The Ravens beat the Tennessee Titans 21-0 in Nashville in Week 6. RSR staff react to the win here:
Carey Stevenson
I expected a low-scoring defensive struggle. I spent much of the week touting an underrated Titans defense. The Ravens had other ideas with a dominant defensive performance and an efficient offensive effort.
They left a few plays on the field that could have made this game even more lopsided and the run game still isn’t where it needs to be but it was a well-played and mostly well-called game.
On to New Orleans.
Derek Arnold
The Ravens set their franchise record with ten sacks. Then they got ANOTHER one. Eleven sacks on Marcus Mariota. I love that Wink Martindale showed Dean Pees the way to drive this Baltimore Ferrari that Dean kept in the slow lane for far too many years.
I was a little scared that Dean would make me eat my words, but from the Ravens’ opening drive: a nine-plus minute, 95-yard, TD drive – I knew Marty would eat Dean’s lunch all day. At one point Flacco was 8 for 9 passing, for 107 yards…on third down alone! THAT’S THE DEAN PEES I REMEMBER!
Props to Michael Crabtree, who caught everything after his dismal showing in Cleveland.
This running game is still a work in progress, but when the defense plays like this, they have plenty of time to figure things out.
Thanks to Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton AGAIN melting like butter in the face of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Ravens find themselves tied for the AFC North lead after six weeks. That, plus a 2-1 road swing through Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Nashville? I’ll take it.
Chad Racine
So much to love about this destruction of the Titans.
— A franchise record of 11 sacks.
-A shutout that had Tennessee punting on 9 out of 9 drives..
— The defense still hasn’t allowed a second half touchdown.
— Crabtree is back and has found his confidence.
— This is the Flacco I think we will see most of the season.
–Road wins are tough but the Ravens now have two dominant wins on the road so far.
The Ravens are the most balanced team in the AFC. I’ve been optimistic all season but, believe even more they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
Brandon Portney
In a game they had to have, the Ravens came out and punched the Titans in the mouth. This game seemed over at halftime with the Ravens up 14-0, as Tennessee only managed 69 first half yards, and we all know you aren’t scoring on Baltimore in the second half. Mariota is gonna be sore this week, as Za’Darius Smith’s three sacks led the way to 11 total sacks for this incredible defense, a franchise record.
The offense wanted to come out and get Crabtree involved immediately and get his confidence up. What a bounce back. I love this group of receivers Flacco has at his disposal; imagine what it’ll look like when the rookie tight ends get it going too.
This game was all about the defense, the best in the NFL. Props to ‘Danielson’ Wink Martindale for showing up ‘Mr. Miyagi’ Dean Pees. Now to show just how stout they really are… on to Drew Brees, Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara and the Saints dynamic offense.
John Darcey
Hats off to the Wink Martindale and the defense. 11 sacks, 106 yards allowed and no points. Could not ask for a better game. Even though I don’t have a high opinion of the Titans, they got bullied today by the Ravens – in a much worse way than I expected.
Crabtree had a great rebound game, with no drops and a touchdown. Loved the toe tap on the sideline. Way to have a great game and bounce back from last week’s forgettable performance.
Willie Snead continues to be my favorite offseason addition. He is so under rated. 7/60 (13 points in fantasy!), and he catches everything. I would love to see him more involved , if that is possible.
Joe Flacco had an efficient game. He missed some receivers, but overall a nice game.
Nice to see Alex Collins have a game worth talking about. Even though he scored twice, I still believe adding a true starting running back this off season should be priority number one.
It is also worth noting, while Tyus Bowser was a healthy scratch today, JuJu Smith-Schuster had seven catches for 111 yards. Oh, what could have been!
Ryan Jones
Really impressive performance on both sides of the ball. The defense was dominant and the offense controlled the clock and had a nice balanced attack. Standout performance by Z. Smith. It’s clear he’ll be the next Ravens pass rusher to cash in during free agency.
Kenny Young looks like a future pro bowler and is always around the ball. Let’s hope Alex Lewis is OK. It looked precautionary but it’s always scary when someone is carted off like that.
Nick Capecci
Statement win for the Ravens as they begin preparation for their toughest opponent yet in New Orleans. The offense had its moments of dominance, but otherwise it was a very unimpressive performance. Flacco made confident and consistent throws, but failed to take advantage of some mismatches, mainly the tight ends versus a weak Titans linebacker corps.
The defense played lights out. The run defense didn’t allow any chunk yards, and allowed very few big plays downfield, minus a hiccup with Corey Davis in garbage time. Don Martindale must understand that since they don’t have an elite edge rusher, they have to get creative with who rushes the passer.
As I have said for most of the season, the team has a secret superstar in Tim Williams – re-watch the tape and see how he had his way with pro-bowler Taylor Lewan.
Overall, it was a win Baltimore needed to gain confidence versus their toughest opponent next week. The defense will be tested but the best Wide Receiver in football is Michael Thomas, and Drew Brees is a future hall-of-famer – this win will help them feel that they are ready for that test.
Brian McFarland
Great rebound for the Ravens (and Michael Crabtree) after that ugly loss in Cleveland. They finished the three-game road trip at 2-1 and, even though probably not the expected way, you really can’t ask for much more.
The offense and Flacco were efficient, but you’d still like to see a bit more of a killer instinct from the offense and running game. This game probably should have been something like 35-0.
In the coming weeks against better offenses, it can’t be expected that the Ravens are going to continue to pitch their 2nd half TD shut out. Perhaps it was because the Titans were tired and had basically given up, but I liked what I saw from Gus Edwards. He definitely hit the hole with some authority.
On defense, what else can be said – 11 SACKS. That’s one more sack than passes completed by the Titans. Honorable mention goes to the DBs. Perhaps lost in the barrage of sacks is that a good number of them came when Mariota simply had nowhere to throw.
Great victory, especially on the road.
More knee-jerk reactions as they roll in…
