October 16, 2012|By Jeff Zrebiec | The Baltimore Sun
With the struggles of Ma’ake Kemoeatu, Terrence Cody, Arthur Jones and Pernell McPhee against the run, it will be interesting to see if the Ravens try to mix things up a little bit with the personnel. Young defensive tackles, Bryan Hall and DeAngelo Tyson, have both been inactive for the first six games. Their time may be coming soon with the Ravens having allowed more than 400 combined rushing yards the past two weeks.
And finally, here are five positive observations on things that were overlooked from Sunday’s victory over the Cowboys:
1. The Ravens went 6-for-10 on third downs after entering the game converting on just 33.3 percent of third-down conversions through their first five games. As good as their offense has been, their struggles on third down were holding them back a little. Sunday was a really good first step.
2. Second-year players Chykie Brown and Anthony Allen both made really good plays on special teams. As the gunner, Brown made a really nice tackle on Dwayne Harris on a punt return in the third quarter, while Allen made one of the big blocks to spring Jacoby Jones on his 108-yard kickoff return. The Ravens coverage units have made drastic improvements and a big reason is the emergence of young special teams players like Brown and Allen.
3. Offensive tackles Michael Oher and Kelechi Osemele more than held their own against the Cowboys’ DeMarcus Ware. One of the game’s best pass rushers, Ware did get one quarterback sack but that was pretty much all he did. Oher and Osemele did a commendable job.
4. The Ravens made four red zone trips and three of them resulted in touchdowns. With the struggles of the defense, the Ravens probably aren’t going to have the luxury of regularly settling for three points.
5. Joe Flacco completed 17 of 26 passing attempts for 234 yards and Ravens’ receivers were finding ways to get open. With all the talk about the wide receiver’s struggles against press coverage, that shouldn’t be overlooked.
