Ravens vs. Bengals Recap

Oh. My. God. Where do you begin? I don't think as a fan I can endure an entire season of games like that. On paper, according to all of recorded history, a team doesn’t have an opportunity to win a game with 6 turnovers. The Ravens did, and that is a positive. They also played through numerous injuries and saw guys step up and fill the holes, and that is a positive. It the end, it wasn’t enough, but don’t have a short memory – two years ago, we would have lost 27-6.

First, let me touch on the coverage: Tony Kornheiser LOVES Chad Johnson. And Chad, is this the "safe" celebration? It took 10 minutes to develop! It was a full two drives later for the joke to go down. We tune in to watch a football game, not a stand up act. ESPN just continues the tradition of monkeying around with the MNF lineup to find the “perfect mix” (remember Dennis Miller?). It still doesn’t work.

Let’s break down position by position, starting with what was one of the great surprises of the night.

Running Backs: Willis McGahee turned in a solid performance for his first game. He already looks to be a reliable threat coming out of the backfield, both for the running game and the passing game. McNair seemed very comfortable going to him as a check down, and he runs the out pattern very well, which fits into the Ravens scheme. As the season progresses, look for the Ravens to run more east to west with McGahee as everyone becomes more comfortable with the team. It is too early and would be unfair to make comparisons with McGahee (77 yards on 19 carries) and Lewis (35 yards on 11 carries), but McGahee looks like he will fit in just fine.

Quarterbacks: 4 turnovers. McNair took the blame. “Even though we were in the ballgame the last few minutes, it’s uncalled for and unacceptable this offense and it all starts with me. I got to protect the ball and give my team a chance”. McNair was not sharp, but he is also better then he played last night.

Offensive Line: The line had trouble all night protecting the quarterback. This in part, led to six turnovers. McNair was hit, rushed, and hurried all night. When Ogden left due to problems with his toe, that did not help. It seemed though that the line improved and settled down as the night went on, which is a good sign. The younger guys have to step up.

Defensive Line: The D Line turned in another solid but unspectacular evening. As with the Offensive line, they seemed to settle down as the game went on, turning in some really solid stands late in the game.

Linebackers: The linebackers, as they do most games were solid as the fans have come to expect. Johnson did a good job showing speed in pursuit and getting to Carson Palmer, making us forget that Thomas fellow that went to New England.

Secondary: Cincinnati is a difficult team to defend. They have more then one legitimate deep threats and Palmer can get the ball downfield. The secondary did a great job, especially in the second half limiting the touches of #84 and #85.

Receivers: This is one area where the fans saw bolder play calling then the Ravens have done in the past. It didn’t always work out, but hopefully that doesn’t keep Billick from going to the air in the future. Mason had a solid outing, Williams needs to hold onto the ball.

Officiating: As a Ravens fan, I am admittedly biased. But there were some obvious questionable calls. Even if you take out the Heap play at the end of the game, the game did not seem to be called “evenly” if you will. It was hard to see sometimes with the fascination of the cameras with the guys in the booth, but Cinci’s secondary was very physical, especially on Williams.

Veteran players play through adversity, good players have a short memory. The Ravens have to shake this off and respond.

Ravens at Jets. Sunday at 4:15 pm.