In one word – WOW! Did the Ravens ever make a statement in their 35-7 manhandling of the Pittsburgh Steelers? After a somber and reflective pre-game ceremony in memory of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Ravens came out as sharp and focused as I’ve ever seen them. It’s evident that an off season’s worth of comments about Joe Flacco’s inability to beat Big Ben and how the Steelers “owned” the Ravens put our guys in the right frame of mind – to go out and kick some Steel City ass.
The Ravens seemingly did the impossible – they made the Steelers look slow, sloppy, inept, unprepared, and old. No Ravens fan in their right minds could have predicted the beat down we gave the Steelers. I was wrong on a few counts in my game forecast.
· I was worried about the lack of continuity and cohesiveness of the offensive line. Not to worry. They played like they’ve been together for years instead of their first game.
· I was worried that Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta wouldn’t pick up the slack of the departed Todd Heap. Wrong again. Both players can catch, and have a skill we never saw in Heap – speed.
· I thought the game would be a lot closer. My prediction of a six point win was more of a Tall Castle in the Air then a reasoned prediction. Are the Steelers that bad? Of course not. But 7 turnovers can make you look that way. Not every Steelers opponent will play like the Ravens did, but every Steelers opponent from now on will be thinking about what we did – and what Pittsburgh couldn’t do.
The seed has been planted.
Let’s do some Studs and Duds.
STUDS
Quarterback Joe Flacco got over whatever monkey the media thought he had on his back in a big, big way, throwing for 224 yards and three touchdowns. Focused, alert, and quick on his feet – just what he needs to be against Pittsburgh.
Ray Rice is turning out to be the Beast of the AFC North. . Rushing for 107 yards and a touchdown and reeling in 4 receptions for 46 yards and another touchdown, all the Ravens had to do was spring him into the defensive backfield and let him go. His TD catch and run against an overmatched Lawrence Timmons was a thing of beauty. A telling measure of his effectiveness was Troy Polamalu throwing a punch at Rice during an after-the-whistle scrum, then slamming him back to the turf.
It was the only play that # 43 made all day.
The Offensive Line: My biggest surprise of the game. They played like the seasoned veterans they are, and special props to Bryant McKinnie for stepping in and playing so well, so soon. They only gave up one sack, only because Joe Flacco had a one-time lapse and held on to the ball too long. An excellent, excellent game.
The Front seven: Terrell Suggs was the monster he always is against Pittsburgh, sacking Roethlisberger three times. Haloti Ngata, the beast of the middle, forced one fumble and recovered two, and batted two passes that went for interceptions. Ray Lewis had a pick, and Jarrett Johnson had the hit of the game.
The Secondary: Ed Reed was great as usual, raking in two interceptions, breaking up another two passes and making six tackles. I don’t how he positions himself to be in the right place at the right time, seemingly all the time. Credit to Lardarius Webb, too, for a half-sack and two pass breakups and taking over for an injured Jimmy Smith, Cary Williams had a pass broken up and five tackles.
Ozzie Newsome: I guess he does know what he’s doing, huh?
DUDS
Who was coaching genius that put starting cornerback Jimmy Smith on the kick team? Injured on the opening kickoff, he’s now out several weeks with a high ankle sprain.
News and Notes from the Game and Around the League
Second Best Picture of the Game (featured) – Bryant McKinnie manhandling Steelers Terrorist James Harrison
What’s the Best Picture? The one I can’t find. The clip of Jarrett Johnson absolutely DECKING Hines Ward with a perfectly clean hit that knocked the serial blind-sider heels up and right on his ass. I know ‘ole Hines wasn’t grinning after that one.
From the "Hurry Back – Quick" department: Indianapolis’ first game without Peyton Manning at the controls of the offense since 1997 turned out to be more disastrous than predicted, with the Dolts totally non- competitive in a 34-7 defeat at Houston. It’s true…the Colts are Peyton Manning. Bill Polian won multiple NFL Executive of the Year awards for this?
The Stock Market has been up and down (mostly down, unfortunately) since June. Here are some teams that are headed in the right – and the wrong – direction.
Stock Up: 
· Baltimore Ravens. Of course!
· Detroit Lions. Jim Schwartz is making the impossible very, very possible.
· Chicago Bears: With apologies to Lovie Smith.
· Cincinnati Bengals. Carson Palmer who?
· Buffalo Bills: They lit up the Chiefs on the road by 34 points, led by Harvard whiz Ryan Fitzpatrick, the quarterback that almost beat the Ravens last year.
Stock Down 
· Kansas City Chiefs. 10-6 and the AFC West Champ last year, they lost 41-7 at home, to Buffalo.
· Pittsburgh Steelers. Institutional arrogance and having 8 of your defensive starters over 30 will do that to you.
· Atlanta Falcons. Can the media please stop with the Matt Ryan – Joe Flacco comparisons? It’s not even close.
· Indianapolis Colts. It’s worse than anybody thought. They not only miss Peyton Manning, but you can’t pin all or most of this ineptitude on his absence.
· Cleveland Browns. In last week’s S.I., Peter King predicted that the Clowns would be in the AFC North division race on Thanksgiving. Sure they will. They lost, at home, to a Bengals team whose quarterback was on the waiver wire last week.
· Tony Romo. The Cowboys had the Sunday night game won, until T.R. imploded against the Jets, like he does in every big game.
This Sunday
Next Sunday the Ravens pay a visit to one of the nicest venues on the away schedule – Nashville to take on the Titans. I say nice because it’s genuinely a nice town and, whenever the Ravens play there, the Purple and Black take over the downtown. And then we kick some Titans ass on the field.
It’s hard not to feel confident after a powerhouse mashing of your most hated foe, particularly when your next opponent is fielding a team with a new head coach, two new coordinators, and a journeyman quarterback. But the Titans are not without assets, namely All Pro running back Chris Johnson and receiver Kenny Britt.
Back in the day, a big Ravens win over a hated opponent would almost guarantee that the players would be so full of themselves that a loss would surely follow in the next week. That’s not the case with John Harbaugh. He won’t let that happen. Neither will the players. The Ravens are a big one game up on the Steelers with a + 28 points differential in the division bank and they will ride that pony into November.
RAVENS 34, TITANS 13
