Joe Flacco and Ray Lewis

I watched the painful loss last night by the Ravens. The Steelers had no business winning that game, but a Raven's penalty and a bad punt allowed the Steelers to rally to force overtime where they would eventually win. Truth be told, the Ravens had an obvious touchdown by Mason, but the refs saw otherwise.

But that was the game, let me talk about two players who stood out in this game, Ray Lewis and Joe Flacco. Lewis the veteran, who is in his 13th year and the other a rookie.

First let me say Lewis played outstanding ball. He must have tackled every single Steeler during the game (and to think people thought he was done). He still has a couple more years to go. As for Flacco, he throws strong, moves out the pocket pretty well and has a quiet calm and leadership that has been missing for a while. When I saw him in preseason, I said this kid is good, but is 3 years away. Boy was I wrong. The kid is good and will only get better. He did something no Raven quarterback has done in a while (maybe ever), he led the Ravens back into a game after being flustered and oh my God!, they scored a touchdown.

This season will be a fun one for the Ravens, I still think they will end up 8-8 or 9-7 and build nicely for the future. The one obvious piece missing is to give Flacco a receiver. Derrick Mason is very good, but for the Ravens to be better, they need to give Flacco a big game, big receiver for a big play.