Baltimore Ravens Grades, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Edition
By Brett Foote
Oct 12, 2014; Tampa, FL, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) gestures against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. The Ravens won 48-17. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Offense: A+
Week six was the Joe Flacco show, make no mistake. Flacco came out of the tunnel on fire in the Tampa heat and proceeded to throw four touchdowns in the first quarter and a fifth early in the second quarter. Had this been a competitive football game, he most likely could have easily tied or broken Peyton Manning’s single game record of six touchdowns.
Flacco lit up the Buc’s hapless defense, throwing scores to Torrey Smith (twice), Steve Smith, Kamar Aiken, and Michael Campanaro. It was by far Torrey’s best game of the season as he secured 4 of 5 targets for 51 yards to go along with his two scores. Steve Smith again led the team in receiving, securing 5 of 6 targets for 110 yards.
Unfortunately, and deservedly, most of the attention from this performance is going to Joe Flacco. But Justin Forsett deserves credit as well after he put in yet another fantastic performance that could have been much bigger in a competitive game. Forsett took 14 carries for 111 yards (7.9 avg) while busting out yet another big run, this time for 52 yards. If this guy doesn’t win NFL comeback player of the year, it would be a shame.
The only real offensive disappointments in week six came from the disappointing duo of Jacoby Jones and Bernard Pierce. Jones had one target and yet another drop. The receiver with hands of stone now has 5 drops on the season. Pierce, to be fair, came in to kill the clock in a blowout, so the Bucs knew the Ravens were going to run the ball. But he could still only manage a pathetic 32 yards on 15 carries (2.1 avg).
Next: Defense