In Week 1, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco managed to complete only nine of his 17 passes against the Cincinnati Bengals for 121 yards. He even went the entire second half without completing a pass.
But the Ravens didn’t need much more from him in a 20-0 win.
On Sunday, will the Cleveland Browns force the Ravens to expand their offense more than the Bengals did?
“We afforded ourselves the ability to come out in the second half and run the ball, kind of just establish our physical game,” Flacco said Wednesday. “Especially there in that third quarter, we were able to have the ball for almost 10 minutes. That really put the game in our hands, especially when our defense came up with a stop coming out of the first half. We didn’t have to do that much.”
The Ravens rushed for 157 yards on a whopping 42 attempts against the Bengals.
The Browns, though, pushed the Pittsburgh Steelers and played better defensively than many people expected in a 21-18 loss. Pittsburgh managed just 35 yards on the ground — and that’s with dynamic running back Le’Veon Bell. Bell had 10 carries for 32 yards.
“They’re a very good football team,” Flacco said of the Browns. “They’re very young. They’re going to play with a ton of passion, energy, especially on the defensive side of the ball. When you can play with that kind of energy and run to the ball, that’s really what leads to good defenses. That’s how it starts. It’s running to the football, and these guys definitely do that.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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