Keiwan Ratliff Posts -- FanHouse

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Steelers Pre-Draft Moves Help Clear Up Draft Plans

Posted: Apr 25th 2009 4:54PM by JJ Cooper (author feed)
Filed under: Steelers, AFC North, NFL Draft, NFL Free Agency

Even though the Steelers don't pick until No. 22, they've already made some news today with the news that they re-upped Hines Ward for four more years. Throw in the news from yesterday that they have signed cornerback Keiwan Ratliff to a one-year deal and the Steelers have somewhat solved two of their pressing draft needs before the draft even began.

By re-upping Ward, the Steelers now have their top two wide receivers locked up through 2010 and have Limas Sweed to develop as the No. 3 receiver. While you would like to have some insurance in case Sweed doesn't pan out, wide receiver is now a late-round need, not a first, second or third-round need.

Continue Reading Steelers Pre-Draft Moves Help Clear Up Draft Plans

Colts Offense Being Handcuffed by the Browns

Posted: Nov 30th 2008 2:30PM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
Filed under: Browns, Colts, AFC North, AFC South

0 COMMENTS

It's only halftime, but the Cleveland Browns have made it through a half against the Indianapolis Colts' high-powered offense, and they've only allowed a measly three points. The Colts have moved the ball reasonably, as they've outgained the Browns 141 to 100. A lost fumble by Joseph Addai on the game's first possession and being stuffed on fourth and goal from the inch line were the two main reasons for the Colts' inability to put more points on the board.

The fourth and goal play was especially exciting. As Peyton Manning tried to sneak through the defense for the six points, he lost control of the football. Dallas Clark recovered in what appeared to be a touchdown. Of course, the fourth down fumble rule dictates that in this situation (less than two minutes, fourth down) the only person who can recover the fumble for a touchdown is the person who fumbled it. The play was correctly ruled a hold for the Browns defense.

Also of note, we almost had the chance to see a free kick field goal attempt. The Colts received a punt just inside the 50 yard-line with less than ten seconds left. Unfortunately, Keiwan Ratliff did not fair catch it. I guess the hail mary interception thrown by Manning was the better end to the half.

UPDATE: Manning has been intercepted on the first possession of the second half.

Big Ben Denies That He's Injured, Nobody Believes Him

Posted: Nov 13th 2008 5:00PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)

1 COMMENT

If you're one of those people who believe Ben Roethlisberger's recent play has been hampered by a bum shoulder, a bruised throwing hand, so on and so forth, this should come as happy news: the Steelers quarterback reports that he is not injured.

Pretty amazing news given that he hardly practiced last week, and, more to the point, his performance against the Colts on Sunday suggested that he was anything but healthy. To back up his words, Big Ben even threw a ball 50 yards in the air at Wednesday's practice, before explaining why the Steelers didn't go deep against a pretty mediocre Indy pass defense.

"The reason we were checking the ball down a lot is because it was a Cover-2 defense. They were dropping everybody deep. The underneath stuff was wide open," Roethlisberger said. "A lot of why we threw the ball and where we threw the ball was determined by them."

Yes, "wide open" save the two occasions when Roethlisberger threw passes directly to Keiwan Ratliff and Tim Jennings. To the larger point, though, if Big Ben's physically healthy, does that mean his recent struggles are strictly above-the-neck-related? That's a bigger problem, I'd think, because sore arms heal a lot quicker than sore brains.

Still, despite all the gnashing of teeth in Western Pennsylvania, the Steelers are 6-3. If Pittsburgh can pull out a victory against San Diego this Sunday, they'll have Cincinnati next Thursday, and then a 10-day layoff before heading to New England.

So, yeah, it could be a lot worse.

Bengals Training Camp Battle: Deltha O'Neal vs Leon Hall

Posted: Jul 25th 2007 8:30AM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, AFC North, Cincinnati

0 COMMENTS

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

Deltha O'Neal is certainly in a make or break season in Cincinnati. O'Neal picked off just one pass just one season after setting the franchise record by intercepting 10 [which also tied for the NFL lead that season]. On the other side, rookie Johnathan Joseph picked off zero passes, but wasn't getting starter's snaps as he will this season. So having a proven guy on the other side would be preferred.

However, O'Neal missed four games last year and hasn't really endeared himself to head coach Marvin Lewis. O'Neal also peeved off the coaching staff by missing the 'voluntary' workouts. He's also on the list of Bengals who've run afoul of the law ... by getting picked up for a DUI last December.

Leon Hall was drafted for a reason. He's smart and has an excellent gauge of what's going on around him on the field. He's not the biggest or fastest guy, so using his techniques and knowledge puts him in position to make plays. You don't use the #18 pick on a corner and not plan on him being the guy for the future ... so it's only a matter of time before Hall gets the nod.

Most likely, O'Neal will start the season as the starter ... but if his poor play acts back up, expect Lewis to place him into the doghouse and use Hall. The Bengals have a lot riding on this season and they desperately need their defense to step up this year. Lewis will use whomever can get the job done to do so.

Keiwan Ratliff may get into the mix as well. Ratliff is in the final year of his original contract he signed back in the 2004 season.

Training camp battles: See them all

Previously at FanHaus:
Deltha O'Neal Arrested for DUI
What Can The Bengals Expect From Leon Hall

Bengals Injury Report

Posted: Nov 25th 2006 7:27PM by JD Arney (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, AFC North, NFL Injuries

0 COMMENTS

The Bengals pretty much have the longest injury list in the NFL at this point. Here's what we've got headed into tomorrow's game against the Browns.

Chris Henry is probable with a hip flexor. He didn't practice on Friday though, which might not be a good sign. Most player who're probably usually play, but you never really know because so many coaches play games with the injury report. I don't know if Marvin Lewis does, but I do know he doesn't like giving out too much info, so it wouldn't surprise me if Henry is more hurt than he's letting on.

All three of Cincinnati's wide receivers are listed on the report, with Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh both listed as probable as well. Chad has a hamstring problem, while T.J. has bruised ribs.

Kelley Washington was upgraded from out to doubtful. Hopefully we'll be seeing him in the next couple of weeks as the fourth receiver.

Levi Jones was downgraded to doubtful, and I'm starting to wonder if he'll be healthy again this year. Sure there's six week left, but if he doesn't play Sunday it seems unlikely that he'll play next Thursday, and after that there's only four games left. You never know, but I'm skeptical.

Rounding out the offense is Willie Anderson who's probable with a bad shoulder, and Jeremi Johnson who practiced Friday and who's probably with a toe injury.

On the defensive side Brian Simmons and Keiwan Ratliff are both questionable, but both practiced this week. Getting Simmons back would be a nice boost. Dexter Jackson and Deltha O'Neal are both questionable as well. Jackson practiced this week, O'Neal did not. Sam Adams is probable (he's probable every week pretty much) and John Thornton is also probable.

And thus ends the longest injury report ever. This team really needs to get healthy.

More: Henry added to injury report as probable - Mark Curnutte's Blog

Antonio Chatman Could Possibly Play Sunday

Posted: Sep 29th 2006 8:26PM by JD Arney (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, AFC North, NFL Injuries

0 COMMENTS

Mark Curnutte reports that Antonio Chatman may finally be healthy enough to play on Sunday.

I'm not excited for Chatman to play as a wide receiver so much as I'm excited to see him as a return guy. The Bengals have been mediocre at returning punts for the past couple of years. Keiwan Ratliff looked silly last Sunday calling for a fair catch when there wasn't a defender within ten yards of him, so it'd be nice to have an experienced guy like Chatman back there. When healthy he has the ability to break a game open, and the Bengals haven't had that from their special teams lately.

Curnutte also says that Sam Adams returned to practice on Friday and will start Sunday. He points out that this is the fourth straight week that Adams has done this (not practicing until Friday). One of the benefits of being ginormous I guess.

More: WR Chatman might play Sunday - Mark Curnutte's Blog

Keiwan Ratliff Dropped Behind Jonathan Joseph on Depth Chart

Posted: Aug 31st 2006 10:23PM by JD Arney (author feed)
Filed under: Bengals, AFC North

2 COMMENTS

This is somewhat disappointing to hear, not because Ratliff deserves to be higher on the depth chart than Joseph, but because Ratliff is looking more and more like a wasted second round pick:

Lewis also said cornerback Johnathan Joseph is the defense's "nickel player," the third or inside cornerback on pass downs. Joseph had been thought to be competing with third-year pro Keiwan Ratliff for the nickel job. Of Joseph, Lewis said, "He's a great blitzer, good tackler, understands what we're doing. He can hang with the wide receiver and eliminate him from the game."

Joseph was the team's first-round draft pick: "He was our starting nickel player the minute he walked in the room" Lewis said.

I watched Ratliff play quite a bit for Florida, and I was excited to see the Bengals draft him. He was a very exciting player in college, very quick, good cover guy, athletic returning punts. But it just hasn't translated well to the professional game. His punt returns last year were pretty bad, more often fair catches than not. I'd certainly rather have Ratlif not taking chances than Peter Warrick's fair catches (and occassional fumbles) inside the 10 yard line, but neither are really good solutions. I'm not completely giving up on Ratliff just yet, but he's facing an uphill battle at this point.

More: Bengals pick rookie over Ratliff at cornerback - Columbus Dispatch
Is the Ratliff Experience Over? - Cincy Jungle