BALTIMORE RAVENS (1-0)
at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (1-0)
Kickoff: Sunday, 1:00 p.m. EDT Line: Philadelphia -2½, Total: 46½ After a struggle in Cleveland, the Eagles will look to straighten things out when they host the Ravens on Sunday afternoon. The Browns proved to have a surprisingly fast defense in Week 1, forcing five Philly turnovers. The Eagles still managed 456 yards of offense, including 91 on a game-winning drive in the final two minutes. Baltimore’s D is big and physical, but may not match up quite as well with the Eagles’ speed. The Ravens might have the offense to keep up with Philly, after they’ve adopted a no-huddle, more up-tempo attack this season, which resulted in a 44-13 drubbing of the Bengals on Monday night. Which team will improve to 2-0 on the season? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the StatFox Experts picks for every NFL game throughout the 2012 season and playoffs. Ravens QB Joe Flacco had a huge performance on Monday night, completing 21-of-29 passes for 299 yards, 2 TD and 0 INT. The no-huddle offense seemed to fluster the Bengals, as Baltimore scored on seven of its nine full drives. Flacco completed multiple passes to seven different teammates, but targeted TE Dennis Pitta nine teams, completing five of those passes for 73 yards. The Ravens’ ground game was also clicking with 122 yards on just 23 carries (5.3 YPC). Ray Rice rumbled for 68 yards and two touchdowns, needing only 10 carries to do so. Baltimore’s defense has a new coordinator in Dean Pees, but some familiar faces led the way in Week 1. DT Haloti Ngata notched two sacks, LB Ray Lewis had 14 tackles (11 solo) and one sack, while S Ed Reed had an interception return for a touchdown. Reed scored on a 107-yard INT return the last time the Ravens faced the Eagles, as part of a 36-7 blowout win back in 2008. The one negative for the Baltimore defense in Week 1 was allowing Cincinnati to run for 129 yards on 28 carries (4.6 YPC), which could be a problem with the talented ball carriers for Philadelphia. The Eagles know they can move the football, but they’ll have a much harder time if WR Jeremy Maclin (hip flexor) doesn’t play. Maclin was targeted 14 times on Sunday, catching half of those passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. Even with QB Michael Vick throwing the football 56 times against the Browns (career-high-tying 4 INT), the Eagles still rushed the ball 30 times, picking up 150 yards. McCoy had 110 of those on his 20 carries and could get even more action if Maclin can’t play. Philly’s defense came out aggressive against rookie QB Brandon Weeden and picked off four of his passes and saddled him with a 5.1 QB rating (12-for-35, 118 yds, 0 TD, 4 INT). Cleveland gained just 210 yards and 3.6 yards per play for the afternoon.
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