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| Other Week 2 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI at JAX | BAL at SD | CAR at ATL | CIN at GB | CLE at DEN | HOU at TEN | IND at MIA | MIN at DET |
| NE at NYJ | NO at PHI | NYG at DAL | OAK at KC | PIT at CHI | SEA at SF | STL at WAS | TB at BUF |
Week 2 Game Recap: Baltimore Ravens 31, San Diego Chargers 26
Baltimore Ravens
| QB Joe Flacco, Pass: 17 - 26 - 190 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 5 - 3 - 0 |
Joe Flacco is proving himself to be a very capable fantasy quarterback thus far in 2009. Against San Diego, he didn't put up eye-popping stats but he provided fantasy owners with a very solid performance. He didn't have much pressure on him from the San Diego defensive front, and looked very confident stepping into each throw he made. About the only hiccup on his performance was an interception on one of the few plays he was under pressure. LB Shawne Merriman perfectly timed the snap count and managed to hit Flacco just as he released the ball. The hit wrecked the timing of the pass, causing it to be thrown to a different spot and be easily intercepted. Flacco showed very nice touch on several passes, and could've even had another touchdown had it not been for TE Todd Heap dropping a deep ball at the goal line (in fairness to Heap, he was interfered with on the play but it was still a catchable pass).
| RB Willis McGahee, Rush: 15 - 79 - 2, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (2 targets) |
Willis McGahee is experiencing something of a renaissance season. After whispers in the preseason that his role was going to be relegated to bystander or maybe short yardage runner, he instead saw 15 of the 27 running back carries in the game for Baltimore. Perhaps most importantly, he saw the goal line looks as well, and converted both of them into scores. He looked strong on just about every run, and almost never went down on first contact. McGahee proved very adept at finding the holes in the defense, and the blocking up front provided him with plenty of options.
| RB Ray Rice, Rush: 8 - 36 - 0, Rec: 5 - 46 - 0 (6 targets) |
One of the biggest fantasy breakout candidates of the season is Ray Rice. After a successful Week 1 performance, a lot of owners expected him to really bust loose against San Diego. While Rice did look good with the ball in his hands, he didn't come close to busting out. Rather than shoulder the load on the ground, he saw just eight carries to Willis McGahee's fifteen. What's more, Rice failed to find the end zone -- something he has still never done in his career. Rice was active in the passing game, showing terrific hands and concentration on a fade down the sideline, and showing excellent agility in the open field.
| RB LeRon McClain, Rush: 4 - 12 - 0, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (3 targets) |
LeRon McClain's primary contributions were in short yardage situations on the ground, and the new season has done nothing to detract from his power rushing abilities. Charger defenders were consistently knocked back when he got the ball, and he even showed a bit of open-field elusiveness on one particular screen pass.
| WR Kelley Washington, Rec: 4 - 58 - 1 (4 targets) |
Kelley Washington got behind the defense for a wide open 27 yard touchdown. The play was more of a defensive breakdown than anything spectacular Washington did, but a score is a score. With that catch, Washington was the high yardage man in the passing game for Baltimore. He was targeted and converted a couple of key third down situations late in the third and early in the fourth quarters, so it wasn't like his performance was based on one fluky play.
| WR Derrick Mason, Rec: 3 - 31 - 0 (4 targets) |
Derrick Mason is the Ravens de facto number one receiver, but that doesn't mean he's going to get force-fed the football like some other number ones out there. Mason had a very quiet performance with just three receptions, and was only targeted four times. He did turn in a couple of first downs with those catches so he made them count, but he never came close to finding the end zone.
| WR Mark Clayton, Pass: 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rec: 1 - 20 - 0 (4 targets) |
Mark Clayton followed up his strong Week 1 performance with a bit of a clunker in Week 2. He caught just one pass for 20 yards, and he was targeted on just one deep ball.
| TE Todd Heap, Rec: 1 - 9 - 1 (4 targets) |
The stats may not reflect it, but Todd Heap looks to be resurgent in 2009. Despite catching only one pass, he rewarded fantasy owners because it was a touchdown. Heap nearly had another touchdown earlier in the game when he was targeted on a jump ball near the San Diego goal line. Pass interference was called on the play, leading to a Willis McGahee touchdown run, but it could've been a Heap touchdown just as easily. He got his hands on the ball as he out-leaped the defender, but as he came to the ground he was unable to secure the pass. If nothing else, Heap is showing a good job getting down the field and getting open again.
San Diego Chargers
| QB Philip Rivers, Pass: 25 - 45 - 436 - 2 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 4 - 10 - 0 |
Going into the game, Philip Rivers knew that 40% of his offensive line was making their first career NFL start. So he was probably as surprised as anyone when he finished the game with a career-high 436 yards passing. Rivers completed four passes of 35 yards or more, including an 81 yard touchdown to Darren Sproles on which the pass was thrown about 20 yards and Sproles did the rest. San Diego receivers are so big that Rivers knows he mostly needs to just get the ball down the field and more often than not it'll be caught. Still, Rivers did the bulk of the work on most of the big plays. He was under intense pressure all day long from the Baltimore defensive front, but never backed down. Amazingly, his stats could have been even better had it not been for Vincent Jackson being tackled at the one yard line after a long catch. Jackson more than made up for that later with a long touchdown grab, which was one of the best passes of Rivers career. He perfectly placed the ball deep downfield between three defenders to really the only spot Jackson could've made the play, and he did. There were two turnovers on Rivers' ledger -- one was a play on which he was just trying to throw the ball away, but didn't see a defender lurking in the area. On the other, Chris Chambers appeared to have been interfered with before the ball popped off his arms, but no flag was thrown and the deflection was snagged by Baltimore for the INT. One other note on Rivers is that he appeared to be getting checked out on the sideline for a possible lower body injury, and then later was seen flexing his hand repeatedly on the field. He never came out of the game.
| RB Darren Sproles, Rush: 10 - 26 - 0, Rec: 7 - 124 - 1 (9 targets) |
Diminutive Darren Sproles got things going very early on, with an 81 yard touchdown reception in the first quarter. He broke down the sideline wide open, then outraced two Baltimore defenders to the end zone. He later added another screen for big yardage and a long kick return for the all-around terrific performance. Sproles was even given some short yardage work, but predictably he wasn't as successful doing that. He was stuffed on a run from the two yard line in the second quarter, then was chased down by Ray Lewis on a screen to the right. It wasn't the last time Lewis would disrupt a Sproles run. Late in the fourth quarter, the Chargers faced a fourth down situation with the game on the line. They tried to get Sproles loose up the middle for the first down, but Lewis blasted through the line to come up with the huge game-saving stop.
| RB Michael Bennett, Rush: 4 - 19 - 0, Rec: 2 - 3 - 0 (2 targets) |
Michael Bennett didn't see a ton of action in the game, but he looked good running the ball. He was finding holes wherever they opened up, but his limited workload didn't allow him to get into any kind of running rhythm. Interestingly, it was the undersized Sproles and not Bennett who was given the ball up the middle on the Chargers' final offensive play of the game.
| WR Vincent Jackson, Rec: 6 - 141 - 1 (7 targets) |
It's now officially fair to call Vincent Jackson a fantasy WR1. Against a tough defense, he looked outstanding. Jackson had a game-high 141 receiving yards (including a touchdown), and nearly scored a second touchdown but was taken down at the doorstep of the end zone. He made catches every way possible -- tough snags in traffic, jump balls over the middle, and his best catch of the game -- a deep ball in the end zone that he hauled in with three defenders hanging onto him. It's getting to the point where if Jackson is covered one-on-one down the field, it's going to be a catch. Yet perhaps his best play of the game wasn't even a catch at all, but rather a fumble recovery. TE Antonio Gates was fighting for extra yardage when the ball popped loose. Jackson had been trailing the play, and immediately pounced on the ball amidst a sea of Baltimore defenders to save possession for San Diego.
| WR Chris Chambers, Rec: 2 - 30 - 0 (10 targets) |
Chris Chambers had a rough afternoon. He caught just two balls, but dropped an easy one early on and was underthrown on another one that could've gone for a score (in fairness, Philip Rivers was hit as he threw, causing it to be underthrown). He did show good hands on a tough third and four pass late in the third quarter, but his opportunities to make plays were very few and far between.
| WR Legedu Naanee, Rush: 1 - -5 - 0, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (3 targets) |
Legedu Naanee followed up his exciting Week 1 performance with a very quiet afternoon. He caught just one second half pass, had one run out of a pseudo-Wildcat formation, and was involved in special teams but wasn't an integral part of the offense. Naanee had a catch on the games final drive that could have easily set up four shots at a game-winning TD, but he tried to make a big play, passed up the easy first down to dance in the open field, and the Chargers failed to convert on two subsequent short yardage opportunities.
| WR Malcom Floyd, Rec: 1 - 45 - 0 (2 targets) |
Malcom Floyd hauled in a 45 yard bomb but had an opportunity for a touchdown taken away by a Fabian Washington tip in the end zone, both of those plays coming in the first half. Floyd wasn't looked to after halftime.
| TE Antonio Gates, Rec: 5 - 78 - 0 (7 targets) |
Antonio Gates was very involved in the gameplan, coming up with a long reception down the seam in the first half and a big fourth down grab later in the half. On the long reception, he fumbled as he was hit from behind when he tried making a move to get to the end zone, but it was recovered by the Chargers. He was later targeted in the end zone in the fourth quarter, but the pass was thrown too high and sailed over his head for an incompletion.