Cabache's Corner

Hello! And welcome to my corner! The combine is over, 323 guys have shown what they can do in front of legions of scouts and coaches. Some guys disappointed and others wowed, now all they have left are their pro day's to put the final touches on their draft stock. In the last article I picked out some guys to watch, here is how they did: Adrian Amos, Penn St, FS: Adrian ran a 4.56 second 40, a 7.09 second 3-cone drill, a 4.03 second* 20-yard shuttle, an 11.33 second* 60-yard shuttle, jumped 35.5 inches on the vertical and 10'2" on the broad jump. All of these good for the safeties. In drills he looked okay, he looked fluid, as he did on tape but (like a lot of the DB's) his hands weren't fantastic. I think he could still be worth a look if he is there in the 2nd or 3rd round.   Kurtis Drummond, Mich St, FS: Drummond ran a slightly disappointing 4.65 second 40, a 7.09 second 3-cone drill, a 4.33 second 20-yard shuttle and a 12.03 second 60-yard shuttle. ...

Hello! And welcome to my corner. As you all know this week is combine week! The start of the draft process and, most importantly, the first stages of the 2015-2016 Season, I'm already excited! At the end of the last post, I mentioned that I think our biggest needs heading into the off-season are defensive back, receiver and running back. Here are the players I feel Ravens fans should keep an eye on at the combine: Defensive Back Adrian Amos, Penn State, FS: More of a cover guy, good in man coverage, great in zone. Versatile. Not great against run, would not be a box safety (that’s when we use Elam).  Kurtis Drummond, Michigan State, FS: Part of the ‘No Fly Zone’. 4 picks and 11 passes defenced in his final year. Excellent ball skills, fairly poor play at the line of scrimmage. Needs better instincts. Derron Smith, Fresno State, FS: Smaller than average. Can play in center field or at the line of scrimmage. 13 picks in 2 years. Could start right away, very ...

Hello! And welcome to Cabache’s Corner! The 2014-2015 NFL Season is over. 7 months without regular season football is ahead of us, 7 months for us to reminisce yet another great year in the NFL. The Ravens bounced back from a disappointing 2013-2014 season (8-8 record), finishing the season 10-6 and booking themselves a trip back to the playoffs, their 6 th trip in 7 years. They marched into Pittsburgh and beat the AFC North Champs, then lost a gut-wrencher to the eventual Superbowl Champs, the New England Patriots. As the records would suggest, the Ravens improved on a lot of the flaws from last year. On offense the Ravens had 50 more first downs, they converted on 41% of their 3 rd downs compared to 36% last season, 50% of 4 th downs compared to 37.5% last season. They had 920 yards of total offense with most of that improvement coming in the ground game, they ran for 691 more yards at 4.5 yards per carry (1.4 YPC more than last year), they averaged 1.2 yards more per...

Hello! And welcome to Cabache's Corner! What. A. Game. The Patriots are heading back to a snowy Boston with their 4th Vince Lombardi trophy following their 28-24 victory over the Seahawks. It was a hard fought game that went right down to the wire and was won by the team that made just one more great play. Here's how it went down... The first quarter passed very quickly. Neither team got much going apart from one Patriots' drive which resulted in a red zone interception (and an injury to Jeremy Lane), and it finished 0-0.  The second quarter however, is when the game really took off. On the Patriots' first possession they marched 65 yards in just over 4 minutes and capped it off with touchdown pass to Brandon LaFell. The Seahawks tied the game up with just over 2 minutes left in the half. Then, in typical Tom Brady fashion the Patriots went 80 yards in 1 minute 45 seconds and got in the end zone for the second time with a 22-yard touchdown to Gronkowsk...

Hello! And welcome to Cabache’s Corner! Here we are; the Superbowl, 330 games down and just 1 left (excluding the Pro Bowl). The Seahawks and Patriots are heading to Arizona. The Seahawks trying to boost their claim to being the NFL’s latest dynasty and the Patriots trying to put the finishing touches on a dynasty of their own. This really is a clash of heavyweights, I can’t wait! Last week the Patriots demolished the Colts, 45-7. They outplayed the Colts in every single phase of the game; forcing 2 turnovers on defence, and another 1 on special teams, whilst limiting the Colts to just 209 offensive yards. On offence they flat-out manhandled the colts, running the ball 40 times for 177 yards, with only 2 negative plays, and 3 touchdowns. Even when the Patriots weren’t running the ball they dominated, with 3 more touchdowns including one to an offensive lineman! Deflated balls or not, the Patriots were by far the best team and deserved to win. They earned their right to play i...

Hello! And welcome to the first edition of Cabache's Corner.  The Ravens’ season is over following our 35-31 Divisional Round loss to the Patriots in the fortress that is Gillette Stadium; a game in which the Ravens built two 14-point leads, only to blow them, and overmatched and outplayed the Patriots for large spells. Ultimately though, they fell to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick but was this really a surprise? The Patriots entered this game as the number one seed, having won 10 of their last 12 (one loss being the last game of the season with starters resting) and playing as well as, if not better than, any other team, whereas the Ravens entered the game as the sixth seed, coming off a very good win in the Steel City. This, however, covered up a poor December with 2 unconvincing wins against the Jaguars and Browns, along with an ugly loss against the Texans. Furthermore, the Patriots were the league’s 9 th most prolific passing team, averaging 257.6 yards per game and 2....