Still perfect...

My run of perfection picking games against the NFL spread continues. With Baltimore not only covering, but winning, and the Cardinals up 10 on Carolina I'm in pretty good shape to be 6-0 heading into tomorrow's games. Knock wood.

Replay that Baltimore-Tennessee game 10 times and I think Tennessee wins 8 of them. Today they were the superior team, and by a long way. Three turnovers in the redzone is unforgivable, especially in a defensive struggle like this where points were impossible to come by. If Chris Johnson stays healthy I think the Titans win this game 24-10. The Baltimore defence is extremely overrated. We saw quality teams (Indy, New York, Dallas) put up lots of points against them, and Tennessee should have done the same today. They certainly put up the yards anyway. With quick elusive backs you can run on the Ravens (Johnson 11 carries 72 yards 1 touchdown), and they were vulnerable to screen passes today as well. The one area thought to be a weakness, the deep ball, was defended well though (only gain of 25+ yards was a screen pass to Johnson). The defense is a big play unit that will surrender yards, but will also create turnovers as it did today.

The Alge Crumpler fumble at the 1 yard line in the fourth quarter, the most damaging turnover no doubt, was the result of huge hits from the Ravens D. The other two turnovers were the result of poor ball protection from LenDale White and horrible judgement and a weak throw from Kerry Collins.

The Ravens offence was hopelessly stagnant all day. 50 yards on 30 carries via the ground won't get it done next week. The running game started to be mildly effective when McGahee had the ball in the final quarter, his 11 yard run on 2nd and 10 from the 45 was huge. Offensively for the Ravens, the game came down to four huge plays. The first was Flacco's incredible 48-yard touchdown strike to Derrick Mason. Following a pair of 3-and-outs that netted a total gain of 3 yards, and coming right after the Tennessee touchdown drive with Chris Johnson looking invincible, the Ravens had to make something happen. And Flacco did with that perfect pass down the sideline to Mason, splitting the zone coverage, on 3rd and 13 no less. Huge play.

The second big Ravens play was nothing more than a fluke. Flacco made one of his few poor decisions of the game to end the third quarter, heaving a ball up into double coverage that was completely midjudged by the Titans defensive backs and caught my Mark Clayton. 9 times out of 10 that's an interception or incompletion. Lucky break. The other two big plays came on the final drive, the 23-yarder to the tight end on 3rd and 2, and the 8-yarder to Clayton to set up Stover's field goal.

The Ravens benefited immensely from luck, timely plays and fantastic coaching. Tennessee may very well have been the better team, but it was Ravens who made plays when they had to. And that's all that matters really. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are leading 27-7 so I think I'm going to declare a perfect 6-0 heading into tomorrow.