For any long-term Ravens fan, going into this Sunday’s season-opening game was a worrying experience. A rookie quarterback who wasn’t supposed to be leading the team, a rookie coach calling the plays, and a pile of returning players who hadn’t touched a football in months. The defense, of course, was expected to be solid, but as last season proved, a great defense may be able to carry an ok offense, but it can’t carry an incompetant one.
And, to be honest, when the game first started, things looked a little rough. Lots of dropped passes, some go nowhere runs, and that missing feeling of momentum. But as the game moved forward, something changed. The defense did an excellent job harrying Carson Palmer and crushing their run game, and that put the ball back into the hands of the offense. That’s where the best thing happened: despite this being his first ever real NFL game, Joe Flacco managed to remain calm. At least, he gave the distinct impression of remaining calm. That sense of being at ease under center is something the Ravens have been missing, and it certainly did a hell of a lot in helping to make the offense function better. No wacky passes, no stupid turnovers, no tripping over his own shoes. It also helped that the offensive line was able to give him time to throw, and also that he had two solid runners in Rice and McClain helping out as well.
So, in the end, although the offense certainly couldn’t be classified as “high-flying” or “overwhelming,” it managed to get points on the board, manage the clock, and give the defense time to rest. Those were all things that were missing last year, and we saw how well that worked out. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m well aware that this was the first game of the season, and that not every team will be as easy to push around as Cincy was, but it was enough to give me hope, and to send me into next week’s game feeling pretty good. We’ll see how things develop from here!
Sunday’s game also saw another first at M&T Bank Stadium: the premiere of the 4th Ravens’ mascot, Tell-Tale. Jeffrey Boyd, who was previously the man inside the “Poe” mascot suit, spent all of last year undergoing intense gene-therepy treatments to infuse his body with DNA features from the Great North American Raven, and Sunday saw him spread his (now no-longer-proverbial) wings. He danced, he strutted, and he cawed after every great play. He couldn’t fly, though, but I don’t think anyone was really expecting him to be able to. Generally, the audience seemed to react to him pretty well, and admittedly, the way he had equal parts feathers and human hair was pretty slick looking, I still found the whole thing vaguely off-putting. The kind of money the team laid out to have him undergo the treatments probably could have been much better spent fixing up some of the turf issues at midfield.
That’s it for the Ravens Report this week; until next time.
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Tagged football, mascots, nfl, ravens
