The Maryland Sports Blog

Training camp has been missing two of the biggest Baltimore Ravens but they are close to getting back to practice. Bryant McKinnie and Haloti Ngata both passed their conditioning test today. McKinnie tweeted the successful test himself, here is the tweet.

Praise God I’m back 2 good health! & Haloti &I ran & passed the condition test this morning.

— Bryant Mckinnie (@BryantMckinnie) August 3, 2012

Having McKinnie and Ngata back for the Ravens is a great sign. The defense needs Ngata to have another great year, especially while missing Terrell Suggs. McKinnie is a stable left guard and protects Flacco’s blind side.

I’ll be quick and not bore you with this one.

Offense- It comes down to this, the offensive could not block anything. The receivers could not get open and were often held beyond five yards. Ray Rice had his worst game as a professional football player. GRADE F—————————————————————————————–

Defensive line- They might have got tired late in the game. Otherwise good. Grade B+

Linebackers- They played solid. The Jacksonville Jaguars have a bad offense but this group seemed to get tired as well. Grade B

Secondary- The Jaguars did not dare to pass the ball against the Ravens. Grade A

Special teams- Sam Koch played well but Billy Cundiff missed a field goal that would have been enough for the Ravens to win the game. Grade C

Coaching staff- If offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was a samurai he would have fallen on his own sword. Grade F

The Baltimore Ravens had a bye week Sunday, now they continue to get ready to face the Houston Texans. Here is the first quarter report card for the Ravens, as the Ravens stand 3-1 a quarter through the season. This will be quicker than the average report card because I will talk about it in more detail in this weeks video blog.


Quarterback- Joe Flacco has been rather inconsistent. I think we might have expected too much from him, he is dealing with five new receivers. Two great games, two bad games. Grade B-

Running backs- This group has been great when the offensive line has opened holes. It is a differenct story when they do not. Grade B+

Receivers- They have shown flashes of greatness. This group will take the longest time to develop. So far it has been hit or miss. Ed Dickson and Torrey Smith need to practice with Flacco more. Grade B

Offensive Line- This group has struggled with injuries all season. Ben Grubbs has been out for the past three weeks. They are letting Flacco get hit way too many times. Grade C-

Defensive Line- This group has been dominate. Haloti Ngata is showing why he is worth the big bucks. Grade A+++

Linebackers- This group has been a staple of the Ravens since they came into the league in 1996. Terrell Suggs has been dominate rushing the passer. Ray Lewis continues to play well despite his age. Grade B+

Secondary- Cary Williams has been a good surprise. Ed Reed continues to make quarterbacks worry about where he is on the field. Grade B+

Special Teams- Surprisingly one of the weaker positions on the Ravens. Billy Cundiff and Sam Koch have been solid but the return game has been missing. The coverage teams also need to improve. Grade C

Coaching- They have been solid all season. I will never complain about the Ravens coaching staff. The front office has also been making great personal moves. Grade A

By now everyone knows that the Baltimore Ravens crushed the St. Louis Rams 37-to-7. Here are some quick hits to take away from that game.


Torrey Smith can be a major factor in changing the way the Ravens play offense. The Ravens drafted Torrey Smith to be a vertical threat for quarterback Joe Flacco.  After not making a catch in his first two games, Smith scored three touchdowns this past week for the Ravens. With his emergence and the trade for wide receiver Lee Evans, the Ravens could have two good deep threats. Evans needs to get his ankle healthy, which I predict will be in week six. The Ravens offense could finally change from a running/possession passing attack to a running/vertical attack. They have all the tools to do this:   speedy receivers, a quarterback with a big arm, and the offensive line that can protect that quarterback.


LaQuan Williams is playing more and better than anyone could have expected. With Lee Evans out against the Rams, Williams took Smith’s number three wide receiver spot on the field. He may have only had one catch for seven yards, but he was very effective in the blocking game. There were times in which Williams overpowered the Rams defensive backs. The Ravens have a pair of excellent blocking wide receivers with Williams and Anquan Boldin, Boldin actually made a hockey check like hit on a Rams linebacker to knock the linebacker down on running back Ray Rice’s 53-yard run. In my opinion, Williams was the unsung hero for the Ravens in week three.

Haloti Ngata has everything coming together for him. Less than a week after Ngata signed a blockbuster deal to stay with the Ravens, Ngata scores his first NFL touchdown against the Rams on a fumble recovery. Ngata has played great in the past but I have never seen him dominate offensive lines the way he has this year. Losing weight in the off season has helped him become a better pass rusher but his power has stayed.

The Baltimore Ravens have reached a five-year agreement with, defensive tackle, Haloti Ngata. Ngata is considered by many to be one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL. Here is Ngata on the deal.

“This is a great feeling, and I can’t explain how many different emotions I have,” Ngata stated. “What I want to do now is continue to get better every year and help the team get better. Our goal is to win Super Bowls, and I want to do my best to help us make that happen.”

“You rarely see players around the league play with one team their entire career,” Ngata continued. “For me to be here another five years is great, and I’m thankful for the opportunity the Ravens have provided me. Hopefully, I can retire here.”

Ravens GM, Ozzie Newsome also had words on Ngata. Newsome compliments Ravens owner, Steve Bisciotti, with helping getting the deal done.

“This is another commitment from [owner] Steve Bisciotti making sure we keep our best players,” Newsome stated. “Haloti’s re-signing is significant as we push to win consistently and battle for championships. His leadership is not only integral to our defense, but also the entire team.”

“He is obviously instrumental to everything we do on defense,” Newsome continued. “He’s a player who commands an offense’s attention every single play, and his presence allows us to play a variety of effective defenses. Teams have to prepare for Haloti every week. Opposing coaches game-plan on Tuesday with Haloti in mind. They know he can dominate and they know he is going to play at a very high level.”

Here is Haloti Ngata’s player profile I did earlier. These quotes are from a Ravens press release.