Baltimore sticks a fork in Philly
Rising Ravens defeat falling Eagles
All in all this was a big another big win for the Ravens and their playoff hopes. Plus it keeps them within arms reach of Pittsburgh.
The 36 points is a little deceiving but the 7 is not. The Ravens defense had their way against a free falling Philadelphia team. The 7 was special teams gaff near the end of the 2 nd quarter where Philly's Quentin Demps took a kick off the distance and closed a defensive battle to a first half 10 to 7.
To the credit of Philadelphia they also had a pretty good defensive game. They just could not bail out there pathetic offense any more. And the fact that the Ravens defense put the Eagles in a vise pretty much cooked the Philly birds for the day.
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Joe Flacco and the new Ravens offense had there moments though. But overall the offensive stats were not that good for the day. Flacco did manage 2 TD passes but he was an unimpressive 12 for 26 and 183 yards. Per attempt 183 yards is a respectable 7 yards per attempt however. That is acceptable by today's standards.
Running the ball was a battle of attrition also. The Baltimore backfield did get a modest 110 yards on the day but it took 40 attempts to do it. Ron McClain had a very good day with 18 carries and 88 yards. 4.9 yards per carry and 1 TD. But as a team they only could average 2.8 yards per carry.
Matt Stover added 2 field goals and the defense added an Ed Reed pick 6 and the Ravens defense got an Eagles safety. The Ravens had 4 INT's on the day and almost a couple more.
The Eagles were so desperate they benched McNabb at halftime.
This was a good game for the Ravens as a whole. They learned that the offense won't click every week statistically speaking but they still got 3 TD's and 2 field goals on a bad numbers day! And the defense did its usual attack and restrain.
Next week they should be able to smooth out a few glitches against the mighty Bengals.
By Andy Natalie
ProFootball-fans.com Baltimore Ravens Correspondent