Yesterday was to be the big chance that Troy Smith was waiting for. He would have the whole game to show the coaches why he should start this season under center. Instead Smith couldn’t get out of bed and a shoulder injury to Kyle Boller allowed rookie Joe Flacco his chance to impress the judges.

Not much changed. Flacco was pretty much a rookie during the contest. He threw balls high, got a bit excited and made a few mistakes. He did finally break the Ravens touchdown drought as he connected with Derrick Mason in the third quarter. He also went to the audible a few times, with success.

The problem here is that on a night that was supposed to provide some answers the team is no closer to where it wants to be. Will Smith start against the Falcons this Thursday? How serious is Boller’s shoulder? In should be cleared up in a few days but the Ravens offense still has looked rather weak and anemic to this point.

The defense didn’t look much better. The corners, Frank Walker and Corey Ivy were victimized most of the night but that’s also due to the front four getting little to no pressure on Marc Bulger. He had time and had his way with the secondary as they broke their own streak with two touchdown strikes.

The Ravens head back to M & T this Thursday to play the Atlanta Falcons in the final tune up before the season.

Other Points of Interest

– Tom Zbikowski was the star of the game. His blocked punt set up a field goal and he had an interception that the offense failed to capitalize on. He has been a solid hitter and with Reed’s status in doubt. He could contribute on more than just special teams.

- Terrell Suggs was back in uniform and didn’t do all that much. Two tackles and no pressures of the quarterback. He needs a little time to shake of the dust.

- Yamon Figurs at this point should be the 3rd receiver. Demetrius Williams can’t seem to stay healthy and Figurs shows the only bit of scary playmaking burst of speed in the receiving corps. Figurs again was excellent in the return game and was even chasing down players on punt coverage.

- As I watched the game on Baltimore’s channel two play-by-play man Gerry Sandusky let out the slip of the night. After the interception, he mentioned that it set up great “field goal position”, instead of field position. He was wrong about that anyway. They had to punt.