Russell Street Report Confessions of a Sports Nut Ravens Don’t Have a Divine Right to Win

I got a text around 7:30 am on Monday morning from a friend.

“Aren’t you glad you don’t do sports radio anymore?” he asked.

“LOL. On days like today, yes indeed,” I replied.

He was referring, of course, to the bloody aftermath of Sunday’s shocking loss in Oakland, where the Ravens laid a colossal egg in losing to a Raiders team that was throttled just seven days earlier by the Bengals.

I was referencing the amazing amount of knuckleheads who call radio shows the day after a loss (and, frankly, sometimes after a win) and pick apart every little thing that went wrong as if the club, the coach, the quarterback and the entire organization TRIED to screw up throughout the sixty minutes.

Over 12 years on the radio in Baltimore, I learned one thing about my city’s fan base:

They only watch the game from THEIR eyes.

Here’s an example, from Sunday’s game, actually: On Crockett Gilmore’s first TD, he ran a perfect seam route, right up the gut of the zone between the linebackers and secondary, and Flacco placed a perfect ball into his arms. From there, Gilmore was able to bully his way down to the five yard line and then dove into the end zone from there to make the score 10-10.

“Gilmore’s a BEAST!!!” thousands cried out on Twitter (including me, I think).

Had that been the Raiders throwing to their tight end on a high school route like that – and had the Oakland receiver marched 20-some-odd yards into the end zone untouched, here’s what Twitter would have revealed:

“Pees has to go!!!!!”

“Upshaw can’t play in pass coverage. Get him off the field!!!”

“Webb can’t tackle for s**t anymore!!!!”

When we do something right, it’s because our player(s) made a play and our coach did his job the right way.

When the other team does something right, it’s because our player(s) failed to make a play and our coach failed to do his job the right way.

Why do I mention this today?

Just to remind you of the second greatest sports adage that I’ve ever believed in over my nearly 35 years in and around professional sports.

The first greatest sports adage: “The toughest thing to do in sports…is to stop losing.”

The second? “The other team tries, too.”

Try to remember the second one (hopefully the first one doesn’t apply to the Ravens over the next couple of week) when you’re watching the games. I know we all expect greatness from our team and our players and our coaches, but the reality is the other guys are on scholarship too. They also want to win.

Now, let’s look at what the hell is going on with the Ravens and get back to what we like to do best in Baltimore – complain.

#1 – Football is a crazy, crazy game. For as poorly as the Ravens have played in their first two games (offense stunk in week one, defense was awful in week two), they are two catches away from likely being 2-0. If that ball doesn’t inexplicably ding off of Steve Smith’s facemask in Denver, the Ravens win the opener. And if Flacco just makes a hair of a better throw in the corner of the end zone to Steve Smith with 2:30 left in the 4th quarter of Sunday’s game, the Ravens go up 37-30 and chances are decent they hold on to win.

Now, I know all about “ifs and buts” but that’s the reality of how the game works. Two plays, two catches, and the Ravens could be 2-0 and rolling. It’s a fickle sport.

#2 – Now we know how Pittsburgh felt all those years having Hines Ward on their team. We have Steve Smith Sr. Honestly – and I’m saying this with awkward pride, I think – he might actually be a bigger prick than Ward was during his years in black and gold. If the other 45 guys on the active roster played with the same fire and obvious passion for the game as Steve Smith does, there’d be no stopping the Ravens.

I don’t always care for his post-catch shenanigans and the 3-4 skirmishes he gets involved in nearly every game, but that’s him and there’s no changing his style. Ultimately, the guy is a helluva football player who says to you, “If you’re going to beat me, you’re going to have to go way above the norm to do it. You might be better than me today, but if so, you’re going to pay the price for doing it.”

Most days, the guys he’s facing don’t have what it takes to beat #89. He’s a warrior. I’ll take him on my team any friggin’ day.

#3 – Unless Breshad Perriman is the next coming of Jerry Rice, the Ravens are in big trouble from a receiving standpoint this season. I know, I know, “Drew, tell me something we don’t know already.” Well, I’m bringing this up for a reason.

Just two games in – and with Perriman not even in the forecast for a couple more weeks, most likely – the Ravens need to face a rather disappointing reality. The only guy on the team who has any ability to get separation is Steve Smith. And even then, he does most of that with positioning and jostling, not through sheer speed.

Kamar Aiken caught a couple of passes on Sunday but the Bengals aren’t going to lose any sleep over him this week, trust me. He’s just a guy. Marlon Brown? Nothing to see there. Anyway…you get the picture. So, here’s the deal. Let’s see if Trestman will use Juszczyk more out of the backfield for short throws (which Flacco likes) and get Maxx Williams involved a little more so we can see if teams might have to somehow give Williams enough respect that Gilmore gets open in some two tight-end sets.

Get Buck Allen involved, too. Honestly, right now, if he’s healthy, I’ll take Lorenzo Taliaferro to run the ball 20 times a game and give Forsett the “B role”. I’m not suggesting Forsett has gone backwards or anything, but I think Taliaferro offers a little more of a Jamal Lewis-type feature than Forsett does. Oh, and I’ll say it one more time: we need to see more of Buck Allen, please.

#4 – Lastly, let’s all relax. It’s 0-2, not 0-6. You can go ahead and make those crazy suggestions like “we’re about to be 0-4”, but you’re just saying that to say it. Roethlisberger could be next week’s injured quarterback and then everything changes on October 1st in Pittsburgh. Just ask Dallas what it feels like to be 2-0 and have their quarterback be gone for two months. Arizona looks unbeatable right now, don’t they? Let’s see what week Carson Palmer goes down with a knee injury like he always does and what their record is with a back-up QB in there.

As long as Flacco stays healthy, the Ravens will have a puncher’s chance to win. That doesn’t mean they’re going 14-2 or anything. In fact, I’m the guy who predicted they’d go 9-7 and miss the playoffs in my pre-season predictions. But I also know that 9-7 is two or three plays away from being 11-5 and 10-6 is two or three plays away from being 8-8.

The Ravens need to beat Cincinnati this Sunday. That’s it. There’s no reason to look any further or think about anything else other than that. Get a win, move on, and try to eventually get it to 4-4 at the halfway mark. If they do that, they’re in good shape.

Oh, and for the record, I’m picking them to win beat the Bengals on Sunday.

They’re not starting the season 0-3.

If they do, holy hell, we’re done… 😉