Thursday, October 11, 2012

Ravens D, is all they need


The Baltimore Ravens' hallmark for the better part of a decade has been defense. It's what has carried them to countless victories, playoff appearances and Super Bowl glory. Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and the rest of the guys in black and purple showed up at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. They shut down Jamaal Charles and the rest of the Chiefs' offense in the second half, and made a big fourth-quarter stand to depart Kansas City with a 9-6 victory. The Ravens had the NFL's second-ranked offense through the first four weeks of the season, but it faltered against an inspired Kansas City defense. Ray Rice ran for 101 yards, but Joe Flacco had just 187 yards passing and was picked off once. Matt Cassel threw for just 92 yards, was intercepted twice and credited with two lost fumbles before leaving in the fourth quarter with what the Chiefs described as a head injury. Charles had 140 yards rushing, but only 15 in the second half, when the game was to be decided. Kansas City has now committed 19 turnovers through its 1st 5 games, the most in history since the New Orleans Saints had 21 of them to start the 1997 season. Quinn, who was 3 of 3 for 32 yards passing on his only series, was greeted by applause from Kansas City fans when he entered the game. Quinn led the Chiefs downfield in the fourth quarter, but a pass interference penalty by Dexter McCluster negated what would have been a go-ahead touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe. After the Chiefs' late field goal, Baltimore took over. Flacco scrambled for 16 yards on third-and-15 with a couple minutes left in the game, and Rice plunged for another first down with just over a minute remaining to help run out the clock.

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