Baltimore Ravens: A New Era

[DynastyBeast]

Ravens officially bring in Rucker
By: Tim Charles, Baltimoreravens.com

After a successful workout on Tuesday, the Ravens signed running back Jeron Rucker to a one year deal. "We are very pleased with what we saw out of him on Tuesday and knew he would be a necessary piece to the team," said Ozzie Newsome. This move comes in lieu of the Jordin Bledsoe injury. Bledsoe was not placed on IR so he could make a return if his recovery is quick. Newsome added Rucker "will see some carries Sunday" vs. the New Orleans Saints. The Ravens cut receiver Clayton Favors to make space for Rucker.

Rucker is 28 years old and has 4 years of NFL experience. He is 5'8, 210 pounds. He is from San Diego, California and began his college career at USC. However, he transferred after his freshman year after little playing time. He enrolled at West Virginia and became a three year starter for the Mountaineers. His senior season was by far his best collegiate season recording 1,268 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. He was drafted in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. In his rookie season with Atlanta, Rucker rushed for 123 yards on 49 carries and scored 1 touchdown. In 2015 however, he was buried on the depth chart and only had 49 yards on 20 carries. New coach Ray Horton was not pleased with Rucker's progress and his shipped Rucker to Buffalo for a conditional 4th round pick. Rucker had his best season in 2016 rushing for 467 yards on 147 carries and added three touchdowns. Rucker was cut before the 2017 season by Bills coach Urban Meyer because he felt the other backs had "more upside." He played for the Jets and only had 7 carries for 31 yards in 2017. Before 2018, Rucker had a tryout with the Eagles but did not make the roster. The Ravens seem to be pleased with the signing and hopefully he will make an immediate impact on Sunday.

[DynastyBeast]

Baltimore Beatdown
38 unanswered points lead Ravens to 38-14 victory

The Saints got off to a fast start despite Jimmy Graham being injuried. Drew Brees is still around and started off firing. They drove down the field and on 3rd and 18 in the red zone, Brees connected with Pro Bowl receiver Mychal Miles for the first down. Mark Ingram would punch it in. On the Ravens next drive Flacco would check it down to Darren McFadden but the ball would be stripped and recovered by the Saints and Mark Ingram would punch it in again. The Ravens would go three and out on their next drive.

The Saints would drive down the field but in the red zone, Dre Kirkpatrick would intercept a pass to prevent any more points. The Ravens moved the ball some but the drive would stall. The Saints would continue to move the ball down the field with Mark Ingram picking up chunks of yardage. Isikeli Franklin got a huge sack off of the edge within 2 seconds of the ball being snapped on third down forcing a 51 yard field goal. Bo Tremblay would miss the field goal giving the Ravens good field position. Joe Flacco would complete several first down passes to his receivers and got within the red zone by the two minute mark. They tried a draw play with Jeron Rucker. The Saints blitzed but Rucker cut right shed a tackle and went untouched for a 16 yard touchdown. On the ensuing drive, Brees would throw an ill-advised pass that would be picked off by Kirkpatrick again who would take it to the 1. Joe Flacco would throw a slant to Torrey Smith for the touchdown. The Ravens regained the momentum and tied it up at 14.

The Ravens and Saints defenses took over in the beginning of the third. Then Joe Flacco started leading a drive downfield. On third and 13 around the 35, Flacco connected with Jorvante Haynes on a flag route against a blitz. Haynes would make a leaping catch. Marshawn Lynch would score on a six yard run. The Ravens would add a field goal early in the fourth to make it 24-14. The Saints couldn't get anything going in the fourth quarter and the Ravens would run the ball to keep the clock going. Deantre Morris and Rucker would both add touchdowns. The Saints would get close to the end zone one more time but Hassan Glover would pick it off in the end zone.

Dr. Dre came to play
Dre Kirkpatrick had one of the best games of his career intercepting 3 Drew Brees passes. Kirkpatrick has always been responsible for covering top receivers but doesn't record many interceptions.

Joe was Cool, Brees was Cold
Flacco had an efficient game going 21/32 for 221 yards and 1 touchdown with no interceptions. Meanwhile Brees went 16/34 for 189 and 4 interceptions. The run game and good defense was enough for Flacco to not have to have an amazing game.

Rucker not a sucker
The running game was much improved against a strong Saints front 7. Rucker lead the way with (12-51-2). Lynch added (6-25-1) and Morris with (6-29-1).

Miles Away
The Ravens pass rush arguably changed the course of the game. They forced longer third downs and field goals which resulted in missed points. Trovon Miles had 3 sacks, Easy Franklin and Angelo Sylve each had one.