
| Baltimore Ravens surprised effort to get Cleveland… | |
BALTIMORE, Md. — Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was thrilled with the gift he received from Browns rookie defensive tackle Phil Taylor at the end of the game: a jump on fourth-and-2 that cost the Browns a chance at a comeback in the 20-14 loss. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been in position for that to happen,” Flacco said. “It’s never worked.” With two minutes left in the game, the Ravens were clinging to the 20-14 lead and facing the crucial fourth down at the Browns’ 37. Everyone in M&T Bank Stadium knew the Ravens were going to try to draw the Browns offsides. “In the timeout, we talked about the potential of that happening,” said coach Pat Shurmur. “I’ve seen it, and we had a nice huddle to discuss that might happen. And then you’re out there playing and you can’t do that.” Sure enough, Taylor bolted off the line and wrecked the Browns’ hopes of tying or winning the game. “We got them,” Flacco said. “[Coach] John [Harbaugh] was like ‘there’s no way they jump.’ In that situation, we got fortunate.” Immediately afterward, linebacker D’Qwell Jackson put his hands on Taylor’s head and offered words of encouragement. “He said ‘hold your head up,’” Taylor said. “It’s tough. Of course you feel bad, but you’ve just got to move on.” Flacco executed the fake perfectly, then took a knee three straight times to end the game. “They gave us a first hard count and we stayed onsides,” Taylor said. “The second time, I jumped.” Jackson defended the mistake. “We talked about it before the play, but it was the first time he had been in that situation,” Jackson said. “I was telling him, ‘You played a great game,’ and it’s a great learning experience for him. You hate to be that guy. I had my fair share of mishaps today, but you play in this league a long time and things like that are going to happen. You just have to be able to learn from them and try to minimize those mistakes.” Added cornerback Sheldon Brown: “The only way to learn in this game as a young player is to be out there doing certain things. Unfortunately it happened, but we have to play faster and start faster. You can never point the blame or the finger at one person.” Jackson said the bright side is that Taylor played the whole season and gained valuable experience as a rookie. “He’s done a tremendous job all year,” Jackson said. TDs on Jackson: Jackson gave up the Ravens’ two touchdown passes, a 5-yarder to tight end Ed Dickson and a 42-yarder to running back Ray Rice. Rice caught the ball at about the 25 and ran it in. “Ray is a great back,” Jackson said. “He understood how I was manipulating a lot of running backs throughout the year. Being in man coverage, I’m able to hug. He took a chance. He got out real fast and once his feet are moving and he’s downhill, I tried to close the gap as quick as I could but it was a great ball by Flacco and there was no chance I was catching him.” On the one to Dickson, Jackson had his back to the ball when it floated to Dickson. “I’ve just got to close the air between him and the ball and I’ve just got to do a better job covering,” Jackson said. Steelers game moved to later start: As a result of the NFL’s flex scheduling, the Browns-Steelers game Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium has been moved from 1 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Cribbs TD: Wasted in the loss was Josh Cribbs‘ career-long 84-yard punt return for a touchdown that pulled the Browns to within 20-7 in the third quarter. It was his third career punt return for a score and 11th total return touchdown of his career, which is the fifth-most in NFL history. It was his first punt return for a touchdown since the 2009 season opener, when he returned one 67 yards against Minnesota on Sept. 13. Cribbs has totaled 20 career touchdowns; two rushing, three on punt returns, seven receiving and eight on kickoffs. “It felt great,” said Cribbs, who was questionable for the game with a groin injury. “‘I saw all of the great blocking around me. From there, it was easy. It was just a walk in.’” Hillis sensational: Browns running back Peyton Hillis followed his 99-yard game in Arizona with a 112-yard effort against the Ravens’ second-ranked run defense. Heading in, the Ravens had allowed only eight 100-yard runners in its previous 81 games and 10 in its past 98 games. One of those was Hillis’ 144-yard outburst here last season. “It was tough [this season] because I knew I was hurt and I was injured and trying to go back out there and trying to play when you’re not 100 percent is tough because you know you really can’t help your team,” he said. “Then a lot of people are doubting you or thinking that you’re not trying to play hard. I love this team and I love going out there and playing football. It?s what I love to do. I don’t like people questioning that because my heart’s big and I want to do great things for this team.” Hillis hobbled off for one play with an ankle injury but came right back in. “My ankle popped there for a second,” he said. “I got a little concerned, but it wasn’t hurting. So they just took me to the sideline and cut off the tape and [re-taped] me then I was fine after that. I was just a little worried and concerned I didn’t hurt anything, which I didn’t.” Hillis passes: Hillis tried to make something happen on back-to-back passes in the fourth quarter, but Wallace threw too short to him on third-and-5 at the 45 because of pressure by Ed Reed and Paul Kruger, and he was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-5. “I think they were pretty much playing zero coverage there toward the end trying to hurry up and get the ball out,” Hillis said. “The second one that came to me, I caught and maybe I could have made something happen, but the defender was on me pretty quick. And the first time, if the ball got to me I think something great would’ve happened. But Seneca did a great job. He threw off his back foot there but he made a lot of crucial throws throughout the whole game, so you’ve gotta be proud of him about that.” Maynard superb: Punter Brad Maynard recorded three more punts inside the 20-yard line. On the season, he has placed 30 of his 75 punts inside the 20 and has zero touchbacks. His inside-the-20 total is the second-most in Browns history. Bryan Wagner holds the record with 32 in 1989. Draft order: The Browns’ draft order ranges from No. 3 to No. 9. Here are the scenarios: If the Browns lose to Pittsburgh and finish with a 4-12 record: They draft No. 3 if Jacksonville beats Indianapolis and Minnesota beats Chicago. They draft No. 4 if Jacksonville beats Indianapolis and Chicago beats Minnesota. They draft No. 4 if Indianapolis beats Jacksonville and Minnesota beats Chicago. They draft No. 5 if Indianapolis beats Jacksonville and Chicago beats Minnesota. If the Browns beat Pittsburgh and finish with a 5-11 record: They draft anywhere from No. 6 to No. 9, depending on several outcomes. Plain Dealer reporter Tony Grossi contributed to this report. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mcabot@plaind.com, 216-999-4670 On Twitter: @marykaycabot Gotta run!. Posted in 1, baltimore-ravens, Cleveland Browns, Ed Dickson, Ed Reed, Joe Flacco, Josh Cribbs, Peyton Hillis, Ray Rice | Comments Off
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| Ravens seek to charge past San Diego into playoffs | |
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP)—Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh isn’t His focus, and that of the team, is solely on Sunday night’s game against “The object is just to win the next game, more than anything probably,” The immediate goal is to get into the playoffs, but the Ravens want more. If the Ravens win out, they are expected to become the top seed in the AFC— The Ravens don’t care about that right now. “We have to play the San Diego Chargers. That’s the next task at hand,” Minutes after Baltimore completed a 24-10 victory over the winless “It’s out there, so you always see it,” Flacco said. “It looked like Baltimore’s only defeats this season have been on the road against teams “You’re always trying to gain momentum, you’re always trying to be as good The Ravens are clicking on defense, offense and special teams. Baltimore has And yet, the Ravens aren’t satisfied. “Championship teams, they don’t settle for what’s happening right now. After the Chargers, Baltimore hosts the Cleveland Browns and concludes the No matter how it turns out, the Ravens intend to be at their best once the “Keep working hard. Keep getting better,” center Matt Birk said. “We can Harbaugh said Monday he’s “very hopeful” of having Lewis back as soon as . . Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news. Posted in 1, baltimore-ravens, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, John Harbaugh, Lardarius Webb, Matt Birk, Ray Lewis, Ray Rice, San Diego Chargers | Comments Off
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| Ravens more than just defense | |
Indianapolis — With Cameron — who grew up in Terre Haute while playing and coaching at Indiana University — calling the plays from the sidelines, Baltimore ranks sixth in the National Football League in scoring at 24.7 points per game, 15th in total offense (345 yards per game), 14th in passing offense (230.2) and tied for 14th in rushing offense (114.8). Rice is the offensive anchor for the Ravens, leading the team in rushing for 926 yards and nine touchdowns in 208 carries. He has also caught a team-high 56 passes for 547 yards and two TDs. The former Rutgers standout had a career-best 204 rushing yards in last week’s 24-10 division win over Cleveland. Flacco, meanwhile, has completed 240-of-434 passing attempts for 2,895 yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Baltimore’s receiving corps, meanwhile, is talented and deep. Anquan Bolden — at 6-foot-1, 223-pounds — is a physical load who has hauled in 50 passes for 779 yards and three touchdowns. Tight end Ed Dickson has 46 catches and three touchdowns. And rookie Torrey Smith has added 32 receptions and a team-leading five TDs. The Ravens also added former Buffalo receiver Lee Evans in a mid-season trade. “You look at them and they are a run-oriented team. But they can also throw the ball. Flacco can throw the ball well, but when you look at their game [against the Browns], I think they had 55 rushing attempts or something like that,” Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell previewed. “Ray Rice had a banner day. You’re going to have to contend with them from the standpoint that they’re a physical team that can hurt you in a number of different ways. They give you a lot of problems.” Former Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams is Baltimore’s primary backup at running back and has rushed for 338 yards and a pair of touchdowns. But the Ravens’ offense is all about Rice first and foremost. “Anytime that a guy can lead his team in rushing and lead his team in pass receiving, it’s pretty special. If you think about it, last week between he and Ricky Williams, they combined for 280 yards rushing. That’s ridiculous, and that’s a lot of yardage,” Caldwell said. “That’s because of the fact that those guys are very, very good players. Ray Rice is one of those guys that has speed, he has power, he’s compact and he has excellent vision as well. He’s one of those guys that can also catch the ball out of the backfield, not only on screens, which he does, but also when they check it down to him he knows what to do with it when he gets it in open space. He’s pretty dangerous, so he’s a tough guy to handle.” Rice has drawn favorable comparisons to Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew, both in stature and playing style. “They’re similar guys. Both guys are fast guys. Both are compact. Both can catch and run it,. [And] both of them are very, very competitive and tough players. There are a lot of similarities between the two,” the Colts coach voiced. The hard-to-tackle running back tries to downplay his importance to the Ravens’ offensive game plan. “We know that we’ve got capable and great receivers on this team. When you find yourself in [a difficult] situation, I always try to be able to get Joe Flacco out of a situation. Him being able to find me, whether it’s a check-down, a route or a broken play, I just try to be a quarterback’s outlet. If he doesn’t have to take a sack, then I’ll be there for him,” Rice said. Gotta run!. |
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| Ravens MLB Ray Lewis itching to return from injury | |
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP)—Ray Lewis(notes) usually helps the Baltimore Ravens win by Lately, the 12-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker has been forced to play the And he’s getting pretty darn tired of it. The 36-year-old Lewis has missed Baltimore’s past two games with an injured “There is not even a question, I want to be out there with my teammates,” So, while the Ravens were battling against Cincinnati and San Francisco, “Even though I wasn’t physically out there the last two games, I was with The Ravens proved they can win without Lewis by defeating the Bengals and “Even pregame, he motivates us and gives us what we need,” Ravens outside Without Lewis in the huddle, Jameel McClain(notes) has done a fine job of calling But he’s no Lewis, and isn’t embarrassed to say so. “Nobody can be Ray Lewis’ replacement. Ray Lewis is someone phenomenal,” Still, the Ravens have performed remarkably well with McClain in the middle, “I’ve always trusted Jameel,” outside linebacker Terrell Suggs(notes) said. “I McClain has played well, but he’s not alone. The Baltimore defense is “When one of your brothers goes down, you just have to rally around him, If all goes well for Lewis this week, he will return Sunday in a game the “I’m thinking he’s going to play,” Cleveland coach Pat Shurmur said. “I And if Lewis isn’t ready, the Ravens will again hand over the reins to “Without Ray in the huddle we still have to go about the same business as With an assist from Lewis on the sideline. “Ray is still pretty much out there,” Suggs said. “He’s not playing, but If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top. Posted in 1, baltimore-ravens, Cleveland Browns, Cory Redding, Haloti Ngata, Ray Lewis | Comments Off
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| Ravens beat Bengals, tie Steelers for first place | |
[unable to retrieve full-text content]BALTIMORE – An uncharacteristic performance by the Baltimore Ravens defense was offset by an uncommonly effective outing by Joe Flacco and the team’s oft-criticized offense. Subscribe to our feed!. |
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