Ravens drown Dolphins; refocus on high-soaring Falcons

My fears about Miami coming to Baltimore and upsetting the Ravens never came to fruition and the Ravens now join the Patriots and Jets as one of only three teams in the AFC with six wins.

This impressive accomplishment would not have happened if the Ravens defense didn't play well yesterday. Two weeks after allowing Buffalo Bills wide receiver Steve Johnson catch eight passes and accumulate 158 receiving yards, the Ravens limited Chad Henne and the Dolphins offense to zero passing touchdowns and ten total points.

Kudos to cornerbacks Josh Wilson and Lardarius Webb who had the unenviable task of covering six-foot-four 230 pound Brandon Marshall who came into the game with 49 catches in previous seven games. Marshall finished the day with five catches and 30 receiving yards, 21 of them from one pass.

The Ravens' this offense is becoming more balanced, evident with Ray Rice's 83 rushing yards and 97 receiving yards. Rice was available for the check down whenever Flacco needed it and also pushed hard through the middle the Dolphins' defensive line for tough rushing yards. Numerous attempts at long pass completions failed but didn't crucially hinder the offenses scoring ability.

Rice did not however have the most impressive offensive play of the day. That honor belongs to Willis Mcgahee who demonstrated open field running moves few thought he had. His 32 yard touchdown catch declared what kind of pace the Ravens would set. The Dolphins fell behind 7-0 two minutes and forty seconds into the game and never regained the lead.

Taking this praise into consideration opens my eyes to the poor red zone productivity. The men in purple finished the day with a 17% red zone efficiency, scoring only once when close to the end zone with a yard touchdown pass from Flacco to Derrick Mason.

Unfortunately celebrations of their post-bye victory will be cut short because the team has been tasked with traveling to Atlanta for a Thursday night game. This showdown between the number one team in the AFC North and the number one team in the NFC South will likely be a small scale shootout. Neither team has excelled at defending the pass this season and both teams have third year quarterbacks making strides toward greatness.

* Ed Reed nabbed his third interception of the year in the fourth quarter vs Miami. After only two active games this season, Reed leads the team with three interceptions.