After years of a run-first offense complementing the dominant defense, Joe Flacco is determined to boast one of the league’s top passing units. Coming into Sunday’s obliteration, the St. Louis Rams owned the worst rush defense in the league. Meanwhile, the Ravens were coming off a sputtering ground game (45 yards) in Nashville. It was the perfect recipe to get Ray Rice and Co. back on track, right? Well, here’s one of the real shockers of Sunday’s game. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco came out gunning the ball and never quit, setting a career record with 389 passing yards. The Ravens did finish with 168 rushing yards, but there was a clear pass-first strategy (48 pass attempts to 16 rushes by running backs). Flacco believes that in today’s NFL, you must boast a top-notch passing attack if you want to compete for a championship. Heck, that’s partly how Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady all got their rings.
“I always say to myself, ‘Look at the top teams in the league. What are they? They’re passing teams,’” Flacco said. “Is the goal getting to the playoffs for us? No, it’s not getting to the playoffs for us. We know we can do that. The goal is to win a Super Bowl, and in order to be able to do that, we have to have a good offense and a good defense. The way our defense has played for however long they’ve been in Baltimore, in my opinion, we shouldn’t be grinding out games 14-7 every week.”
Torrey Smith obviously deserves the game ball, but Cam Cameron is worthy of one too. You have to mention Cam Cameron’s name when the offense sets a franchise record of 553 total yards (on the road, none-the-less). Smith and Flacco played out of their minds, but Cameron unveiled an ultra-aggressive game plan that produced prolific results with only one proven wide receiver. “We came out and we attacked today,” said Flacco. “We want to go after people,” added Head Coach John Harbaugh.
Last season, Cameron was criticized for not keeping his foot on opponents’ throats after his offense built a lead. He couldn’t be accused of that against the Rams (or two weeks ago vs. the Steelers). Up by 21 points in the second quarter, Cameron went for it on fourth-and-1 on the Rams’ 45. Up 27 points, the Ravens came out of halftime with a fast, up-tempo offense that even went no huddle at one point. Up 30 points with two minutes remaining, Flacco threw a bomb, although incomplete, to rookie receiver Tandon Doss.
The Ravens’ depth was instrumental in Sunday’s win and will need to continue to come up big as the pounding season continues to take its toll. As expected, Harbaugh chose to rest vital, but injured veterans in receiver Lee Evans, cornerback Domonique Foxworth and guard Ben Grubbs. Thankfully for the Ravens, Smith, Chris Carr and Andre Gurode stepped in and became major components in Sunday’s beatdown. The grind of the season will take its victims, just like it did vs. the Rams. The already depleted secondary lost safety Haruki Nakamura, who will get an MRI on his knee today. And who wasn’t a little nervous when they saw Smith limping off the field (later to find out he simply had cramps), especially with Evans already down? What linebacker Terrell Suggs said about Smith can be said to the other Ravens reserves, “He had a hell of a day. He’s got to build on that and produce every week.”
No huddle? No problem. Quarterback Sam Bradford made national headlines last Monday night for successfully running the no-huddle offense, which gave the Rams’ opponent, the New York Giants, major problems. The Giants were accused of faking injuries because they were gassed while failing to stop the no-huddle tactic. Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano knew the no huddle would be coming, and his plan was to terrorize Bradford so badly that he would have to abandon the approach. Pagano’s strategy worked. In fact, it was so effective that the Rams ditched the no huddle in the first quarter. By the end of the night, Bradford was sacked five times by five different Ravens defenders and hit the turf a total of 11 times. Asked if he felt more beat up than usual, Bradford answered, “Yeah, probably. I took probably more hits tonight than I have in a while.”
Quick-hit takeaways. For those of you who need to send Smith an apology (and you know who you are), here is his Twitter account: @TorreySmithWR. … Tackle Michael Oher didn’t commit any false starts as promised. He did, however, have two other penalties – holding and illegal use of the hands. … It wasn’t for 100 yards like he has done six times before, but receiver Anquan Boldin still caught a team-high seven passes for 74 yards. … Harbaugh has a way of making sure his team bounces back after a loss. Baltimore won for the ninth straight time in a game following a defeat. … Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata is doing his best to make sure the Ravens don’t have buyer’s remorse. Days after signing a reported five-year, $61 million contract, Ngata returned a fumble 22 yards for a touchdown, the first of his career.
