Ravens Kick off Harbaugh Era In Winning Way

   The Baltimore Ravens kicked off the John Harbaugh era with a 16-15 victory over the New England Patriots on Thursday night.  Wins and losses do not amount to much in the preseason, but Harbaugh and his staff can take away some positive things from Thursday's victory. 

   Here is a breakdown of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly for Preseason Week 1 and an analysis of the quarterback competition between Kyle Boller, Troy Smith, and Joe Flacco.

The Good

1^st Half Defense

While six defensive starters did not play including Kelly Gregg, Haloti Ngata, Chris McAlister, Samari Rolle, Ed Reed, and Terrell Suggs, Rex Ryan’s defense brought constant pressure through blitz packages and penetration by the defensive line.  The Ravens defense played at a higher level than the Patriots offense, which did not include Tom Brady and Randy Moss. 

The defense limited the Patriots to less than 100 yards of total offense in the first half.  Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel was confused and rattled by the constant pressure in the first half.

Cam Cameron 

Cameron brought an aggressive game plan to establish the passing game.  The Ravens drove 57 yards on their opening drive setting up a Matt Stover 42-yard field goal.

Cameron called several screen passes and used fullback Le’Ron McClain as a bigger part of the offense than in the past.  Cameron varied his calls, using runs in passing situations while passing in a few short yardage situations.

The ground game was not very productive as the offense focused on the air attack.  Ray Rice carried 6 times for 12 yards.

Keep in mind that Cameron did not have Willis McGahee, Todd Heap, Mark Clayton, and Demetrius Williams in the lineup.

Return Team 

The Ravens return team set up excellent lanes for return specialist Yamon Figurs.  Key blocks were made by rookie Tom Zbikowski and linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo. Figurs also made several great moves to evade defenders in the open field.  He will have nightmares of being caught on his 2^nd quarter punt return to the 2-yard line.

Fabian Washington

Washington displayed his strong cover skills by picking off two passes in the first half.  He was also tough in run support registering two tackles.  Critics in Oakland viewed his lack of commitment in stopping the run as his biggest weakness.

Justin Bannan 

The defensive tackle was a constant disruption in the New England backfield.  Bannan will once again be a key member of the rotation on the defensive line.

Jarret Johnson

While Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, and Bart Scott receive the publicity, Johnson quietly has become a very good linebacker on this star-studded defense.  He was flying to the football and broke up a 3^rd down pass in the first half. 

Brendon Ayanbadejo

Ayanbadejo fits right into the Ravens’ defensive style of flying to the football, registering 8 tackles and a sack.  He was signed for his special teams pedigree, but coaches have to feel confident in his ability to play linebacker if injuries occur during the regular season.

Discipline

While penalties piled up in the 2^nd half with many reserves and rookies fighting for jobs, the team was disciplined in the first half, a trait missing from last season.  The use of a play clock during training camp practices appeared to help as the team did not have any delay of game penalties. 

The Bad 

Offensive Line 

While tackles Chad Slaughter and Mike Kracalik did not protect as poorly as some feared, they had difficulty in protecting Kyle Boller.  Slaughter was bull-rushed badly by Richard Seymour on one play in the first quarter but was solid overall.

Kracalik appeared slow as Pierre Woods ran right by him on several plays in the first half.

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