OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Desperately trying to get healthier for Sunday’s meeting against the New York Giants, the Ravens saw the return of right guard Marshal Yanda and wide receiver Torrey Smith to Thursday’s practice.

Both worked on a limited basis after neither worked on Wednesday. Yanda was practicing for the first time since suffering a sprained ankle in the 31-28 overtime loss to the Washington Redskins on Dec. 9. Smith sustained a concussion in Sunday’s loss to Denver, but he hadn’t been cleared for contact as of the end of Thursday’s practice.

While it’s no guarantee given the severity of the ankle sprain, Yanda returning to practice this early in the week has to be considered a very good sign in predicting his availability for Sunday’s game when you consider his past injury history and reputation for having a high threshold for pain.

Yanda declined to talk about his ankle but said he “did OK” during Thursday’s workout.

Safety Bernard Pollard (chest), wide receiver Tandon Doss (ankle), running back Bernard Pierce (concussion), and linebacker Jameel McClain (neck) weren’t practicing. McClain hasn’t been placed on injured reserve yet, but his season is over, according to head coach John Harbaugh. Doss and Pierce were present at practice but did not appear to be participating during the opening portion.

The starting strong safety remains a major question mark as he continues to deal with a rib injury that was re-aggravated against the Washington Redskins in Week 14.

Fullback Vonta Leach did not participate after he practiced on a limited basis on Wednesday. He has been dealing with an ankle injury that forced him to miss two days of practice last week before he played against the Broncos. He told reporters following Thursday’s practice that he will be ready to go on Sunday.

“I’ll be able to go Sunday,” Leach said. “That’s not a question.”

Tight end Ed Dickson (knee), linebacker Dannell Ellerbe (ankle), safety James Ihedigbo (neck), defensive lineman Arthur Jones (shoulder), and linebacker Albert McClellan (shoulder/thigh) were all working as limited participants for a second straight day.

Linebackers Terrell Suggs (biceps) and Ray Lewis (triceps) were both present and working after neither player was listed on Wednesday’s injury report. Lewis isn’t required to be included since he isn’t currently part of the 53-man roster while Suggs was added as a full participant on Thursday. His Wednesday exclusion was a peculiar occurrence after the Ravens were fined $20,000 earlier this season for not including Ed Reed on the injury report.

For New York, wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (knee) returned to practice on a limited basis while four other starters missed practice for a second straight day.

BALTIMORE
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: WR Tandon Doss (ankle), LB Jameel McClain (neck), RB Bernard Pierce (head), S Bernard Pollard (chest), FB Vonta Leach (ankle)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: WR Torrey Smith (head), G Marshal Yanda (ankle), TE Ed Dickson (knee), LB Dannell Ellerbe (ankle), S James Ihedigbo (neck), DT Arthur Jones (shoulder), LB Albert McClellan (thigh/shoulder)
FULL PARTICIPATION: DE Pernell McPhee (thigh), S Ed Reed (shoulder), CB Jimmy Smith (abdomen), WR Deonte Thompson (thigh), WR LaQuan Williams (thigh), LB Terrell Suggs (biceps)

NEW YORK
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: C David Baas (hip/shoulder), RB Ahmad Bradshaw (knee/foot), G Chris Snee (hip), DE Justin Tuck (shoulder)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: WR Hakeem Nicks (knee), CB Prince Amukamara (hamstring), S Kenny Phillips (knee), S Tyler Sash (hamstring)
FULL PARTICIPATION: DT Chris Canty (neck)

Following every Baltimore Ravens game this season, Ryan Chell and I will take to the airwaves Tuesdays on “The Reality Check” on AM1570 WNST.net with a segment known as “The Five Plays That Determined The Game.”

It’s a simple concept. We’ll select five plays from each game that determined the outcome. These five plays will best represent why the Ravens won or lost each game.

This will be our final analysis of the previous game before switching gears towards the next game on the schedule.

Here are the five plays that determined the Ravens’ 34-17 loss to the Denver Broncos Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium…

(Note: not all pictures are always of actual play)

Glenn Clark’s Plays…

5. Bernard Pierce 15 yard run negated by Matt Birk holding penalty (2nd quarter)

4. Rahim Moore recovers Joe Flacco fumble on 3rd & 1 forced by Justin Bannan (1st quarter)

3. Eric Decker 51 yard TD catch from Peyton Manning (3rd quarter)

2. Joe Flacco pass intended for Torrey Smith incomplete on 3rd & 10 (3rd quarter)

1. Chris Harris 98 yard TD return of Joe Flacco interception (2nd quarter)

(Ryan’s Plays on Page 2…)

There’s losing and then there’s strolling around while you’re losing and looking as if you don’t really care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game.

I watched the second half intently on Sunday afternoon as the Ravens were getting punked by the Broncos and you know what I saw?  Strolling.  Lack of interest.  No attention to detail.  Stupid penalties.  Not owning up to it afterwards.

As the teams came out for the second half with Denver up 17-0, I settled in my press box seat and said to myself, “This is going to be a great opportunity to see what these men are made of…because they’re almost never down 17-0 to a good team, home or away.”

So, I made a particular point to watch individual players and coaches in the final 30 minutes and I followed them with one word in mind: Effort.

You know what I saw? A general lack of trying-real-hard.  A lack of thinking.  A lack of concern with how it all looked to the people who paid good money to sit there and watch their team lollygag through a second half of football.

Like I wrote above — there’s losing, which happens to the best of them, and there’s not being concerned with losing, which shouldn’t ever happen.  But it did yesterday in Baltimore.

We all know how the game got out of hand in the first place.  The Ravens defense played well enough in the first half, but the offense was horrible.  They only managed four first-downs in 30 minutes and when they did manage to somehow maneuver down the field late in the first half, the quarterback threw the ball to the other team and changed the game.  Instead of going to the locker room down 10-7, they stumbled in trailing 17-0.

That’s when I started watching more closely. I didn’t necessarily watch the football game.  I watched the players and the coaches, specifically, without concern for where the ball might have been.

And here’s what I saw, in no specific order of importance.

HARBAUGH/CALDWELL

One of the big mistakes occurred in the first half, but most of them took place in the final 30 minutes.  The decision to not call a time-out late in the 2nd quarter with the Ravens driving for a touchdown was just not smart.  With Jim Caldwell making his debut as the offensive coordinator and the ball on the four yard-line, a time-out there would have given everyone the chance to set up a two or three play game-plan to make sure it was 10-7 at half.  We know what happened.  No time-out was called and Flacco tried to quick-snap and catch the Broncos napping.  Afterwards, there was some discussion about not wanting to leave time on the clock for Peyton Manning as the main reason for not calling a time-out.  Well, I’d think it’s far more important to first get your own seven points and not worry all that much about the other team’s quarterback having 30 seconds to finish out the half.  Any way you slice it, not calling a time-out there was a mistake.

It turned into a Keystone Cops routine in the second half.  A mysterious third-quarter challenge by John Harbaugh was the least of the Ravens’ worries.  I have no idea what John thought he saw on the Torrey Smith catch – maybe he was just shocked that Smith actually ran a route to its completion – but virtually everyone in the press box and the stadium went “Huh?” when he tossed  the red flag.  That mistake, though, paled in comparison to a few others in the second half.  Not going for two points after the Pitta touchdown with four minutes to go – trailing 34-16 – was just unacceptable.  And as much as I’m going to beat up some individual players for “not thinking” and “not caring”, it’s hard to say the coaching staff was thinking when they kicked the extra point to make it 34-17 instead of trying to narrow the gap to a two-score affair with the two-point conversion attempt.

There’s more, though.  Plenty more.  Why did Terrell Suggs play throughout the second half when the team was losing 34-10?  I get it.  Someone has to play.  But when you have a star player suffer what we were all led to think was a serious injury just two weeks ago, why would you have him out there down 24 points with six minutes left in the game?  Head scratcher, to say the least.  And then, with fifty seconds left in the game, the ultimate lack-of-thinking took place when Joe Flacco was forced to run for his life when Jim Caldwell inexplicably called for a pair of pass plays and then watched in horror as Michael Oher didn’t try on either one.  The result?  Two sacks, both from Flacco’s blind side, and on each occasion the team’s quarterback could have suffered a serious shoulder injury as he was driven to the ground.

It’s one thing to press the team and the players to put out the maximum effort in the 3rd quarter when they’re losing 24-3.

It’s another to be smart with a half-minute to go and say, “We’re not going to risk anything now.  The game is over.”

What happened on those final two plays was a complete lack of smarts by the coaching staff.

Oh, and speaking of Caldwell, his debut as the play caller included twelve carries from Ray Rice and not one touch from Rice on a third down play.  Can you imagine the outcry if those two elements were part of a Cam Cameron-called game in a 34-17 home loss to the Broncos?

Coaches are human.  None – including the “genius” in New England – are perfect.  But Sunday was a low point for the Ravens coaching staff and the head coach, in general.

Here are some others who deserve their share of blame for Sunday’s woeful effort:

(Please see next page) 

BALTIMORE — As if the sting of a third straight loss wasn’t enough, the Ravens’ list of injuries grew even longer on Sunday as wide receiver Torrey Smith and running back Bernard Pierce both left the game with concussions.

Pierce sustained his concussion in the second quarter while Smith was injured attempting to make a long reception early in the third quarter. Neither player returned to the game.

“We’ll have to check those out later this week,” coach John Harbaugh said after the game.

Smith made just one reception for 14 yards against the Broncos while Pierce carried the ball five times for 20 yards in the 34-17 loss at M&T Bank Stadium.

Wide receiver Tandon Doss suffered a twisted ankle and linebacker Albert McClellan was dealing with a hamstring issue but returned to the game. Neither player appeared to be in bad shape in the locker room following the game.

Linebacker Terrell Suggs return to action two weeks after suffering a torn right biceps, but his impact was minimal as he was forced to leave at a few different points in dealing with pain in the arm. The five-time Pro Bowl linebacker finished with only one tackle as he played 42 of the Ravens’ 77 defensive snaps.

The 2011 Defensive Player of the Year declined to talk to reporters following the Ravens’ third consecutive loss.

After the Ravens were eliminated by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs on January 15, 2011, lots of folks in town were bellyaching about the (hopeful) removal of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron.

At the team’s “State of the Ravens” press conference a week or so later, owner Steve Bisciotti  explained his personal philosophy for retaining Cameron despite an up-and-down offensive performance from the unit he supervised during the regular season and playoffs.

“I know John’s feeling is we like Cam under fire next season as our offensive coordinator,” Bisciotti said that day, effectively supporting his coach by not ursurping his authority and firing Cameron because he has the right to make such a move.

Well, Cameron is gone now, having been dismissed by Bisciotti last Sunday night after the Ravens fell in Washington, 31-28 in OT just hours before.

So, Cameron is no longer under fire.

But someone else is and his name is Joe Flacco.

The Ravens dropped a 3rd straight game on Sunday, getting run out of the gym by the Denver Broncos, 34-17 at M&T Bank Stadium.  It would have been 41-17 or 48-17 if Denver needed bonus points on their checking account.  They basically just walked around throughout the 4th quarter and played keep-away with a 21-point lead.

And with the fan’s scapegoat, Cameron, now no longer part of the problem, Flacco has clearly become public enemy #1.

There’s an argument that he should be, based mainly on a horrible throw at the end of the first half that completely changed the game.  With Denver up 10-0, Flacco drove the offense down the field and had a first and goal on the 4-yard line when the 5th year quarterback tried a quick snap throw in the flat to Anquan Boldin.  The ball was picked off and returned 98 yards for a TD and a 10-7 game suddenly became 17-0.  And, of course, that was all she wrote, as Baltimore fell to 9-5 and dropped consecutive home games for the first time in five seasons.

Should Harbaugh and/or Flacco have called a time-out there?  Absolutely.  They had three to burn – and a rookie offensive coordinator in the booth.  Get a time-out there, get yourself situated, and make the game a 3-point affair heading to the locker room.

Blame that on Harbaugh if you want, or Flacco, since he’s a big boy and he’s been around long enough to know better, but one way or the other, someone has to call a time-out there and get things settled down.

Yes, that throw and the resulting interception return for a TD changed the game.

But I don’t think it cost the Ravens the game.

They weren’t winning this one, no matter how many times they got down there to the 4-yard line.  An undermanned Ravens defense actually did well to only allow Denver 27 points.

This one, honestly, was on Flacco and the offense.  Again.

But the quarterback doesn’t deserve all the blame.  The offensive line continues to be a trainwreck.  The wide receivers looked disinterested most of the afternoon.  And once it got to be 31-3, it almost looked like some guys had – ahem – “stopped trying” if you know what I mean.

(Please see next page) 

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — It looked like the typical Wednesday in Owings Mills as Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco stepped to the podium to meet with the media, but the circumstances had never been more different.

No matter how you feel about Flacco and where he ranks in the hierarchy of NFL quarterbacks, all eyes will be on him for the remainder of the season as the 27-year-old begins the next phase of his career without offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. It’s no secret the two struggled to coexist as the years progressed, even if Flacco downplayed that perception in his first interview since Cameron was fired on Monday.

Some think the quarterback has plateaued because of Cameron’s inconsistent play-calling, conservative nature, and reputation for being a control freak while others wonder if Flacco simply isn’t good enough to handle more responsibility within an offensive system or to take his game to another level.

With quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell promoted to offensive coordinator, Flacco will have his first chance to prove just how good he can be without Cameron’s involvement this Sunday against the Denver Broncos and their fourth-ranked defense. And if the Ravens are to snap a two-game losing streak and right the ship in time to make a deep postseason run, Flacco must take command of an offense in transition and desperately needing leadership and consistency at the most important position on the field.

Flacco acknowledged his part in Cameron’s dismissal when asked if he feels any responsibility for the coordinator’s demise. Of course, he’s not the only one to blame as inconsistent play from the offensive line and wide receivers has also plagued the Baltimore offense this season.

“I think as an offense, we have to look at ourselves and see what we can do to be better,” Flacco said. “Obviously, we weren’t good enough.”

It wasn’t supposed to be this way after last season’s AFC Championship loss in which the Baltimore quarterback outplayed future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady despite Lee Evans’ failure to catch the game-winning touchdown and Billy Cundiff’s subsequent miss of the game-tying 32-yard field goal. The silver lining was Flacco’s 306-yard, two-touchdown performance that was to springboard him and the Ravens offense to bigger and better things in the final year of his rookie contract.

Instead, the 2012 season has brought much of the same from the 2008 first-round pick — a few great performances, some decent games, and still too many bad ones — as the offense hasn’t taken the significant leap many believed the Ravens needed with the anticipated decline of the long-vaunted defense. Looking elite at home with a 100.7 passer rating in six home games, Flacco has struggled on the road (a 75.4 rating) and still struggles to protect the football as he’s thrown a tolerable nine interceptions but has also fumbled eight times.

Leading the league’s 16th-ranked passing offense, Flacco has completed 60 percent of his passes, has averaged 7.2 yards per attempt, and has thrown for 3,220 yards and 18 touchdowns. Aside from being on pace to set a new career high in passing yards, Flacco has posted numbers mostly in line with his career averages. Good, but not great and certainly not worthy of the $100 million contract he desires.

General manager Ozzie Newsome and owner Steve Bisciotti shouldn’t be swayed too dramatically over Flacco’s performance for the remainder of the season — barring a deep postseason run — but Cameron’s dismissal is a clear sign of the Ravens wanting to see what they really have with their franchise quarterback before deciding how much they ultimately invest in a long-term contract, regardless of when it’s ultimately signed. For now, it appears Flacco has received a new lease on life with the promotion of Caldwell, who has never held the title of offensive coordinator in his career.

“Joe seems like he’s happy about it,” left tackle Michael Oher said. “I’ve seen him smiling and stuff, so I’m pretty sure he’s OK with everything.”

All accounts point to Caldwell and Flacco holding a good relationship in their first season working together, and the former Colts head coach was credited by current Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning Wednesday for helping him take his play to another level in their years together in Indianapolis. However, it’s been difficult to pinpoint any particular part of Flacco’s game that’s noticeably improved this season while working with Caldwell. And there’s no telling how that relationship might be tested as inevitable disagreements occur over play calls and philosophy.

Whether it’s the possible reintroduction of the no-huddle offense that’s virtually disappeared in recent weeks or just a different voice and mind calling the plays, the Ravens offense isn’t expected to be reinvented in any dramatic way and how could it entering Week 15? But a change of this magnitude will force all offensive coaches and players to bring a renewed level of focus to account for potential growing pains.

“The biggest thing we’ve talked about is just coming together as an offense and everybody helping and giving their input because we’re going to need it,” Flacco said, “It’s a quick change, it’s late in the year, and it’s going to require all of us to be focused and work hard.”

Even with Cameron out of the picture and the possible mental boost that might bring for the quarterback — any employee finally escaping the thumb of an undesirable boss could attest to the notion — the flaws and shortcomings of the quarterback’s game are still there.

Flacco has struggled to throw the deep ball as he and speedy wide receiver Torrey Smith have frequently failed to be on the same page. The quarterback has been inconsistent in making adjustments at the line of scrimmage, either in changing plays or protections.

And his shortcomings with pocket awareness have led to sack-and-strip opportunities that have led to turnovers in two straight games. Of course, an inconsistent offensive line — now facing the possibility of no Marshal Yanda for the time being — hasn’t helped matters in that department, but the Ravens have acknowledged the need for Flacco to be more protective of the football in those situations. Entering this Sunday’s game, Flacco has fumbled 47 times in 77 regular-season games while Manning — a quarterback also lacking mobility — has fumbled just 59 times in 221 career regular-season contests.

CONTINUE ON NEXT PAGE >>>

I don’t have it in me.

Honestly, I combed over all of my usual spots looking for fun videos, GIFs, etc. for the 15-7-0. I wanted to have one more big roundup to close the college football season. I hope Roofing By Elite will be okay with sponsoring this diatribe instead.

As part of hosting a local sports talk show, I often find myself playing the role of civic therapist. After Baltimore Ravens losses, I’ll regularly hear things like “did you have to spend the day trying to talk everyone off the ledge?”

I’d like to think I’ve been fairly successful in that, although it was certainly come with my share of mini-meltdowns in the process.

I don’t think I’m going to melt down this time. I’m certainly not on the ledge myself.

I don’t think I’m on the ledge, anyway.

Am I on the ledge?

You know what happened. The Charlie Batch-led Pittsburgh Steelers invaded M&T Bank Stadium and used a Shaun Suisham field goal as time expired to pull off one of the more improbable victories of the 2012 NFL season. The Steelers snapped the Ravens’ lengthy win streaks both at home (15) and against AFC North opponents (12). They also prevented the Ravens from clinching a playoff spot in the AFC and pulled within two games of their longtime rival in the race for the division crown.

This one hurt.

With Ben Roethlisberger out again, this was a prime opportunity for the Ravens to vanquish one foe and focus on bigger goals. The Ravens are still in good position to claim the AFC North title this season, but everything the Ravens do this season is being measured by the fact that there is an expectation for them to reach the Super Bowl.

It was tough to imagine a team that struggled to a 9-6 win over the Kansas City Chiefs making a run to the Super Bowl. It’s equally difficult to fathom a team that lost at home to Charlie Batch making a run to the Super Bowl.

(This is the part where civic therapist Glenn Clark reminds everyone that they’re not moving up the date of the Super Bowl to December and it is absolutely impossible that the Steelers and Ravens will both be playing in the game. Sorry. I had to.)

The truth is that the concerns that stem from the Ravens’ loss aren’t dissimilar to those we had experienced earlier in wins and losses. The truth is that those concerns will likely pop up again, perhaps as early as next week in a visit to face Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins. The truth is that as long as the Baltimore Ravens were winning games, those concerns weren’t REALLY issues.

The Ravens simply needed to put themselves in the best possible situation to make a playoff run. If the Ravens continued to struggle offensively on the road but won, they’d still be in perfect shape to have to win no more than one road game in the postseason to get to New Orleans.

That’s the NFL. Your issues are only as significant as the record you carry them with. In that way, the Ravens are still in good shape at 9-3; but the nature of how this one went awry makes you worry about the ability for the team to keep winning through struggles.

In a game the Ravens only lost by three points, this one had a little bit of everything…

-Questionable play calling
-Poor clock management decisions
-Shaky quarterback play
-Offensive line lapses
-Inconsistent rushing
-Untimely drops
-Non-existent pass rush
-Awful tackling
-Secondary miscommunication
-Game changing turnovers
-3rd down struggles
-Red zone issues
-Potentially season changing injuries
-A partridge in a pear tree

Okay, maybe not the last one. But the rest were accurate at one point or another.

(Continued on Page 2…)

After Baltimore Ravens victories, Ryan Chell and I award players who made positive contributions with “Pats on the Ass” during the “Nasty Purple Postgame Show” on AM1570 WNST.net.

The Ravens fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-20 Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, meaning there were no Pats to be awarded.

So instead of offering “Pats on the Ass”, Ryan and I again offered “Slaps to the Head” postgame. A slap on the side of the head from a coach tends to come along with them saying something along the lines of “you’ve gotta do better than that.”

Same rules as there were with Pats. Two offensive players, two defensive players, and a Wild Card (Special Teams player, coach, or another Offensive or Defensive player). One player gets “two slaps” (or a slap on both sides of the head), it’s the opposite of a “Player of the Game” honor.” Ryan and I select five different players/coaches after each game.

Here are our five Ravens that have “gotta do better than that.”

Glenn Clark’s Slaps…

5. Tandon Doss

4. Haloti Ngata

3. Torrey Smith

2. Terrell Suggs

1. Joe Flacco (Two Slaps)

(Ryan’s Slaps on Page 2…)