After an extremely sub-par effort against a Titans team that many thought would be an AFC doormat, the Ravens were probably just as confused as we were. On the heels a game that saw Baltimore completely dominate their fiercest competitor in the Steelers, it seemed like they came out last Sunday completely hungover. You know the feeling... Friday night rolls around, you go out and get a little crazy and when Saturday night comes, you're still dealing with the Friday hangover. The Ravens partied hard week 1 and were simply not ready to play 7 days later. Ray Rice was nonexistent in the rushing game (come to think of it, the rushing game was nonexistent) and Flacco failed to hit the 200 passing yards mark. At the same time, the Titans posted two 100 yard receiving efforts (ok, so Nate Washington only had 99...), their senior citizen QB tossed over 350 yards and the second string RB averaged over 4 yards per carry. Those numbers are just plain ugly. It wasn't all bad though... The Ravens did manage to render Chris Johnson next to useless (oh wait, so did the Jags... whoops). There really is no excuse for that level of performance out of a team that utterly man-handled last year's AFC Champions. The big hiccup in my eyes was the lack of forced turnovers. After getting the Steelers to cough it up 7 (1...2...3...4...7!) times, they lacked the intensity to force the same mistakes out of an offense whose RB "held out" for the entire preseason and whose QB was 30 second away from retiring. What do the Birds need to do this week to turn it around? It's simple, play Ravens' football. There are few teams in the league that can really lay claim to a "brand" of their own (Ravens, Steelers, Pats, Bears...) and the Ravens need to remember that when they step on the turf this Sunday. I think they will do this and do it well. Sam Bradford is a budding super star but he isn't there yet. The Rams running game is hurting and Bradford will probably have a heavier workload than the coaching staff would like. The Ravens need to send plenty of pressure his direction and spend less time worrying about getting burned by the run. If the Rams are going to win this game, it will be through the air and not on the ground. I have a feeling this will be the game plan and I look for at least 2-3 turnovers forced as a result of direct pressure on Bradford. As far as Baltimore's offense goes, run, run, run. They haven't been to the playoffs 3 straight years by passing for 400 yards a game. Pound Ray Rice in the inside and use Boldin where he is best (over the middle). If the Ravens stick to their formula and don't get side tracked by the current QB crazy world of the NFL than this team has a chance to get back on track quickly and stay there for a long time.
PREDICTION: Ravens 31 - Rams 17
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