Notes From Charm City

A few thoughts from yesterday's Ravens-Chiefs game I attended in Baltimore yesterday:

Overall, the game most reminded me of the Ravens' 1999 season, the one immediately before their run to the Super Bowl in 2000: the team then fielded a stifling defense that was let down more often than not by a sputtering, and mistake-prone offense.

Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller was intercepted three times on Sunday -- twice on post patterns in the end zone, and the third time on the Ravens' last offensive play of the game. The common thread between all three: each pass was an overthrown lollipop. Had Boller taken a little off the ball on any of the three throws, he probably would have gotten at least one completion -- especially on the two balls he threw to tight end Todd Heap. Isolating Heap on a cornerback has been a regular part of the Ravens game plan since he broke into the league, especially since it allows him to get into a jump ball contest with smaller cornerbacks.

Then again, on Sunday, Wilt Chamberlain would have been hard-pressed to come down with any of Boller's moon shots. But the fault certainly didn't lie with Boller alone. Outside of Heap, the Ravens didn't have one receiver that actually earned his paycheck. Time and again, Boller was frustrated simply because neither Travis Taylor, Frank Sanders, nor Marcus Robinson could manage to get open consistently.

My seats at the stadium are in the North End Zone, and one of the best views you get of the game is when the offense is moving away from you. From that vantage point, you really get a good sense of how complex the Kansas City offense is. In turn, you also got a real sense of how basic the Baltimore offense is.

Case in point: on more than a few occasions, it wasn't uncommon to lose a sense of where the ball was, and where the play was flowing when Kansas City was on the field. Sometimes it was only for a moment. At others, I was completely confused, and sometimes lost track of the ball carrier until he was several yards down field (a 26 yard gain on a Johnny Morton end around in the third quarter being a case in point).

By halftime, it was easy to understand that there was a lot more to the Kansas City offense than just all-world running back Priest Holmes. Sure, he's supremely talented, but head coach Dick Vermeil has far more going on in terms of motion both before and after the snap than just about every other team in the league. For a number of stretches, they were simply frustrating to watch -- and I can only imagine what it's like to play against them.

Baltimore's offense, by contrast, was all too predictable. Not only was it easy to follow how their offensive plays were developing, head coach Brian Billick's play calling was easy to anticipate -- something which makes running back Jamal Lewis' success with the team all the more amazing. Now in his fifth year in Baltimore, perhaps it's time to retire the Billick's reputation as an offensive genius.

But it's on the defensive side of the ball where Baltimore is once again one of the league's elite units. Yes, Ray Lewis remains the heart and soul of the team with the defense on the field, but credit needs to be given to Ravens Vice President and General Manager Ozzie Newsome, who continually finds talent deep in the draft that makes an impact on the field, even as retirements (Tony Siragusa, Mike McCrary) and free agency (Sam Adams and Kim Herring, among others) depleted the talent on the field.

That defense that kept Kansas City sputtering all game long, especially in the first half when the Chiefs dominated the ball, but could only put three points on the board. In the end, an offsides call on a kickoff that resulted in a re-kick and a touchdown, combined with a fumbled punt, undermined an incredible defensive performance.

Eric 07:33 AM

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