The Ravens were slightly schizophrenic against an awful Cowboys team. Good teams, even when they play poorly, will find a way to win. And by the way, my concerns about a lackluster pass rush and thin secondary continue to resonate. Will Matt Elam ever make an impactful play? – Tony Lombardi
Offense can’t afford too many slow starts as we saw tonight. O-line struggled in pass protection, particularly left tackle Eugene Monroe. Running game certainly progressing. Secondary struggling as a unit and it could be a major concern if Lardarius Webb and/or Jimmy Smith miss any significant time. – Brian Bower
Biggest news of the night for the defense was inside rush of Pernell McPhee. John Urschel was promoted to second-string, and Ryan Jensen entered later on the offensive line. – Ken McCusick
In what was a strange first half, the Ravens starters walked away with a mixed bag of results on both sides of the ball. The 27-10 score at halftime certainly wasn’t accurate reflection of the first team’s play. Joe Flacco and the first-team offense played the entire first half, largely because they didn’t see the field until near the end of the first quarter. They started slow but finished strong. Despite not playing as flawlessly as they did last week against the 49ers they were effective, and Flacco finished with a solid 93.5 passer rating. The defense was solid, but certainly seems vulnerable. After Jimmy Smith was knocked out of the game early on, the depleted secondary was quickly taken advantage of by Dez Bryant and Tony Romo. The lack of pass rush and secondary depth is a serious concern, and Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil were non-factors. The revamped offensive line continues to provide hope that they will rebound from a disastrous year in 2013. They provided both solid pass protection, and opened up holes that allowed the ground game to average 4.9 yards per carry. – Ryan Jones
Did the start of this game remind anybody else of the last time the Ravens played in Dallas in 2008? It was like a continuation of that game – Cowboys put a drive together, Ravens score quickly – rinse, repeat. As a result of the defensive and ST touchdowns, the first-team offense started off sputtering before they finally got moving. Once they finally did, it was nice to see, but what was up with Eugene Monroe? I’m glad Justin Tucker is a Raven. – Derek Arnold
Joe Flacco didn’t come out firing tonight, but those concerns were quickly put to rest. Joe Cool is fine. He’s spreading the ball around the way he needs to, and his touch on the TD pass to Torrey Smith was what NFL throws are all about. Lorenzo Taliaferro, Pernell McPhee, and Deonte Thompson all improved their stock tonight. Look for Taliaferro and Justin Forsett to stick around as long as the coaching staff can possibly keep them both. – Joe Wedra
The Ravens offense looked slow out of the gates. Were they hypnotized by the Jerry World jumbotron? Once they gog going they made big plays against a Dallas D that looked helpless. – Dev Panchwagh
Check back to this post for more knee-jerk reactions as they roll in!
