The Baltimore Ravens (10-3) added more misery onto the Indianapolis Colts (0-13) winless season with a 24-10 victory at the M&T Bank Stadium, and maintained their position at the top of the AFC North after the Pittsburgh Steelers recorded a win over the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night.

The Ravens showed their intent to maintain their perfect record at home this season when quarterback Joe Flacco found rookie Torrey Smith for an 8-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter. Kicker Billy Cundiff, who had been a doubt coming into the game, then extended the lead to ten points with a field goal as the Ravens began to exert their dominance.

Ray Rice then grabbed a touchdown of his own on a 6-yard run, capping off a 69-yard drive from the home side. Although the Colts managed to claw back three points with a successful field goal from Adam Vinatieri, the home fans were already beginning to feel confident the game was theirs, such was the control Baltimore had on the game, even at this early stage.

Baltimore continued to pressure the Colts defense in the second half, with Dennis Pitta collecting a 7-yard touchdown pass from Flacco at the end of a 63-yard drive which saw Rice go over 1000 rushing yards for the season. The Colts could just not catch a break, and their first possession after the Pitta score saw quarterback Dan Orlovsky sacked by Terrell Suggs and fumbling the ball, which was fortunately recovered by Joe Reitz, but still ended with the Colts having to kick possession back to the Ravens.

Flacco, who had been having a great game so far for Baltimore, then saw his intended pass for Anquan Boldin intercepted in the red zone by Joe Lefeged, keeping alive any hopes that Colts fans may have had for a comeback. The Colts defense seemed determined to keep their fans slim hopes alive, and forced a turnover of possession on downs.

Orlovsky then strung together a couple of passes, and it looked as if the Colts were on their way to the redzone, until linebacker Suggs came up with a big sack on the quarterback, forcing the Colts into a third and long situation, which culminated in an interception by safety Bernard Pollard, and effectively secured the win for Baltimore.

Despite the Baltimore defense performing to their usual high standards, the Colts managed to register a consolation touchdown as Orlovsky found Jacob Tamme with a 13-yard pass to end another frustrating game for Indianapolis. With leader Ray Lewis missing his fourth consecutive game due to a toe injury, the Ravens needed someone on their defense to step up, and Suggs filled the role comfortably.

He registered three sacks on Orlovsky as well as forcing three fumbles during the game, whilst Jameel McClain continues to show the kind of form which has many Ravens fans pinning their hopes on him becoming the long term solution once Lewis decides to call it a day.

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The Baltimore Ravens (8-3) emerged victorious against the visiting San Francisco 49’ers (9-2) in a game dubbed as the ‘Harbaugh Bowl’. A huge defensive effort from the Ravens was enough to secure a 16-6 victory as they secure their position at the top of the AFC North.

Unsurprisingly, the Ravens looked keen to run the ball early on, as the home side were 6-0 on the season when running back Ray Rice has 18 or more carries in a game. This allowed the passing game to open up for Joe Flacco, and he found Anquan Boldin for a couple of good gains as Baltimore moved to within field goal range and took a three point lead in the game on the opening drive.

The 49’ers opening drive was not as successful, as the visiting team went three and out, extending the Ravens record of shutting out opposition teams on opening drives to 19 games. This was to the delight of the injured Ray Lewis, or ‘Mufasa’ as his teammates call him, who was doing a very good impression of a lion as he prowled up and down the sideline.

San Francisco kicked a field goal of their own to tie the game up, and were unlucky not to take the lead when Alex Smith found Ted Ginn for what would have been a 75-yard touchdown pass, only for the play to be called back for a penalty against the 49’er offense.

The home side then put themselves back into the lead with another field goal, but were disheartened to not have got a touchdown when they had managed to get into a first and goal situation. This extended San Francisco’s steak of not allowing a touchdown in the first half to five games, the highest in the NFL.

The first half was then brought to an end with the 49’ers moving down the field and looking to target a deep threat, only for Ravens cornerback Ladarius Webb to come up with a great interception in the end zone, and allowing Baltimore to maintain their lead into the second half.

The third quarter offered little of note apart from the 49’ers leveling the scores with their second field goal of the game. Towards the end of the quarter however, the Ravens put together a 76-yard drive which saw completed passes to seven different receivers, and culminated in an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dennis Pitta at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano will have every reason to be pleased with himself and the Baltimore defense who had been excellent all game, but seemed to find an even higher gear in the fourth quarter, recording multiple sacks and tackles for a loss.

An addition to their momentous defensive effort, they added another field goal, extending their lead to 10 points and making it a two possession game, which ultimately proved too much for the 49’ers to overcome. Baltimore managed to record nine sacks in the game, which tied the franchise record, and included a haul of three for linebacker Terrell Suggs, who continues to show that he can become the leader of this defense when Lewis does eventually retire.

The loss, although disheartening, will not damage San Francisco’s playoff hopes, and should the Green Bay Packers slip up in the playoffs, then this matchup could very well meet again in Indiana at the Super Bowl.

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Another week has passed and in another game Gang Green has been handed their proverbial butts once again. After last week’s embarrassment in Oakland, the Jets traveled south to Baltimore to face Rex Ryan’s old team and were met with a brick wall.

The game started with so much promise as Joe McKnight, who’s become quite the special teams player, popped the ball loose from the Ravens on the opening kick-off, though the Ravens did recover later. The newly signed DE Aaron Maybin gave the Jets a pass rush and forced the Ravens to punt.

After that there wasn’t much good for the Jets. On the offenses’ first play the Jets left arguably one of the best safeties of all time, Ed Reed, unblocked and he blindsided Mark Sanchez forcing a fumble that was recovered for a touchdown. One of the lone brightspots came on the ensuing kick-off when Joe McKnight ran the kick 107 yards back for the touchdown setting the record for longest play in Jets history.

The troubles for Sanchez continued as he played his worst game, and arguably one of the worst games for a QB ever. He had 4 fumbles, 3 of which were recovered by the Ravens and 1 pick. Three of his turnovers led to touchdowns. The biggest was a pick 6 he threw as the Jets were gaining some momentum after a fumble recovery by the defense on the previous play.

Sanchez couldn’t hit anything as his passer rating (30.5) and his completion percentage (31.4) are laughable at best. He failed to read any of the Ravens blitzes and find his hot routes. This wasn’t all on Sanchez as the offensive line had another horrible game and was still suffering from the absence of C Nick Mangold.

Replacement center rookie Colin Baxter was actually benched for a few series and Vlad Ducasse made it into the game as Matt Slausson moved to center. The running game was again absent and the wide receivers dropped many of the passes that made it to their hands. The defense rebounded from a tough game in Oakland, but it wasn’t enough to overcome all the turnovers.

They got a decent pass rush, forced a few turnovers and the highlight came on David Harris’ pick 6. Starting OLB Bryan Thomas tore his Achilles on a fluke play rushing OT Michael Oher and will miss the remainder of the season which is another big loss for a team with lack of depth.

Don’t be surprised if the Jets sign a veteran offensive linemen or two and possibly a linebacker to fill in for injured players. LB Tully Banta-Cain is a viable option and the Jets worked him out not to long ago and have remained in contact with him. This has been a tough two games for the Jets and it doesn’t get easier with a trip to Foxboro to square off with Tom Brady and the Patriots looming next week.

This has turned into a must win for the Jets as they’ve fallen to 2-2.

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