Suburban Life • mysuburbanlife.com • Wednesday, November 13, 2013 • SD
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Bears must protect McCown to beat Ravens Hub Arkush
There is good news and bad news for the Bears in their matchup with the Baltimore Ravens, and it’s a little tricky figuring out which will override the other. The Ravens will bring one of the NFL’s worst offenses to Soldier Field on Sunday. They struggle on the ground and through the air, but particularly with the running game. That could offer some tonic to a Bears’ defense that is one of the worst in the league, particularly against the run. On the flip side is the reality that the defending Super Bowl-champion Ravens still are one of the best defenses in the NFL. And, in only his second start of the season, Josh McCown will face the best pass rush the Bears have seen so far this year. That is especially unsettling realiz-
ing the Bears’ offensive line probably had its worst outing of the season Sunday against the Lions. Joe Flacco is among the NFL’s wealthiest players after signing a new contract following the Ravens’ Super Bowl win. He also is one of the least productive quarterbacks in the game with a 77.3 passer rating, 25th in the NFL behind such stalwarts as Mike Glennon and Christian Ponder. Flacco’s managed only 6.7 yards per pass, and his 12 touchdown passes are offset by 11 interceptions. Part of his problem throwing the ball may be caused by the fact the Ravens are only 30th in the NFL rushing the football and dead last in average gain per rush. That’s hard to believe of a club with Ray Rice as its feature back, but he has only 115 carries through nine games for 289 yards – a 2.5 average. Bernard Pierce was supposed to be a great compliment to Rice this season, but he’s averaged only 2.5 yards a pop on 93 carries. The suspicion the Ravens would miss Aquan Boldin is borne out in No.
1 receiver Torrey Smith’s numbers. While he’s caught 41 passes for 753 yards, an outstanding 18.4 average, Smith’s been targeted 84 times. No. 1 receivers who convert less than half their targets don’t stay No. 1s for long. Perhaps the Ravens’ biggest problem has been the offensive line, which is puzzling since it started the season with four starters off the Super Bowl team and top backup Gino Gradkowski stepping in at center for the retired Matt Birk. The line has been so bad that the Ravens dealt for Eugene Monroe from Jacksonville before the trade deadline and then dealt left tackle Bryant McKinnie to the Dolphins. Defensively, the Ravens have reloaded nicely after losing Paul Kruger, Ray Lewis, Dannell Ellerbe, Ed Reed and Cary Williams off the Super Bowl team. The additions of Chris Canty, Daryl Smith, Elvis Dumervil and rookie Matt Elam have made the rebuilding of that unit somewhat seamless. The key matchups in this ballgame will feature the game’s best nose tackle, Haloti Ngata, on the inside shoul-
ders of Kyle Long and Matt Slauson at different times, and Terrell Suggs and Dumervil rushing off the edges on Jordan Mills and Jermon Bushrod. The Ravens have 32 sacks, paced by Suggs’ nine and Dumervil’s eight. Jimmy Smith has nice size on one corner at 6-2, but Lardarius Webb is smallish at 5-10. That will create mismatches for either Brandon Marshall or Alshon Jeffery. The key matchup on the other side of the ball has to be Rice against the Bears’ two rookie linebackers. As badly as Rice has struggled this year, Mel Tucker has to be sure Jon Bostic and Khaseem Greene aren’t the antidote he’s been looking for. One other matchup to watch is John Harbaugh, one of the most successful coaches in the history of the NFL through his first five seasons, and the rookie for the Bears, Marc Trestman. Harbaugh is sure to have some custom pressures designed for McCown. How Trestman counters could be the difference in the game.
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