Steve Davis: Ravens' Offense Impressive
Now that was a beatdown. Where do you start?
That's easy. Steve Smith.
He's the oldest receiver to ever have 400 yards in his first games. In fact, in 3 of the 4 games, he's gone over 100 yards. His first 4 games in Baltimore are the best any receiver has ever had to start the season in Ravens history. And, he's 35 years old, in his 14th year. Amazing!
Things were going so good, he ran the route and ended up with a 61 yard touchdown. This wasn't just about Smith. I thought Flacco was great. That was a complete fourth quarter performance. He made great throws, and tremendous reads. He bobbled a snap but still had the presence to know he had Smith in one-on-one coverage with no safety help. Flacco made a perfect throw and Smith made an incredible catch, fighting off blatant pass interference.
The O-line was great. They started an undrafted rookie at left tackle and we never even heard James Hurst's name called, which means he did a good job.
Justin Forsett, who had a meager 6 carries last year, ran all over the Panthers defense.
The Ravens' defense was stout. After giving up an early TD, they never budged the rest of the game. They got very good pressure on Cam Newton without having to blitz, and the secondary, outside of the one blown coverage for the TD, held up well.
As an aside, Carolina looks depleted and bad. If you look at their schedule, they're in deep trouble. They might be lucky to win a game in the next month and a half. The Ravens hit the road for Indy, which looked potent Sunday, with Luck throwing 4 TD's.
The Ravens needed this win. Now it gets tough. They have 4 of the next 5 on the road, and the home game is vs. Atlanta.
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