Baltimore Sports Then and Now

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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