Luke Woods at the Game
The Baltimore Ravens’ season opening win against the Cincinnati Bengals was a dominant performance and gave Joe Flacco a chance to build on his amazing AFC championship game from a year ago. The biggest question mark of the off-season, the offensive line, was formidable; giving Flacco plenty of time in the pocket to pick apart the Bengals’ defensive backs. He completed two amazing TD’s to Anquan Boldin and Dennis Pitta, which showed pin-point precision from the Ravens QB.
The Ravens defense looked as stout as ever, allowing only 13 points to a up and coming team, with a legit star in A.J. Green. Question marks surrounding future Hall of Famers Ed Reed and Ray Lewis were answered early and often during the 44-13 victory; Reed had an interception return for a touchdown that moved him into first place on the all-time list for interception return years, and Ray Lewis contributed 14 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble.
The story still remains to be the efficiency of the offense, with Flacco’s accuracy and Ray Rice making the most of his 10 carries, scoring two touchdowns. Hopes are Cam Cameron can keep up this pace throughout the entire season, catching defenses off-guard and winded. With the amount of weapons at Flacco’s disposal, this certainly has the makings of being his best season to date.
A larger test looms this upcoming Sunday when the Ravens visit the Philadelphia Eagles, who may be the one team in the NFL with more talent on the defense than Baltimore. Newcomer Linebackers, DeMaco Ryans (free agency) and Mychal Kendricks (rookie second round draft pick) have retooled the scheme, which was such a disappointment in 2011. We will find out more about where the 2012 Baltimore Ravens stand against a good team, with a tough fan-base, at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.
This is my Note from the Rafters at M&T Bank Stadium.
