There wasn’t much to cheer about in Baltimore until Joe Flacco evaded the rush and dropped a 80-yd bomb to Steve Smith Sr. to give the Ravens the lead 16-15 after the the conversion failed with five minutes left in the game. Unfortunately the Baltimore defense which had done a good job keeping the Bengals out the endzone most of the afternoon, were unable to avoid the big play when it mattered most as Andy Dalton connected on a deep strike of his own to A.J. Green to give the Stripes their first win.
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It was a rough afternoon for Ravens fans. Here are a few of my thoughts:
*Lardarius Webb was inactive. This is troublesome news considering the was a full participant in practice all week and the Ravens cut Corner Dereck Cox (again) while moving another Running Back on to the 53. Very puzzling.
*The debut of Gary Kubiak’s offense didn’t go as smoothly as planned in the first half. The running game, which we heard for months would be a focal point was instead an afterthought as the team mustered a measly 97 Total yards as they trailed the Bengals 15-0 at the Half.
*Joe Flacco shook off an awful first half that was capped by a self-described worst play ever that saw the quarterback take a third down sack and then not get rid of the ball quickly enough eliminating a chance at much needed points before the break. Flacco finished with 345 yards passing on 62 (that’s right) attempts with a touchdown and one pick.
*Steve Smith Sr. was considered by many to be an underrated signing this off-season. He didn’t help the cause much early as he recorded four drops while tied for a team high fifteen targets with Dennis Pitta. His touchdown showed his ability to adjust off a broken play but he left far too many balls on the turf.
*Justin Forsett was a pleasant surprise running for 70 yards on 11 carries and catching 5 passes. Once Bernard Pierce was benched for his first half fumble the Ravens turned to Forsett almost exclusively and he rewarded them with a solid game. I still would have liked to see rookie Lorenzo Taliaferro get a few carries but then again I would have liked to have seen the offense run the ball a lot more than they did.
*The defense was typical Dean Pees, bend but don’t break at least until the most inopportune time. The team did a great job limiting the Bengals to field goals and getting the offense back on the field in the second half to keep the momentum going. However, Green burned corner Chykie Brown at the worst possible time putting the Ravens right back where they started after hitting for a big play with Smith Sr.
*No pressure. The Bengals generated three sacks while the Ravens came up empty all afternoon. If you get in Dalton’s face he can often be forced into mistakes though I’ll give him credit for his flip to Gio Bernard while Pernell McPhee had him in his grasp. Still the defense must do better in crunch time.
*On a day for fresh starts this game felt too similar to the 2013 Ravens. Inconsistency, poor decision making, dropped passes, defense gives up big plays at the worst possible time, etc. The team needs to hold serve when they welcome the Steelers in four days.
Matt has lived in Maryland his entire life and is a graduate of Calvert Hall and Towson University. has always been an avid Baltimore sports fan. Since 2007, he has been writing and talking about Baltimore sports, especially the Ravens. His work has appeared on Ravens Gab, Russell Street Report, and he currently co-hosts a podcast “The Blitz- A Ravens podcast” with Brent Harris.