Ask Baltimore Beatdown: Ravens Blogger

as he is a three down back in the middle of the field. He has great moves and is surprisingly tough to bring down. McGahee is a threat near the goal line or inside the Red Zone, as he leads the NFL with seven TD’s so far. While LeRon McClain has been more of a blocking FB this year, he is still money inside the one or two yard line.

But still trying to get used to a new system. We have a few players stepping in that were not in there last year such as SS Dawan Landry (who was our starting SS for 3 straight season before getting injured last year), Dominique Foxworth and Fabian Washington. We have a totally revamped secondary that is still trying to mesh with each other. However, they have done a fairly good job excluding the San Diego melt down. Brady and Rivers are great, great QB’s that basically no defenses are going to shut down on a consistent basis.

How well our secondary plays is going to be based on how well our pass rush is. If you can make a QB throw the ball when and where he does not want to, the secondary will be able to shut down WR and possibly even make a few picks. We have one of the top defensive lines in the league this year and they have done an average job of getting to the QB. Holding Brady to 250 yards passing is a pretty good deal. We were able to limit Moss to 3 catches for only 50 yards and an easy TD, so that is a good sign.

Rex Ryan just brought the most insane Blitz packages you could ever imagine, and he is doing it in NY now. Mattison is old school, he sticks to traditional schemes, but they still work. If DT Haloti Ngata and Kelley Gregg are getting into the back field rather quickly, expect our secondary to have a field day against you guys.

The Run defense has been stellar, as you can see by our number 1 ranking. That is credit to our D-Line and LB making big time stops. Whenever you can shut down the run as good as we are, you have a chance of winning every time. It is very hard (still possible) to win in this league when you do not have a running game at all in all 4 quarters. If you want to have a chance to beat us, it would be smart to have Carson come out slinging it and hope to get an early lead.

although Kelley Washington (remember him?) is a new addition and I love his enthusiasm and fearlessness. Our o-line was much improved but now may be without our LT, Jared Gaither, who was carted off the field last week with a head injury and his status for Sunday is doubtful. RT and fist round draft pick Michael Oher will move over to the left side and will be an interesting matchup for Odom there. I say stop the run w/o putting 8 in the box and force Joe to throw under pressure. If you give him time, you will pay dearly.

why did they only score 21 last week? you just have to get him to throw it to clayton. haha

and if gaither is out, i think it makes things interesting. because it forces people to play positions they haven’t practiced with. oher has been great on the right side and was pretty serviceable filling in last week, but i want to see what he can do on a full game basis on the left. also, who is the backup RT?

i can’t wait for this game.

he had a quad pull right around the first game, so they’ve used him sparingly. Some think he’s in the doghouse with Marvin Lewis, yet I just can’t understand why that would be. With all the years he was suspended and what not, he wasn’t in the doghouse then, so why now?

I think they’ve been bringing him along slowly, plus with a big commitment to running the ball, they haven’t used much 3- or 4-wide sets. Well, at least not until mid-4th quarter when our O really comes alive…….(ugh, forehead slap)

he does have a sore shoulder, but that is from planting opponents so hard into the turf. Guy gets forgotten next to Ray, Bart Scott, Adalius Thomas all these years but is a baller!