Joe Flacco, pictured above in practice on August 3, went 8-for-12 with 120 yards passing and a touchdown in limited action against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night.
In my post on Thursday afternoon, I wrote that I was going to be excited to see the Baltimore Ravens back in game action for the first time since January. Well, I forgot that preseason football is about as boring as my day at work — which is to say, it’s very boring. What’s incredible is that preseason football manages to be that way despite its regular season being by far the most exciting season in American sports.
Which brings us to one of the biggest scams that a professional sports league can impress upon its fans — full-price admission for a preseason game. I would like anyone to tell me with a straight face, as the fourth stringers for both the Ravens and Carolina Panthers go at it in a rainstorm in the fourth quarter, that preseason prices should be the same as regular season prices.
(With that being said, the NFL would rectify this situation — if the league came under enough heat for it — by raising regular season ticket prices considerably and leaving the preseason prices as is.)
Anyway, here are some things I saw out on the field as I was flipping back and forth between the Ravens and the Orioles, and later on, the Ravens and Jersey Shore:
-No player was injured, meaning the primary task of a preseason game was complete. Anything else accomplished in a preseason game — such as an undrafted rookie emerging as a keeper – is just gravy.
-I really like free safety Tom Zbikowski — and he did look very good on Thursday night – and two of the things he did well were return a punt for 28 yards and force Carolina starting quarterback Matt Moore into a fumble. I understand that Zbikowski is a talented punt returner and the Ravens want to see what they have in terms of the kick and punt return game. But, to me, Zbikowski is too valuable to the Ravens at this point with Ed Reed sidelined to risk an injury in a situation like a punt return, where injuries are commonplace. The Ravens are in a fine situation with Zbikowski filling in with Reed at free safety, so don’t screw it up with a dumb injury on a punt return.
-Speaking of the return game, I really like Jalen Parmele on kick returns. He’s a big, quick player that goes straight ahead and isn’t afraid to hit the hole and take a defensive player head-on. After multiple years of watching Yamon Figurs tentatively return kicks, Parmele’s ability to hit the hole hard should not be taken for granted. I’d imagine that running straight ahead on a kick return and not angling towards the sidelines is one of the most frightening tasks in football, and once you find someone good at it, let him keep returning kicks.
-I liked seeing Le’Ron McClain get a lot of carries in the early going — he looked good — and I really liked seeing Ray Rice not risking an injury in a meaningless preseason game. Rice will surely get some time in the preseason, but in the first game, there’s really no reason to send the stud running back out there. As Rice wrote on his Twitter account, the goal is to be ready to go on Monday, September 13.
-Was that Mark Clayton I saw in the corner of the end zone jumping up, battling a defender, attacking the ball, and coming down with a touchdown? No…it couldn’t have been…could it have?
-The primary beneficiary of Anquan Boldin’s presence may very well be Derrick Mason, who has been double-covered for years with the Ravens. Sure, Mason’s a year older, but he still has plenty of chemistry with Flacco and should see a lot more one-on-one situations than in years past with the addition not just of Boldin, but downfield threat Donte’ Stallworth, as well.
-The Ravens have to trade for a cornerback. They can’t roll into Cincinnati in Week 2 with Fabian Washington (who did not play on Thursday night) and Chris Carr as their starting cornerbacks, and Travis Fisher at the nickel position. Carson Palmer will have a bigger field day than he did during the early weeks of the college season during his time at USC when he was playing the equivalent of Bel Air High School. Unfortunately, Ravens’ general manager Ozzie Newsome is left in a precarious situation when trying to work out a trade because other teams know the Ravens need a starting corner and will ask for a pretty significant return because of it.
-Terrence Cody as the fullback on goal-line situations? As entertaining as that is, does anyone honestly think that boy can stay still for more than two seconds in a three-point stance? Cody got flagged for a false start when the Ravens tried this out on Thursday.
-The starting offensive lines for both teams were a little out of whack. The defensive lines really had their way with each offensive line, and my guess is that it’s because offensive lines rely much more on timing than defensive lines do, and that building up chemistry on the offensive line is key. Timing and chemistry aren’t going to be there for the offensive line during the first preseason game. With that being said, eight-year veteran Tyler Brayton, who beat Micheal Oher a couple times, looked good.