The 2009 NFL Playoffs - AFC Wild Card Weekend in HDTV on CBS
Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins
Live from Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida.
CBS HD 1080i & DD5.1
1 PM ET
Jim Nantz, Phil Simms will have the call.
Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins
Live from Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida.
CBS HD 1080i & DD5.1
1 PM ET
Jim Nantz, Phil Simms will have the call.
Quote:
From foxsports.com
John Czarnecki
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Ravens were the first team to throttle Miami's wildcat formation back in mid-October in a 27-13 victory at Dolphin Stadium. They are planning to do the same thing, aggressively run-blitzing against the direct-snap offense.
The Dolphins gained just four yards in five Wildcat plays also drawing a false-start penalty in another attempt with their longest gain coming on a four-yard Ricky Williams end-around. The strategy from highly regarded defensive coordinator Rex Ryan was simple: Crowd the line of scrimmage, make the Dolphins' talented runners Williams and Ronnie Brown (27 yards on 13 carries) go sideways and time blitzes to stop end-around runs that simulate a conventional handoff. MBL Ray Lewis wound up leading the defense with 10 tackles as Miami gained just 71 yards on the ground.
For the season, Baltimore allowed only 81.4 yards a game. After that, Miami won nine of its last 10, while the Ravens won nine of their final 11 games. Dolphins mammoth NT Jason Ferguson strained his oblique in the opening series of that October game, and the Ravens dominated the time of possession and gained 139 rushing yards with Willis McGahee, rookie Ray Rice and Le'Ron McClain taking turns gashing Miami. That shouldn't happen today as Ferguson shores up everybody's gaps.
Both teams are in the top three in the NFL in turnover ratio, but the play that turned their first meeting was Ravens OLB Terrell Suggs' 44-yard INT touchdown return. Dolphins QB Chad Pennington wants to get WR Ted Ginn deep whenever he sees the blitz coming. But he also knows that the Ravens forced 34 turnovers, including an NFL-high 26 INTs, during the season and returned five interceptions for touchdowns. You can figure that Pennington will be extra cautious with the ball, and take the short pass whenever he can.
Baltimore's young offensive line is a strong run-blocking unit, and the Ravens want to focus on winning field position and keeping rookie QB Joe Flacco away from the Dolphins' pass rush. The Dolphins will use a lot of eight-man fronts against the run and hope CBs Will Allen and André Goodman can hold their own in single coverage against Derrick Mason.
Miami tied an NFL record by having only 13 turnovers this season, and Pennington has thrown the fewest interceptions in the NFL with seven, completing 67.4 percent of his throws for 3,653 yards and 19 touchdowns for a 97.4 quarterback rating. He was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year on Wednesday. Ravens CB Fabian Washington, their best coverage player, didn't practice because of a hyper-extended right big toe suffered against the Cowboys. The injury is similar to a turf toe.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9...ild-card-games
