Baltimore Sports Then and Now

The trio of Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis will all need to be ready against the explosive offense of the San Diego Chargers.

Overview: The Baltimore Ravens face their second straight opponent from the AFC West as they travel to San Diego to face the dangerous Chargers.

This could be an interesting early season matchup as the Ravens looked excellent in their victory over the Chiefs while the Chargers struggled against the Raiders and needed some late heroics to pull out the victory.
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Joe Flacco had the first 300-yard and three touchdown game of his career against the Chiefs.

After a decade playing second fiddle to their vaunted defense, the offense for the Baltimore Ravens may finally be ready to share lead billing.

Led by confident second year quarterback Joe Flacco, the Ravens amassed a franchise record 501 yards of offense and scored 21 fourth quarter points in a 38-24 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Ravens jumped to a quick 10-0 advantage, but a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown cut the margin to three points at halftime. Kansas City then took the lead in the third quarter on a touchdown pass from Brodie Croyle to Dwayne Bowe.

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Ray Lewis and the Ravens defense is still among the best in the NFL.

Overview: On paper, this would appear to be a miss-match as you have a team that won two games a year ago traveling to face a Super Bowl contender that won 11 games a year ago and reached the AFC Championship Game.

However, history has proven that there is often no such thing as carry-over from one NFL season to another.

While the Ravens should again be a contender, the Chiefs should also see marked improvement from a year ago. The key for Kansas City will be if new head coach Todd Haley, who was the offensive coordinator for the NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals a year ago, and new quarterback Matt Cassel, who started last season for New England after the injury to Tom Brady, can resuscitate the Chiefs offense.
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Joe Flacco seems ready to take the next step toward greatness in 2009.

Joe Flacco had more playoff success as a rookie than any other starting quarterback in NFL history. However, as he enters his second year, the question is whether Flacco can take the next step and become one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks.

If the first two preseason games are any indication, Flacco believes that he is ready to be more than simply the “serviceable rookie” from a year ago and instead make the passing game a legitimate offensive option for the Ravens.

In the Ravens’ nationally televised game against the Jets, Flacco was solid on the field (8 for 18, 120 yards), but seemed especially confident when being interviewed by ESPN’s Michelle Tafoya. Flacco acted and sounded like a quarterback ready to make a splash in 2009.

Throughout NFL history, how a quarterback performs in his second year as a starter often provides great insight into whether he will develop into a superstar or simply be a “serviceable” quarterback.

After moving from semipro football to the starting lineup for the Colts in 1956, Johnny Unitas made it clear in his second season that he was destined for greatness. He made his first Pro Bowl appearance and passed for 2,550 yards and 24 touchdowns in just 12 games.

Both Joe Montana with the San Francisco 49ers in 1981 and Ben Rothlisberger with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2005 culminated their second season as a starter with a Super Bowl victory.

Dan Marino fell one victory short of Super Bowl success during his second year under center for the Miami Dolphins in 1984, but his record-setting season of 5,084 yards and 48 touchdown passes went unmatched for 20 years.

The man who eclipsed Marino’s touchdown mark, Peyton Manning, took the Indianapolis Colts from a 3-13 record during his rookie season to a 13-3 mark the following season. He made his first Pro Bowl appearance while completing 62.1% of his passes for 4,135 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Because the Ravens had the fourth best running game in the league a year ago, Flacco didn’t have to take matters into his own hands very often as a rookie. Statistically, he was solid with a 60% completion percentage, 2,971 yards, 14 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions while starting every game.

Watch for offensive coordinator Cam Cameron to give Flacco more chances to shine in 2009. With a veteran receiving unit that includes Derek Mason, Mark Clayton, Kelley Washington and Todd Heap, Flacco has plenty of receiving options and seems poised to make his move towards greatness this season.

Joe Flacco looked solid in his 2009 debut against Washington.

It may have been the first preseason game of the year, but the Baltimore Ravens looked like they were in mid-season form in a dominating 23-0 victory over the Washington Redskins.

The Ravens easily moved the ball against a Washington defense that was without several key players, including much heralded new acquisition Albert Haynesworth. They also limited the Redskins to only 196 yards of offense while keeping them off the scoreboard.

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