The Ravens have lost 24-year old kick returner David Reed for the next 3-6 weeks due to a shoulder injury.  Reed returned 3 kickoffs for 125 yards (41.7 avg) for the Ravens last weekend in his season debut.  FB Vonta Leach and CB Lardarius Webb replace him in the season opener when he was suspended, but, it’s more likely that either rookie WR Torrey Smith or rookie WR LaQuan Williams will replace Reed going forward.

25-year old Lardarius Webb and 26-year old Cary Williams will be the starting corners for the Ravens for at least a few weeks until Jimmy Smith and Chris Carr are ready to return to action.  Webb was outstanding against the Steelers last Sunday when he had 11 tackles, 1/2 a sack and 2 passes defensed.  In his two years coming into 2011, Webb played in 29 games in which he had 89 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 15 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  Webb should do a good job for the Ravens.  Cary Williams also was solid against the Steelers with 5 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed.  In his first two years with the Ravens, Williams played in 18 games in which he had 14 tackles and 1 forced fumble.  Opposing teams are likely to come after Williams until Smith or Carr come back, so the Ravens better hope he’s up to the challenge.

23-year old running back Ray Rice broke out last season for the Ravens.  He played in all 16 games in 2009 for the Ravens and he carried the ball 254 times for 1,339 yards (5.3 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  Rice has also caught 78 passes for 702 yards (9.0 avg) with 1 TD grab in his NFL career.  It looked like Rice was going to develop into a awesome running back going forward but 2010 has been a struggle for him so far.  He has played in 6 games for the Ravens so far this year and he has 115 carries for 451 yards (3.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Rice has also caught 23 passes for 138 yards (6.0 avg) so far this year.  I’m thinking that tomorrow is the game that really jumpstarts his season as the Bills have given up 182.4 yards rushing and 4.8 yards per carry so far this year.

Sure, the Ravens are averaging 214.2 yards passing per game this year but they have not been effective throwing the ball.  Joe Flacco only has a 72.1 QB Rating and he has thrown more pickoffs (6) than TD passes (5).  His protection hasn’t been a problem as he has only been sacked 5 times so far this year.  The only thing I can figure is that he’s just not in sync with his WRs and TEs so far this year.  With Derrick Mason, Anquan Boldin, Todd Heap and T.J. Houshmandzadeh going out for passes the Ravens expect to have a good passing game.  I’m pointing the finger right at Joe Flacco and saying that he needs to step up.

The Ravens added a lot of new weapons on offense around QB Joe Flacco thinking that would spark him to stardom.  That has not been the case by any stretch of the imagination so far this year.  Flacco has completed 37 of 77 passes (48.1%) for 402 yards with 1 TD pass and 5 INTs (41.2 QB Rating) so far this year.  He has also carried the ball 7 times for 11 yards (1.6 ypc) this year.  The Ravens have only scored 20 points this season so they are lucky to have a win.  All of the credit for the Ravens being 1-1 on the year should go to the defense which has been outstanding.  Flacco needs to step up soon so Coach Harbaugh never has to consider starting Marc Bulger over him.

Ray Rice looked nothing like the back he was last season in last Monday Night’s game against the Jets.  He carried the ball 21 times for 43 yards (2.0 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 19 yards (9.5 avg).  In Rice’s defensed the Jets’ D was all over the running backs of the Ravens in that game.  The Ravens only rushed for 49 yards on 35 carries (1.4 ypc) with 1 TD run in that game.  The Ravens travel to the Jungle this week against a Bengals’ D that allowed the Patriots to rush for 118 yards on 23 carries (5.1 ypc) last week.  With all due respect to the Patriots RBs they have no one on the roster in Ray Rice’s class.  Rice carried the ball 26 times for 117 yards (4.5 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 15 passes for 161 yards (10.7 avg) with 1 TD grab in two games against the Bengals last year.  I look for him to have to good game this Sunday.

Chris Carr will now get back all of his jobs that he had before the injured Lardarius Webb took them from him earlier this year.  Carr has played in 14 games for the Ravens this season and he has 29 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 sack, 2 passes defensed an 2 interceptions.  He will move back into the starting line-up just in time to deal with the Steelers and their flock of talented WRs.  Carr will also get back his job as the kickoff returner for the Ravens.  He has returned 13 kickoffs for 315 yards (24.2 avg) and 28 punts for 205 yards (7.3 avg) this season.  The Ravens need Carr to step up because it’s do or die time as far as the playoffs go.

The Baltimore Ravens are in a good position to make a run at the playoffs in the AFC but they need to pick up their play to get there.  The Ravens got the Lions and Bears at home the next two weeks and they don’t have any excuses to lose either of those games as they are way better than both of those teams.  December 27th they will travel to Pittsburgh who lost to the Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs in the last five weeks.  They might be raising the white flag by then.  The final game of the season is a trip to the Black Hole in Oakland to play the Raiders.  The Raiders might be a improved them as of late but the Ravens have no reason to lose that football game.  It all starts this Sunday against the Lions as the Ravens make a final push for the playoffs.

Last season 24-year old fullback Le’Ron McClain got a lot of action running the football but he’s back to his old blocking duties this year with Ray Rice and Willis McGahee getting almost all of the carries.  Last year, McClain played in all 16 games for the Ravens and he carried the ball 232 times for 902 yards (3.9 ypc) with 10 TD runs.  He also added 19 catches for 123 yards (6.5 avg) with a TD grab.  This season though has been different for McClain and it probably bothers him some.  He has played in 10 games for the Ravens this season and he has carried the ball 26 times for 92 yards (3.5 ypc) with 1 TD run and he has caught 18 passes for 124 yards (6.9 avg).  Only a injury to Rice or McGahee would likely lead to McClain getting the ball more this year.

The Ravens are still waiting for 27-year old WR Mark Clayton to step up.  He has played in all 9 games for the Ravens this season and he has caught 24 passes for 318 yards (13.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Clayton has also carried the ball 4 times for 28 yards (7.0 ypc) so far this year.  The Ravens expected so much more out of Clayton when they drafted him in the first round 5 of the NFL Draft five years ago.  Clayton has played in 71 games in his NFL career and he has caught 224 passes for 2,954 yards (13.2 avg) with 12 TD grabs.  He has also carried the ball 25 times for 112 yards (4.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career.  The Ravens need Clayton to step up the rest of the year if they are going to make the playoffs.