Baltimore Ravens: 3 Game Balls In Win Over Eagles

The Baltimore Ravens barely beat the Philadelphia Eagles to keep their playoff chances alive.

The Ravens can’t seem to put teams away.  They had a 10 point lead a few times in the 2nd half but had to stop a 2-point conversion attempt to beat the Eagles.

The run defense has been pretty bad the last few weeks and I’m not sure what’s going on, but it doesn’t make me confident in the Ravens defense as a whole.  You can’t blame injuries since the front seven seems has basically been healthy all season.

Here are my top 3 performances for the game against the Eagles.

Special Teams:

Justin Tucker, Michael Campanaro, and Chris Moore helped the Ravens Special Teams forget that they ever had Devin Hester.  Campanaro and Moore were explosive on punt and kickoff returns which helped the Ravens offense.

It seemed like whenever Hester was back catching punts, the Ravens offense would be pinned deep in their own territory.  The Ravens offense doesn’t work well when they are pinned deep in their own territory.

Terrance West:

West had one of his best games of the season.  It seemed like he was losing carries to Dixon lately, but he stepped up big time in this game.

He made some big plays to keep drives alive.  If it wasn’t for West, the game might have gone differently.  West ended up with 77 yards on 12 carries as well as four receptions for 45 yards.

Next: Ravens Struggle In Trenches In Tough Win

Steve Smith Sr.:

Steve Smith Sr. didn’t have the best game statistically speaking, but he had a very important touchdown reception to give the Ravens the momentum towards the end of the 1st half.

He just had two receptions for 40 yards, but he’s such a dynamic threat that defenses always have to keep watch him.  He is so physical that he might be able to break out of a tackle and take it to the house on any given play. His touchdown at the end of the first half was huge.