Archive for Dannell Ellerbe

Jan
11

Breaking down units for Ravens-Steelers

by Jeff Wolfson

The Ravens will be playing their second game in six days on Saturday when they take on the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers. Not only are the Steelers their division rival, they’re Baltimore’s arch-rival. Pittsburgh has knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs two times in Baltimore’s history, including the AFC Championship game two seasons ago. I decided, especially since the games have been so close this season, each team has scored 27 points, to look at which team has the advantage on a positional basis.

Quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger v. Joe Flacco
This is Pittsburgh’s biggest advantage. Roethlisberger is a two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback while Flacco has been able to lead the Ravens to the playoffs in his first three seasons, but never able to get Baltimore over the hump. Flacco has made very good strides this season, but he’s still not at Roethlisberger’s level.

Running Backs: Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and Le’Ron McClain v. Rashard Mendenhall, Mewelde Moore and Isaac Redman
Advantage Ravens. Rice isn’t as physical a back as Mendenhall, but his all-around game is better than the Steeler rusher. McGahee is a physical back that is a good change-of-pace from Rice. Moore serves the same purpose so this matchup is a wash. McClain is the superior fullback to Redman. Although Redman got in the end zone to beat the Ravens in December, McClain is a two-time Pro Bowler that makes the Ravens’ run game tick.

Wide Receiver: Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason and extras v. Hines Ward, Mike Wallace and extras
Just about even. Boldin and Mason are outstanding possession receivers, as is Ward. The difference maker here is Wallace. Wallace is extremely fast and can get up the field in a hurry if the defense doesn’t keep an eye on him. However, each team uses multiple receiver sets and that’s where Baltimore has the advantage. T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Donte’ Stallworth, when he’s used, are superior to Emmanuel Sanders and Antwaan Randle-El because they are they each have the ability to beat nickel and dime defensive backs while Randle-El has lost some of his quickness and Sanders is a rookie. This is the key matchup to watch if the Ravens, or Steelers, are going to win Saturday.

Tight End: Todd Heap v. Heath Miller
Heap has developed into a weapon for Baltimore this season. Aside from his hamstring pull that he suffered, coincidentally, in the last Pittsburgh game, Heap has been mostly healthy. In Sunday’s playoff game, the tight end caught 10 passes for 108 yards. Miller is a solid player, but he isn’t on the same level as Heap, at least right now. Slight advantage for the Ravens.

Offensive line:
Here’s the biggest question for both teams. Neither offensive line has played particularly well this season so this is the area to watch. Both units will step up their game against their biggest rival so it will be interesting to watch. No advantage here.

Defensive line:
The defensive lines, especially in a 3-4 base defense, are the heart of the defense. Brett Keisel is better than Cory Redding. Casey Hampton is better than Kelly Gregg. The large, no pun intended, on the lines is Haloti Ngata against Ziggy Hood. Ngata has been playing at an All-Pro level this season while Hood is a second-year veteran. Look for both defensive lines to dominate this game.

Outside Linebacker: Terrell Suggs and Jarret Johnson v. James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley
Suggs and Harrison are even. There’s no need to write about them except to say that they’re both excellent linebackers which great pass rush skills. The difference here is Woodley’s ability to rush the passer against Johnson’s ability to be a well-rounded linebacker. Woodley has the ability to bull rush tackles and force quick throws out of the quarterback, while Johnson can cover tight ends and running backs in addition to getting a pass rush when he needs to. Due to Woodley’s ability, the Steelers get the slight nod here.

Inside Linebacker: Ray Lewis and Jameel McClain v. James Farrior and Lawrence Timmons
Lewis is better than Farrior by virtue of him being a Hall of Fame player. Lewis has lost a step in pass coverage, however. Timmons is better than McClain, Dannell Ellerbe or Tavares Gooden. Advantage Steelers.

Safety: Dawan Landry and Ed Reed v. Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark
The great debate is Reed against Polamalu, but that’s an incomparable debate because they play different positions. To compare these units let’s match Landry with Polamalu. I think everyone would agree, although Landry is a solid player, Polamalu is the superior strong safety. Same thing at free safety. Clark is a good, hard-hitting player, but he’s not Reed and doesn’t have his playmaking ability. No advantage.

Cornerbacks: Josh Wilson and Chris Carr v. Ike Taylor and Bryant McFadden
Neither team is particularly strong in this area. Wilson has shored up the Baltimore secondary and Carr has played well most of the year, but they aren’t what would be deemed cover corners. Taylor and McFadden have both shown flashes of being top corners, but haven’t been good enough to give the Steelers a decisive advantage. In this area, both teams are even.

Special Teams: Billy Cundiff and Sam Koch v. Shaun Suisham and Jeremy Kapinos
Cundiff is having a Pro Bowl season kicking for the Ravens. Koch is nothing short of a weapon flipping the field on almost every occasion. Suisham came to Pittsburgh in the middle of the season and has been good, but he hasn’t been Cundiff. Kapinos came to Pittsburgh late in the year after Daniel Sepulveda tore a knee ligament in the second Ravens game. Advantage Ravens.

Tell me what you think. Which team has an advantage at each position?

0 Categories : NFL
Sep
3

Ellerbe embarrasses Ravens in preseason finale

by Jeff Wolfson

Baltimore’s preseason came to an end with a 27-21 loss to the St. Louis Rams Thursday night. The loss isn’t so bad for the Ravens, but some of things that went on during the game were troublesome.

First, Dannell Ellerbe’s showboating on his interception and touchdown was a terrible moment in the game. Ellerbe is clearly talented, but he drew the ire of John Harbaugh immediately after that play. Chances are Ellerbe still makes the team, but his playing time could be significantly reduced, at least to start the season, because of that incident.
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0 Categories : NFL
Aug
29

Ravens blast Giants 24-10

by Jeff Wolfson

Week three of the preseason is considered the “dress rehearsal” for NFL teams. If Saturday night was the Baltimore Ravens’ dress rehearsal the show should be a good one this season.

Quarterback Joe Flacco and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron didn’t waste any time establishing the fact that the Ravens will be able to pass the ball this year. Flacco was 21-for-34 for 229 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He completed passes to multiple receivers and even was Baltimore’s leading rusher. Flacco’s two touchdowns came to Anquan Boldin and Todd Heap over the middle of the field. In the past two seasons, Flacco may not have thrown it over the middle even with single coverage on the receiver, but he looks much improved in 2010.
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0 Categories : NFL
Jan
26

Ravens lose two coaches, gain one

by Jeff Wolfson

The Baltimore Ravens have begun making staff changes. It looks like the biggest change to the Ravens staff will be the loss of quarterbacks coach Hue Jackson. Jackson groomed Joe Flacco the last two seasons into a pretty solid quarterback.

Jackson will now, it appears, go to the Oakland Raiders to be the offensive coordinator. In Oakland, he will be the play-caller and tutor JaMarcus Russell who has been a bust thus far. I always thought Jackson was a good coach and it will be tough to replace him.
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Jan
17

Colts trounce Ravens 20-3

by Jeff Wolfson

The Baltimore Ravens went in to Indianapolis a confident team after giving the New England Patriots a beat down. They left a confident team with no game next week.

Baltimore’s Divisional Round game against the Colts started out in promising fashion. Their defense held the Colts to a field goal on the opening drive of the game and then answered the bell with an 87 yard drive that resulted in a field goal. At the time, this drive seemed like a success for the Ravens, but it wasn’t. On the drive, Joe Flacco threw a sure touchdown pass to Le’Ron McClain that was dropped. This was the last time the Ravens got anywhere near sniffing the end zone.
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0 Categories : NFL
Jan
5

Handing out the awards

by Jeff Wolfson

Generally, awards are handed out to the team before the 16th game is played, but I decided to wait until the season was over. There are tons of awards to hand out, but I will only give out a few. There have definitely been some fantastic performances and some duds. So how do I see it?

Team MVP: Ray Rice
Rice is a very easy pick for team Most Valuable Player. He has been phenomenal in his second season gaining over 2,000 yards both rushing and receiving. Without Rice, tis team’s offense is completely different. He became Joe Flacco’s go-to receiver in the check down passing game. His development has been key for the record-setting offensive year that the Baltimore Ravens.
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0 Categories : NFL
Jan
4

Ravens squeak past Raiders, earn playoffs

by Jeff Wolfson

Sunday afternoon’s Ravens game against the Raiders wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done. Baltimore used running back Willis McGahee for most of the game and watched him score their only three offensive touchdowns. The Ravens hopped on his back to a 21-13 victory over the Oakland Raiders.

McGahee had a 77-yard touchdown run and two other short runs. On his 77-yard dash, McGahee stiff-armed Hiram Eugene to the ground, embarrassing Oakland’s safety. In all, McGahee totaled 167 yards and three touchdowns on just 16 carries.
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0 Categories : NFL
Dec
8

Ravens let ball, playoff chances slip away

by Jeff Wolfson

Monday night represented a crucial game for both the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers for their respective playoff lives. However, Green Bay, not Baltimore, was able to get the job done in winning 27-14.

The game started out fine with the Baltimore defense only yielding three points in the first quarter. It appeared that the Ravens would score in their first drive, but Ray Rice inexplicably and uncharacteristically fumbled Baltimore’s first scoring chance away. End of drive, and before anyone really knew it, a microcosm of the entire game.

Aaron Rodgers then got real hot in the second quarter, scorching the Ravens defense for 14 points. Rodgers was able to find Jermichael Finley in a mismatch for a touchdown. Then, right before halftime, Rodgers connected with Driver to give the Packers a 17-0 lead.

Somehow Baltimore came out firing in the third quarter and was able to drop 14 points on Green Bay’s defense. That was it for the night though. The Packers dominated the fourth quarter on both offense and defense to round out their scoring.

So let’s go inside this game.

As I mentioned, Rice started the ugly game with a fumble in the first quarter. Then there were the penalties on both sides. Baltimore and Green Bay combined for 41 first downs, 10 of which came on penalties. The most costly penalties for both sides were the pass interference penalties. Domonique Foxworth was called for a penalty that no one knows why it was called. Frank Walker of course was called for pass interference. It just went on and on with penalties for Baltimore.

When the Ravens finally had momentum on a second pass interference call by Tramon Williams, Willis McGahee lost yardage. The next play was crucial. Joe Flacco rolled to his right and there was no one open, but he threw across his body, against the grain, right in to the hands of Williams. Baltimore’s defense held, but then Flacco threw another interception on the next play pretty much ending the game.

Baltimore’s offense was putrid. The ball wasn’t getting moved in the first half. It seemed like Green Bay knew the play that the Baltimore offense was running. Cam Cameron schemed to pass the ball when, I think, running the ball may have been a better option. Why not use Le’Ron McClain, McGahee and Rice? It was apparent early on that the team needed to run the ball because Flacco possibly had his worst game as a pro so far.

Another flaw that showed through Monday night was the offensive line. There are future Pro-Bowl players on that line and they were pushed around all night long by the Green Bay defensive front. Part of the reason Flacco had such a poor performance was because he wasn’t getting much protection from his line. Ben Grubbs was getting beaten badly in the first half and Grubbs is a potential All-Pro player. The blitzes up the middle confused the line and made Flacco hurry passes or scramble out of the pocket to buy time. Also, the offensive line didn’t set up blocks well for the screens the Ravens like to run.

Now for the defense. Rodgers lit up the secondary which was expected. Baltimore played the run well, but had problems getting to Rodgers. Jarret Johnson continued his fantastic season with solid play stopping the run and dropping back in coverage, even intercepting a pass. Dannell Ellerbe, Antwan Barnes and Paul Kruger did a nice job filling the void left by the injured Terrell Suggs. However, the secondary was playing without Ed Reed and it showed. Tom Zbikowski filled in for Reed and had a mixed bag in his first start. He intercepted Rodgers, but also gave up chunks of yards in the passing game. All of these issues added up to a defeat for the Ravens.

If Baltimore is thinking about making the playoffs they must win out. Out of the wild card contenders left, Baltimore has the easiest schedule. That schedule starts with Detroit on Sunday. Hopefully, the Ravens can bounce back from the NFC North road woes and take care of business at home against that division. Chicago comes in the following week to round out Baltimore’s home schedule. The toughest game is going to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh would love to knock the Ravens out of the playoff hunt with a victory over them in Week 16. For the Ravens to win out, they need to demonstrate toughness against the Steelers and Oakland Raiders. As of now, the playoffs don’t look promising for this team.

1 Categories : NFL
Nov
13

My Take on the Ravens Injury Report

by Jeff Wolfson

The injury report that came out Friday was encouraging with the amount of starters that have been banged up for the Ravens. I liked that Haloti Ngata, Fabian Washington and Ed Reed were back at practice.

The one injury that stuck out to me was Ray Lewis. Lewis did not practice with a foot injury. This injury is an undisclosed one and that’s not good. It didn’t seem like Lewis was injured after the Cincinnati game, but apparently he is hurt. At least there’s an extra day to get healthy.

Two others missed practice with an illness. Those two players are Dannell Ellerbe and Chris Carr. I think Ellerbe is more valuable than Carr at this point. Carr has struggled on special teams and in the nickel. Ellerbe, however, has been a nice surprise flying all over the field when called upon.

I think Lewis, Ellerbe and Carr will all play. I’m not worried about this game and if someone has to miss a game, this is the week to miss it.

0 Categories : NFL
Aug
14

Ravens Impress In Preseason Opener

by Jeff Wolfson

Sorry I have been M.I.A. for a bit, I have been having some computer issues, but I must blog about the Ravens preseason opener.

Thursday night Baltimore took on Beltway rival Washington. The Redskins looked absolutely brutal in getting shut out 23-0. However, the Ravens defense looked as ferocious and dominant as ever. Through all four quarters the “D” was flying to the ball, or causing turnovers. Even backups like Dannell Ellerbe seemed to fit the Raven profile.
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1 Categories : NFL