I actually may have been more impressed by the Chargers game, but nonetheless, good win. Here are the weekly "Jking's thoughts."
Good:
1) McCown has consistently looked good. He won't score you a touchdown every drive. He makes some serious head scratchers. And he got lucky on one throw today that should've been an interception. But with all of that said, he's been on fire lately. He throws for a lot of yards and he hasn't made enough mistakes per game to lose us games. He finds the open receiver. Today my biggest issue was in the first half he was holding the ball too long. Overall, though, he'll be a great guy to mentor whatever QB we inevitably end up taking this year.
2) DeFillipo had his first good game as coordinator. I thought the offensive gameplan was brilliant and challenged the weak Ravens pass defense. It also utilized the two biggest strengths in our offense so far: the medium range pass and our receivers catching ability.
3) Receivers have consistently looked good as a unit. I don't think Benjamin is any sort of fluke, either.
4) Duke Johnson has looked very good in the pass game the past two weeks. He's good at creating space. My big issue is he seems to lack a core ability for a runningback: actually running the ball off of handoffs. Nonetheless, I've been very impressed with his work so far.
5) Danny Shelton had an impact play today. I really think he will be special.
Bad:
1) The Defense. Damn, guys. For a unit that wants people to believe it is amongst the best in the league, it is an embarrassment. I think, arguably, it looks like the worst defense, pound for pound, in the entire league. There is too much talent on that unit for this to be allowed to continue. Either the players have gotten complacent or the coordinators/coaches are doing a terrible job with game planning. It is not the in-game decisions, because I think the playcalling has been good, we are just not executing. If this continues we're in for more miserable games.
2)PENALTIES. Jesus, how long do these need to continue. I'm tired of it all.
3) Our offense lacked the ability to convert drives to touchdowns most of the game. Against a struggling/bad team like Baltimore this didn't kill us, but it will against a better team like Denver, and needs to be fixed. Some of this was caused by McCown (especially in the first half), some by our runningbacks inability to move the ball at all on first/second down, some by bad play calls early, as well as a variety of factors. But it cannot continue.
4) Our special teams coverage on punts/kicks. I can't think of the right words so let me try and explain. When we are returning punts/kicks, the blockers kept letting the Ravens break through and get quick tackles.
5) The Offensive Line. Mack looks complacent. And the right side of the line is atrocious. I don't think running to the right on our line is even possible. It really is hurting our ability to get in good position before 3rd down.
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