Ravens Set Aside Distractions To Dominate Steelers
By Kevin Ross II
It was said that while Baltimore was distracted with Ray Rice and more Ray Rice, the Steelers only had football to focus on. But that’s why they play the games, and the good guys in purple quickly put to rest all talks about distractions as they rolled all over the Steelers, final score 26-6.
This is how the Ravens grade out after a dominant performance against Pittsburgh.
Ravens Defense : Grade A
As the Ravens offense still searches for its identify under new offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, the team will lean on it’s hard hitting defense to win games. From the opening drive the Ravens defense set the tone for the entire game with two plays: 1) Courtney Upshaw’s bone crunching hit on Ben Roethlisberger, which is one of the hardest hits of the season thus far, and 2) Darian Stewart putting the lumber to Steelers receiver Antonio Brown, knocking Brown out of the game for a few series.
Those two plays alone swung the game in Baltimore’s favor. And from the opening few drives it was clear on what both teams wanted to do. The Steelers wanted to use mostly quick passes to get the ball into the hands of either Antonio Brown, Markus Wheaton, or Le’Veon Bell. The Ravens game plan was simple as they understood that physical play mutes speed and finesse play. Bell, Wheaton, and Brown made a few nice plays and gained a couple of big chunks of yards. But the Ravens had a “bend but don’t break” philosophy working all night and they only allowed a measly six points.
Baltimore seemed to continuously force key turnovers which never allowed the Steelers into the game. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spoke about his teams efforts, “These self inflicted wounds will keep us from being in football games, we turned the ball over too often, we were highly penalized particularly on the drives where they were able to manufacture and produce points. Those two things are highly lethal combination when you turn the ball over and are highly penalized.”
The Ravens defense was dominant, and they definitely receive an “A” for their efforts. .
Running Backs Justin Forsett / Bernard Pierce : Grade B
Gary Kubiak took a lot of scrutiny for his play-calling against Cincinnati during week one. Kubiak elected to stay away from the run game, as he dialed up 62 passes for quarterback Joe Flacco. With no threat of the run, the Bengals were able to constantly apply pressure on Flacco, and they actually ended the game with two consecutive sacks. However, this week things were different for Kubiak as he constantly dialed up running plays, and Forsett and Pierce didn’t disappoint as they totaled a combined 152 yards in rushing. The two man team charged with replacing Ray Rice did the job on Thursday night, and deserve a “B” for their efforts.
Wide Receiver Torrey Smith : Grade D
It’s tough to give any player a failing grade when his team wins in dominant fashion, but Torrey Smith was invisible on Thursday night and the discussion needs to be had. Smith only tallied one catch for a quiet 10-yards. The Ravens have always had high hopes for Torrey and were optimistic that he would one day emerge as the team’s number one receiver. However, that will not be the case this season, and Steve Smith has assumed that role without any questions asked. In two weeks Torrey Smith has been underwhelming to say the least, totaling only four catches, and he deserves a “D” for his efforts.
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Kevin Ross is a freelance writer covering all things Washington Redskins. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
