At least it was fun watching 'Baby Ravens' roll

Mike Preston

September 4, 2009

• E-mail
• Print
• Text Size

ATLANTA —

A Warning: The problem was not in your TV set.

Those players who started the game for the Ravens in Thursday night's 20-3 win against the Atlanta Falcons were actually Ravens. Really. In fact, only two starters played: linebackers Terrell Suggs and Tavares Gooden.

But it was fun watching the Baby Ravens take it to the Falcons' first-string players early in the game. On the Ravens' first drive, they went 91 yards in 14 plays, and it ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass from quarterback John Beck to fullback Jason Cook.

Soon afterward, the 10 Falcons fans who showed up began booing.

I can't blame the fans. The Falcons shouldn't be getting embarrassed by the Baby Ravens. And I can't blame the Falcons, either. There were hardly any fans in the stands, and they were playing against the Baby Ravens.

Where was the motivation to play?

Oh, by the way, the Falcons took second-year quarterback Matt Ryan out of the game after one series. We couldn't tell whether it was because they didn't want to possibly get Ryan hurt, or they didn't want to risk further embarrassment.

Suggs shines

What Achilles tendon injury?

Ravens Pro Bowl outside linebacker Suggs played for the first time this season in the Ravens' final preseason game and showed no signs of a heel injury that forced him to miss most of training camp.

Suggs first suffered the injury on the third day of training camp, which started in late July. He didn't practice again until this week, and he showed little rust Thursday night as he played until about midway in the first half.

Suggs got a sack on the Falcons' first possession, splitting a double team in the first quarter.

He also showed good lateral movement about four minutes later when he ran parallel with Atlanta running back Jason Snelling on a draw play before tackling Snelling along the left sideline. In addition to the sack, he finished with three tackles.

It's apparent that Suggs isn't in game shape, but he isn't far behind with nearly a week and half left to practice. He might still live up to that six-year, $63 million contract he signed during the offseason.

Williams produces

Ravens receiver Demetrius Williams and Beck hooked up several times , but the most impressive stuff came early in the game, and against the Falcons' first team.

It was nice to see Williams respond with a strong effort after apparently dropping behind Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton and Kelley Washington last week.

Not one penalty, but two

With 7:01 left in the half, the game became official. That's when cornerback Frank Walker drew not one penalty, but two. One was for lining up offside;the other was for illegal hands to the face.

It's not a game without a penalty by Walker.

Harper inconsistent

Ravens second-year receiver Justin Harper has played himself onto the developmental squad or off the team.

He started off well in training camp making several big plays, but since then he hasn't been consistent. He still makes big plays but also has come up with drop-itis.

He showed little aggressiveness going for a slant-in pass in the second half, and he dropped a long pass down the left sideline in the same quarter.

He dropped another long pass in the third quarter running down the left sideline again. Maybe he should have kept running through the locker room to the bus.

If he's not careful, the Ravens are going to throw him under the bus.

The wish list

Now that all 32 teams are about to make cuts, there may be players the Ravens could acquire off waivers. The wish list includes a backup offensive tackle, a receiver and a reserve tight end.

Parmele, Cook critiques

Second-year running back Jalen Parmele has been impressive, but he runs too upright.

His lead blocker, rookie fullback Cook, doesn't have a lot of explosion at the point of attack and needs to bring his feet and get them under him.