"In the locker room, wide receiver Derrick Mason remained silent, and quarterback Joe Flacco said as little as possible. Nobody wanted to indict anyone, but the evidence was clear. A lot of the blame for the Ravens' loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday goes on the shoulders of the coaches, not the players, particularly the offensive staff. The play-calling was conservative and pathetic, especially in the final quarter and overtime. Though their staff has prided itself on being aggressive and daring the past three years, the Ravens lost their nerve against New England. And in the NFL, teams that don't play to win lose, and that's what happened to the Ravens. You can tell me how great Tom Brady was, how much of a genius Bill Belichick is, how dumb Le'Ron McClain was and that Deion Branch is a capable replacement for Randy Moss, but the Ravens should have won this game. They lost it because offensive coordinator Cam Cameron went into a shell. After mixing up the plays in the first three quarters and constantly going downfield to his receivers, Cameron was content with handing the ball off to running back Ray Rice or throwing to him on short passes over the middle. This was like a moment in time, back in the 1970s when Ted Marchibroda's Baltimore Colts had the "hey diddle diddle, it's Lydell up the middle." After Joe Flacco completed an 18-yard pass to Anquan Boldin with 11:02 left in the game, he threw only two more passes downfield in the final 24 minutes. We all had to be scratching our heads. Wasn't this overtime and on the road? During the summer, didn't the Ravens invest millions of dollars in receivers Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and where were they? What about Mason? He had worn out New England cornerbacks like an old pair of jeans. And the best the Ravens could come up with was Rice up the middle, Rice on a stretch play left or right, or Rice as the check-down receiver. You've got to be kidding me. These calls came against a secondary that couldn't cover a baby with a blanket. "I'm not sure. I'm not really the guy to ask there," Flacco said of the conservative play-calling." http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bs-sp-preston-ravens-1018-20101017,0,615059.column
