Saturday, January 10, 2009

Two Games Down, Two To Go

The Ravens had absolutely no business beating the Titans tonight. Tennessee dominated the line on both sides of the ball in the first half and Chris Johnson made the Baltimore defenders look slow. That the Ravens managed to get to half-time tied 7-7 is amazing, and due entirely to the two turnovers they forced after the Titans were in a position to put points on the board. The two teams played more evenly in the second half, but with Le'Ron McClain and Willis McGahee not able to do much on the ground, Joe Flacco won the game for them on offense through the air. It didn't hurt that Johnson was out for that time either.

Bending but not breaking (barely) on defense and throwing the deep ball on offense isn't exactly what one associates with the Baltimore Ravens, but it was enough today. It was a bruising game, and next week's against either the Chargers or the Steelers should be as well. Will playing 18 weeks in a row finally take their tole, or will their patch-work secondary and unflappable Joe Flacco (with some help from an improving receiving corps) continue their improbably path to the Superbowl?

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