Baltimore Ravens Beat The Titans: Instant Reactions

Torrey Smith Stays Hot: Torrey Smith put together another solid game today for the Baltimore Ravens. He had five catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. He has now caught five touchdown receptions in his last five games. Steve Smith Sr. has seemed to slow down, as he had a couple of drops today. It is important for one of the Smiths to stay hot as the Ravens look to stay in the playoff hunt in the AFC.

Danny Gorrer Shines in his Debut: The Ravens secondary has been criticized in recent weeks, and rightfully so. They made a couple of additions to the secondary, and they certainly looked better this week. Gorrer had two solo tackles along with one pass deflection and a game sealing interception. Along with Gorrer, Anthony Levine had a solid game in his first start at cornerback. The Ravens secondary looked much better, but do remember that Zach Mettenberger is no Philip Rivers or Drew Brees, who the Ravens still have to face on their upcoming schedule.

Justin Forsett Started Slow But Ended Strong: There’s not much left to say about how impressive Justin Forsett has been this year. In this game, he didn’t run overly well in the first half. To be fair, the offensive line under-performed for the most part and didn’t get much of a push for Forsett. That didn’t stop Forsett from running hard and churning out 112 hard-earned rushing yards. It is also important to mention that Benard Pierce looked decent in limited action. Pierce had five more carries than Lorenzo Taliaferro. It will be a continuing battle between the two to see who will be the running back behind Forsett. There is one thing no one can doubt though, Justin Forsett has now become the bell cow of this offense.

Elvis Dumervil continues his career year: Elvis Dumervil now has 10.5 sacks on the year. He has been terrorizing right tackles all year, and I don’t see that stopping at any point this season. Dumervil had his best season in 2009 when he was a member of the Denver Broncos. In that season, he racked up 17.0 sacks, which is only five and a half shy of Michael Strahan‘s record for the most sacks in a single season. I firmly believe that Dumervil can reach the amount of sacks he had in 2009 and may even break it. Dean Pees uses him strictly in pass rush situations so that he can stay fresh. Dumervil’s usage not only helps his individual stats, but helps the Ravens get off the field on third down.

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Big Morale Boost Heading into the Bye Week: This win signifies a lot of things for the Ravens going forward, the most important being that a win going into a bye week is a huge confidence boost. The Ravens season began to look grim after the thrashing at Pittsburgh in Week 9. The secondary looked irredeemable, and they were last place in the AFC North. The Ravens may still be tied for last place in the AFC North, but the play of the secondary this week definitely showed some signs of life. The overall play of the defense after the first two quarters was phenomenal, as the Ravens held the Titans to 45 total yards in the second half. The Ravens head into the bye week followed by a very important three-game stretch against the Saints, Chargers, and Dolphins. All those teams will be vying for playoff spots. I for one look forward to the challenge, and it will tell us a lot about this Ravens team.