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Week 1 Game Recap: Cincinnati Bengals 10, Baltimore Ravens 17
What you need to know
| Cincinnati Bengals |
QB Carson Palmer was under siege all day as he was sacked the first two times he dropped back to pass and continued to be harassed throughout the day. Never able to find his rhythm, Palmer repeatedly overthrew or simply missed his receivers on the rare occasions that they were able to shake a smothering Baltimore pass defense.
Any fears of a RBBC situation in Cincinnati involving RBs Chris Perry and Kenny Watson were proven unfounded as Chris Perry was the undisputed feature back. Unfortunately, just as they were unable to pass block, the Bengals' offensive line was unable to open any holes for Perry and he ended the day looking thoroughly average in his new found featured role.
Thanks to a dominant Baltimore pass rush and the fact that they both received healthy doses of double coverage, WRs Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh were largely non-factors during the game and each contributed only one significant catch to the Bengals' passing attack.
| Baltimore Ravens |
In his first NFL start, rookie QB Joe Flacco made it clear that he belongs under center in this league. While he failed to rack up an impressive number of passing yards, he calmly executed his coach's conservative game-plan and also showed unexpected mobility in moving about the pocket and scrambling for a 38 yard TD run.
While rookie RB Ray Rice entered the game as the expected replacement for the sidelined Willis McGahee, his apparent unwillingness to risk pounding the ball up the middle, his ineffectiveness after half-time, and a fourth quarter fumble resulted in fellow RB LeRon McClain getting almost as many carries over the course of the game and, ultimately, more total yards of offense.
While most would have expected TE Todd Heap to be a major weapon in QB Joe Flacco's arsenal, Heap hardly looked like the top flight TE he is expected to be. After a fumble on the second play from scrimmage, Heap was unable to get open with any regularity and dropped an easy TD in the end zone, forcing his team to settle for a field goal.
What you ought to know
| QB Carson Palmer, Pass: 10 - 25 - 99 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 3 - 15 - 0 |
After having gone 90 pass attempts without being sacked, Carson Palmer began the game by being dropped on his first two. It was an early sign of what was to become an extremely tough outing for the Bengals' signal caller. After these initial setbacks, Palmer was never able to get into any sort of rhythm as the aggressive Ravens front seven had little trouble hurrying Palmer and regularly succeeded in forcing him out of his comfort-zone in the pocket. That, in turn, resulted in plenty of off-balance throws that regularly sailed high or wide of their intended targets. Out of his ten completions, only two (one each to Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh) went for over twenty yards, a reflection of just how quickly Palmer was being forced to get rid of the ball. Palmer's sole interception of the day came ten minutes into the game as he attempted to force a pass into the hands of T.J. Houshmandzadeh through double coverage at the Ravens' ten yard line. One bad bounce later, and Baltimore's Chris McAlister was headed the other way.
| RB Chris Perry, Rush: 18 - 37 - 0, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (2 targets) |
Throughout the game it was clear that Chris Perry would be utilized as the featured back with Rudi Johnson's gone to Detroit. Despite this opportunity, however, Perry was unable to make much of it. While the Cincinnati offensive line was surprisingly bad as a pass blocking unit, it was only slightly better in run blocking. Only three of Perry's carries went for further than four yards, and none went for more than ten. On top of this ineffectiveness, as the Bengals struggled to get the ball out of their own end and make something positive happen in the waning minutes of the second quarter, it was Perry whose fumble allowed the Ravens to post three more points before the half.
| RB Kenny Watson, Rush: 2 - 13 - 0, Rec: 2 - 3 - 0 (2 targets) |
If there was any thought that the Bengals would use Kenny Watson and starter Chris Perry as a running back committee in this game, it was dispelled early. Watson was rarely on the field, let alone given the opportunity to carry the ball, and was just as invisible in the Bengals' anemic passing attack.
| WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Rec: 3 - 44 - 0 (9 targets) |
While he ended up being Carson Palmer's favorite target (or, at least, Palmer's favorite intended target), Houshmandzadeh was largely absent in the first half of the game, and only slightly more visible in the second half. As was also the case with fellow WR Chad Johnson, Houshmandzadeh was regularly subjected to double coverage and was almost completely unable to fight his way free in time to provide an outlet for QB Carson Palmer who was constantly trying to escape from the Baltimore pass rush.
| WR Chad Johnson, Rec: 1 - 22 - 0 (4 targets) |
Johnson was a non-factor in this game (zero targets in the first half) as his sole production came by virtue of a single crossing pattern in the third quarter. Like his WR colleague on the other side of the field, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Johnson was the subject of double coverage for most of the day and also fell victim to the Bengals' offensive line's inability to give Carson Palmer any time to allow for his WRs to break free of that coverage.
| TE Ben Utecht, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (4 targets) |
As with the other Bengals' receivers in this game, Utecht's production was hampered by the inability of Cincinnati's offensive line to give QB Carson Palmer any time to make plays. While this might have, in theory, led to more balls being thrown Utecht's way by virtue of his role as Palmer's safety net, in practice that was not the case.
| PK Shayne Graham 1 - 1 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
Graham hit on his sole field goal attempt, a 43 yarder late in the second quarter.
| CIN Rush Defense |
Despite the fact that the Ravens were playing without their starting RB, Willis McGahee, the Bengals were unable to stop the run all day long. In the first half, while Cincinnati was able to convince Baltimore RB Ray Rice to take most of his carries outside, they were unable to stretch him out and rarely held him to less than four yards. Once the Bengals were able to use halftime to adjust their scheme to stop Rice, the Ravens switched to pounding the ball up the middle with RB LeRon McClain, again with great success. The culmination of the Cincinnati rush defense's frustrating day was Baltimore's final, nearly eight minute drive during which the Ravens ran on ten of 13 plays for a total of 56 yards. This was not, however, their most embarrassing moment. That came in the third quarter as they allowed the slow-footed rookie QB Joe Flacco to gain the corner on a broken play and rumble 38 yards for a score.
| CIN Pass Defense |
Coming into the game it would have seemed that the Cincinnati pass defense had a fairly simple task -- stop Baltimore's rookie QB Joe Flacco in his first NFL start. While they indeed prevented him from making any big plays down the field, this appeared to be just as much a result of conservative Ravens play-calling as anything the Bengals defense did.
| QB Joe Flacco, Pass: 15 - 29 - 129 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 37 - 1 |
On Baltimore's second play from scrimmage, Joe Flacco threw his first NFL pass to TE Todd Heap. While it was a nine yard completion for what would have been a first down, the rookie had no time to celebrate or follow up on that initial success as Heap promptly fumbled away the ball. Flacco's second series was almost as inauspicious as it consisted of a quick three and out. On his third series, however, the butterflies must have fluttered away elsewhere as Flacco began to calmly and efficiently execute the short to medium range passing plays that offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was calling. That would become the order for the rest of the day as Flacco rarely took aim deep down the field -- and when he did take a deep shot, he didn't lead his WRs nearly enough to give them a chance to stay in stride and outrun their coverage. While the predominantly conservative play-calling may not have been a surprise given the fact it was Flacco's first career start, what was surprising was the mobility that Flacco demonstrated both in and out of the pocket. While no one would confuse him for Vince Young, Flacco was able to side-step the occasional rush and he was able to make his way down-field early in order to throw one of the blocks that sprang WR Mark Clayton free on a first quarter reverse play for a TD. Most electrifying, however, was his late third quarter scramble down the right sideline for a 38 yard touchdown on a broken play. In the end, Flacco showed some poise in this game and looked like he belonged running this offense. With some more time to work with his receivers, some of those long plays that Flacco missed in this game could become completions -- and TDs -- down the road.
| RB Ray Rice, Rush: 22 - 64 - 0, Rec: 3 - 19 - 0 (4 targets) |
With Willis McGahee standing on the sidelines for the entire game, it appeared that it would be up to Rice to anchor the Raven's running attack and try to keep the pressure off of QB and fellow rookie Joe Flacco. Early on, Rice regularly tried to use his speed and young legs to bounce to the outside and seemed reluctant to try for the hard yards up the middle. While this allowed him to rack up a fair number of four to six yard runs, he was never able to get to the second level where his speed and vision would have been most useful. In the second half the Bengals' defense adjusted to Rice's tendencies, and he was far less effective. By the end of the third quarter it was LeRon McClain who was receiving the majority of the carries and in the fourth quarter it was Rice's fumble (recovered for a Bengals TD) that allowed Cincinnati back into the game with ten minutes left on the clock. In the passing game, Rice was targeted on occasion, but on the only play where the pass would have potentially resulted in a long play (and quite possibly a touchdown), Rice bobbled away the ball.
| RB LeRon McClain, Rush: 19 - 86 - 0, Rec: 2 - 24 - 0 (3 targets) |
Many might have expected Ray Rice to receive the lion's share of the carries with Willis McGahee sidelined, but McClain received only three less touches than the heralded second rounder. While McClain's touches were limited in the first half, he steadily took over more of the rushing responsibilities as Rice's effectiveness diminished in the second half. Where Rice had been inclined to use his speed to try and turn the corner on most of his touches, McClain was more than happy to pound the ball up the middle and make the most of his opportunities. By the fourth quarter, it was McClain who was being given the vast majority of the carries in a tight game where ball security and the ability to grind out yards on the ground were at a premium. On the Ravens' final, nearly eight minute drive McClain received seven touches to Rice's three, and racked up 42 yards to Rice's 14.
| RB Willis McGahee |
There was question to how healthy McGahee was for this game. The Ravens felt good enough about him to list him on the active roster and he was in uniform. However, he did not get into the game.
| WR Mark Clayton, Rush: 1 - 42 - 1, Rec: 3 - 21 - 0 (5 targets) |
With the Ravens trying not to force their rookie QB Joe Flacco to do too much, it was difficult for Clayton or any of the Baltimore receivers to make much noise in the passing game. While Flacco did target Clayton once on a deep pass where he had his defender beaten, Flacco failed to provide enough of a lead to allow Clayton to take the ball in stride. As a result, instead of a likely 70 yard TD, the throw went into the books as an incompletion. With the lack of opportunities in the passing game, it was up to Clayton to use the running game to pad his stats this day, and pad them he did with a nice 42 yard run down the left sideline on a double reverse late in the first quarter.
| WR Derrick Mason, Rec: 4 - 44 - 0 (6 targets) |
While he was QB Joe Flacco's favorite target, that circumstance failed to translate into an overly productive day for the veteran Mason. As offensive coordinator Cam Cameron had clearly formulated a conservative game for his rookie signal caller, Mason's receptions were all in the short to medium range, and he simply did not have the separation or speed to gain yards after the catch.
| TE Todd Heap, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (5 targets) |
Heap, who lost most of last season to injury, looked out of sorts for much of the day. While the hulking TE proved to be one of rookie QB Joe Flacco's favorite targets during the course of the game, he was unable to do much of anything with those opportunities as he only hauled in a single catch. Heap repeatedly appeared slow and unable to gain any separation from his coverage, and cost his team seven points when he dropped an easy TD pass in the end zone late in the first half.
| PK Matt Stover 1 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points |
Stover was given two opportunities to earn his team three points and converted on one of them. On his miss, while he had enough distance on his 47 yard attempt, the kick was well left of the uprights.
| BAL Rush Defense |
The Baltimore rush defense was stout throughout the game and never allowed the Bengals' rushing attack -- centered around Chris Perry -- to get rolling. The defensive line regularly filled the gaps in the middle to prevent runs through the line, while the LBs effectively contained any attempt to use speed to get out and around that line. On the one occasion, midway through the fourth quarter, where the Bengals chose to test the Ravens rush defense on fourth down, DT Haloti Ngata and LB Ray Lewis combined to knock Perry backwards for a loss. The Bengals would not touch the ball again for the rest of the game.
| BAL Pass Defense |
The Ravens' pass defense started their season in fine form as they were able to put pressure on Carson Palmer immediately and sacked him the first two times he dropped back to pass. While these were the Ravens' only two sacks of the game, their front seven used varying looks to continue to confuse and harass the Bengals' QB. They then capitalized on that confusion and regularly forced him to make poor throws or abandon the pocket -- something Palmer has never excelled at. As the game progressed and it became clear that the Bengals would need to take to the air to make up their deficit on the scoreboard, more nickel and dime packages took to the field and yet the pressure on Palmer remained impressive. In short, this unit looked every bit as good as it has ever been. Chris McAlister pulled down the only interception of the day on a pass that bounced of the hands of T.J. Houshmandzadeh late in the first quarter.
