Sports: NFL

[IAmBatman]

Wow, I thought the division race in the NFC South was wide open, but you AFC Northerners are really locked in a four-way race!

[Dad_Scaper]

No kidding. Four good teams, no great ones.

The Ravens lost that game with a failure to execute on both sides of the ball. Very discouraging. Jimmy Smith was out, and he's one of the best corners in the game. His absence hurt.

The officiating was not terrible, but several key calls or non-calls hurt. The biggest was a non-call on Brown for OPI when he knocked Webb down at the top of his route, then went on to score a touchdown. That was particularly painful for Ravens fans, who saw the call get made *against* them in Cinci last week, calling back a game winner.

Just a painful game to watch last night.

[dok]

Thoughts on the Broncos after that game:

- At the end of the day, the biggest factor in the game was an abysmal performance on 3rd and 4th down (both defensively and offensively). This sort of thing isn't really consistent from game to game and doesn't worry me that much. The Broncos will revert back to their usual better-than-most-teams performance on third down (just as they are better on first and second downs than most teams) over time.

- The Broncos got destroyed on special teams. The missed FG and punt return TD were obvious, but they lost field position on punts and kickoffs all day. Releasing Prater is looking like a mistake; McManus is not up to the task.

(Aside: even if we had Prater I would still approve the decision to go for it on 4th down at the end of the first half. Despite "conventional wisdom" that's a good percentage play. Indeed, the Pats made their one 4th down attempt in the game, from a similar distance. Reverse those two plays and it's somewhere between Broncos +1 and Pats +3 in the middle of the third quarter.)

- Welker is a shell of his former self. The second INT was almost entirely on him, and more generally he's just not getting a lot of separation any more. A good fourth receiver is important for the Broncos because Manning is all about picking on the defense's weak link (note how often he went to Patrick Chung single-covering Jacob Tamme at the end of the game rather than mess with Browner or Revis or the double team). I hope Welker can round back into form, but with his age and history of injuries he might just be done.

- The biggest problem remains the O line, and run blocking in particular. Clady has returned to form at left tackle, but there are problems at other positions. Things had started to improve over the previous few games but after this game it's clear it's still a work in progress. They have enough talent to get better but it's taking them a while.

[Tornado]

I am not looking forward to the Lions heading to Arizona and then New England. Even Miami at home is looking tough. I really hope 6-2 does not become 2-6 for the rest of the season. We need to get healthy quick.

[Dad_Scaper]

It's the regular season, dok. All that matters is the Ws and the Ls, not the number of passing touchdowns you gave up in a game.


edit: Unless you use gaudy statistics as a substitute for championships. You're not still bitter over your ruined coronation in 2012, are you?

[BurnyFlame]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

The AFC North was looking pretty bad early in the year, but it's up there again as one of the best in football. The Ravens did not deserve to win tonight. Ah, well. As much as I despise Ben Roethlisberger, I find they are much more difficult to loathe without Hines Ward in the defensive secondary, looking for people to sneak up on and injure.

And my fantasy football season is ruined because I benched Ben Roethlisberger the past two weeks. Surely he won't throw for 6 TDs three weeks in a row . . .

[dok]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

It's the regular season, dok. All that matters is the Ws and the Ls, not the number of passing touchdowns you gave up in a game.

Nice article, DS. I didn't know you wrote there.

[Dad_Scaper]

That's a good piece. I have lots of respect for Peyton as a passer and he seems to be a pretty classy guy. For all his talent, and all the great players he's had around him over the years, he has 11 (I think?) postseason wins. Joe Flacco has 9, in 10 fewer seasons. They have won the same number of Super Bowls.

Are they the same? No. But you can have your sabermetrics, your Moneyball, your ProFootballFocus. I'll take what I've got here, thank you very much.

[dok]

Yes, Flacco has been very wise. When he lacks an elite defense, rather than drag his team into to the playoffs and lose there, he just doesn't qualify. Very smart, that one.

[Dad_Scaper]

The "elite" Ravens defense predates his arrival in Baltimore. Certainly he was never blessed with a receiving duo like Harrison and Wayne, or a complimenting defensive pass rush like Freeney and Matthis.

With all the talent Peyton has had around him, where are the rings? Without two kick returns for touchdowns the Broncos wouldn't have been in the game in 2012 for Peyton to give it away with an OT pick.

You have your narrative, I'll have mine.

[dok]

Flacco's good and all, but he's nothing compared to Trent Dilfer.

[Dad_Scaper]

Trent had, by some measures, the best defense of all time backing him up. The offense produced relatively little through the entire postseason, and the defense pitched a shutout in the Super Bowl; the Giants only score was a kick return TD.

Regardless, you perhaps accuse me of saying that all QBs who win are the same. I never said that. Skill matters. A lot.