KeiwanRatliff Posts -- FanHouse

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Indianapolis Colts: It's All About the Run

Posted: Feb 23rd 2009 11:00AM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
Filed under: Colts, AFC South, NFL

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The Indianapolis Colts are one of the league's marquee franchises in the present tense. In 2008, they won 12 games -- their baseline figure for the past six seasons. No one else in the NFL can stake that claim. In fact, they've made the playoffs in nine of the last 10 seasons overall, another league-high in that span.

The problem, as has been the case far too many times for these Colts, was that they came away empty-handed in the postseason.

Continue Reading Indianapolis Colts: It's All About the Run

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

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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

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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