Baltimore Ravens-Dallas Cowboys post-game thoughts, Part II

Breaking down Saturday's Ravens-Cowboys game:

1. Joe Flacco: Mike Preston gave Flacco's performance an "A," writing that the rookie QB "made some really impressive throws. He showed great patience under duress and kept his patience regardless of what happened in the game. He won a big game against a quality team." I agree with all three points, but I don't know if that warrants an "A."

Forget the rather pedestrian numbers: 17 of 25 for 149 yards and 1 TD. Flacco still hasn't learned how to protect the football when under pressure --- he lost one fumble inside the 5-yard line, giving back the momentum from Ed Reed's first interception and setting up Dallas for an easy TD. He lost the ball following another hit later in the game, though it was scooped up by a teammate. (The play might have been erased by a Cowboys penalty, since I can't find it in the play-by-play, but I definitely remember seeing the ball on the ground a second time.) Flacco also overthrew a wide-open Todd Heap in the red zone; the drive ultimately stalled and we settled for a field goal.

This is not to suggest that it wasn't a solid night for Flacco --- Dallas has a top-10 defense and leads the league in sacks, so to expect a 300-yard game would've been wildly optimistic. And certainly this was an improvement over the back-to-back clunkers at home. Bottom line: Flacco showed enough on Saturday to prove he won't be a liability in the playoffs ... but he's not yet capable of carrying this team against a quality opponent. That will most likely bite the Ravens at some point during the postseason, but until that day comes, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.

 2. The wide receivers: I can't say enough about Derrick Mason. To my mind, he's the most deserving non-MVP candidate in the league. That one-armed performance on Saturday (6 catches for 66 yards and a TD) gives the Ravens a source of inspiration to draw upon for as long as they remain standing. As for the other receivers, Mark Clayton turned in a solid if unspectacular night with 4 catches, several of them for 3rd-down conversions, and Todd Heap would've had a TD of his own had Flacco made a more accurate throw. Marcus Smith finally saw a ball thrown his way, but he gave up position to the defender, who broke up the pass.

 3. The O-Line: What a second half for this group! After surrendering 5 sacks in the first half and creating precious few holes for the backs to run through, they came out in the second half and didn't give up a single sack, then pounded the Cowboys defensive front on back-to-back, 77- and 82-yard TD runs to save the game before a suddenly suspect (and injury depleted) Ravens pass defense could give it away. Like Mason (though not as dramatically), Willie Anderson played through an injury sustained early in the game.

 4. Discipline: The numbers tell most of the story: only 3 penalties to the Cowboys' 10. Indeed, the whole game was a study in contrasts: on one sideline were the Ravens, focused and in control; on the other sideline were the Cowboys, sinking under the weight of their self-created circus, giving away field position and first downs with penalties and busted plays. We gave up several plays of 20-plus yards, but generally kept an explosive Cowboys offense in front of us, fighting for every yard. Meanwhile, against a Ravens offense that is anything but explosive, the Cowboys allowed their gap discipline to break down at the worst possible moments, surrendering consecutive TD runs of 75-plus yards to lose the game and, possibly, their playoff aspirations.

 5. Coaching: When your game plan includes a successful fake field goal, limits the dangerous combo of Terrell Owens and Roy Williams to 8 combined catches, and racks up nearly 400 yards of offense against a defense that was surrendering less than 300 per game, it's safe to say your coaches had a good day at the office. This week against Jacksonville, John Harbaugh and company have the opposite challenge: keeping the team from overlooking an opponent with nothing to play for, and remaining focused in its own home finale --- a game that will have the atmosphere of a playoff party. I'm confident that our guys, unlike Dallas's, are up to the task.