The Baltimore Ravens dominated an NFC South opponent for the second game in a row. They handed the Atlanta Falcons a 29-7 loss on Sunday. The Ravens got off to a fast start once again as they jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first half. Their defense held the Falcons to a total of 61 yards in the first half and a total of 254 yards on the day.
The Falcons continued to struggle with third and long situations and were only able to convert on 26% of their third down conversions. The Ravens had five sacks on the day including two by both Pernell McPhee and Elvis Dumervil. Terrell Suggs also had a sack for a safety in the fourth quarter.
Torrey Smith got involved in the passing game and is proving that he is still a legitimate deep threat. He had three receptions for 81 yards including a 39 yard touchdown reception on a 4th & 9 in the fourth quarter. Smith also drew a pass interference call early in the game that put the Ravens in position to score their first touchdown. Smith now has four touchdowns on the year and three in the last two games.
Owen Daniels also came on strong with six receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown. Daniels has become a very reliable target for Joe Flacco especially in the middle of the field. “He gets one on one running across the field, he’s a nice big target. He knows when to sit in holes. You can trust when he’s doing something that you can put the ball on him. He makes catches in traffic and often makes the catch with two guys hitting him. I have a lot of confidence throwing him the ball.” Flacco said.
Random Notes
- The Ravens five sacks gives them back to back games with at least five sacks. Elvis Dumervil has seven sacks on the year including 3.5 in the last two games.
- Long snapper Morgan Cox suffered a torn ACL and will be out for the year. John Harbaugh said that the Ravens will be looking for a new long snapper. Haloti Ngata filled in as the long snapper on an extra point attempt on the Ravens last touchdown.
- Linebacker Daryl Smith ended up with eight tackles on the day but had seven in the first half.
- Wide Receiver Steve Smith Sr. had 67 yards receiving which game him a career total of 12,837 yards on his career. That puts him ahead of Irvin Fryar for 15th on the all time receiving yards list.
- Falcons wide receiver Roddy White had a 23 yard touchdown which made him the franchise’s all time leader in touchdown receptions.
- The Ravens were able to convert on two out of four red zone visits and were 100% on goal to go opportunities.
- Joe Flacco had two touchdown passes on the day. He has seven touchdowns in the last two weeks and has thrown a touchdown in every game except for the loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Quoteworthy
“We just came out, played with a lot of energy. We did some good things, the rush and coverage where hand in hand. We are just getting started. Great things are expected from this defense. Our motto is that we are just getting started.” Elvis Dumervil
“They threw everything at us. We got every blitz, every look but our coaches and Joe were able to figure out what they were doing and made them pay. Joe made some big throws, he has a lot of responsibility out there.” John Harbaugh
The Ravens will go back on the road next week as they travel to Cincinnati to face the Bengals. They sit atop the AFC North and have won two out of three games on the road.
