Ravens beat Steelers 26-14: The good, bad and the ugly

There is nothing ugly about the result. It’s all good with the 3-1 Baltimore Ravens right now. Let’s break it down though, here is the good, bad and the ugly from the 26-14 win over the Steelers (starting with the good).

If we’re starting with the good, we have to talk about Joe Flacco. Flacco was more than good in this game, he was great. Flacco was 28-42 for 363 yards and two touchdowns in the game. Flacco was barely touched and he wasn’t at all fazed by the Steelers defense. It used to be that third down in Heinz Field was a nervous place to be. On Sunday Night Football, it felt like Flacco was going to come up with every play. He was efficient and he was deadly good in this game.

11 Ravens caught a pass in this game, continuing a trend of spreading the ball around. The most exciting weapon the Ravens have is John Brown. Brown had 116 yards and a touchdown on three receptions. Brown is giving the Ravens a legitimate deep threat that has been missing in Baltimore. Willie Snead had six important grabs for 56 yards. The most impressive reception has to go to Maxx Williams who was on the receiving end of a stunning trick play. Williams was lined up in the middle of the line of scrimmage, just behind the offensive line. He sneaked out for a big third down conversion.

It was a dream start for the Ravens. A beautiful touchdown drive started off the game. A Tony Jefferson fumble recovery, led to the Ravens’ 14-0 lead. The Ravens probably knew deep down that it wasn’t going to be that easy. However the Ravens dominated three quarters of this game. They had long drives in the second half and defensive adjustments stopped the Steelers from getting back into that second quarter groove.