October 07, 2012|By Aaron Wilson, The Baltimore Sun
"Matt Cassel hasn’t done anything to you people, hasn’t done anything to the media writers who kill him, hasn’t done anything wrong to the people that come out here and cheer him. If he’s not the best quarterback, he’s not the best quarterback, and that’s OK. But he’s a person. And he got knocked out in a game, and we got 70,000 people cheering If you’re one of those people who were out there cheering, or even smiled, when he got knocked out, I just want everyone to know it’s sickening and disgusting.”
Cassel completed only 9 of 15 passes for 92 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions for a 38.1 quarterback rating.
The Chiefs' coaches showed little faith in him, even running the football in third-and-long situations.
"None, it was surprising becuase he's a very capable quarterback," cornerback Cary Williams said. "I don't know if he lost confidence in himself. He's under a lot of scrutiny from fans and media as well. It's not our job to worry about that. It's not our problem."
Read more here:
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/07/3852222/chiefs-winston-criticizefans.html#storylink=cpTucker on the money
Tucker provided every point the Ravens scored Sunday, connecting on field goals from 28, 26 and 39 yards.
It was exactly what the Ravens required from the rookie kicker.
"It's good to come through when my team needs me," Tucker said. "Give credit to our defense and our offense also for just getting the job done in the fourth quarter when it matters the most. It doesn't have to be pretty but the result is what we're all looking for."
Tucker's last field goal came at the close of the third quarter to boost the Ravens' lead to 9-3.
"We took the clock down a little bit and where it may have looked like we rushed it, we had a plan," Tucker said. "The kick was good and we got the win. Everything was copacetic ."
Blocking struggles
It was an extremely rough day for offensive tackles Michael Oher and Kelechi Osemele.
Tasked with blocking outside linebackers Tamba Hali and Justin Houston, respectively, Oher and Osemele allowed two sacks each .
"Houston was definitely the fastest guy I've had to block, I'll give it to him," said Osemele, a rookie second-round draft pick from Iowa State. "I've just got to do a better job of finishing him when he goes low and rips. That guy was so freaking explosive. He would pop off the ground and keep rushing.
"I'm learning every game. I've been going against some really good defensive ends. It's only going to make me better in the future."
This marked the second time Oher had trouble with Hali, a Pro Bowl selection. In the Ravens' AFC wild-card playoff win two seasons ago, Hali had seven tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.
On Sunday, Hali recorded six tackles, two for losses and three quarterback hits.
"Hali's a great player, the guy gets after it," Oher said. "He's relentless. He does a great job of everything. I just got to go back and watch the film. I'm pretty sure I did a lot of good things and bad things."
Flacco picked off
It looked familiar, an interception by quarterback Joe Flacco where he didn't look off the secondary and focused on his primary read before being picked off.
In the third quarter, Flacco got picked off by cornerback Brandon Flowers while trying to connect with wide receiver Anquan Boldin. It was the second consecutive week that had happened.
In this instance, it was single coverage and Flowers moved quickly to position himself in front of Boldin for the turnover.
"I saw him the whole way," Flacco said. "He did a double move there to come back. I thought Q had a step on him. I think he kind of grabbed Q's head or facemask because he came out of it, so he was able to break to the ball better than Q was."
Boldin had a similar take on what happened.¿
"He grabbed my facemask as I was coming out of my break," said Boldin, who was targeted 10 times and caught four passes for 82 yards. "I was trying to locate where Joe was and he grabbed it and my head went down. I'm not going to complain about it. It's football."
End zone
