The Sports Headquarters

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Cincinnati 13 @ Baltimore 44

September 10th, 2012

@ericjuddTSHQ

The Good

“You were totally worth the money, RayRay!”

Ravens Offense. Good. Night. If Baltimore can put together a complete football game like Monday Night, every week, just had them the Lombardi trophy. Ed Reed and Ray Lewis directly impact the final score by forcing key turnovers, Ray Rice running for multiple touchdowns, and Joe Flacco threading the needle to multiple receivers on each and every level, getting his entire team involved, that is a complete football team. A complete football team with no obvious weakness, and very possibly, if they can sustain and continue this level of success, the best team in the league. The best team in team history. Scary. Trent Dilfer should take his Super Bowl ring to Pawn Stars and see what he can get for it.

The Bad

In. Your. Face.

Cincinnati Defense. Come on, Bengals. Baltimore isn’t known for its offense. Ed Reed and Ray Lewis are normally responsible for more touchdowns than Joe Flacco and his unibrow. It’s a stretch to blame Cincinnati for being unable to contain the Ravens no-huddle offense, as Flacco was finally let loose. Ray Rice proved he was, and is deserving of the big contract he received. Cincinnati was an unfortunate victim of the schedule, because they ran up against an east-coast buzzsaw.

The Ugly

“Aww Hell…not in the face, Ed.”

A.J. Green. A.J. Green is the best young receiver in the NFL. With that mantle comes a responsibility to help carry a struggling team on your back. To take over a game when need be. That didn’t happen Monday night in Baltimore. Catching less than half of his targets on Monday night, Green failed to cement his status as one of best receivers in the NFL regardless of age or experience. Now, Baltimore looked virtually unstoppable under the lights, and A.J. Green should not have to bear the burden of the loss squarely on his shoulders, but he could have done more to keep the game close, when it was close. Only time and repetitions will help Green reach his full potential. Monday night was a missed opportunity.

P.S. Special Shouts-out to @KatiPettit1 and her sister @Tweetiegirlss. The two biggest Ravens fans I know.