Rookie quarterback Joe Flacco has made good strides, but his arm can't carry this team yet, not with only one good receiver in Derrick Mason. The Ravens' offensive line is young and being held together by a Band-Aid from all the injuries. On Sunday, this group got taught a collective lesson from one of the most dominating defensive lines in the league.
On defense, the Ravens got manhandled by a veteran offensive line. Linebackers Ray Lewis and Bart Scott were in position to make tackles, but their tackling wasn't fundamentally sound, and the Ravens' pursuit angles were atrocious. Giants running back Brandon Jacobs can make a lot of defenses look bad, but the Ravens made themselves look even worse.
But on Sunday against the Eagles, the Ravens will rebound. There won't be any Joe Namath-like predictions here, but those veteran defensive players that some think are out of gas will carry the Ravens.
You see, the Giants didn't just take away the Ravens' pride by running the ball. They insulted their manhood. Guys like Lewis, Scott, Trevor Pryce, Haloti Ngata and Jarret Johnson will respond to the new challenge in the Eagles.
The Ravens are in decent shape. Four of their final six games are at home, including a December date with the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers.
Maybe at the beginning of the season some of the remaining opponents seemed unbeatable, like the Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars, but not anymore. The Ravens got pushed around by the Giants on Sunday, but they were still in the game late in the third quarter.
If you took away a couple of big Giants plays, then it was a close game. A week ago, the Ravens were tied with the Steelers for first place in the division.
Now, they are a game back but still in the playoff hunt with several other teams with 6-4 records. At the beginning of the year, I never thought the Ravens would be in playoff contention this late in the year.
I was wrong, but I was right about one thing. I never thought the Ravens would beat the Giants. A loss to New York was not going to be a big deal.
It still isn't.
Listen to Mike Preston every Monday from 4 to 6 p.m. on Fox Sports (1370 AM).
