Gus Johnson, CBS announcer, described Joe Flacco as “tall, dark and handsome” during the Ravens and Browns broadcast. While that may be the case according to some, some might want to consider adding another adjective when talking about the Ravens’ young quarterback.

Effective.

Flacco was everything a football team could ask for in a QB during the Ravens’ route of the Cleveland Browns. He made smart decisions, knew when to step up in the pocket and when to throw the ball away. He kept his poise and made plays while under some pressure, further developing his reputation as one of the best at his position thus far this season. The game stats don’t lie; Flacco completed over 71% of his passes, threw for a career high 347 yards, another touchdown, and avoided the mistakes.

It’s obvious that this team’s reliance on the run is not going to disappear. The majority of the touchdowns scored this season have been via the ground game, which is nothing strange to what fans are used to. Over the years, Ravens’ fans have seen the success and failure of a totally run-based offense. The difference this season, however, is the team’s process of moving down the field and setting up those easy, unchallenged scores. Flacco has been able to put together offensive drives that involve the passing game as a legitimate part of moving the chains, getting into the red zone, and giving his teammates the best chance to find the end zone for six points. The running game is still an intricate part of the offense, but Flacco has single-handedly taken some of the weight of responsibility off of Ray Rice’s and Willis McGahee’s shoulders.

The return of L.J. Smith, the free agent tight end whom the Ravens signed over the off-season, gave Flacco another target to throw to. While Flacco didn’t take much advantage of Smith’s size, he did find the injury-prone tight end for one connection that was worth 26 yards. With the addition of Smith, Flacco found eight different receivers to help him gain the most yardage in one game in his career. Kelly Washington and Derrick Mason have also been huge contributors. The question is, would a big named wide receiver, much like Brandon Marshall, whom the Ravens made attempts to trade for just months ago, make that much of a difference at this point? The answer seems to be an astounding “no”.

Today was also the day that we finally saw the defense play like we have been privileged to experience over the past several seasons. The four interceptions and two sacks were sure signs that the “d” was back and ready to prove that they were not going to let anybody down. Brendon Ayanbadejo, Dawan Landry, Ed Reed, and Domonique Foxworth all picked off the Cleveland quarterbacks, setting up opportunities for Flacco and company to get points on the board.

On the other hand, the Browns looked downright awful. Eric Mangini continued to prove why a head coaching position in the NFL shouldn’t be wasted on him. The few threats that Cleveland brought to the table were shut down by Baltimore’s dominating defense; Braylon Edwards couldn’t contribute and Joshua Cribbs had nowhere to go on special teams. Without an offense that can score, or a defense that can stop anybody else from scoring, the Browns are in for a very long season.

The Ravens seem to have an early grip on the AFC North, especially with the loss that the Steelers suffered. However, the Bengals are no

pushover, and could easily be 3-0 if it wasn’t for a well-placed, late game throw by Kyle Orton that took a wild bounce and into the hands of Denver’s Brandon Stokley. While the Browns were fading before the season started, the Bengals were a team that many analysts picked to surprise people. It seems as if the Steelers were the first victim of the surprise attack that the Bengals hope to launch on their opponents this year.

But, it’s hard to hide the excitement in the air, now that Pittsburgh is two games out of first with a tough schedule ahead of them. The Ravens smell blood, and with the way the offense has been clicking, it may prove to be a challenging task for the rest of this division to find their way back into contention. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though; We’re three games into the year and there is still a lot of great football to be played.

Under The Radar Player Of the Week, Week Three: Derrick Mason

The veteran wide receiver put some huge numbers on the board this week against the Browns. 118 yards on 5 catches left Mason as the most productive of Ravens’ wide outs. Mason is quickly proving that the lack of any off-season trade for Brandon Marshall or Anquan Boldin was the best decision that Ozzie Newsome made going into 2009. Also during the game, Mason caught his 800th career pass, making him only the 23rd player in NFL history to reach that monumental milestone.

Quote Of The Week:

“We’ll let [opponents] read that message however they want. They know we’re coming to play.  We’ve just got to come into every game with that attitude. With this group of guys, I think we’ll go a long way.”

~ Todd Heap, Ravens’ tight end, in reference to the Ravens’ growing reputation as contenders in the league