Grubbs, Brown and right guard Marshal Yanda were blasting the Browns 6 or 7 yards downfield. Gaither was dominating, playing his best game as a pro. Grubbs, Yanda and Gaither are in only their second year.
"I think we just put our head down, went to work and started chopping wood," right offensive tackle Adam Terry said. "I don't think we're there yet. We're doing OK, and so far, so good. But if you look around the league, the good teams are solid in all aspects. We're not there yet."
The Ravens started finding their groove in the last preseason game when the first group started for the first time. Gaither and Terry had gone down with ankle injuries during the first week of training camp, so the group had little time to work together.
But now, you can see the timing coming together in such things as combination blocks. They are using their hands better, and they actually know where they are going.
The group has also been helped by the game-planning. Sunday, the heavy package included not only bringing in fullback Lorenzo Neal as the lead blocker and moving fullback Le'Ron McClain to halfback, but also inserting offensive tackle Willie Anderson next to Gaither.
It's impressive when you can bring two Pro Bowl players - Neal and Anderson - off the bench.
"Our job is to execute," Gaither said, "because defenses do not know what they're going to get."
Adding Anderson gave the Ravens an on-the-field teacher as well as depth. The Ravens lost a lot of experience when left tackle Jonathan Ogden and center Mike Flynn retired during the offseason.
One of Brown's first visits when he comes off the field is to Anderson.
"He hasn't been in our offense that long," Brown said. "But he sees and reads defenses better than me. It's great having him on the field."
According to several of the linemen, one of the keys to the offense is the no-huddle approach. It creates such a torrid pace that other teams can't keep up, especially early in the season when some teams are in better shape than others.
Brown said the Ravens are in full gear on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and that's more than most teams in the NFL. Against Cleveland on Sunday, the Ravens' offensive line played well from the beginning, but Matt Stover missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt and Flacco threw two interceptions.
But the Ravens did move the ball. And the final quarter was superb, nearly 15 minutes of smash-mouth football.
"He showed a lot of confidence in us during that last period," Terry said about offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. "The good thing is that he is still getting to know us, and we're still getting to know him."
