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The Ravens have played six exceptional quarters of football this season.
They've also played four poor quarters of football, but through two and a half games, it's clear that when this team is clicking, it has the ability to dominate.
Through 30 minutes of play this afternoon, Baltimore has a 27-0 lead on the road over the Rams. Here are some quick-hit notes on the first half:
- Torrey Smith has been ok. That's all. (Sarcasm, folks.) We just have to hope that the limping that we saw from the rookie wide receiver at the end of the half doesn't mean he came down with any kind of serious injury.
- How about the performance of Baltimore's defense as a whole? They've held the Rams to just 81 total yards and six first downs so far. They've grabbed one takeaway on a Lardarius Webb interception, and have forced six punts. The pass rush from Terrell Suggs and Co. has returned, and coverage on the back-end has been strong. Nice bounce-back effort from that group.
- Two more flags have been thrown on Michael Oher today, and the Ravens' right tackle continues to have yellow laundry thrown in his direction. But hey, at least neither flag was for a false start. Baby steps.
- Baltimore's offense has absolutely had its way with the Rams today, putting up 406 yards of offense. They wanted to take some shots down the field, and the shots have been effective. When they've wanted to move the ball on the ground, Ray Rice, Ricky Williams, Smith and even Joe Flacco have gotten the job done to the tune of 10.9 yards per carry. The Ravens have simply manhandled St. Louis' defense so far.
- Imagine what the score could be right now if Flacco had put just a bit more touch on two deep balls that didn't connect - to Smith and tight end Ed Dickson when both had a step on the defense. Flacco has tossed the three scoring strikes so it's tough to criticize the quarterback too intently, but even with the three TDs, he hasn't delivered his best effort today.
- I guess Billy Cundiff is human. The Pro Bowl kicker has missed two 51-yard field goals today (both wide right), which mark his first misses since Week 9 of last year. Cundiff has connected on two other kicks - from 21 and 31 yards.
