Terps swept at the Garden, but all was not lost

The Maryland Terps lost back to back games in the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament at Madison Square Garden. On Thursday, then fell to #4 Pittsburgh 79-70, and on Friday, they were defeated by #16 Illinois 80-76.

Thursday, Maryland played with the #4 team in the country for 60 minutes. Had the Terps not had a horrendous day at the free throw line (they were 14 for 30, with many of those misses the front ends of 1 and 1′s) they likely would have taken down Pittsburgh.

Friday, again, Maryland hung with the Illini for the entire game, and simply missed some key shots, while Bruce Weber’s bunch converted some important shots, and ultimately fell short.

At first glance, my first two reactions from these two games are mixed. Immediately, I see that these young Terps, with so many freshman getting key minutes and seniors that were role players in years past playing big minutes, hung with two legit Final Four contenders in Pitt and Illinois. Many felt it would take this team months, perhaps even until next season, to be competitive in games like these.

The fact that Gary has this team playing better in November than last year’s team at the same time really illustrates that this version of the Terps may be much better, much quicker than many people anticipated.

On the negative side of the coin, with the Terps being so young and inexperienced, they are likely to be very inconsistent throughout the season. They will win their fair share of games, but they are also likely to lose some games that perhaps last year’s team would not have lost.

As a result, the Terrapins very well could find themselves on the bubble come Selection Sunday, and they just lost two of their most important chances at out of conference wins.

That makes their out of conference games at Penn State, vs Temple, and in Philly vs Villanova much more critical. Personally, I feel that this team will do enough in the ACC to be guaranteed a spot in the tournament. This team is much more seasoned at this point than I anticipated, and their athleticism and depth will carry them through conference season.

That being said, the difference between 11-5 and 9-7 in the ACC is bubble-watching come March, and if that were the case, Maryland did hurt themselves by not leaving New York with a signature win.

Time will tell if these two games will hurt the Terps. There are positives and negatives that Gary and his team will learn from their time at Madison Square Garden.

Considering the much lower expectations and the view by many that this Terps’ team would be NIT bound, as a Maryland fan, I’ll focus more on the bright sports from this tournament.

Ralph Friedgen coached not to lose – and lost

On Saturday, the Maryland Terps had a 20-18 lead on the Miami Hurricanes with 5:22 left in the game. They had the ball on their own 10 yard line, and Miami had no timeouts left.

Davin Meggett ran the ball three straight times, for a total of eight yards, which forced a Maryland punt.

I can totally understand running the ball there against an inferior team with inferior talent, believing that either you get the first down and virtually run out the clock, or realizing that the defense has a good chance to stop the opposition should they fail to get the first down.

However, to run three times against a talented Miami defense in that situation is a classic case of Ralph Friedgen coaching not to lose.

The Terps have come so far from the 2009 season. Going into Saturday’s game, Maryland had already won four games more than last season. Ralph Friedgen has went from the hot seat to potentially being in line for an extension.

Saturday was a chance for the Terps to define their season. Beat Miami, take care of business at Virginia, and the Terps come home to Byrd Stadium for the final two games, controlling their destiny to the Orange Bowl.

Ralph’s comments after the game come from a guy who is playing not to lose the game.

“They were out of timeouts and I felt like if I could get it under three minutes, we’d probably win the football game,” Friedgen said. “The other thing I didn’t want to do is turn it over down there and, with them having no timeouts, if we throw an incompletion, I’m helping them. In a perfect world, I would have loved two first downs, took a knee and went home.”

Of course he would have liked to run the clock out. Who wouldn’t? Unfortunately for the Terps, it’s not that easy.

Remember, Miami was only down two points. They didn’t have to drive down for a TD to win the game upon getting the ball back. They didn’t need a touchdown…only a field goal. I can’t imagine anyone was extremely confident that the Terps would prevent Miami from driving into field goal range if Maryland did not get that first down.

If Ralph Friedgen wanted his team to come out of Miami with this win, getting that first down late in the 4th quarter had to be a priority, not a luxury.

Once that was established, there is no excuse for not letting Danny O’Brien throw the ball to try to move the chains.

Ralph Friedgen and head coach in waiting James Franklin have been coaching this team for how long now? And they are not yet confident enough in their team to attempt a pass play without being scared that they will turn the ball over?

Maybe new AD Kevin Anderson should think twice about the future of the football program when Ralph request his extension after 2010. Saturday’s game was an indictment on both the coaching decisions and the collective mindest of Ralph Friedgen and his staff.

On Saturday, the Terps had a golden opportunity against a team without their starting QB and RB to further put 2009 behind them and to continue their run at an ACC Championship.

Ralph didn’t coach to win. He coached not to lose: And the Terps lost.

Funny how it always works out that way.

 

Thoughts on the return of Juan Samuel

According to the Baltimore Sun, former O’s interim manager Juan Samuel is expected to return to fill his old position as third base coach.

I really didn’t see this one coming, and I have mixed feelings about it.

While it would be unfair to totally discount the qualifications of the O’s coaches from last season, I was hoping for a total change; a complete turnover of new blood within the coaching staff. It appeared that was going to happen before this recent news regarding Samuel.

Juan isn’t just one of the old coaches coming back. He was one of the most promiment figures that steered the Orioles to one of their worst first halves in franchise history in 2010.

Buck is bringing back a guy who has been associated with the losing of the past several years, and who failed to get the team back in the right direction as interim manager. There is also the obvious dilema in that Samuel is coming back as a regular coach ater having full control as manager. Clearly Juan felt it would be too awkward to do so last August when Buck came aboard, so it’s interesting that he would not feel the same come February.

Of course, Juan represents a guy who many of the players like and respect, and he is also the essential Spanish speaking coach that most teams look to have around as a mediator for the foreign speaking players. I also do not necessarily think he was a problem as manager. I feel that he was a clear upgrade over Dave Trembley, but at the same time, he did not distinguish hismelf as part of the solution either.

In the end, I guess it is fair to say that I trust in Buck. I do not think he is the next great Hall of Fame manager, but he’s clearly a competent baseball man who ensures the team and staff are both in good hands. I do, however, think that the return of Samuel brings back some unnecessary reminders of the past years of losing that easily could have been kept in the rear view mirror by hiring any other number of coaches to be the 3B and infield coach.

 

Harbs has Ravens in good position as second half approaches

The Ravens surely enjoyed their BYE week, as in addition to catching up on some much needed rest and relaxation, much of their competition went down on Sunday as the Steelers, Jets, and Titans all lost.

When considering tiebreakers and potential home-field advantage scenarios, the Ravens are second in line to only the Patriots for the top spot in the AFC.

John Harbaugh will be the first to say that he would rather the Ravens be 7-0 at this point, but he has his team sitting at 5-2, heading into the softer portion of the schedule, with the majority of games being played at M&T Bank Stadium.

Add in the fact that the Ravens will be getting stronger as the season goes on with guys like Ed Reed, Brendon Ayanbaedjo, and Donte Stallworth either returning or continuing to get back to full strength, and the Ravens really do find themselves in an enviable position.

They already went through the tough part of their schedule. Now is the time to get their weapons back, and watch their competition go through the tougher part of their respective schedules.

Clearly anything can happen in the NFL, but for those looking to analyze the upcoming weeks with regards to the playoff picture, it stands to reason that the Ravens should take care of business against the Dolphins, Buccaneers, Panthers, and Browns. Putting Cincinnati in that category is debatable, but I left them out since they always play the Ravens tough.

That puts the Ravens at nine wins. That leaves five games: at Houston, at Atlanta, and three home games with the Saints, Steelers, and Bengals.

Until John Harbaugh loses a game that he should win, I’m going to assume that those first four games are wins.

Take three out of those other five games, and the Ravens are looking at a 12-4 season. Take four, which is certainly possible, and a 13-3 record and potential #1 seed is clearly in reach.

The Ravens control their own destiny in the AFC over everyone but New England. The Pats still have to deal with games at Pittsburgh, and at home vs the Colts, Jets, Packers, and Dolphins.

It will be a great final two months of the 2010 regular season. For the third straight season, John Harbaugh’s Ravens are in position to play very meaningful games in December and January.

That was the goal all along when he was hired. Steve Bisciotti said he wanted to, as an organization, avoid the valleys that were experienced at times (2005 and 2007) under Brian Billick. He wanted Baltimore to be a consistent contender; a place where players across the NFL wanted to come to try to win a championship.

Almost three years later, his decision is looking to be a very good one.

Enjoy the next three months Baltimore. As a fan, it doesn’t get much better than this.

And for you season-ticket holders, go easy on the Christmas shopping. Chances are you’re going to need a bit of extra cash come January.

 

What was Mike Shanahan thinking?

With the Redskins down by 3 points with a few minutes to go against the favored Detroit Lions yesterday, Mike Shanahan made the decision to go with Rex Grossman while benching Donovan McNabb.

I was watching the game on TV, and at first, I didn’t give it much thought, because I just assumed that Donovan was injured from one of the many hits that he took during the game. But as the cameras kept showing Donovan, it became pretty clear that he wasn’t injured. He was benched by Mike Shanahan.

The Redskins were 4-12 last season. They go out and trade a 2nd round pick for Donovan McNabb. All indications, until yesterday, were that they wanted to make him their franchise quarterback for the next several seasons.

However, not only are the Redskins now 4-4, which they likely would have been with or without McNabb playing on that final drive, but their locker room has to be boiling over. It was one thing for Shanahan to alienate Albert Haynesworth, but now leaders of both the offense and defense are not happy with the coaching staff.

Whatever the benefit was of going with Grossman over McNabb with regards to winning the game  (and I have a hard time believing that Grossman actually gave the Skins a better chance to win with McNabb) has to overshadowed by the problems that are going to arise from benching Donovan.

It’s just a mess all around, and it was a very rookie, pedestrian move by a head coach that was basically given a blank check by Dan Snyder.

The Redskins are 4-4, constantly playing down to their competition. They are unlikely to make a playoff run, and now it looks like they will be looking for a new QB yet again as they head into the 2011 season.

No chance Donovan will want to go back there and play for a coach who just did that to him. I’m sure Minnesota will be glad to have him.

Just a very bizarre decision by a head coach that I used to really respect. Even more bizarre than the back to back swinging-gate field goal attempts by the Z-man last year.

Regarding Cam, fans need to brush up on their football knowledge before playing blame game

Turn on a sports radio station or browse an online Ravens fan site after a Ravens loss, and you’ll come across a bunch of angry fans criticizing coaches, calling for their heads, and using 20/20 hindsight while playing Monday morning quarterback.

This week following the Ravens 23-20 overtime defeat at the hands of the Patriots has been no different. The villain around town this week has been Cam Cameron.

He’s too conservative. He runs too much. Cam coaches scared. Hes’s not aggressive. Cameron doesn’t take enough shots down the field.

We’ve heard it all around here in Baltimore over the past several days. Some of it is certainly justified, but much of it is a result of fans only seeing what they want to see with regards to how certain plays and situations transpire over the course of a game.

There are the fans who have been claiming that Cam was too conservative in the 4th quarter and overtime. How many of those same fans are aware that New England was often dropping eight defenders back into coverage towards the end of the game? Ray Rice is a top running back in the league, and running with him against a defensive aggressively playing the pass is a situation that the Ravens will take every time.

We’ve heard people say that Cam doesn’t throw down the field enough. How many of the fans claiming that were actually at the game on Sunday? Do they know for sure that there were receivers open down the field for Joe to throw to? Remember, while the receiving talent on this team is greatly improved from years past, these guys aren’t exactly huge targets. It’s not inconceivable that Bill Belichick and the Pats defense was succeeding in taking away many of the aggressive routes being called, especially considering that Todd Heap was banged up pretty good at that point in the game.

If Joe doesn’t have any open receivers to throw to, he has three options. 1) Throw the ball away 2) Try to force a pass into a tight space to a covered receiver and risk an interception (ironically Ravens fans were calling for Marc Bulger after this exact scenario transpired in the loss at Cincinnati) or 3) check the ball down to an open Ray Rice and give him the chance to make something happen as he has done so often throughout his young Ravens career.

Seems to me that Joe chose the best of the three options if in fact his receivers were covered. I’m going to assume that they were, as Flacco has proven that if a receiver is open, he will find them. This is a guy who, if the Cinci game is thrown out, has thrown 6 TD’s and 1 INT. Joe Flacco is a good, quality quarterback, and he is capable of getting the ball to an open receiver.

When I look back on the flow of the game, it’s fairly clear to me that Bill Belichick went from not wanting Ray Rice to beat him going into the game, to having to adjust to prevent Joe Flacco from doing just that as the game went on. The Pats aggressively played the pass, and Cam Cameron adjusted (surprise surprise) and pounded the ball with Ray Rice.

For whatever reason, Ray rice couldn’t get the job done. It happens. If he would have, the same fans calling Cameron an idiot for running too much or being too conservative would have been stomping their feet cheering Rice on while watching the game in their living rooms, calling Cam a genius who stuck to his guns and did what he thought was best for the team.

Who knows, he might have even got another gameball.

But as all Ravens fans know, it didn’t work out for them on Sunday. It happens. Belichick adjusted, Cameron adjusted, and the Ravens ended up losing to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in New England coming off the BYE.

Cam Cameron isn’t an idiot. In fact, he’s a darn good offensive coordinator and John Harbaugh and the Ravens are lucky to have him.

Ravens fans trashed Brian Billick’s offense for nine years. Now those same fans have problems with Cam Cameron.

Perhaps the problem really has to do with a lack of football knowledge of some of these “fans.”

 

Harbs was in a good mood today, and for good reason

John Harbaugh seemed to be in a good mood today at The Castle, one day removed from seeing his Ravens give up a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter and eventually fall to the Patriots in overtime.

Harbs joked with reporters on occasion, credited different parts of his team, and talked about the big picture.

In the big picture, the Ravens are sitting at 4-2, having gone through the toughest schedule thus far in the NFL; a brutal stretch including 4 vicious road games against arguably 3 of top 5 teams in the NFL, with the 4th being the Bengals, all without Ed Reed, Donte Stallworth, and Brendon Ayanbadejo.

Assuming the Ravens take down the Bills next week (and I’m guessing we may have a Bulger appearance in the 4th quarter) the Ravens will sit at 5-2 heading into their BYE week, with 5 of their remaining 9 games to be played at home.

Of course, as one Ravens employee said today, this one stings a bit more because we should have won the game. I can agree that notion. Any team with a 10 point 4th quarter lead should be able to win the game.

That being said, if the Ravens are going to lose, I’ll take them losing like they did in New England; taking Tom Brady’s 22 regular season game home winning streak down to 2 minutes left in overtime.

Remember folks: we aren’t talking about playing the Titans, Jaguars, or the Dolphins, who seem to be the definition of average, mediocre teams.

The Ravens have gone to battle against the very best in the NFL. There is no test they will face at any point on their path to the Super Bowl in Dallas that will prove to be tougher than going to New York, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and New England in a 6 week period.

The Ravens are 4-2, having lost to a division rival on the road by 5 points in perhaps the worst game the offense has played in 3 years, and having lost to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick coming off a BYE by 3 points in the final minutes of overtime.

Look at the schedule they’ve played. Check out different power rankings, and while I don’t put much stock into what individual sports writers are saying, I think when they all collectively agree that the Ravens have played 3 top 5 teams in the NFL thus far, all on the road, pointing that out might have some merit.

Pittsburgh is about to embark on a road trip consisting of 3 consecutive games at Miami, at Cincinnati, and at New Orleans. We’ll see how they do during that stretch.

Ed Reed is coming back. BA is coming back.  Donte Stallworth will be back soon.

The Ravens will beat the Bills, enjoy their BYE week, and come home to be heavy favorites against the Dolphins.

They’ll be sitting at 6-2 heading into a Thursday night match-up in Atlanta against the Falcons.

Things are shaping up just fine for John Harbaugh and his Ravens. If I was him, I’d be in a good mood too.

And I’d also wish that I was coaching a team whose fan-base had just a bit of perspective.

 

MLB needs to tweak playoff format

The NBA regular season is 82 games long. The first round of the NBA playoffs can go 7 games, or 8.5% of the regular season.

The NHL follows the same format….The first round of the playoffs can consist of up to 8.5% of the regular season. (7 games)

In the NFL, the 1 game first round represents 6.2% of the regular season games.

Why then, are there 162 games in MLB’s regular season, but the first round of their playoffs can go only a maximum of 5 games, or 3% of the regular season?

Tampa Bay was the best team in baseball for much of the season….a 162 game season. Yet they are 1 loss away from their season ending due to a three game losing streak. 3 games out of 165.

Why does baseball, which consists of the longest regular season of all the major sports, also have the shortest postseason?

Why are MLB regular season games played on weeknights and during the day on Saturday and Sunday, yet the first postseason game of 2010 started on a Wednesday afternoon?

So many fans are talking about Tampa’s lack of attendance in the playoffs. While I don’t believe Tampa Bay is anything remotely close to a sports town, it’s tough to complain about attendance of games that are played on a Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

All the kids that supported the Rays throughout the season, well they were in school. Many of the adults? They were at work.

Again, why is the postseason so rushed after six months of regular season baseball?

Moving on to the Phillies. They had the best record in baseball this season, besting the Rays by 1 game. They must have been in a hard-fought battle with them for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs up until the final day, right? Wrong.

The Phillies didn’t have to play their starters much of the final week of the regular season because they already had home-field advantage in the World Series locked up. In fact, the National League representative has had that locked up since July. The NL won the All Star (exhibition) game, so they were awarded home-field advantage in the playoffs.

Really, Bud?

A game seven in sports is an ultimate experience. It’s the peak of the season; the most intense moment ever achieved in sports.

Should the location of that type of event be determined based off of a 162 game sample size, or off of an exhibition game? Make no mistake, the MLB All Star game is no more than a glorified exhibition. Ty Wigginton made the All Star game this season, which means the journeyman utility man for the last place Baltimore Orioles played a part in the American League World Series representative having to play a potential Game 7 on the road.

Bud Selig needs to consider making some adjustments to MLB’s format in September in October. Perhaps if some changes were made, more people across the country would be talking about the MLB playoffs rather than Week 5 of the NFL.

Lengthen the first round. Move all games to prime-time or weekends. Give the best team home-field advantage.

 

Flacco shows impatient fanbase that he is the man

Flacco is just another Boller. Put Bulger in! Flacco can’t take this team to the next level. He has no personality. He doesn’t care! He’s not a leader!

Flacco heard it all after his performance against Cincinnati. He didn’t play well, and no one, especially Flacco, would dispute that.

The talk radio lines were fired up, message boards crashing, fans panicking – what is wrong with Joe Flacco?

So you mean it was just a bad game? No way!

Joe Flacco went 22/31 yesterday against the Browns for 262 yards, 3 TD’s, and 0 turnovers.

I would say that at least 3 of those incompletions consisted of Joe throwing the ball away because no one was open; a fact that 70,000 fans seemed to not understand yesterday when Flacco was getting booed in the first quarter.

The bottom line is that Flacco showed in week 3 what he is capable of. He showed that he has the talent to be a top QB in this league.

Flacco proved to all of Baltimore what he can do when he has just a little bit of a time to throw, receivers getting open, and an offensive coordinator that actually called plays based on what was unfolding throughout the game.

I hope the fans that called for Marc Bulger watched the game, and now understand why Flacco is the man in Baltimore.

Flacco is much younger than Bulger, and he has a much higher ceiling than Marc. Most of all, he’s just better. That should never have been disputed.

Flacco is a good quarterback right now, with the potential to be a great one. Finally, that potential can be realized now that the Ravens got him some weapons.

Let’s let him use them. Let Joe show us what he can do. He did on Sunday.

Of course, there will be fans that say that it was just the Browns. I actually heard one fan calling in to a show saying that now Flacco has to prove that he can perform on the road against playoff caliber teams.

You mean like he did last year at Pittsburgh when he was 13/25 for 166 yards, 2 TD’s, 1 INT, with Mason dropping Joe’s potential 3rd (and game-tying) TD?

Or as he did in week 6 last season at the then 5-0 Vikings when he was 28/43 for 385 yards, 2 TD’s and 0 picks? When he let yet another game-winning drive that ended in a missed field goal?

There is so much to talk about regarding he Ravens. Baltimore football fans have so much to discuss.

Anything regarding Joe Flacco being benched is not one of those topics that have any legitimacy behind them.

Joe Flacco is the man on this team; he’s the man in Baltimore.

And regardless of what some fickle, impatient “fans” (or should I say drunks) want to believe when they are sitting in the stands booing their soon to be 2-1 team in their first home game since last December, Baltimore is lucky to have him.

 

Please Baltimore: spare us the calls for Marc Bulger

The Ravens lost today 15-10 to the Bengals. Quite predictably, anyone turning on the radio will hear repeated calls for backup QB Marc Bulger to get the start next week against Cleveland.

After all, the backup QB is always the best friend of all the casual fans out there; the fans that saw Flacco throw 5 interceptions and only 1 TD during the first 2 weeks, and dismiss him as the next Kyle Boller here in Baltimore.

We heard the same tune about Troy Smith. Now we’ll hear it about Bulger.

Joe Flacco is 24-15 thus far in his career, including 3-2 in the playoffs, with all 3 wins being on the road. I challenge anyone to find 5 QB’s that had a better 39 game start to their careers.

Baltimore has such passionate fans, which is why the Ravens have one of the best home-field advantages in the NFL when playing at home in M&T Bank Stadium.

Unfortunately, many of those fans are not the most in-depth students of the game.

It’s easy to look at a stat-line and see 4 interceptions. It’s also easy to overlook the fact that one of Flacco’s interceptions were tipped, and one was on 4th and 12 in desperation time in the 4th quarter.

Was Flacco horrible today? Absolutely. Did he cost the Ravens the game? He certainly played a big part in the loss.

Should he be benched? Give me a break.

Where are the calls for the offensive line to be benched? Where are the criticisms for these receivers not getting open against the Bengals’ secondary? Joe can’t do it all on his own.

Turn on the Ravens post-game show, and I hear a fan wondering why the coaching staff didn’t replace Flacco with Mark Bulger. Really? During this game? That fan wants John Harbaugh and Cam Cameron to put a new QB in a one possession game after Joe Flacco won last week on the road in NY?

Go to a prominent local message board, and you have one of highest voices of authority claiming that Joe Flacco had a deer in the headlights look from the start.

Was that before or after that beautiful drive coming out of half-time? Could balanced play-calling, and Derrick Mason actually getting open behind a defender have contributed to that drive?

The Ravens are 1-1, after two home-opener road games against two playoff teams from a year ago. One of those games was against Rex Ryan and the #1 defense in the NFL.

Todd Heap dropped an easy TD in New York. TJ Houshmandzadeh would have had another if he was not interfered with in the end-zone. Add in those 2 TD’s, and Flacco’s numbers look a lot less horrific.

Should I have to be defending Joe Flacco’s stat-line at this point? No, I shouldn’t.

Fans, however, need to look at more than just a stat-line. Watch the game. Analyze the game. If you groan when Flacco throws a ball out of bounds, then don’t groan when he throws an interception trying to fit the ball into tight coverage.

If you want Joe to throw the ball farther down the field, share who you want him to throw the ball to.

This is a guy who has won 24 of his first 39 NFL games, with Mark Clayton as his #2 receiver throughout the first 37 of those. Mark Clayton is so valued around the league, that the Ravens shipped him to the Rams for a late round draft pick.

The last time a Ravens receiver other than Derrick Mason or Mark Clayton caught a TD pass? November of 2008 against the Houston Texans, when Yamon Figurs caught a deep ball from Flacco.

This guy has done more with less than anyone in the NFL. He’s finally got the weapons.

The Ravens are 1-1. Everyone relax. Let’s enjoy this season.

Let’s enjoy the best QB the Ravens have ever had.

Baltimore: let’s enjoy Joe Flacco.