Sunday afternoon’s Ravens game against the Raiders wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done. Baltimore used running back Willis McGahee for most of the game and watched him score their only three offensive touchdowns. The Ravens hopped on his back to a 21-13 victory over the Oakland Raiders.
McGahee had a 77-yard touchdown run and two other short runs. On his 77-yard dash, McGahee stiff-armed Hiram Eugene to the ground, embarrassing Oakland’s safety. In all, McGahee totaled 167 yards and three touchdowns on just 16 carries.
McGahee was a nice compliment to Joe Flacco on Sunday. Flacco only tossed the ball 19 times for 102 yards, but the Ravens improved to 6-1 when he throws less than 30 passes. That pretty much sums up Baltimore’s offense for Sunday.
As for the defense, it continued to be stingy. They only allowed 13 points and forced two turnovers. The Baltimore defense did bend significantly, but tightened up at crucial times. Baltimore’s pass rush might have been the best on Sunday that it was all season long. They hit Charlie Frye time after time until he was removed from the game at halftime.
The star of the day on defense was Dannell Ellerbe. Ellerbe picked off JaMarcus Russell and recovered a fumble late in the game to clinch the win. The undrafted rookie looked fantastic filling in for Tavares Gooden. Ellerbe has really developed into a solid linebacker that could be a starter when Ray Lewis retires.
It was also nice to see Ed Reed return to action. Reed was patrolling the defensive backfield again, mostly knocking off a couple weeks of rust. Another player that played well in the defensive backfield was Chris Carr. Carr was flagged for a non-existent pass interference penalty, but really played the best he’s played all season long.
The only worrisome part of Sunday’s game was special teams. The return game was very good, but the kicking game wasn’t. Matt Katula again had trouble snapping the ball on field goal attempts. Both bad snaps led to two Billy Cundiff misses. Katula has been dealing with tendonitis in his forearm, but he knows he must do better if the Ravens are to go anywhere in the playoffs.
Next up for Baltimore is the New England Patriots. This is a very appropriate opponent for the Ravens in the first round of the playoffs as they are two similar teams. I look forward to predicting that game later this week.
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