Up Close and Personal

By Mark Goldman

"Probably to a shark, about the funniest thing is a wounded seal, trying to swim to shore, because where does he think he's going?" - Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy

Watching the way the fans treated Kyle Boller last night reminds me of this curious quote by Jack Handy. I attended the debacle that was Preseason Game #2 against the Vikings and I had pretty good seats up close to the field. In case you missed it, the Ravens successfully stymied the ground attack of the Vikings but their wounded secondary was shredded by Tavaris Jackson and Gus Frerotte. But, as has been the case for as long as I can remember, I don't bother wasting time evaluating the defense. It's going to get the job done in the long run most likely. As usual, the attention was on our offense.

Last night was supposed to be the moment for Troy Smith to seize. He was supposed to stand up and grab the starting job from Kyle Boller's clutch. Instead, rookie Ray Rice was the show stealer. He had a performance that included a 42 yard run on his first carry, a 6 yard TD carry, and 77 yards on 8 attempts. Great for Troy Smith, right? On his big night, he had a ground game going that would set him up for success. And how did he perform? He started the entire first half and completed 3 of 5 for 25 yards and a pick. He ran for 35 - ten yards more than he passed for. Too bad we're not looking for a running back, Troy! It isn't the stats that disappoint me; it is was his inability to make a stand and step up and throw the ball. He had his share of passing plays called, but he only threw the ball 5 times. There must have been a dozen passing plays called and he threw on 5 of them, choosing instead to try and make a play with his feet. Troy Smith is quick, but he's not fast and he's not going to be Michael Vick. He's not going to outrun linebackers or carry a team on his feet.

Now, I'm not here to pile on the guy. He's a second year sixth round pick. I don't expect much from him. In fact, I don't ever expect him to be a true starter for the Ravens. Ever. But that doesn't mean I don't like him and want him to stay on the team a while and hope that he does improve. I'm rational. I'm not going to write the guy off. And that brings me to Boller. Well, actually, it brings me to the fans.

Never mind the fan 3 rows back who was screaming for the ref to add 10 seconds back to the clock before Brett finally turned around and said, "It wasn't a dead ball play, buddy!" I'm talking about the ones that sat silent, cheered a little and groaned mildly here and there during the first half when Troy Smith was giving us his scared performance. The fans that sat content during a first half that saw us trailing 20-7 at halftime. These fans came to life in the second half and loudly booed and jeered Boller's just-as-mediocre performance. Boller looked slightly better than Smith. He chose to go for quick, safe passes. But at least he passed - what a quarterback is supposed to do in the NFL. He was 8-12 for 40 yards and an interception. Nothing to cheer about, I'll give you. But he was out there playing with (and against) scrubs. This is the Ravens. We all know the offense is a joke and it doesn't look any better this year. It's going to take time - and playmakers - to make it look like a real offense some day. My point is this - these fans that booed Boller (and I've never been one to really care whether or not you boo your own team, though it takes real tough times for me to do it) aren't booing wisely. They just see Boller and if he isn't playing like Brady - never mind that nobody else on the team is and Brady might not even play like Brady on this team) - he's going to get booed. Maybe they see him as an extension of Billick and in some shape they're still booing the culture of safe, predictable offense that Billick ingrained in the team. But I just don't see how you boo Boller who plays relatively the same (but with the balls to stand up and throw the ball) as Troy Smith and don't boo Smith who played worse and without confidence in his own passing ability despite a good running game to support him.

If you look online in the Baltimore Sun today, you'll see a poll that asks two questions - who WILL be the starter come week 1 and who SHOULD be the starter week 1? The results: Kyle will be the starter 60% - 40% for. Troy SHOULD be the starter by 52% to 48 %.

Side note - I always love polls like this because they're basically "Who thinks they know better than the coaches?" polls.

Now, I ask these 52% that think Troy should be the starter - WHY? What has he shown you? Give me the stats and show me the plays he's made! The truth is, you can't. You can only say, "Well, we've seen the Boller show before." And sure, I get that. But you're wrong. Boller is the better QUARTERBACK! He gives us the better shot to win. So when I hear you booing the better quarterback on a team that isn't going to have a good offense no matter which QB they start, I ask you, you wounded psyche of a fan - where do you think you're going with your booing? Deep thoughts, indeed.