Scott Garceau: Lackluster Effort By SB Champs
"I can't remember us playing worse since we came here." The words of Head Coach John Harbaugh at halftime after watching his Ravens get pushed around by the Falcons in week 2 of the pre-season. I'll note that the coach didn't get here until 2008 those of us who've been around a little longer have seen a lot worse. In the end the Ravens rallied for a 27-23 win meaning Baltimore's 2's and 3's were better than Atlanta's soon to be seeking other employment players. I guess Falcons quarterback Seth Doege just didn't have it Thursday night.
The first half wasn't pretty for the SB champs, Atlanta had a 16-3 edge in first downs and gained 255 yards against a soft Ravens defense. Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith got beat like a rented mule, the Ravens had trouble stopping the run and Ray Rice didn't have much help as carried 8 times for only 10 yards. Atlanta lead 20-7 going into the 4th quarter, half the customers had already left the building before Aaron Mellette, Tandon Doss and Asa Jackson scored TD's to pull out a 27-23 win.
Don't panic fans, sure the Ravens front line guys got their butts kicked in the first half but I suspect Harbaugh and staff will use the lackluster effort to motivate the troops this week at the Castle Performance Center of the Art of Football. It's the job of coaches to get caught up in the minutia of pre-season X's and O's, it's what they do. About all that really matters about week of 2 of the pre-season is this. The Ravens came out of the game with no significant injuries. Here's the best news, only 2 practice games to go!
