Post by TheShadow on Dec 13, 2003 7:22:16 GMT -5
www.oaklandtribune.com
Punishing Ravens RB
By Bill Soliday, STAFF WRITER
ALAMEDA -- You could say Jamal Lewis owes the Bay Area one.
Two weeks ago, the Baltimore Ravens' 5-11, 240-pound wrecking ball was on a
pace to threaten Eric Dickerson's 19-year-old record for rushing yards in a
season (2,105).
But when the Ravens pulverized the San Francisco 49ers 44-6, Lewis had a
sore shoulder, and his services weren't required for the whole game. He
finished with only 19 carries and 78 yards.
Result: Where he was on pace to make a run at Dickerson with a 2,090-yard
pace midway through the season, he currently is 100 yards back. Now, based
on 13 games, he will finish with 1,996 yards.
But all is not lost. With a big game Sunday against the Oakland Raiders,
Lewis could get back those needed yards. The timing is right. Oakland's
defense against the run is the weakest Lewis has faced this year.
Lewis has tormented average teams. In Week 2, he blew up 19th-ranked
Cleveland for an NFL-record 295 yards.
Oakland ranks No. 31. Is the sky, meaning a 300-yard game, no longer a limit
for the fourth-year back from Tennessee?
"I don't know," Lewis said. "Anything is possible."
Should Lewis manage a "mere" 250 yards against the Raiders, he would find
himself needing 334 yards in his final two games to catch Dickerson. The
first of those two is at Cleveland.
Records aside, the Raiders know what to expect Sunday.
"They don't get very complicated," Raiders coach Bill Callahan said.
"There's no secret. ... They're going to come downhill and come after you."
What's the answer for the Raiders, already embarrassed over their record and
having yielded 155 or more rushing yards to six teams?
The standard answer is to move a safety down into the box and present an
eight-man front. Subtract the quarterback, two receivers and Lewis himself,
and that strategy gives the defense an 8-7 personnel advantage.
Some even suggest nine in the box.
"I don't think (the Ravens) care," Callahan said.
Indeed, they don't. The Ravens run anyway.
"If we were to not stick with our running game because there were eight in
the box, we wouldn't run it three times a game," Baltimore coach Brian
Billick said.
Confidence? The bold Ravens actually welcome it.
"The problem with the eight-in-the-box mentality, and it's valid because
everybody does it, (is) you put that many guys at the line of scrimmage ...
you leave yourself vulnerable," Billick said.
"With Jamal's speed, if he gets one step behind those eight guys, there's
only the 11th guy in front of him, because the two other guys are on the
outside. That's when he cranks off those big ones. It's not just a 10- or
15-yard gain out of what should have been a 4- or 5-yard gain. It could be a
40-, 50- or 60-yard gain."
Billick didn't mention another possible eventuality -- the deep pass against
a drawn-in defense. Only the deep safety is there to guard center field.
Enter quarterback Anthony Wright. When rookie quarterback Kyle Boller
injured a leg, Billick went to his third-string quarterback instead of No. 2
Chris Redman.
Most people were surprised, but Billick had his reasons. Wright has a strong
arm to throw the deep pass, is intelligent and can run. He was the right fit
in tandem with Lewis because he could stretch the field.
That makes playing the Ravens a pick-your-poison kind of dilemma.
"He fit the profile where we're at," said Billick, always the iconoclast. "I
always subscribe to the idea that if the majority were right, the majority
would be rich."
Callahan has no delusions about the Lewis attack.
"I don't think we'll stop it completely," he said. "But it's going to be
important we control the run. And that's hard to do against a team like
this."
"He has everything you want," Dorsett said. "Size, speed, desire, runs with
a great attitude, great balance. He is the complete back. But he can be
tackled."
EXTRA POINTS: Running back Charlie Garner's status for Sunday's game is
uncertain, according to a team spokesman. Garner missed practice this week
due to what Callahan called "personal reasons." Garner has only started one
of the team's last four games, and Tyrone Wheatley was again scheduled to
open against the Ravens. ... RT Lincoln Kennedy has been cleared to start.
... Callahan said WR Doug Gabriel, not John Stone, will return kickoffs.
Stone was activated off the practice squad to the 53-man roster Wednesday.
... Sidelined linebacker Bill Romanowski was given approval by the NFL to
work on the Fox network's broadcast of Sunday's Carolina-Arizona game in
Tempe, Ariz.
Punishing Ravens RB
By Bill Soliday, STAFF WRITER
ALAMEDA -- You could say Jamal Lewis owes the Bay Area one.
Two weeks ago, the Baltimore Ravens' 5-11, 240-pound wrecking ball was on a
pace to threaten Eric Dickerson's 19-year-old record for rushing yards in a
season (2,105).
But when the Ravens pulverized the San Francisco 49ers 44-6, Lewis had a
sore shoulder, and his services weren't required for the whole game. He
finished with only 19 carries and 78 yards.
Result: Where he was on pace to make a run at Dickerson with a 2,090-yard
pace midway through the season, he currently is 100 yards back. Now, based
on 13 games, he will finish with 1,996 yards.
But all is not lost. With a big game Sunday against the Oakland Raiders,
Lewis could get back those needed yards. The timing is right. Oakland's
defense against the run is the weakest Lewis has faced this year.
Lewis has tormented average teams. In Week 2, he blew up 19th-ranked
Cleveland for an NFL-record 295 yards.
Oakland ranks No. 31. Is the sky, meaning a 300-yard game, no longer a limit
for the fourth-year back from Tennessee?
"I don't know," Lewis said. "Anything is possible."
Should Lewis manage a "mere" 250 yards against the Raiders, he would find
himself needing 334 yards in his final two games to catch Dickerson. The
first of those two is at Cleveland.
Records aside, the Raiders know what to expect Sunday.
"They don't get very complicated," Raiders coach Bill Callahan said.
"There's no secret. ... They're going to come downhill and come after you."
What's the answer for the Raiders, already embarrassed over their record and
having yielded 155 or more rushing yards to six teams?
The standard answer is to move a safety down into the box and present an
eight-man front. Subtract the quarterback, two receivers and Lewis himself,
and that strategy gives the defense an 8-7 personnel advantage.
Some even suggest nine in the box.
"I don't think (the Ravens) care," Callahan said.
Indeed, they don't. The Ravens run anyway.
"If we were to not stick with our running game because there were eight in
the box, we wouldn't run it three times a game," Baltimore coach Brian
Billick said.
Confidence? The bold Ravens actually welcome it.
"The problem with the eight-in-the-box mentality, and it's valid because
everybody does it, (is) you put that many guys at the line of scrimmage ...
you leave yourself vulnerable," Billick said.
"With Jamal's speed, if he gets one step behind those eight guys, there's
only the 11th guy in front of him, because the two other guys are on the
outside. That's when he cranks off those big ones. It's not just a 10- or
15-yard gain out of what should have been a 4- or 5-yard gain. It could be a
40-, 50- or 60-yard gain."
Billick didn't mention another possible eventuality -- the deep pass against
a drawn-in defense. Only the deep safety is there to guard center field.
Enter quarterback Anthony Wright. When rookie quarterback Kyle Boller
injured a leg, Billick went to his third-string quarterback instead of No. 2
Chris Redman.
Most people were surprised, but Billick had his reasons. Wright has a strong
arm to throw the deep pass, is intelligent and can run. He was the right fit
in tandem with Lewis because he could stretch the field.
That makes playing the Ravens a pick-your-poison kind of dilemma.
"He fit the profile where we're at," said Billick, always the iconoclast. "I
always subscribe to the idea that if the majority were right, the majority
would be rich."
Callahan has no delusions about the Lewis attack.
"I don't think we'll stop it completely," he said. "But it's going to be
important we control the run. And that's hard to do against a team like
this."
"He has everything you want," Dorsett said. "Size, speed, desire, runs with
a great attitude, great balance. He is the complete back. But he can be
tackled."
EXTRA POINTS: Running back Charlie Garner's status for Sunday's game is
uncertain, according to a team spokesman. Garner missed practice this week
due to what Callahan called "personal reasons." Garner has only started one
of the team's last four games, and Tyrone Wheatley was again scheduled to
open against the Ravens. ... RT Lincoln Kennedy has been cleared to start.
... Callahan said WR Doug Gabriel, not John Stone, will return kickoffs.
Stone was activated off the practice squad to the 53-man roster Wednesday.
... Sidelined linebacker Bill Romanowski was given approval by the NFL to
work on the Fox network's broadcast of Sunday's Carolina-Arizona game in
Tempe, Ariz.