Fox, NBC benefit from two riveting National Football League games

“It hasn’t been ideal, and we’ve got to get better”, Flacco said. They’ve won eight straight and beaten teams like the Packers, Eagles and Steelers in recent weeks. There are 32 teams in the National Football League and only 15 have winning records.

Considering he is in the first year of a rookie deal paying him just $2.7 million over four years – when the man he unseated is part way through a six-year, $108 million contract – you could make a strong case that Prescott is now the NFL’s most valuable player. Mosley’s hamstring injury that cost him two games, and Elvis Dumervil has only played two games this year thanks to a foot injury.

The following week does not get much better aside from Thanksgiving Day.

Get ready to hear that one a lot this Sunday as the run-stopping Ravens take on the run-happy Dallas Cowboys this Sunday at AT&T Stadium. They grabbed center Travis Frederick in 2013 and he’s gone to two Pro Bowls. Elliot is the only running back in the league to top the 1,000 yard mark on the ground so far.

The accolades just keep on coming for Elliott … as do the yards. He improved in week 2 with 83 yards in Washington. Dallas is ranked second in the league in run blocking per Football Outsiders. His 83-yard reception came with the team trailing 12-3 and sitting at 2nd-and-18 behind their own 20-yard line. The Ravens will need to put their best on the field to make sure that they don’t allow big plays in the passing game, which has been the Achilles heel of their number one ranked defense.

You will have no doubt heard the rhetoric that has been bandied about that running back is a totally replaceable position.

I don’t want to pick on the Jets. Both are the most such games through 10 weeks in league history. Baltimore has registered 22 sacks this year, but the Ravens get most of their sacks by blitzing and mixing up their defensive fronts. Terrell Suggs is still a force when it comes to rushing the quarterback. The Vikings have suddenly started looking like a team that has lost its starting QB and running back after going undefeated in five games without both. Defensively, Dallas has totaled 19 sacks after getting to Roethlisberger just once.

It’s been an interesting season, to say the least. Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott are playing like MVP candidates, and the offensive line isn’t letting any defender get near them.

Baltimore remains a middle of the road team, Joe Flacco is taking up a ton of their salary cap and he’s completed nine touchdowns to nine interceptions this season.

Now three receptions shy of becoming the 14th receiver all time to hit the milestone, Smith is no longer entertaining the idea.

Smith not only led the Ravens in targets and receiving yards in Week 10, but his 13.7 air yards per target also topped the team. He had a season-low five targets against the Browns though he still had four catches for 59 yards. Can he help lead the Ravens to the playoffs? Dallas’ secondary is below average. If we go out there and we play well and win football games, all the good stuff will come with it.

What’s really impressive, to me, is how the Baltimore Ravens defense has out-played itself.