Ravens looking to fine tune in third preseason game

BALTIMORE – Ray Lewis(notes) smiled even as his forehead wrinkled with intensity, emanating confidence with his posture and expressions.
The Baltimore Ravens’ All-Pro middle linebacker is unconcerned about the high amount of yardage surrendered by the defense during a 23-3 victory last week over the Washington Redskins despite allowing 365 net passing yards.
“Honestly, I think we’re right where we need to be,” Lewis said. “A few mistakes here and there, correct them and then just get ready. When you turn on our cheap nfl jerseys defensive film, one thing that you do like is we haven’t given up a touchdown all preseason.
“That’s a bottom=line fact, no matter what big plays happened. You bend, but you don’t break. If they don’t score, they don’t win. Stats can be misleading sometimes.”
Heading into tonight’s third preseason game against the New York Giants at M&T Bank Stadium, the Ravens’ top statistic is their undefeated status with a pair of victories over the Redskins and the Carolina Panthers.
They’ve been vulnerable to deep passes on defense. The offense has fumbled eight times, losing four to rank second in the NFL in lost fumbles.
On a night where the starters will play at least the first half with several playing into the third quarter, this is a good time for the team to fine-tune several shortcomings.
This amounts to a final dress rehearsal since the fourth preseason game is traditionally relegated to backups and players on the roster bubble.
“Just see where we are, what we need to work on going into the first regular season game,” wide receiver Anquan Boldin(notes) said. “Everybody knows we don’t play too much in the fourth preseason game. This preseason game really shows where we are.
“I think we had a pretty good week of practice and preparation. We didn’t scheme or game plan for New York. We’re really focused on what we’re doing with our assignments and techniques.”
Defensively, the Ravens have given up 331.5 yards of nfl throwback jerseys total offense per contest while only being scored on for an average of 7.5 points per game.
The Ravens have recorded three interceptions and 11 sacks.
Against the Redskins, though, they were soft in coverage over the middle and allowed some big plays to Anthony Armstrong(notes) and Santana Moss(notes).
“You never want to give up a lot of yards,” defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said. “I think some of it was the secondary, some of it was pass rush, some of it was maybe not getting deep enough. Some of it was great throws and catches.
“We’re not ready to panic by any means. That’s something we addressed as far as what we had to really concern ourselves with this week, and they did it.”
This week’s opponent poses a different sort of challenge.
Two years ago, the Giants’ bruising running game steamrolled the Ravens’ run defense with 207 rushing yards.
Last week, the Ravens stonewalled the Redskins to the tune of 25 rushing yards on 14 carries.
The Giants feature a prototype big back in 6-foot-4, 264-pound Brandon Jacobs(notes) and a smaller, elusive change of pace in Ahmad Bradshaw(notes).
“They’re a downhill team,” linebacker Dannell Ellerbe(notes) said. “You’ve got to bring it every play. You have to match them as far as being physical.”
The Ravens will likely be without rookie nose guard Terrence “Mount” Cody due to swelling in his knee. And inside linebacker Jameel McClain(notes) is dealing with a similar problem, but has predicted he’ll play tonight.
“He just was a little sore and we decided it would be best for him to get a little bit more rest, but he’s fine,” Mattison said. “He’s been doing a really good job by evidence last week, and that’s going to be a big test this week again. The Giants can run the football, as we found out a few years ago, and we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready for that.”
The offensive line remains banged-up with offensive tackles Jared Gaither(notes) and Oniel Cousins(notes) sidelined with a thoracic disc condition and a concussion, respectively.
Tony Moll(notes) is slated to start at right tackle. The Ravens’ first-team offense didn’t allow any sacks last week against Brian Orakpo(notes) and Co.
However, the Giants also feature a strong pass rush headlined by Osi Redskins jersey Umenyiora(notes) and Justin Tuck(notes).
“We did a pretty good job against the Redskins and we want to continue that,” offensive guard Ben Grubbs(notes) said. “They’ve definitely got some talented guys over there, so it’s going to be a test. We’re willing to take on that challenge.
"May the best man win. I don’t take it lightly. It doesn’t matter if these games count or not. It matters to us.”
The Ravens have limited Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice’s(notes) workload so far this preseason as a precautionary measure with for their proven all-purpose threat.
He didn’t touch the football against the Carolina Panthers.
Last week, Rice ran it three times for 17 yards. He has one reception for 12 yards.
Rice said he isn’t worried about getting rusty.
"It's not a sprint, it’s a marathon," Rice said.
The Ravens have moved the ball effectively, but only have one passing touchdown and three rushing touchdowns to show for their drives.
In many cases, offensive coordinator Cam Cameron says he’s intentionally raising the degree of difficulty to test his offense’s proficiency and ability to react to adverse circumstances.,
“I’m really trying to put on some ankle weights a little bit at times in the preseason to find out some things that we might not find in the normal part of the season,” Cameron said. “I want to see the quarterback get completions when we get bad looks, when the defense really has the advantage.”
Plus, a lot of it comes back to not showing their hand as far as what they’ll run during the regular season.
“I don’t know if you could look at the stats, I think you’ve just got to look at how we feel,” quarterback Joe Flacco(notes) said. “For the most part, I Titans jersey think the feel is pretty good between us. We’re running our base offense. Obviously it’s the preseason, so you don’t want to show some things.
“Some things, you’re going to show because everybody knows you do them anyway. We didn’t game plan too much for the first two, and we’ll game plan a little bit for this one. It’s not really about what plays we’re running. We’re just trying to go out there and effectively run the plays that are called.”