Cheers and Jeers for Ravens/Dolphins

Ravens 27          Dolphins 13

I woke up this morning at my usual time 5:50 AM, made my morning coffee, but some cream and sugar in it, look a sip out of my Ravens coffee mug and do you know what I said: “Damn, this is the best coffee ever!”

Yesterday, the Ravens got back on track avenging their ‘07 loss to the Fins defeating the Dolphin Safe Tunas 27-13.  After last Sundays’ debacle in Indy, the Ravens looked like a completely different squad focused on pushing for a possible playoff run. Here are my cheers and jeers for the game on Sunday.

CHEERS

Willis McGahee: Happy Belated Birthday Willis! “That’s What I’m Talkin’ Bout” Willis McGahee proved to everyone that he is an every down back and can carry the load for the Ravens offense.  McGahee rushed for 105 yards on 19 carries and scored one touchdown, which redeemed him from that fumble he had inside the 20 yard line. He also made this fantasy owner very VERY happy this week.

The Flacco/Mason Connection: Once again, Derrick Mason was the favorite target of rookie quarterbackJoe Flacco.  Flacco finished the day 17/23 for 232 yards and one touchdown pass to Mason.  Mason finished the day with 6 receptions for 87 and a touchdown.

Cam Cameron: After being wrongfully fired by the Dolphins following the 2007 season, Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron came into Miami with one goal in mind and that was to stick it to Parcells and the Dolphins organization.  The offense produced 357 of total offense and held onto the ball for 31:43 seconds. Hey Parcells, your loss is our gain, fat boy!

The Defense: The Ravens defense asserted themselves once again as the best defense in the NFL.  They did relinquish the number one spot to the Steelers this week, but Pittsburgh did that against a crappy Bengals offense led by Harvard graduate Ryan Fitzpatrick (that’s something to be proud of, Squeeler fans).  The Ravens did not allow a receiver to go over 100 yards and Ronnie Brown rushed for a pathetic 27 yards.  Hats off to Terrell Suggs as well for the 44 yard interception return for a touchdown to go along with his sack and seven tackles, and Ray Lewisfor leading the team in tackles (10) once again for the millionth time in his career. Solid job by the Ravens secondary filling in some big shoes for an injured Samari Rolle,Dawan Landry, and a banged up Chris McAlister, who had limited action yesterday due to a nagging knee injury.  The Wildcat offense that saw so much success for the Fins was a non-factor this week against truly the best defense in the NFL.

The Offensive Line: The O-line had some major adjustments to make and they did a fantastic job! The offensive line sprung Willis McGahee and Ray Rice for some big gains and gave Joe Flacco plenty of time in the pocket. I would especially like to acknowledge Chris Chester for his big game in helping the offensive line.

Sam Koch: How bout this guy?! Koch yesterday bombed a 67 yard punt, that didn’t bounce, to push the Fins inside their own 20.  For the day, Koch averaged 55.7 yards per punt. Koch is a shoo-in for the pro bowl this year to represent the Ravens.

Todd Heap: Congratulations are in order for Todd Heap as he is now the Ravens all time leader in receiving yards going over 4,000 yards for his carrer.

John Harbaugh: Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh pulled this team together after a demoralizing loss and won as a team. He didn’t point the finger saying this guy did this wrong, he said we lost as a team in Indy. It’s no longer the Billick days of defense vs. offense, the Ravens are now one team and one goal every single week.

JEERS

Turnover/Mistakes: McGahee and Flacco both fumbled the ball the yesterday, but only one was lost and the Fins could not capitalize on the McGahee fumble. Also, Flacco had a couple of passes that got away from him, like a wide open Todd Heap in the endzone twice and underthrowing Mark Clayton deep down field. Need some work on protecting the ball and making smart plays, but that will all come in time.

Dolphins Fans: How pathetic is this bunch?

You know it was majority Ravens fans down there in Miami because of the defining cheers of HEEEEAAAAPPP every time Heap caught the ball and the overwhelming cheers of REEEEEEDDD when he made a big play on defense. Be careful Fins fans, or this team might move to Toronto instead of the Bills.

Huge win for the Ravens as they are now 3-3, still in second place in the AFC North. Now it’s back to Baltimore to welcome in the Oakland Raiders Sunday at 1:00, and then show them the door at 4:15 when we beat them, AGAIN.