Ravens Smash Chiefs, Pack Grounds Eagles

With yesterday's games, this upcoming weekend's games are set.

In the first Sunday game, the Baltimore Ravens continue to be road warriors by thumping the upstart Kansas City Chiefs 30-7. You can ask where'd all that offense come from. And the key piece was Ravens QB Joe Flacco.

Despite people still bringing up his poor performance against the New England Patriots (a game the Ravens won, by the way), Flacco asserted himself to the tune of a 23-34, 265 yards and 2 TD performance. A stark contrast to the game in Gillette Stadium last January.

And what about Ravens TE Todd Heap? Just when you think the game may have passed him by a bit, he catches ten balls, a Ravens postseason and personal record, for 108 yards. And don't tell me you saw that coming either. The one receiver we all expected that type of game from was Anquan Boldin.

Most will point out that the Ravens defense forced five turnovers including three Matt Cassel interceptions. Very true, but the fact Baltimore showed an offensive spark against a pretty good defense can build momentum and confidence.

Then you realize the Ravens have to go to Pittsburgh.

Michael Vick's career in Philadelphia is officially in limbo...sort of, or not.

The Green Bay Packers saw to that limiting Vick's effectiveness on the ground. Vick had 8 rushes for 33 yards in the Eagles 21-16 loss. You could say Vick was contained as he did hit the air for 292 yards on 20-36 passing. He also tossed a pick with about a half minute to go to seal the deal for Green Bay.

One question: Where in the hell did Mike McCarthy find James Starks? Another question: How in the hell did this kid rush for 123 yards on 23 carries? For the 2010 season he had 29 carries for 101 yards.

I know at least two people that don't care. One is McCarthy. The other is Packers QB Aaron Rodgers who was the beneficiary of Starks and his legs. This all meant that Rodgers wore a pretty clean jersey and absorbed only two sacks.

Rodgers didn't accumulate a lot of yards through the air (180) and he only threw the ball 27 times. Rodgers didn't need to throw a lot. When he did he was pretty accurate, like 18-27 accurate and a game QB rating of 122.5. Did I fail to mention he tossed 3 TD?

So, next week looks like this:
Saturday:
Ravens/Steelers @ 4:30 PM ET
Packers/Falcons @ 8:00 PM ET
Sunday:
Seahawks/Bears @ 1:00 PM ET
Jets/Patriots @ 4:30 PM ET