Ravens unimpressive in first game

This game should have been decided in overtime, after the Ravens had camped for several minutes inside Cincinnati?s 5-yard line late in the fourth quarter. And the final, bitter result is not all Billick?s fault.

On Baltimore?s final possession, backup quarterback Kyle Boller?s first scoring pass in the back of the end zone was nullified by a ridiculous call on Heap, who clearly was grabbed by safety Dexter Jackson before making the catch. The night then ended after Heap failed to handle the equivalent of a 90-mph fastball at close range from Boller, leaving Bengals defensive tackle Michael Myers to secure the interception and conclude the madness.

I keep wondering if things would have turned out differently had McGahee been involved in either play. The first play came on a fourth-and-goal about four inches from the goal line, with the Bengals spread out against the Ravens? three-wideout set. The second came on a third-and-goal at the Bengals 2, after Boller had just badly overthrown fullback Le?Ron McClain in the right flat.

Anyone who has followed?or suffered through?the playcalling of the Billick era had to be feeling pangs of deja vu while watching it all unfold. How many times over the years have you witnessed the Ravens taking control of the line of scrimmage with a sledgehammer running attack, only to see Billick leave the ground game in search of that thing he calls “balance?”

That tendency drove Jamal Lewis and Priest Holmes and assorted offensive linemen nuts, and you have to wonder what McGahee thinks about it today. And as much as that game-ending sequence dominated the highlight reels, this contest ultimately turned on a pivotal call early in the fourth quarter that once again left McGahee out of the equation.

The Ravens, having recovered from a disastrous start, and having benefited from a lousy first half by Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, had just taken a 20-19 lead on Ed Reed?s 63-yard punt return. The defense followed up by forcing a third straight, three-and-out by Cincinnati.

McGahee wasn?t dazzling by any stretch, but he was plugging along effectively behind a line getting a consistent surge against a soft, tiring Cincinnati front. He never was dropped for a loss in the second half. His four-yard plunge up the middle put Baltimore in a third-and-one at the Ravens 34. The Ravens looked poised to march downfield for a possible, put-the-game-away score.

Then, with 9:32, it happened. McNair faked a hand off to McGahee and went play action. Oops. The ball caromed off the hands of a leaping Derrick Mason and into the hands of defensive end Robert Geathers, who rumbled to the Baltimore 22. Two plays later, after Palmer?s seven-yard touchdown toss to wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Cincinnati led, 27-20.

What makes the loss especially tough to swallow is the Ravens were in position to steal a game they had no business taking. But their defense was suffocating in the second half, their play on special teams was superb and backup running back Musa Smith and wideouts Demetrius Williams and Mason were excellent.

And McGahee, with 77 yards on 19 carries, did enough after the first quarter to settle the offense and keep the chains moving.

It should would have been nice to see McGahee earn some of that big money in crunch time, with a few more carries in the clutch. But since his head coach was determined to throw the ball in short-yardage situations, McGahee never got the chance.

Gary Lambrecht is a columnist for The Examiner who writes about the NFL, Major League Baseball and college sports.