MVN - Most Valuable Network

Eric Brown

What caused the Ravens to flip the switch?

The Monday night game begs the question; “What took this team so long to put together a complete game?” If they could have responded this way after the first loss of the season then it might have been a very different season. If they could have shown this much emotion against the Bills they would have had 1st place, and the catalyst to bring that passion to every game. But it only shows up now that their season is basically over. There has to be an answer.

The game against the Patriots brought out several things in this Ravens team that had been missing up until this point. For one, it was the first time this season that the team seemed to be totally focused. For once both the offense and defense did their job in the same game, but you would have thought that it would have come way before now. Shouldn’t there have been the same focus for the Bengals, Browns Bills, and Steelers? What took it so long to come about?

I would hate to think that this team didn’t feel challenged until now. They should have had that feeling going into Week 2, but there could be something to that. Maybe this team was still full of themselves after last years 13-3 mark and figured that it would all come back together on it’s own. Perhaps they figured that the bounces would just start flowing their way as they did last season, and everything would be fine. But how could they have felt that way after sustaining their 4th loss, or their 5th? Why has this team seemed to lack focus until now? Maybe it’s not a matter of focus, but a sense of determination that has been lacking.

In either case what was it that caused them to flip that switch and turn their game on? Was it the challenge of playing an unbeaten team? Had they finally grown tired of embarrassing themselves? Maybe it was because they fielded the healthiest team since the first game of the season. Maybe all of the above.

Whatever the reason, it was good to see. Johnathan Ogden played like he did 5 years ago. Ray Lewis was fired up, and made plays all over the field, Samari Rolle was like a man possessed, and Kyle Boller was throwing darts that cut through the cold gale force winds like speeding bullets. Haloti Ngata couldn’t be stopped, even when they double teamed him. Willis McGahee was running people over on his way to 138 yards. Rookie outside linebacker Antwan Barnes showed that pass rushing ability that made him stand out in college, and it comes at a time when the defense really needs it with the loss of Trevor Pryce.

A lot of players stood out, but the one that impressed me the most was 3rd year defensive back Jamaine Winborne, even with the holding call on the last series. Playing in the dime package he was all over the field, batting down passes, and stuffing the run. I thought the best defensive play of the game, or at least the one I remember best , was when Winborne stopped New England tight end Ben Watson dead in his tracks, and then forced him backward and down to the ground. Watson outweighs Winborne by more than 50 lbs., but Jamaine was so determined to keep Watson from gaining a 1st down that size didn’t matter, unless you want to measure the size of their hearts, and Winborne showed that he had more.

I’m hoping that whatever spurred this team on will stick with them the rest of the season. I don’t see any motivation problems with the Colts coming to town. The Ravens owe them one for last seasons playoff loss, and if they come out like they did against the Patriots then they’ll be carting Peyton Manning off the field in pieces. Wouldn’t that make a nice commercial for the player that holds the all time record for TV face time.

This team has to build on that performance they gave Monday night. They have to get back to playing Ravens football, because if they don’t there will be a whole host of changes come next year. Who wants to be the one they let go?

Footnote; The Ravens Patriots game set the record for the most viewed program in cable history with 17.5 million viewers tuning in. I think they got their moneys worth!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 at 9:00 pm and is filed under Baltimore Ravens Mid Week Report, Mike Brown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.