Week 10 - Baltimore Ravens

3-30 at Jacksonville

Kyle Boller started the game 8 for 8 but he didn’t do anything remarkable. Instead, those numbers look better than they were because he took a couple of bad sacks early by holding on to the ball too long.

Jamal Lewis started both the first and second halves running… eh… better than he has lately. But he still has a ways to go before he’s hitting those holes like he used to.

The Ravens stopped Greg Jones on a 4th and 1 in the game’s first series. But what that showed me is how inconsistent they are right now on defense. You could tell which downs they were up for and the ones that they weren’t. I assume that the on-field leadership they lost with Lewis and Reed out for a couple of weeks is taking its toll. Matt Jones’ long touchdown catch was just as a result of the Ravens playing lazy defense. Prior to that play, the Jags had run nothing but short routes and the Ravens’ DBs were just standing still 15 yards off the ball when Jones streaked past them for the score.

Boller made some good throws against single man coverage but that’s about all he did that was good. It’s just so easy to beat the Ravens right now. They aren’t running the ball. They just aren’t. So you can tee off on the QB for first and second down. Send 6 or 7 or even 8 guys. Don’t worry about Lewis; he’ll run into one of them if he gets the ball. And you know Boller will freak out if he sees them coming.

Then on third down and long, rush four, set back in a deep zone and watch the QB dump the ball off short. I don’t care what Brian Billick has said about staying with Jamal Lewis because of the threat he poses. Lewis is not scaring anyone right now. It’s been 9 games. This team has to run the football. If that means its Chester Taylor, then it’s Chester Taylor. But this team has to be able to run the football.

Billick says that Taylor will be “a big part” of the game plan this week, after missing the game against the Jags. You’ve got to at least give Taylor one game with 20 carries, just to see what happens. You’re 2-7 right now.

TARGETS(catches):
Heap- 8(5)
Mason- 7(4)
Lewis- 7(5)
Clayton- 5(2)
Hymes- 3(0)
Smith- 3(3)