Baltimore: 17 / Detroit: 6

Observations:

- Detroit will always be Detroit - We can’t get too excited with this victory because Detroit hasn’t won anything since the Barry Sanders era. They may have added some offensive weapons at wide receiver … but you couldn’t tell that in this game. They were completely shut down and dominated by the Ravens defense. Despite awesome field position all game, the Ravens still struggled to put points on the board and were actually behind 6-3 at halftime and did not put Detroit away until five minutes to play … not very impressive.

- Preseason is too long and too meaningless seems to be the universal cry this year. In his post game press conference, Billick pointed to this factor to explain how flat the team seemed to play, especially on offense where there is very little emotion or intensity. Yes, the owners want to maximize their revenue . . . but fans deserve a better product. This game actually should have been the most competitive of the four with players on the bubble actively fighting for a slot . . . but the Ravens roster is almost entirely set. The main objective of the final preseason game on Thursday will be to keep all of the starters healthy (Translation: 2 series and out.)

- Excessive Penalties are just killing the flow of the game. I wouldn’t want to be the special teams coach reviewing this game film with Coach Billick. How can you possibly justify a penalty on every single special teams play? Is “blocking in the back” or “running into the punter” (or even accidentally bumping the fragile punter in this case) that difficult a concept for these college grads? Maybe they took the wrong courses in their undergraduate years. The only saving grace was the long awaited coming out party for punt return specialist B.J. Sams. Sidelined thus far with a broken thumb, he was a sight for sore eyes. In the absence of Abney being able to mount any threat due to his hurt shoulder, Sams looks like a lock to start the season fielding punts. (But to be fair, the Detroit coverage team stunk!) Then there are the obvious “make up calls” each game that are so predictable. This time the Ravens got the short end of the stick. After the very questionable running into the punter penalty that cost Sams his huge initial punt return for 89 yards, the officials quickly called offensive holding (which you could call on almost any play you choose – strictly referee discretion) on Detroit a couple of plays later – not exactly fair compensation. They also failed to call Baxter for pass interference on the same series. Track this during the season and see how often the officials try to make up for a questionable call to try to balance the ledger.

- Chester Taylor quickly cycled through the Doghouse in this game. In the first half he had Billick blistering him for two penalties on special teams and forgetting to show up on the field for another punt return. (Fortunately Detroit matched that futility with a compensating penalty of their own.) But Chester came out on fire in the second half and quickly put the Ravens up with a burst of speed on a simple off-tackle play that went for 84 yards and a touchdown. The missed tackles in the Detroit secondary were embarrassing. Chester scored the Ravens’ only other touchdown late in the game when he dove for the corner flag on a ten yard sweep to close out the scoring.

- Ron Johnson may not have been so fortunate. He seemed to get the bulk of Billick’s heat for the costly interception by Kordell Stewart in the end zone. Kordell was backpedaling under pressure, appeared to throw off his back foot, and just left the ball over the middle in a mass of congestion for an easy pick. Perhaps Johnson ran the wrong route or did not read the defense properly to make the right adjustment. Johnson came back to make a couple of catches … but it might not be enough to save his roster spot. I would have been all over Stewart who continues to make stupid blunders. His fumbled snap on the goal line in the fourth quarter nicely complemented the drops by Musa Smith on the same series. (At least Musa distinguished himself with a number of fine plays that reinforced our comfort level with our depth at running back.)

- Linebacker Name of the Decade goes to our own T.J. Slaughter. Just think of the marketing potential if Ray Lewis had a name like that! The Goose commenting up in the booth really took off on his praise of Slaughter . . . essentially calling him one very bad dude. He made a couple of fine, aggressive plays that continue to prove to the rest of the NFL that when it comes to picking up linebackers off waivers, look for the Ravens final castoffs – they should be best in breed.

- Kyle Boller talks a good game (or at least a quick game) in his interview with the always competent Sage Steele (who by the way is my “can’t miss” selection for the next major national female ESPN sports anchor – she has a pleasant interview style and the players respond well to her questions). But he seems to be missing that special ingredient of getting the job done in crunch time. He has a lot of talent . . . he improved this game in terms of stepping up and making some good throws from within the pocket (even though his protection was spotty at times) . . . he is only in his second season . . . but he just doesn’t give me that feeling of security at the position. He made a number of decisions to scramble up the middle and was fortunate to come away injury free (one tackle looked like it bent him back awkwardly …). How you could score so few points in a game we clearly dominated is mystifying. When are we going to just come out early and put a team away? Surely a Super Bowl bound team should have that potential … regardless of our defensive orientation. This game he was without Todd Heap and Travis Taylor . . . but it just seems like drives stall too easily.

Related posts:

1. Ravens Scouting Report: Preseason Game #2
2. Ravens Scouting Report: Preseason Game #1
3. Ravens Scouting Report: Preseason Game #4
4. 2005 Baltimore Ravens Scouting Report: Preseason Game #1
5. 2005 Baltimore Ravens Scouting Report: Preseason Game #2