1. Remember that courtroom scene in A Few Good Men? “You see, sir, there was a blow out…” Ravens do what they always do to NFC teams at home…Flacco throws 3 TD’s, Steve Smith catches 2 of them, and Baltimore runs up a 38-16 win to move to 5-2 on the year. ~ Drew Forrester
Drew correctly predicted a blowout and the point differential of the game. Although Flacco only threw 2 TDs as opposed to his prediction of 3 and neither of them were to Steve Smith, Drew gets the nod for best prediction based on the point differential.
2. The defense continues its dominance at home this season by holding the Falcons offense to 13 points in a 24-13 win. Matt Ryan is sacked three times and Brandon Williams notches his first solo sack of the season. ~ Kyle Casey
The defense did dominate, holding the Falcons to under Kyle’s prediction. Matt Ryan was also sacked more than 3 times (total of 5), but Brandon Williams did not register one of them.
3. The Ravens offense keeps rolling at home. Justin Forsett showed last week he is the lead back, and he gets over 20 carries this week and tops the century mark again. Joe Flacco rides his wave of momentum from last week and throws for over 300 yards against a weak Atlanta defense. The Ravens avoid a let down and will top 30 points again and win by double digits. ~ Ryan Jones
Forsett did get over 20 carries, but he was just shy of the century mark with 95 total on the ground. Flacco didn’t throw for over 300 yards (that was a theme in these predictions), and the Ravens also fell just short of 30 points with 29, but they did win by double digits.
4.
- The Ravens will win the turnover battle
- The Ravens will win the game by 7+
- The Ravens will amass 140+ rushing yards
- Ryan will be forced to drop back (sacks + passes) at least 43 times ~ Ken McKusick
Somehow, the Ravens did not win the turnover battle (although missed 4th downs are just as good as turnovers and safeties are even better). They also fell short of 140 yards with a final total of 123 yards on the ground. Ken did get two things right, though. The Ravens won by 22 points and forced Matt Ryan to drop back 49 times.
5. The Ravens will let up an early touchdown in the first quarter, but that will be the Falcons’ only TD of the game as the Ravens gain 200 yards on the ground and their way to a 20+ point win. ~Tyler Lombardi
It didn’t come in the first quarter, but the Falcons did only score one TD yesterday. They also won by more than 20, but the Ravens fell well short of 200 yards on the ground.
6. If this game was in Atlanta in the Georgia Dome, I could buy that it would be close. At M&T, it would be disappointing if it was a game late. Falcons are 31st overall defensively, including 27th against the run. The 3 headed rushing monster should control the game. ~ Chris Stoner
The three-headed monster combined for 35 carries and 119 yards. While we didn’t see a lights-out performance on the ground, the run game was effective enough for the Ravens to control the ball for 33 minutes. It was also not exactly competitive into the 4th quarter, so Chris gets a bump on his prediction there.
7. After falling behind early 10-0 the Ravens give up just two field goals the rest of the way while answering with 27 points of their own on their way to a 27-16 win. Crockett Gilmore finds the end zone for the first time in his career while Joe Flacco out-chucks Matt Ryan by 100 yards. ~ Tony Lombardi
While Flacco didn’t out-throw Ryan by 100 yards, he was certainly more efficient. Ryan was 29/44 for 228 while Flacco was 16/25 for 258 yards. Unfortunately, Crockett Gilmore did not find the endzone, but the final score prediction was somewhat close. That combined with Flacco outperforming Ryan puts my old man’s prediction higher up on the list.
8. A rapidly improving Ravens pass defense and the return of some veterans will take some of the sting out of the Falcons’ three-headed passing monster (Ryan, Jones, White). Meanwhile, Air Flacco will continue to confound his critics. 300 yards, 3 TDs, and Ravens 31, Falcons 17. ~ Fran the Fan Vojik
Fran was correct in his prediction of the Falcons’ three-headed monster being contained. In fact, it barely showed up at all. Roddy White had a good day with 100+ yards and a score, but Ryan never got in a groove with Julio Jones. Joe had 258 yards on the day, so it wasn’t too short of the 300 yard
9. The Falcons move the ball early and often, accumulating 400 yards of total offense, but stall in the red zone. They eventually get two touchdowns (one from Julio Jones, one from Antone Smith–both receiving), but by that time, the Ravens have the game put away. Joe Flacco and the offense cruises again. No. 5 throws for 300-plus yards and zero INT for the second-straight week, and the Ravens win, 34-20. ~ Mike Fast
Mike predicted that the Falcons would move the ball early and often. Well, that wasn’t exactly the way it went. Atlanta amassed just 254 yards of total offense and 1 TD that went to Roddy White. Joe Flacco and the offense didn’t exactly cruise but were effective. The defense was the key to victory in this game. Flacco also had a multiple INT game for the first time this season, but wasn’t too far off the 300-yard mark. with a passing total of 258.
10. Flacco and Ryan go head to head in the first half, keeping it close 17-14. In the second half Will Hill gets a turnover as the Ravens defense gets to Ryan and Ravens prevail 30-21. ~ Joe Polek
This wasn’t exactly a battle of the quarterbacks. The Falcons’ offense was abysmal especially in the first half, so Joe’s prediction lands pretty far down this list. There was a turnover, but it wasn’t by Will Hill, although he did play well.
11. Ravens and Falcons engage in a shoot out in the first half, with Ravens leading 20-17 at the half. In the 2nd half, the Ravens D stiffens, while the Ravens’ running game gets cranked up and the O continues to pile up points. The Ravens end up cruising to a 38-27 win. ~ Brian McFarland
Brian predicted the complete opposite type of game than this was. The Ravens’ defense was dominant, and this game wasn’t anywhere close to a shootout.
12. The Ravens offense continues its trend of firing on all cylinders. Flacco shines once again throwing for two touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Matt Ryan takes advantage of the Ravens secondary and makes it a closer game then what many expect. Ravens win 31-28. ~ Brian Bower
Brian was correct in his prediction of the number of touchdowns through the air, but Flacco did not find the endzone on the ground (which he hasn’t done since NE blew out the Ravens at home last year). Matt Ryan failed to take advantage of the Ravens’ secondary and it was as much of a blowout as expected. Because Brian was the only one that predicted less than a 7 point win, he gets the (dis)honor of worst prediction this week.
