The Baltimore Ravens finally looked like a playoff against a lesser opponent. Baltimore ran through, over and around the Detroit Lions to cruise to an easy 48-3 win Sunday.
Joe Flacco was removed from the game after the third quarter as I thought he would be if the Ravens were far enough in front of the Lions. Flacco was efficient and didn’t turn the ball over. That was great to see. Flacco has been turning the ball over with regularity and it was good to see him take care of the football Sunday. Troy Smith came in to relieve Flacco and got in to the end zone on a broken play. Smith did a nice little dance to cap off the scoring for Baltimore.
Cam Cameron finally took the air out of the ball and had the Ravens offense wear out the Detroit defense. Ray Rice ran for over 100 yards in the first half, also cracking the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career. Rice left the game early in the third quarter because of a chest injury, but could have come back in if the game was closer.
Since Rice was knocked out, Willis McGahee replaced him and scored two touchdowns. He also had a field day against the Lions defense. McGahee rushed for 76 yards before giving way to Jalen Parmele in the fourth quarter. The other part of the Ravens backfield, Le’Ron McClain, was able to get in on the fun, scoring a touchdown in the third quarter.
On the defensive side of the ball, the secondary played well shutting down Calvin Johnson and picking off two passes.. However, the defensive line didn’t get any pressure on Daunte Culpepper. It wasn’t an issue against Detroit, but with Pittsburgh coming up in Week 16, and then maybe the playoffs, the Ravens need to do something to get pressure on the quarterback.
So, after rolling over the Lions the Ravens are now 7-6 with three teams under .500 on their schedule coming up. If they run the table and win out the will earn a wild card berth. The other interesting part of the Ravens winning out is if Cincinnati loses out. If the Bengals somehow lose out they will go 9-7 and finish in second place in the division giving the Ravens the division title. Although the second scenario is unlikely, anything is possible in the NFL.
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