Bleacher Report - Joe Flacco

2009 Steelers: The Non-Closers Lose a Tough One To Ravens

Chris Staaf — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:52:46 -0500

If the season ended today, the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers could sum up their season in three words: failure to close.

In Glengarry Glen Ross , Alec Baldwin's character says, "ABC: Always Be Closing." These Steelers failed to close once again, losing a tough one to the Baltimore Ravens 20-17 in overtime.

For the fourth time this season, the Steelers blew a fourth quarter lead and lost the game. The Steelers, now at 6-5, are pretty much just fighting for a wild card spot which they still could not earn even if they win out and finish 11-5 a la the New England Patriots last season. It is a possibility that the Steelers and Steeler Nation needs to come to grips with quickly.

Some observations from tonight's game:

The Good

1. Dennis Dixon played OK given the situation. Yes he did throw the back-breaking interception to Paul Kruger in overtime and just looked lost in OT period, but you have to give the second-year QB his due. He played within himself. He did not take any sacks, and got rid of the ball quickly whenever he could. He also flashed his quickness and foot speed which made him a Heisman candidate in 2007, scoring on a 24-yard run.

Dixon has shown to be a capable backup, but Steeler Nation will obviously want their franchise QB Ben Roethlisberger to come back as soon as possible, likely next week at home against Oakland. It is good to know what the Steelers have in Dixon. So expect Charlie Batch to be put on injured reserve within few days.

2. Bruce Arians called the best game of the season. Yes, even in a loss, Arians did his job well and should not face too much criticism this week. His play-calling protected Dixon and had 38 run plays to 26 pass plays, a great combination for an inexperienced QB.

Rashard Mendenhall got 24 carries for 95 yards against a tough Ravens defense, and the Steelers as a team rushed for 153, which is admirable even in a loss. Arians should definitely stick with this philosophy even when Roethlisberger comes back. It will protect Roethlisberger from unnecessary contact and help the team control the clock more efficiently.

3. The kickoff coverage was much better Sunday night because, well, they did not give up any returns for touchdowns. All sarcasm aside, the Steeler coverage unit held Ravens return man Ladarius Webb to 21.3 yards per return, which for them is phenomenal. Chris Carr got loose on a punt return once for 34 yards but other than that, the Steelers also did their job efficiently.

The Bad

1. The defense was not great tonight. Let's get one thing clear. This Steelers defense is not the 2008 Steelers defense. Tonight they gave up two long touchdown drives in the first half before finally clamping down on Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense in the third quarter and part of the fourth quarter. The tying FG drive by the Ravens? 10 plays for 84 yards, something that has become usual for these Steelers defenders this year.

This Steelers defense played their hearts out tonight, but let's give credit where credit is due. Ray Rice is a star running back and he made the Steelers look silly in the game-tying drive, easily beating James Farrior on the gutsy 4th down catch with 3:31 to go in the game.

In OT, Rice drove the ball all the way down inside the 12 yard line after Kruger's interception return was stopped at the Steelers' own 28 yard line. The Steelers knew who was getting the ball but it did not matter. They came into tonight's game as the best run defense in the league. Tonight that number meant nothing. 132 yards rushing against the No. 1 ranked rush defense is inexcusable no matter who is not playing or who is playing.

2. Cornerbacks Ike Taylor and William Gay were not good tonight. Gay has been picked on by opponents all season and tonight was no different. The real surprise was Taylor, who is usually a very good cover man, getting beaten consistently by Derrick Mason. Tonight Taylor was beaten for a touchdown and was flagged for a pass interference.

Gay, a free agent at the end of this season, will likely just play out his contract with the Steelers and will not be asked to come back for 2010. With Deshea Townsend at age 34, the Steelers will need to draft another cornerback, or groom 2009 draft picks Keenan Lewis and Joe Burnett to eventually take over. Given how little Lewis and Burnett have played this season, it remains to be seen if they are the long-term future or if they are just in Steel City for another year.

The Verdict

Was this loss a sign of things to come? Now with three losses in a row, the Steelers are in a deep hole in the AFC playoff picture. They might as well forget about playing at Heinz Field in January, because barring a Denver Broncos -like collapse by the the Cincinnati Bengals, the division is lost.

Like 2005, the Steelers need to win out to ensure a playoff berth. The best things about the Steelers right now are these things: One, they have made playoff runs before. Two, wins against the now surging Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos, and even the San Diego Chargers will loom large if it comes down to tie-breakers.

But enough of that.

While this Steeler team is no doubt talented, they don't look like a team trying to attain a common goal like last season. There seems to be no real fire inside this team, almost like they are content with last season and just want to play out the string this season.

I think that the month of December will show how important Mike Tomlin is to this team. For the first time in his three seasons in Pittsburgh, Tomlin is facing the reality of not making the playoffs. Some Steeler fans have questioned Tomlin's leadership and coaching calls this season.

Bill Cowher cemented his legend in Pittsburgh in December 2005 and January 2006 by leading the Steelers to nine consecutive wins, including four straight wins in the playoffs. Before 2005, Cowher was just a good coach. After 2005, he was a great coach who could go to the Hall of Fame when he officially retires.

While last season Tomlin was the toast of the town, but the NFL is a fickle business. Tomlin can shut up the remaining naysayers if he can lead the Steelers to wins and a deep playoff push this year, especially in the first real moment of crisis in his coaching career.

The Steelers need to take care of their own business and not worry about what the Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, or anyone else is doing. Troy Polamalu will likely not be back this Sunday against the Raiders or next Thursday night against the Cleveland Browns. While he makes the Steelers a better team, one man should not make an entire defense.

The remaining schedule sets up favorably for the Steelers, but this is the same team that could not close out a 10 point lead against the Kansas City Chiefs. Bottom line, the Steelers need to close out games. If they don't, they will be watching football during the playoffs, not playing in them.

Next game: December 6 vs. Oakland Raiders @ 1 pm Eastern

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Pittsburgh at Baltimore: Must-Win Situation for Ravens Sunday Night

Todd McGregor — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:03:31 -0500

The Ravens have found themselves in many close games this season. However, none of those games can compare to what’s on the line tonight in Baltimore, as the Ravens take on a Steelers team playing without two of their best players in “Big Ben” and Troy Polamalu.

Ben Roethlisberger will be sidelined with a concussion he sustained against Kansas City last week. It appeared Roethlisberger might suit up for the big Sunday night game, when reports were released mid-week that stated he had passed a battery of tests that measured his cognition.

On Friday, Roethlisberger complained of headaches during physical exertion, which gave the starting role to third-string quarterback Dennis Dixon, a second year man out of Oregon.

Even with the big injuries to Pittsburgh, the Ravens will have their hands full with a solid Steelers’ defense – a defense that will be without their biggest playmaker in Troy Polamalu.

One thing the Ravens understand is the fact they must win this game in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. A win tonight for the Ravens will put them in second place in the AFC North at 6-4; either one or two games in back of Cincinnati, depending on how they fare against the Browns today. A loss might all but end any hopes for the Ravens’ playoff chances.

With the entire Ravens’ season at stake, Baltimore needs to take a more explosive approach to this game.

The Ravens have returned to a more balanced attack on offense in the past four games. This has lead to Ray Rice becoming one of the best all-around backs in the NFL. He’s been a threat both running the ball, and catching passes out of the backfield.

With that said, Baltimore needs to do more than check the ball down to Rice in order to win this contest.

Cam Cameron must reopen the playbook to Joe Flacco. In games where Flacco was limited by Cameron, he struggled mightily, throwing more interceptions than touchdowns (1 TD and 3 INT’s in the last four games).

If Flacco is cut loose from the recent conservative approach on offense, he should be able to take advantage of a Steelers defense that has struggled without their top playmaker in Polamalu. In fact, the entire outcome of the game will rest on how mistake-free Flacco can play.

With the Ravens looking to get back on track, this will be the game in which they can accomplish that. Baltimore and Pittsburgh always play each other close, but the Ravens have the edge in this one, due to the Steelers’ misfortunes.

If Baltimore can strike early and quick, this might be a game where the Ravens never look back at their opponent.

Predictions for tonight’s game

Ray Rice should be a big factor, as usual, in both the running and passing game. Look for him to rack up over 100 all-purpose yards, and a touchdown.

Joe Flacco will end his mid-season slump tonight, as Baltimore will come out of the gates on fire at home, knowing what’s on the line. Flacco should finish with 250 yards, two touchdown passes, and no interceptions.

Final score: Pittsburgh 10, Baltimore 27

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Cam Cameron's Play Calling Continues to Set Joe Flacco and Company Back

Matt Miselis — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:05:00 -0500

As the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers renew their rivalry for the first time this season in Pittsburgh, disappointment is what the team, the ownership, and the city of Baltimore are feeling up to this point.

With a record of 5-5, the Ravens have won just two of their last seven games due to a lack of consistency.

First, it was the offense lighting up the board with the points, coming out of the gates as one of the best in the league. At that time, the defense was not up to form, showing signs of aging as they were near the bottom in passing defense.

In the second half of the season, a shift has occurred for the purple and black. While the defense has been one of the best in the past month, the offense has failed to score 20 or more points in the past three games.

With the playoff race getting tighter, the Ravens must find a way to score the necessary touchdowns instead of the field goals. However, where must the debating start? Obviously Mark Clayton needs to step up as the second receiver, along with Todd Heap, who has been quiet as of late.

These questions need to be put to the test by offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, who has done no good for this offense in the past month.

Look, the offense was made out to be one of the best in the league after the first weeks, where the defense was nowhere near the league's best. Inconsistency has been a great deal of concern throughout the season, especially in a few of the games where the offense has let the team down.

Yet who seemed to be a good manager of the offense, Cameron has taken a great deal of heat for the disappointments, and he deserves all of the blame. What was one of the top rushing attacks in the league last season has turned more into an offense dedicated to the pass.

All I can ask is, why? Other then Derrick Mason and Ray Rice, no receiver has stepped up his game where passing can be the best priority. When the offense actually runs the ball, sooner or later Rice breaks out for a rush of 10-plus yards, wearing out the defense.

Well, the plan was brought into action Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts and cost them a win that would have helped them greatly after the struggles from many teams within the AFC.

Baltimore was in range of new kicker Billy Cundiff, who made four field goals (46, 44, 38, 36) but missed a 30-yard field goal in the third quarter.

In a third and long situation, the best option was to run the ball. Rice broke out for some key big runs on the drive, and gaining a few extra yards would have set up a nice opportunity for Cundiff to redeem himself. Le'Ron McClain could have also been used as a fresh back on third and long, with possibly having a huge chunk of yards to possibly get a first down.

But Cameron decided to give Joe Flacco the shot of making the smart play on this particular down. The result: a short pass to Rice, who was covered by three defenders, resulting in an interception.

Wow! Even though Flacco is making good strides as a young quarterback, with no clear receiver open, Joe had to force a pass he didn't want to make, and a turnover cost the Ravens a possible win.

Defenses are beginning to predict the Ravens' offense. They know the ball in the air is either a deep pass to Mason or short drop to Rice.

Because of this, the offense is continuing to suffer, and Cameron is getting farther away from the running game every time.

In some of the media stations throughout the Maryland area, some writers have called for Cameron to get fired. Yes, it is his only second year, but the offense is going in an opposite direction because of the calls he is making.

Yet I assure you he will return next season. With John Harbaugh as head coach, his good friend Cam will be running the offense once again.

Now don't take anything personal here. I think Harbaugh is a likeable coach who is a great motivator and always has a positive attitude.

He won't take it to the next level, though, if he cannot have the top of the line coordinator who can make something out of his offense.

Joe Flacco is the franchise quarterback for the Ravens and continues to grow into one. Certainly general manager Ozzie Newsome will get a receiver either in the draft or free agency after failing to do so last season.

However, whether Cam realizes or not, he is beginning to feel the pressure of not executing on offense, which shall continue throughout this season and the future that 2010 brings.

So a message to Cam Cameron: Utilize the running game, don't put the full load on Flacco, and success can happen.

If not, in a few years you will be out of a job once again, this time with not many places to turn.

Matt Miselis is an NFL writer for BleacherReport.com. He is also a writer for the Baltimore Ravens on fanhuddle.com.

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Ravens' Offense Struggles in Heartbreaking Loss To Indy, 17-15

Todd McGregor — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:50:07 -0500

Early in the season, the Ravens’ defense was the brunt of criticism in Baltimore. I was one of their toughest critics when they started to slide early in the season. Now it appears Baltimore’s offense is having trouble establishing any kind of rhythm.

Through their first five games, Joe Flacco was posting career numbers, and the rest of the offense was clicking. The media hyped the emergence of the Ravens' offense. Flacco and co. were manufacturing ways to win, despite poor defensive performances at times.

Coming into today, Flacco has thrown for 12 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, racking up 2,199 yards in the process.

Today the Ravens looked like the Ravens of old—Their defense outplayed a struggling, conservative offense. Baltimore (5-5) could only manage five field goals, en-route to another heartbreaking loss at the hands of the undefeated Colts (10-0).

Flacco was efficient in the losing effort, but simply being efficient isn't enough when you're facing Peyton Manning on the other sideline. Flacco finished the day 23 of 35 for 256 yards, and one interception.

Derrick Mason had the biggest day on offense, finishing the game with 9 catches for 142 yards. He was also the recipient of a 45 yard pass that took Baltimore all the way down to the Colts' one yard line. The Ravens ended up with only three points to show for the effort.

Ray Rice was held to under 100 yards rushing, and wasn't too much of a factor in the Ravens' overall game plan.

Baltimore finally had a solid day on defense, against one of the more explosive offenses in the NFL.

Somehow, without Terrell Suggs active due to a knee injury, the Ravens held Peyton Manning in-check for the better part of 60 minutes. The front four pressured Manning enough to disrupt his timing, which allowed for the corners to keep pace with the speedy Indy receivers. Manning was picked-off twice, once by Dawan Landry and another by ball-hawk Ed Reed.

However, both turnovers only resulted in field goals. On the Ravens’ ensuing drive, newly acquired kicker Billy Cundiff missed an easy 33 yard chip-shot, slicing it far to the right.

The pathetic attempt by Cundiff cost the Ravens three points and ultimately the ball game.

The last chance Baltimore had to put the Colts away came on a drive that ended with a Flacco interception. Flacco attempted to dump the ball off to Ray Rice, but didn’t see Gary Brackett coming across the middle of the field. Brackett’s interception snuffed out any hope for a Ravens’ comeback.

Left tackle Jared Gaither appeared to flinch before the snap. The Colts’ defense reacted by pointing at Gaither in hopes of drawing a flag. Confused that a whistle hadn’t sounded, the Ravens decided to run the play anyway.

The misunderstanding on the part of the offense subsequently resulted in Flacco’s only bad pass of the day.

It was another tough loss for the 5-5 Ravens. Now they’re one game out of the wild-card hunt, and desperately need to find their old winning ways.

Notables

This was the Colts’ seventh straight win over the Ravens.

Ray Rice failed to reach the end zone for the first time in five games.

John Harbaugh decided to bring Billy Cundiff on as the Ravens’ kicker even after admitting Steve Hauschka was their best option during last week’s tryouts. Both kickers competed against each other for a spot on the roster. Harbaugh admitted the competition was “close”.

Biggest “head-scratching” moment

The play-calling by Cam Cameron when Baltimore had the ball first-and-goal, inside the Colts’ five yard line. Why not use LeRon McClain, one of the best goal line backs in the NFL. The Ravens also could have used a five-wide set to allow Flacco a short pass attempt.

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