Tuesday Morning QB

We didn’t think the Ravens would go 16 – 0, did we?

Losing to the Patriots (again) stings, let’s admit that. They’re a really good team – better than I gave them credit for, and the Ravens stuck in there and had a shot at the end. Some costly mistakes, and some questionable play calling cost them the game; and they were flat out beat.

It happens.

Flacco continues to impress, as does the just dominant run defense. Pass defense isn’t what it’s been in the past, but with the offense playing that well, if the defense can force teams to throw and hold teams to field goals, this offense can win a lot of games. If Mark Clayton can hold on to the ball. I would have much preferred to see more of the running game, it sure looked like the Ravens could run all day, but I’m not a coach, so there might have been something I’m not smart enough to see that lead the Ravens to throw the ball.

On the officiating, which has been the talk of sports radio and sports blogging so far this week: I didn’t see a referee drop a pass, I didn’t see a ref miss a block, and I didn’t see a ref fumble a kickoff. The officiating was horrible. But it was pretty bad both ways. Sure, the Pats got a couple of home field spots, but there were just as many terrible calls (and non calls) that went against the Patriots as the Ravens.

By the way, calling for a measurement when there’s an obvious yard (or more) to go is a brilliant way to get a timeout without calling a timeout. Very creative, Coach Belichick. And nice move Coach Harbaugh to notice that little trick, and use it in the 4th quarter.

Any Ravens fan has to be happy coming out of the first 4 weeks at 3-1. The schedule will get a little more challenging later in the year, so I’d like to go into the bye week at 5-1. 4-2 may be more realistic. The Bengals are next week, and while the Ravens should be able to beat this team, there’s almost always a letdown game against the Browns or the Bengals each year. I hope it’s not this one, with the Vikings the following week, in Minnesota. I think the Ravens match up pretty well against the Vikings, but they look pretty good.