Flacco is No Fluke-o

3 weeks does not make a season but it is clear that the Ravens are building off of last season. Ironically it is the offense that is getting the most headlines.

The Ravens are averaging a mere 34.3 points a game and over 430 yards of offense per game. The pounding ground game they established last year is picking up where they left off last season. They are gaining yards at a 156 yards per game with a 4.7 per carry average.

Heading into New England this will be important to continue. Here is a few reasons why.

• Keep the Brady bunch off the field
• New England defense is in transition and is susceptible to the rush
• On the road, rushing is always good
• Ray Rice and LeRon McClain are very physical runners and Willis McGahee can exhaust a defense also

When the Ravens have the ball then they need to continue exactly what they do. Out of the 211 plays they have run, they have a nice balance of 101 rushing attempts and 70 pass attempts. (Naturally the 211 include field goal tries, QB sacks and so on)

This sets up an efficient play action and an unbelievable spread of the football through the air. Yes Flacco who had a nice Rookie campaign has clearly spent the off season grasping Cam Cameron's philosophy and he has matured beyond his years. No he is not Drew Brees or Dan Marino. But he is a productive QB. He also keeps the mistakes to a minimum.

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Word of caution of course is the Ravens have compiled their numbers against Kansas City, Cleveland, and an underachieving San Diego. Oh and the Chargers stink on defense.

As usual the Ravens defense is Ravenous. Allowing a whopping 51 rushing yards! Granted New England has had difficulty rushing the ball to begin with. But Brady is still rehabbing in all reality. He is far from the dangerous Brady. But the Patriots are not going to roll over. Especially in their house.

I do think the Ravens want to put the “ you haven't played anyone ” murmurs to rest. And New England is fashionably bent on re-establishing themselves as a perennial AFC giant. This is an old fashioned statement game.

That said I actually think the Ravens will prevail to a tune of 19 to 16. Yeah, even in Foxboro and even though undefeated teams will eventually lose.

Strap on your helmet and order extra pizza and wings .................

By: Andy Natalie
ProFootball-fans.com Baltimore Ravens Correspondent