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| Blake Short. 1st February, 2006 - 9:52 pm
 If you could think of one word to describe the 2005 football season for the Baltimore Ravens it would be dissapointment. A team with expectations to possibly be a superbowl contender in Detroit, to even being picked to win it all by some football magazines failed to even come close.
The Ravens instead finished 6-10, their worst record under head coach Brian Billick since he joined the team in 1999. Things immediately started turning downhill once the team got off to an 0-2 start, and lost starting quarterback Kyle Boller. The team basically lost all confidence, and though the next week they beat an injury depleted Jets team signs of a rough season were already in the air.
After an impressive preseason showing from Anthony Wright, Ravens fans didnt expect much of a dropoff between their starting and backup quarterbacks. In fact, their wasnt much of a dropoff at all. Neither quarterback played to their abilities and both finished with quarterback ratings of around 72.0.
The defense that was expected to lead the way finally showed some weaknesses, especially when the team was missing both Ray Lewis and Ed Reed at the same time for a few weeks. The new defensive system was something different and you could see mistakes being made mostly in coverage during each game.
Thats not to say the defense was horrible though, as they did finish highly in most defensive categories. The lack of forced turnovers hurt the team as a whole with an offense used to living off of great field position and still being usually unproductive. This season they didnt get the field position they were used to, and with the lack of a running game or consistant passing they failed to put up enough points in most games.
Their were some highs to the season with players such as Adalius Thomas and Bart Scott stepping up on defense. Thomas quietly put together another impressive year and just missed the Pro Bowl with nearly 90 tackles, 9 sacks, 2 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, 4 recovered fumbles, and 3 defensive touchdowns.
Bart Scott helped anchor the linebacker core, stepping up for an injured Ray Lewis for over half of the season. Tommy Polley also did a good job in his first season with the Ravens after leaving St. Louis and returning back home to where he attended and played football in high school.
On offense, Baltimore found a few sparks from wide receivers Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, and the always reliable Todd Heap at tight end. Mason would total 1,073 receiving yards on the season becoming just the second player in franchise history to total over 1,000 yards receiving.
Todd Heap made some noise and barely missed earning himself a trip to Hawaii with 855 yards and 7 touchdowns. As for rookie wideout Mark Clayton, a late splurge resulted in 316 yards receiving, and 3 total touchdowns in the last 5 games of the season.
Overall, their were more down times then highlights, but Baltimore found some hope going into the next season by ending the 2005 season winning 3 of their last 5, but showed they still needed improvement after falling to Cleveland in the season finale and finishing with a road record of 0-8.
Most fans in Baltimore have lost hope in Kyle Boller who has shown minumum signs of improvement. Consistancy will be key to the Ravens success next season, a team who must make a solid decision on who will start at quarterback and runningback if they hope to return to the superbowl, or even the playoffs. |
