamilton got a lot of hype leading up to the game but did not come close to living up to it. He was poor on punt and kick returns, running backwards on punts, muffing the catch on one kickoff and losing a fumble at the end of another return. He was arguably down on that play, but Herm Edwards stripped him of the return job after that. Hopefully he factored in better in pass protection.

* RB Eric Stephens Jr., Texas Tech, 5'8” 194
Used his blocks well on middle runs, and showed some ability as a change-of-pace receiver, but had only 33 yards on 13 carries and repeatedly failed to run away from defenders. Just didn't show any breakaway speed.

* QB Brad Sorenson, Southern Utah, 6'4” 237
Has a strong arm and stood strong in the pocket, but like they said about him all week, he throws everything 100 mph. Showed he could throw on the run, but also showed he could throw wild fastballs, and failed to look the LB off on Taylor's simple INT in the 3rd. His other INT was a low fastball that bounced back up to McCray after Patterson went down to dig it up.

* OG Kevin Saia, Louisiana Tech, 6'2” 305
McShay called him one of the best players in this year's game during the week; he looked like a classic heavy-legged waist-bender to me getting beaten by Jonathan Mathis (Texas A&M) for a sack before halftime. I hope he just missed the snap count; that didn't look good otherwise.

* OT James Nelson, UTEP, 6'6” 341
Bad in pass protection, giving up a sack to Josh Williams and a major pressure to McCardell. Had to hold Williams another time to prevent a sack. Doesn't keep his feet moving.

* OG Drew Schaefer, Washington, 6'4” 292
Poor outing. Got whipped by Jeremy Coleman to blow up a run, gave up a sack after Coleman whooshed by him with a swim move, got thrown to the ground by Mike Purcell to blow up a screen pass. Wasn't firm run-blocking often enough to make up for those speed and balance deficiencies.

* QB Ryan Higgins, Fordham, 6'2” 212
Struggled as expected (4-11-42). Can really fire it when he steps into it, but also reacts like he doesn't know where the ball's going when he lets go of it. Had a couple of poor overthrows, a poor dumpoff that didn't lead his receiver enough, and had a screen pass swatted down. Was a deer in the headlights with Purcell coming right at him in the 2nd, barely getting the ball thrown away, should have been called for grounding.

* WR Quincy McDuffie, Central Florida, 5'8” 175
Dropped a pass on the opening possession, blew the exchange on an end-around the next drive and was barely heard from again. Hope he runs fast at his pro day.

-$-

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Jackson keeping retirement talk alive

Steven Jackson continues to toss the R-word around, keeping the possibility of retiring before next season alive in an NFL Network interview Friday. Though Jim Thomas assures us that Jackson is playing around more than anything, it sounds more and more to me that Steven's either going to be a Ram next year, or he's going to be kicked back somewhere with a drink with a little umbrella in it. Jackson and the Rams are scheduled to have talks next month; he's not due to make a decision on whether to void his contract until March 12, the first day of free agency.

In the interview, Jackson has good things to say about the Rams, Daryl Richardson and the old team colors, so check it out.

====

It's been a busy weekend for former Rams coaches:

* The Raiders interviewed Mike Martz, but their offensive coordinator job has gone to a different ex-Rams OC, Greg Olson. He's going to be tasked with getting Darren McFadden back on track, though that seems to be more the job for McFadden and team trainers than the OC. The Raiders have also hired Bobby April, last in Philadelphia, to take over their special teams. That will either work out exceptionally for them or blow up completely in their faces. No in-between.

* Pat Shurmur is reportedly the top candidate to become OC in Philadelphia. That sounds like a bad combination: the keeper of the fishbowl working with the master of the spread-wacky offense, Chip Kelly, but it sounds like Shurmur's role will be more of a glorified QBs coach.

* RamView was after former Rams LBs coach Bob Babich to re-take that job here, but Shad Khan beat me to it, and made Babich a much better offer: he's the Jagwires' new defensive coordinator. Well, actually, Gus Bradley beat me to it: turns out he and Babich used to work together. Gee, how often does that happen in the NFL?

* Rickey Proehl has been promoted in Carolina to wide receivers coach. I believe he had been assistant WRs coach previously.

* Tom McMahon, last in Kansas City, has been hired as Indianapolis' special teams coach.

* Sylvester Croom has become Tennessee's running backs coach. Dave Ragone switched from WRs coach there to QBs coach. Mike Munchak's already being criticized, though, for keeping his defensive staff together, which includes coordinator Jerry Gray.

Also on the move:
* Daniel Muir signed by Kansas City.

-$-

AFC Championship: Baltimore 28, New England 13

Photo - ESPN.com
Hey, I actually got here in time for the opening kickoff! The NFL really needs to put more than a half-hour between the conference championship games, though. I'm expecting another back-and-forth game here. The Ravens can play this game at the Patriots' pace, and Joe Flacco can definitely beat them deep, though Steve Tasker's reporting there may be a significant wind factor. And, needless to say, Ray Lewis is jacked to go.

FIRST QUARTER
The Ravens win the coin toss, and are ballsy, or stupid, enough to defer to Tom Brady to start the game. Believe that also lets John Harbaugh pick the wind, though, which CBS is really playing up as a factor. (Beats me; I just got here.) Tom Brady will be going into the wind from his 20. Stevan Ridley gets 4 on a counter run. Brady to Aaron Hernandez on a drag for 10. Ridley cuts back left this time for 3 more. Ridley left for 5 more, and he's sure getting a lot of cruising room right off the snap. New England has come out blowing the Ravens off the ball. Brady buys himself a lot of time to throw on 3rd-and-2, but just overthrows Wes Welker on a deep corner route. That's definitely a win for the Ravens.

The Patriots do a wacky shift on the punt - they had backup QB Ryan Mallett as the up man, and he shifted behind center - but the Ravens foil that with a timeout. If New England hadn't had a lineman report ridiculously late, they might have pulled it off; the Ravens were definitely confused. Straightforward punt after that is fair-caught by Jacoby Jones at the 13.

Ray Rice runs right for two, then up the middle for 4. That's not the attack I was expecting. Swing pass to Rice on 3rd down is dropped and would have been eaten alive by Rob Ninkovich anyway. That was an uninspiring start. Ball back to the Patriots at their 21 after TWO holds on the punt return.

Slant to ex-Ram Brandon Lloyd off play-action for 8. Ridley dives right for the first down. Little hitch to Hernandez in front of Bernard Pollard for another 8. Bizarre misdirection back-screen to Welker fails completely for an incompletion. Three-man rush gives Brady forever; with the Ravens jumping all the short routes, he hits Lloyd over the middle across midfield. Gains 14. Nothing open on 1st down as Brady throws it away to avoid a sack by Dannell Ellerbe. Hernandez, though, breaks a tackle behind the line and gains 11 on a screen. Blown tackle by Chykie Brown, I doubt his last. Terrell Suggs does not blow the tackle the next play, stuffing Ridley at the 36. But Brady gets all day the next snap and hits Lloyd at the 20 with one of his classic diving catches. The Patriots are moving too quickly here for me to edit anything down. Or finish the NFC post. End-around to Hernandez down to the 12, but Corey Graham stuffs Ridley for a loss on a 3rd-and-2 run blitz. Bill Belichick meekly sends Stephen Gostkowski in for the chippie. Patriots 3, Ravens 0

I'd say the Ravens need to get the ball moving next to prevent a start like the 49ers', but we saw how that went.

Illegal block on the kickoff backs Baltimore up at their 10, but the Patriots leave Vonta Leach wide open in the flat and he gains 17. Rice up the middle for 3, followed by a long ball well past Anquan Boldin, who's blanketed by Aqib Talib. Delayed but correct false start call by Bill Leavy makes it 3rd-13. A lineman clearly flinched, but they caught Rice. Solid 3rd-down pocket for Flacco, but he settles for a drag to Boldin, but Talib has man coverage on him and breaks it up. In the first game, that would have been a 20-yard gain for either team; hats off to the Patriots for daring to play tight on the receivers. Talib may have tweaked a hammy on the play, though.

Talib hobbles to the locker room as the Patriots start at their 33. Shane Vereen cuts back left for 7 with Ryan Wendell clearing some nice room for him. Haloti Ngata, though, defeats a double team and stuffs Vereen on 2nd down. Hernandez splits wide and catches a slant at the 48 for a first down. Big hit by Lewis, but give him 15 for a helmet-to-helmet hit. Another misdirection screen leaves Hernandez wide open in the right flat, but Brady overthrows him under pressure from Arthur Jones. Pollard closes quickly to hold Vereen to a 2-yard gain around right end. Lloyd just fails to come up with another diving catch on 3rd-and-8. As he did often in St. Louis, Lloyd slipped on his route or he probably gets the first down. Patriots punt again and Mesko the Magnificent pins the Ravens at the 8.

I'd sure like Jim Nantz not to be a yard off on every spot tonight, btw. Bernard Pierce in now for the Ravens, and he wends around left end and off a strong block by Matt Birk for 12. No, 11; thanks again, Nantz. Pierce gets 3 more, which sets up a nice play-action pass that Ed Dickson DROPS. Flacco goes deep for Dennis Pitta up the sideline on 3rd-7, and he's open by five yards, but Flacco just misses him long. Welker returns the punt almost 30 yards, out across his 45. Really lackluster start by Baltimore, but they've managed so far to keep the Patriots at bay.

Brady has to throw the ball away on first down and survive an idiotic attempt by Leavy to call grounding. What are you even thinking there, ref? The Ravens' answer to covering Hernandez continues to be "Nevermore," as he gains yet another 8. Carey Williams, though, bats away an attempted slant to Lloyd, with Paul Kruger nearly coming up with the long ricochet. New England has to settle with pinning the Ravens at the 10 with a punt again. The over, for once, is looking like a big fat loser tonight.

SECOND QUARTER
The break between quarters gave me a chance to finish the NFC recap. Leach is open in the flat again for 5, but Jerrod Mayo makes a nice strip to save the Patriots a couple of yards. No matter, as Pitta's wide open at the 20 on 3rd-and-short and runs out to the 33. Jim Caldwell patiently stays with the running game; Rice up the middle for 2. Rice then beats Brandon Spikes on a circle route for 9. Swing to Pierce gets another first as he gains 5 keeping his balance after contact. Almost a late hit as Pierce gains 4 off the right side. Alfonzo Dennard really blasted him right as the sideline as he was letting up. Lesson? Don't let up. Flacco just beats a hit from Vince Wilfork and hits Torrey Smith for the first time tonight, on a deep slant at the NE15. Rice up the middle for another 8, behind Bryant McKinnie's block. And he cuts back again and squirts down to the 2. Kelechi Osemele absolutely flattened a Patriot with a cut block. Can't express how much I hate the fade pass to Pitta on 1st-and-goal; it's incomplete. Rice breaks two tackles in the backfield, though, bouncing outside for a Baltimore TD. Ravens 7, Patriots 3

Patrick Chung was injured on the TD, so the Patriots are dealing with some injuries in their secondary. Ellerbe gets a personal foul for retaliating at a late shove by Wendell. We get to hear how the Rams were the most penalized team in the league this year. Um, Jeff Fisher? That would be something to FIX. Wendell continues to block well, leading Ridley up the middle across midfield for 7. With Brady audibling and clearly showing he's picked up on a blitz by Carey Williams, and calling "Ricky Ricky" (audibles with R's often mean to focus attention to the right), the Ravens do not counter-adjust, Williams blitzes anyway, and the throwback screen to Welker works for 24 yards down to the 16. Ed Reed's blown tackle probably added 15 yards to that play. Ridley up the middle for 8, behind Logan Mankins mauling Ray Lewis. This is often quick-screen territory, but Brady hits Hernandez on a slant at the 2. The way Baltimore has not covered the TE tonight, imagine what Brady'd be doing if he had Gronkowski. Ravens read pass all the way on 1st-and-goal, and Pollard knocks the pass down. Why didn't Brady switch to a run there? All the Ravens were standing up and would have been cake to knock off the LOS. Arthur Jones stuffs Ridley on 2nd-and-goal, but Welker is wide open on a simple quick out for an easy TD. Graham tried to signal to Chykie Brown to switch off, but he didn't. Patriots 10, Ravens 7

I'm already thinking about changing my Super Bowl pick if it's 49ers-Patriots. Does anybody really think in a game that's supposedly going to be refereed by the awful Jerome Boger, Belichick isn't going to get a call in his favor any time he needs one?

Field position continues to work against Baltimore as they can't get the kickoff across the 20 again. Pierce gets shut down behind the line on a sweep right, but gets 5 back on a sweep left. Getting extremely fancy doesn't help the Ravens on 3rd-5. They line Rice wide right outside of a trips bunch, but Rob Ninkovich just powers past the much-bigger McKinnie for the first sack of the night by either team.

And, oh, those Ravens special teams, as Welker gets about 15 on the punt return to stake the Patriots in Baltimore territory again. NE is completely dominating the field position battle.

Ridley behind Nate Solder for 5 as the 2:00 warning arrives. Brady has to scramble on 2nd down and has to slide after running up the umpire's back after a couple. Belichick's going to want some money back for that play. DANNY WOODHEAD is stopped short on a shotgun handoff; looks like Kruger grabbed him. 51-52 yard FG for Gostkowski would be into the wind, so NE goes for it, and gets it with ease on a direct snap to Woodhead, disguised masterfully by Brady, for 7. Solder sprung him with a pancake block. After two incompletes, the Ravens get the brilliant idea to zone-blitz on 3rd-and-10, and yes, Aaron Hernandez can beat Paul Kruger in coverage, you MORONS. 17 yards, to the 10 with 26 seconds left. Kruger flushes Brady for a couple, and when the Patriots can't get lined up quickly, they have to use their last TO and bring in the FG team. Simms is right that Belichick mismanaged that one. Harbaugh is also right that Brady would have gotten at least a yellow card with that slide if this were a soccer game. He was purposely trying to kick Ed Reed. Gostkowski with the chippie to end the half. Patriots 13-7

Photo - Patriots.com
HALFTIME SHOW 
The thing the Ravens need to do most of all in the second half is flip the field position battle. They've got to come after Brady harder early in drives and have got to toughen up against the run; quit letting N.E. string drives together. They've got to get a whole lot better result out of their kicking and coverage games. They're constantly starting drives inside their 20; the Patriots are constantly starting at midfield. Covering Aaron Hernandez sometime tonight would be a good idea, too.


You know whose name we haven't heard much tonight? Ray Lewis.

New England's offense is running with wonderful balance, and they're winning most of the battles up front; I don't see them needing to change a thing until Baltimore can show they can put on more pressure.

The Ravens need a lot more help from their passing game than they've been getting, too. I believe Smith and Boldin have combined for one catch, which is unthinkable. Flacco needs to be going downfield more. Use the tight ends and the backs more, too; Houston's gave New England fits last week. Harbaugh defiantly told Solomon Wilcots before halftime that he isn't worried about a thing for the second half. Baltimore fans better hope he's right.

THIRD QUARTER
Bill Cowher and Shannon Sharpe both all-but beg the Ravens to throw more, especially on first down, but Sharpe makes a solid point that reminds that the game's really not being played at the Patriots' pace.

Mediocre starting field position for the Ravens, their 25. It is their best of the game, though. Wilfork stuffs Rice for a yard. Flacco play-actions, but has to run away from an oncoming blitz and can't put enough on a bomb for Smith. Underthrew it. 3rd-and-9, here comes Anquan Boldin, leaping over Marquice Cole for 26 across midfield. Spikes and Mayo put the Ravens back on the other side of midfield by blitzing Rice for a loss. Dennard gets away with plenty of downfield contact to defend a sideline pass to Smith. Smith then turns in way too early on a 3rd-down pass and Flacco overthrows him by five yards. Punt inside the 10 does at least give Baltimore a chance to reverse field position.

Patriots are out of the hole quickly, with a quick hitch to Lloyd and an inside handoff to Ridley. 5 more to Hernandez, then Brady fires a laser to Welker up the seam at midfield. Add 15 more because Pollard went to Welker's head on the tackle. So much for bad field position! Brady barely misses Hernandez on an end zone bomb, then another inside handoff to Woodhead gets just 3. Ravens need a stop here, and Welker gives it to them, with a drop at the 25. Wind looks negligible at best, but Belichick again passes up a 52-yard FG attempt to punt, and the Ravens are back in their usual starting place now, their own 13.

Ha! Worthless Firefox just tried to eat my post, and failed. Suck it, Mozilla!

Dennard finally gets called for too much contact on a 15-yard DPI. Kyle Arrington breaks up a 2nd-straight pass for Tandon Doss. Then, the Ravens remember the TE, and Flacco hits Pitta right up the middle for 22. Bombs away for Smith, but well incomplete. Next, here comes that bubble screen to Rice, who fakes Steve Gregory to the ground with a nifty cut in the hole to gain 15. 5 more to Smith. Pierce breaks a couple of tackles on a draw for 8. End zone pass for Jacoby Jones is too long, but at least Baltimore is finally trying to push the ball down the field. Simms reports the wind is still "really gusty". The flags on the uprights were not even moving a minute ago when the Patriots passed up on a long FG attempt. Slant to Boldin down to the 10. The Ravens game plan welcomes back Anquan Boldin. Pitta is JACKED UP by Mayo at the 5-yard line but holds on, I have no idea how. Pitta bounces right back with a TD catch on 2nd-and-goal, beating Gregory on a pretty simple out move. Ravens 14, Patriots 13

Looks like Cowher, Sharpe and RamView all nailed the halftime adjustments for the Ravens on offense.

Well, there's no doubt of the wind factor when it blows the ball off the tee twice before the next kickoff. Devin McCourty returns it to the 25. Brady suddenly looks off now, throwing into the wind, one-hopping one to Lloyd on 2nd-2 and throwing a kamikaze duck toward Hernandez on 3rd-and-12 after a Solder hold moved them back. Jones brings the punt back to the 37, and right now, everything's coming up Ravens.

Dangerous comeback screen to Rice loses 4 as D'o'n't'a' Hightower slashes in and blows it up. Doesn't faze Baltimore at all, as Smith gets wide open on a post underneath the zone for 23. Offside puts the Ravens at the NE39. Inside handoff to Rice for 3. Flacco thows a deep ball behind Smith. CBS makes it sound like no QB in history has ever had to throw into a stiff breeze. Wind or not, Flacco's got to make better throws. Or, Pierce could break a Ninkovich tackle in the backfield on 3rd-2 and bounce outside for 8. Pierce bulls his way up the middle for 6 more. Flacco to Pitta at the 13, another first down. Play-action gets Boldin open on what I think was an arrow route at the 5. Inside handoff to Rice makes it first-and-goal at the 3 as the Harbaugh Bowl inches closer.

FOURTH QUARTER
Sweet play starts the quarter off right for Baltimore; play-action to Boldin on a slant, and he leaps over McCourty for the TD. Wonder what would happen in a game that Boldin shows up for before halftime. Ravens 21, Patriots 13.

Up seven, I've always thought it would be a good idea to try for 2. The risk seems worth the reward of taking a two-score lead. But I could be insane.


McCourty gets destroyed at the 16 on the kick return. The field position worm has turned. Ridley fights hard for 9, though, running through Pollard and Ray Lewis. Lewis and Suggs stuff him on 2nd down, but he gets a couple on 3rd down to move the sticks. Lloyd spins away from Chykie Brown to turn a quick hitch into 13. How is that name pronounced "Shockey," btw? Wrong time to wonder about that! Ridley gets hammered by a helmet-to-helmet blast by Pollard, losing the ball before he hits the ground at the 46 because he is probably unconscious.

Lordy, lordy, lordy, I forgot that head-to-head blast by Pollard was actually a LEGAL hit because Ridley was a runner, not the QB in the pocket, or a defenseless receiver. Inaccurate rant about Pollard's dangerous hit deleted. That's still something I wouldn't mind seeing the NFL clean up. Ridley's lucky to even be awake on the sideline.

And Bernard Karmell Pollard vexes Patriots Nation yet another time.

Ravens start at the NE47 with a chance to ice this one. I'm still a little disappointed not to hear Nantz or Simms have an opinion about Pollard's kill shot. Torrey Smith beats Arrington for 16 on a post; Pollard may have knocked the life out of the whole Patriots team. Flacco gets a wall of a pocket the next play and easily scrambles away for 14 more down to the NE17. Two plays later, Flacco beats a blitz and goes to Boldin, who just ran a go route out of the slot and went up over Cole for the TD. Harbaugh Bowl, here we come. Ravens 28, Patriots 13

Still 11 minutes left for Brady to pull something off. Pretty sideline catch by Lloyd at the 41. Vereen escapes a tackle after a short catch for 9. Welker gets blasted by Cary Williams after a 5-yard screen and gets up very, very slowly. Vereen comes clean out of the backfield for a completion down to the 25, but drops one in the flat two plays later to leave 3rd-and-4. 3rd-down pass for Welker at the sideline is behind him and incomplete. New England's season on the line here. Brady gets a long time in the pocket, rolls out, doesn't run for it when he could have, and half-asses a pass toward a well-covered Deion Branch in the end zone. It falls as flat as the rest of New England's game has here in the second half, and the Ravens take over.

Simms likes that Flacco stays in the shotgun here and the Ravens stay aggressive, but he takes a sack on 1st down, and run-first offense seems like a much better move to me. Throwing AGAIN, Flacco gets splattered by Spikes and throws it away a mile out of bounds. He wasn't out of the pocket; why wasn't that grounding? Doesn't matter much, as Ninkovich nearly sacks Flacco on 3rd down and he one-hops one to Boldin. GREAT decision to throw three times there, Harbaugh, SIMMS. Didn't take but a minute off the clock, didn't get Belichick to use any timeouts.

Like a minute after he praises Baltimore for coming out passing, Simms criticizes them for not running more. Just. Shut. Up.

That was the kind of clock mismanagement by Baltimore there that comes back to bite teams trying to protect leads. What say ye, Brady? How about a rope to Welker wide open down the seam for 38? And the Patriots are at the Baltimore 22. Welker turned Cary Williams inside out with a double move.

And, forget it. Brady gets his next pass tipped at the line by Pernell McPhee, and Ellerbe fields the pop-up at the 17 for Baltimore. 6:50 left, want to bet Harbaugh's running it now?

The Ravens have won this game tonight with textbook bend-but-don't-break defense.

Well, f*cking Firefox won the battle this time and ate about eight plays' worth of recap. Basically, Rice, Pierce and even Vonta Leach bang 4:30 off the clock before Belichick decides to start calling timeouts with 2:20 on the clock, while Tom Brady sits on the bench making a mad face. Timeout #2 with 2:15 left, Baltimore has 3rd-and-8 a little short of midfield. Spikes trips up Rice again with 2:11 left, so Baltimore ate up 4:39 and all three Patriot timeouts. THAT is how you protect a lead.

The punt by the Ravens barely travels 20 yards; the Patriots may have gotten a piece of it. Harbaugh, as well as I, want to know how a 10-yard out to 900-year-old Branch only took 3 seconds off the clock. Branch needs five seconds just to run that far. Ngata makes Brady pay for the free play by hitting him as he throws at the 2:00 warning. 2nd-10 at the NE40. Completions to Welker and Woodhead get them to the BAL33 at 1:40. Suggs beats Solder and hits Brady to force an incomplete. McPhee bats another pass to force 3rd-and-10. Hernandez goes through Pollard for a 1st down at the 22 at 1:13.

And that drive was full of sound and fury signifying nothing, as Cary Williams undercuts an end zone slant route by Lloyd and picks off Brady's underthrow to end the game. Adios, New England.

Final score: Ravens 28, Patriots 13

POSTGAME SHOW
Boldin had 5 catches for 60 yards and 2 TDs, all in the second half, Lewis rallied to finish with a surprising 14 tackles, and Pollard's hit on Ridley changed the game, but the lazy man's POTG here goes to the QB, Joe Flacco, who decisively outplayed Tom Brady with 3 TD passes and an 11-for-12 stretch where the Ravens rode away with the game.

Thanks to Brady sucking, though, the over lost for the first time this postseason, so I had to eat one there, but got the SU win and the cover, leaving me 7-3SU, 7-3ATS, 6-4O/U. No complaints here.

Early Super Bowl line is 49ers by 3.5, 48.5 for the over/under. One thing I would recommend for the game is that everybody bring their mouthpieces. This is going to be some old-fashioned football, not just because one of the QBs could be running the ball a lot, either. Old-fashioned typically means low-scoring, but I don't see either defense stopping the other team. The 49ers couldn't cover the Falcon WRs today to save their lives. If Boldin shows up before halftime for once, Flacco will light them up, and Rice's presence will make it hard for the 49ers to sell out against the pass or turn up blitzing heat on Flacco, which they were glacially slow to do to Ryan today. OTOH, Baltimore has not been an effective run-stopping team for a couple of years now, and Kaepernick's ability to run the option will either burn them to a crisp like Green Bay, or make Frank Gore an even more effective weapon like today. And Baltimore's lack of any clue against Aaron Hernandez may spell good things for Vernon Davis, even if they can take away Michael Crabtree, which wouldn't be a large surprise to me. The feel here is a high-scoring tossup. And Baltimore's special teams have played poorly, and David Akers probably won't be good for the 49ers beyond 30. If that. Ultimately, if the 49ers can whip up on Aaron Rodgers, they can slow down Joe Flacco. They'll pressure him into mistakes. Their running game is going to be more than the Ravens can handle, which will make life a little easier for Kaepernick when he has to throw. San Francisco and the over, please.

As for the Patriots, I think they need a more serious edge pass rush threat. Their best DB for the season was Talib, who arrived in November. They have to improve on that. Last, they're pretty old at WR, aren't they? Welker? Lloyd? Branch? Pretty clear need to get younger and faster there.

RamView doesn't live blog the Super Bowl; that is a day to go to a party, so go to one, or put one on, and enjoy the game in two Sundays. Meanwhile, I'll be tossing up lots of college all-star nonsense here, with a couple of games to recap from this weekend and Senior Bowl practices starting tomorrow.

-$-




NFC Championship: San Francisco 28, Atlanta 24

Has it been a week already? It must be, here we are for the NFC title match between the 49ers and Falcons. I've got the Rams' NFC West rivals in this one. The Falcons did nothing against Russell Wilson last week that makes me think Colin Kaepernick won't run wild on them. And Matt Ryan played a pretty iffy game for a QB getting almost no pass rush in his face. The 49ers will get after him a lot better than the injured Seahawks did, unless Justin Smith doesn't hold up.

Buck and Aikman, of course, with the call for Fox.

FIRST QUARTER
Anyone out there who prefers an outdoor stadium to a dome: did you SEE Erin Matthews finally dump the Gore-Tex Michelin Man coat in favor of skin-tight leather pants? That is now permanently etched into every list of the benefits of a domed stadium.

49ers win the coin toss, defer, and kick out the back of the end zone to start things off. Julio Jones beats Tarell Brown across the 35, but NaVarro Bowman stuffs Michael Turner to get 2nd-and-long. The Falcons spread the field but Brown, maybe getting there a little early, breaks up a slant to Roddy White. The 4-man rush does not get there at all on 3rd down, though, and Matt Ryan hits White across midfield for about 16. Jacquizz Rodgers gets stuffed on 1st down, but that doesn't prevent the 49ers from biting hideously on play-action on 2nd-down, and Julio Jones streaks past Dashon Goldson for a 46-yard TD. That quickly, it's Atlanta 7, San Francisco 0, and so much for a good gambling weekend, though San Fran's sure making the over look good again.

That choice to defer sure worked out GREAT, btw, Harbaugh.

Everyone wondering how Colin Kaepernick will do when he can't hear himself think is feeling pretty darn smart right about now. And wow, this is an inspired offensive game plan for the ages: a one-yard screen to Michael Crabtree followed by Frank Gore running straight into the pile for nothing. Thomas DeCoud breaks up a pass over the middle for Vernon Davis, dances like a spastic ass, and 49ers fans have to be feeling GREAT with how this game is starting.

Just checked, and yes, Erin Andrews' pants are trending worldwide.

Ryan looks off a screen to Rodgers and hits Julio for 8 more. Is San Francisco even interested in covering him today? Turner gets 3 and the first at the 29. 4-man rush collapses the pocket on Ryan but he still finds Julio for 7. Quick slant to Tony Gonzalez for 4 and another first. 49ers, you do NOT want to fall behind 14-0 here. White gets 10 on a pass in the flat with the 49ers covering softer than than a baby's butt, with a pass rush to match. Bowman, apparently the only 49er defender with a pulse, drills Turner at a midfield to make it 2nd-10. Brown defends a sideline pass to Julio, who takes out a security guard but it's still 3rd-and-10. The game has to be stopped briefly to take care of the guard.

Huge play by Jones AGAIN, beating Goldson in zone coverage on a deep dig for 27. Goldson was an inch from picking that off. Julio already has 100 yards. Rodgers gets buried by Willis, and Atlanta might as well stop trying to run, which they can't do at all, and just pass every play, which the 49ers can't stop at all. Ryan hits Gonzalez inside the 20; 3rd-and-4. 49ers steadfastly refuse to blitz but Bowman makes a clutch deflection of a pass for Rodgers that would have been a TD. Matt Bryant from 36 to extend the lead. Falcons 10, 49ers 0

Seahawks fans are all laughing at the slow start the 49ers are off to, as 49ers fans thank God the ground can't cause a fumble on LaMichael James' kickoff return. The Falcons rush TWO on first down and Kaepernick fires one at DT Corey Peters dropping back in coverage anyway. Incomplete. Joe Staley and Alex Boone clear a lane to get Gore 6. Play of the game right now for SF, with 3:00 left in the 1st quarter. Peters whips Iupati off the snap, steamrolls over Kaepernick, and the Falcons have the Super Bowl in their grasp right now. Way to show up, 49ers.

Poor punt by Andy Lee in a freaking dome starts Atlanta at their 43. And now the 49ers can't stop the run, either, as Peter Konz drives Ray McDonald into next week and Tyson Clabo ties up Bowman to get Turner an easy 10. Play-action to White for 23 to the SF20. The 49ers have put almost no rush on Ryan and have no clue how to even slow down the Falcon passing game. Didn't this same team whip Aaron Rodgers' ass last week? What a difference an offensive line makes. Absent another colossal choke - which is ALWAYS a strong possibility with them - Atlanta's on their way to New Orleans.

SECOND QUARTER
After one quarter, the 49ers have been outgained 182 to minus-2. Make that 202 to minus-2, and 17-0 in points, as Ryan hits Julio in the back of the end zone for a TD with a perfect throw, and despite good coverage by Brown, a perfect catch by Jones and perfect footwork to stay in bounds. 17-0 Atlanta

POSTGAME SHOW
Just kidding.



Just like the Seahawks last week... it's like these idiot OCs want to prove they can beat the Atlanta D without having to resort to having their QBs run the ball. Get Kaepernick on the move! Open the field up! You know he's going to have to pass 60 times now.

Gore slices up the middle for 9, with Anthony Davis tying Cliff Matthews in knots. Gore barely gets across the 30 for the first. On 2nd-7, Kaepernick audibles to a 4th-straight handoff to Gore, who cuts back inside John Abraham's overpursuit for another first down. Matthews injured on the play. With Boone clearly false-starting, Kaepernick hits Randy Moss on the sideline for 8. Screen to Crabtree gets another first down at the ATL45. Same thing to the other side of the field, almost a big play but Dunta Robinson grabs Crabtree's ankle and holds him to 3. Falcons are all over a screen to James but he makes a late move to gain 5. 3rd-and-2. Atlanta's fans make a big play, as their overwhelming crowd noise creates a delay-of-game. Kaepernick was running on that play, finally. The 49ers overcome the penalty, though, with the rarely-heard-from Vernon Davis grabbing a cross, breaking a DeCoud tackle and getting all the way down to the 15. Believe that's 32 yards. Crabtree just misses staying in bounds on an end zone fade pass. But a read option works like a charm the next play. Kaepernick hands to James, but steps up to freeze Kroy Biermann on the edge, letting James whiz by him and LB Stephen Nicholas for a 15-yard TD. Falcons 17, 49ers 7.

Of course, right after I say the 49ers are going to have to pass 60 times, they get back into it with their ground game.

49ers D obviously badly needs a stop here. Aldon Smith grabs Ryan as he throws but it's still complete to White for 14. Ryan has already thrown to 196 yards. Turner drags the Niners D like little kids on his back for 6. Ryan misses Rodgers in the flat, well-covered by Bowman. Crucial play for SF here. 3rd-and-4. A very rare blitz, bringing both Willis and Bowman, coaxes a quick throw in the flat to Rodgers, and like many things, it's too high for him.

I'd argue it's now the Falcons who are in need of a big stop. 49ers at their 18. A fake option gets Davis wide open downfield for 26, but Mike Iupati, who has been pretty bad so far today, holds to kill it. James gets a couple off tackle before running into Sean Weatherspoon. You know, if it is Falcons-Patriots in SB47, I'll bet there is at least one instance where the Falcons make a play but the Patriots run the next two while the goof who made the play is celebrating his routine tackle. Wow, Kaepernick, again faking the option, throws a spear to Davis for a first down at the 31. Huge play on 2nd-and-16. Like Seattle last week, the 49ers keep faking the option and NOT RUNNING IT. No gain for Gore up the middle. Kaepernick gets all day in the pocket on 2nd-10 and scrambles for 23 across midfield. Nicholas yanks Garrett Celek to the ground after a Gore run to move SF inside the ATL30. What was that weird sound I just heard? Sounded like someone choking. Actually, it sounded like a whole lot of people choking. Atlanta barely even bothers with Davis coming out into the flat, and he rolls downfield for a 25-yard completion inside the 5. I don't blame the Falcons for glossing over Vernon Davis in this week's game prep. I think he's already matched his fantasy total for the regular season today. 2:00 warning.

Lesson not learned by the Falcons. Lined up inside Delanie Walker, Davis is ignored by both Nicholas and a barely-even-jogging Will Moore for a wide-open 4-yard TD pass in the flat. That Falcon red is indeed starting to look a little purplish from here. Are you OK? Can you speak? Falcons 17, 49ers 14

Falcons start at their 20, 1:55 left. With McDonald bearing down on him, Ryan beats White in front of soft zone for 14. Two plays later, he beats a rare blitz and hits Gonzalez for 16 across midfield. Illegal contact by Chris Culliver on White for 5 more. With Bowman blitzing, another 14 to White on the sideline at the SF31. The Niners aren't strictly in prevent here, but they're not preventing anything, either. 15 more to Jones at the 16, and Atlanta hasn't even had to use a timeout. It's the 49ers calling timeout with 0:37 left!

Ryan has to be on pace for a 500-yard game by now. Yes, he is. He already has more yards, 255, than he did last week. 5 to Gonzalez at the 11, then, slant at the goal line for a TD. Emphatic answer there by the Falcons, who are breathing a little again. Falcons 24, 49ers 14

0:25 left. 49ers run out the half despite I believe having all three timeouts. Yet no criticism for Jim Harbaugh like John Fox got last week in Denver. Allow RamView, then. That was plenty of time to try to get within range for a long field goal.

Photo - ESPN.com


HALFTIME SHOW 
Hell, yeah, Erin's pants are making the halftime show. The 49ers are similarly going to have to tighten up their pass coverage in the 2nd half. They've played it very low-risk, and it has paid off not a bit. They have nothing to lose by uncorking some heavy blitzing at Ryan in the 2nd half and going tight on the Falcon receivers. Hey, it's not like what they're doing now, candy zone coverage with little blitzing, is working. The Falcon offensive line has had a strong first half and a strong postseason, and did pretty well against SF's late first-half blitzing. They'll have to stay ready for it. I do not recommend Atlanta take much of the air out of the ball, though, not until SF proves they can come even close to stopping them. Hasn't been in evidence yet.



 
The Falcon defense, though, has been completely unready for Vernon Davis, though probably because they've devoted extra attention to Crabtree. They should probably change their focus. And it's ridiculous that for the second straight week, a read-option offense has REFUSED to run the QB against the Falcons. It's there. Take it, for crying out loud.

THIRD QUARTER
Michael Strahan put it well at halftime: the Falcons have to play to win in the 2nd half; they can't play not to lose. They are kicking off to start the half, though. Robert James stuffs the return, wait a minute, here's Erin's pants again. OK, where was I? 49ers at their 18, Randy Moss wide open on a comeback route at the 33, gets to the 39. 49er-soft coverage by the Falcons there. Gore follows Boone on the pull for 6. They've run that play twice and it's worked well both times. Maybe run it more? Gore right up the middle for another 10 to the ATL 45. Big block again by Boone, with Kaepernick again faking the option. Spoon holds Gore to 2 off left tackle. Kaepernick drills Walker for 22 over the middle, down to the 21, beating Spoon. Robinson was injured on the tackle.

Moss is now wide open at the 5, as the Falcons have apparently adopted SF's first-half "strategy" to never cover a receiver ever. And Gore walks in from there, following strong blocks off the right side by Anthony Davis and Bruce Miller. Magnificent drive for Kaepernick out of halftime. Falcons 24, 49ers 21

The San Francisco 49ers welcome back Randy Moss to the game plan.

The 49er 4-man rush continues to put on no pressure at all, giving Ryan 5 seconds to hit Gonzalez at the 37. Ryan has to waste a timeout two plays later due to formation issues. Ryan beats a zone blitz with a 14-yard pass to Gonzalez across midfield. Aikman is correct, but half a quarter late, in saying the 49ers need to bring more pressure. Just as I say that, the first 49ers sack, by NT Isaac Sopoaga, who gets a coverage sack by stopping Ryan attempting to scramble.

And, BIG PLAY ALERT: the very minute the 49ers get any pressure on Ryan at all, he throws an interception. Well, because Roddy White slipped and Chris Culliver jumped the route. SF ball all the same.

What's that coughing noise? Are you all right? Can you take a breath?

Hack, hack, as Davis torches Nicholas, who is having a TERRIBLE game, for 30+ on a corner route down to the ATL25, as the Falcons' strategy continues to be not covering receivers. There wasn't a safety within 20 yards. After waiting 37+ minutes for a designed QB run, I finally get one, and Kaepernick loses two. Thanks for making me look so smart, there. The surprisingly-physical James bangs out 7 on a toss-sweep left, though. 3rd-5. James empties the backfield, the Falcons still only rush three, and Moore nearly jumps a quick pass to somebody named Chad Hall to break up the pass.

A big play, as David Akers amazingly BLOWS a 38-yard chip shot, striking the top of the left upright. Harbaugh must feel smart for cutting Billy Cundiff earlier in the week, huh? In fact, that's the roster spot Chad Hall filled. Kicker tryouts in San Francisco Monday!

Rodgers cuts back right for a nice 7-yard run to the 35. Jason Snelling's first carry gets a big 12 as a couple of 49ers dive and miss, as we learn for the first time that Turner is down with an ankle injury. Great timely reporting there, Fox. Where are Erin's pants when we need them?

Where is the 49er run defense when they need it? More terrible tackling as Rodgers weaves for 9 off left tackle across midfield. Carlos Rogers blankets White on a 1st-down end zone bomb. Sopoaga and Donte Whitner then spin Snelling down for no gain. 3rd-10 at the SF42; critical play here. Julio gets away with a borderline push-off and beats Tarell Brown for 13. Yeah, stick with that pudding-soft coverage, 49ers; you're doing so well with it.

The 49ers put some pudding pop in the next play, though, blitzing heavy and getting Ryan to take his eye off the shotgun snap he bungles away for a fumble. Cough. Cough. Are you OK over there? 49ers at their 37, 1:00 left in the 3rd.

Aldon Smith recovered the fumble by Ryan. Kaepernick misses Walker down the seam, leaving 3rd-7 at 0:10 of the 3rd. He misses Vernon Davis on 3rd down, but Matthews didn't miss hitting him in the face mask on the rush for a CRUCIAL 15-yard penalty. And I have no idea why Aikman thinks that's barely a penalty. Matthews nearly ripped Kaepernick's face mask off. Gore up the middle for 2 to end the quarter.

The NFL has put on yet another excellent playoff game today.

FOURTH QUARTER
2nd-8 at the ATL43. Off an option fake to Gore, Crabtree makes an impressive catch of a laser from Kaepernick and works all the way down to the 10. Robert McClain was like a fingernail from tipping that pass away, but the 49ers have 1st-and-goal instead. Gore up the middle for 5 between Boone and Anthony Davis.

Possible big play alert, as Crabtree can't field a slant cleanly and has it ripped out by Robinson at the goal line. That will obviously be reviewed, but I think it will stand. Shame for Crabtree and the Niners; excellent clutch play by Robinson. Also, fine call by the referees, and Nicholas gets some redemption by fighting and winning the recovery.

Hey, did they even review it? Atlanta's taking off from their 1. The snap barely gets to Ryan and his attempted slant is swatted down by Bowman. Up-handoff to fullback Mike Cox (!) for 4. Must-stop here for SF. Ryan gets an eternity to throw, and finds Gonzalez on an out route, but Carlos Rogers holds him short; Rogers' second big play of the half. Ted Ginn gets all the way inside the ATL40 with the punt return.

Gore runs through Akeem Dent for 7 down to the 31. Dent stops him a foot short on 2nd down. I'll express some doubt here that the 49ers are in Akers' FG range. They may have to get inside the 10 for that. Anthony Dixon plows off right tackle for 5 with his first carry, with Iupati and Vernon Davis getting blocks. James sweeps left for 8, running through Jonathan Babineaux's arm tackle. Crabtree takes a quick screen inside the 10, not played very well by Assante Samuel, but Kaepernick took advantage of Atlanta laying way off. And Gore, on first-and-goal, with the Falcon secondary laying eight yards off of everyone, runs for an easy TD off a fantastic block by Anthony Davis and a strong one by Bruce Miller. Hey, you're looking a little blue over there, are you all right? 49ers 28, Falcons 24

Now we'll get to see if Captain Comeback Ryan can make Gore look stupid for doing the premature Dirty Bird to mock the Atlanta fans after his TD. That is extremely, extremely bad juju, Frank, and you should know that. In fact, that was stupid. But thanks for cracking the over, which is now 9-0 this postseason and is probably the only fictional money I'll fictionally make off this game.

Programming note with 8:24 left: I'm probably going to have to join the AFC game in progress. I tried to have it both ways last week and my DVR ate half the shows I wanted to save. And the postgame show for this game probably won't be up for this game right away.

Kaepernick picks up a cup of Gatorade on the bench, looks on it like somebody left an eyeball in it... and puts it back on the table?

Aikman gives a nice demonstration of how the Falcons' attempts to contain Kaepernick is hurting the rest of their run defense.

Ryan back-pedals and hits White for 9. Rogers gets the first down with a short run. Julio is wide open for a first down bomb, but Goldson closes to break up the pass affected by Aldon Smith's rare pressure today. Quick out to Douglas for 6, uncomfortably close to a pick. Ryan overthrew that. 3rd-4, critical play now for Atlanta. Bowman blitzes and hits Ryan as he throws, but he hits Julio on the sideline in front of Culliver for 5. Man, other than Carlos Rogers, the 49er secondary has been rotten today. Ahmad Brooks flushes Ryan for 3. 5:30 to play. Strong 4-man rush, but Ryan buys extra time well and hits Julio at midfield for 5. 3rd-2. Ryan continuing to flirt with the INT. Bizarre play next, but it's going to count. Harry Douglas breaks wide open downfield after yanking Rogers down by his collar, but stumbles and falls while catching the ball at the SF28. Should have been a penalty; should have been a TD; ends up somewhere in the middle.

And this play, which the 49ers challenge, shouldn't even count, and it's not even the Bert Emmanuel rule. It clearly hits the ground and is moving without Douglas ever controlling it. Not that I'm remotely a 49er fan, but he didn't deserve the catch anyway. If Terry MacAulay agrees, Atlanta's facing 4th-and-2.

WHAT? IT'S A CATCH? MacAulay and Fox's Mike Pereira agree that Douglas didn't lose possession, which is ludicrous. He lost possession far more than Calvin Johnson did that time in Chicago. Douglas knocks it out of his left hand with his right hand and It. Hits. The. Ground! How in the world is that possession?

The National Football League f*cking needs to f*cking clear up this f*cking rule.

Atlanta still has work to do, though, at the SF28. Rodgers delightfully drags the much larger McDonald for 9. Hitch to Douglas for a first down at the 16. Willis stuffs Jacquizz on first down at the 2:00 warning. It's here already? Wow.

Ryan barely avoids a sack by Brooks and hits Snelling over the middle at the 10. Ryan appears to have been injured on the play. He taps his left shoulder and is kind of limping around. Ryan rolls right on 3rd-and-4, but there's Brooks again, elevating to bat down the pass. Season on the line now for Atlanta.

Play action to Rodgers, but Bowman flashes his hand in to break up a pass to Roddy White. That contact's fine; it's within five yards and the ball isn't in the air yet. (I said that before Aikman did, btw.) Fine play by Bowman, who has been the 49ers' best defensive player all day, no offense to Brooks' late surge.

And the Falcons have choked in the playoffs yet again!

Gore up the middle as Atlanta uses their second timeout at 1:04. That, though, is followed by an actual delay of game on San Francisco. I know it's loud there, but how the f*ck do you do that? Vance Walker drops Gore at the 5, and Atlanta uses their last TO with 1:00 left.

Kaepernick has to be keeping it here. No, it's a handoff to Gore, who plows off left tackle for 10. There will be about 13 seconds left when Andy Lee punts, and on 4th-and-5, it's going to be hard for Atlanta to sell out for the block. Lee gets it off, and Douglas gets swallowed up at the ATL 43.

Six seconds left for Ryan, but if anybody's got the receivers to pull a Hail Mary off... but Ryan's continuing to cradle his left arm like something's broken on that side. And, WTF? Just a deep slant to Julio Jones, and it's over the middle where the clock can't stop? Was he supposed to hook-and-trailer it and couldn't? In any event, the 49ers are on top of Julio for the first time all day and tackle him around the SF40 to end the game.

Rams fans have been guaranteed a Super Bowl we're going to hate. What's going to suck less, 49ers-Patriots, or the Freaking Harbaugh Bowl? Sigh.

Final score: 49ers 28, Falcons 24

 
POSTGAME SHOW
Player of the Game award is Gore's, for 90 yards and 2 TDs, and with Atlanta effectively bottling Kaepernick up as a rushing weapon, his ability to keep the 49er offense going on the ground was critical. Half that production would have won me a FFL championship back in week 16, btw; thanks a lot, Frank.



If this were a hockey game, I'd also award a star to Bowman and one to right tackle Anthony Davis, who I thought had an excellent game blocking.

Gambling-wise, the 49ers failed to cover by a freaking half-point, so I have to settle for the straight-up and the over. That makes me 6-3 at everything this postseason: SU, ATS, and O/U.

I think the 49ers are the Patriots' nightmare opponent, despite New England's furious comeback in Foxborough that fell short. The only NFC West team the Patriots played well this season were the Rams in European vacation mode. San Francisco's too physical for them, though there will be something to be said for New England's vast experience advantage in the Big Game. The hypothetical Harbaugh Bowl is a coin flip to me. Baltimore has not been a strong run defense, and I suspect that's their fatal flaw when they have to make adjustments to contain Kaepernick. The 49ers may not be favored to win Super Bowl XLVII, but I'm leaning their way against either AFC opponent.

Atlanta's going to have to improve their pass rush in the offseason if they're going to get over the hump to the Super Bowl. There's nobody in the middle of that line to scare you. They got nothing in the playoffs with John Abraham hurt, and he's old anyway. Time to get that part of the game shored up.

-$-