Some early observations
Don't look now, but Baltimore has a first quarter lead.
Joe Flacco marched the Ravens 73 yards on nine plays on their opening drive of the game, and Willis McGahee's two-yard TD run has Baltimore up 7-0.
McGahee followed defensive tackle Haloti Ngata on the play, as Ngata was in as an extra offensive lineman. He absolutely pancaked a Steelers defender, clearing an easy path for McGahee to coast into the end zone.
That score marks the first Ravens touchdown in the opening period since all the way back in Week 4 against the Patriots.
On the other side of the ball, it's clear that the Steelers are doing all they can to protect QB Dennis Dixon, going with a heavy dose of the running game and only having the second-year man out of Oregon go with screens and short passes to the outside.
Upfront, the Ravens are rotating a lot of bodies, and are sticking with the linebacker tandem that they used last week against the Colts.
UPDATE: Well, you can toss out my observation about the Steelers being careful with Dixon.
The Pittsburgh QB unloaded back-to-back completions of 15 and 33 yards, and found Santonio Holmes on the latter for a game-tying touchdown.
Dixon didn't look like an inexperienced signal-caller at all on that drive, going 3-for-3 for 56 yards and the TD.
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Categories (click for archive)Dan Kolko | Ravens News |
I don't like the Ed Reed blitz on 3rd and long. Why take your best chance at an INT out of pass coverage? Shade him to Holmes on those plays and the young QB on the other side would be wise to stay away from him, cutting off a big portion of the field for him to throw to.