For the second straight week of the preseason the Baltimore Ravens secondary struggled, this time it was against Calvin “Megatron” Johnson.
Johnson the veteran Lions receiver amassed 111 yards and a touchdown in the first half on just five receptions. The 6′ 5″ Johnson has his way with every Ravens starting cornerback on Friday evening. He caught one pass for 57 yards on Cary Williams, two receptions for 26 yards and a touchdown against Jimmy Smith and one reception for 11 yards on Baltimore’s shutdown corner LarDarius Webb.
To make matters worse the Ravens were not able to establish much of a pass rush against Detroit’s starting offensive line and starting quarterback Matt Stafford. Stafford had little problem finding open receivers and finished the night 12-for-17 for 184 yards and two touchdowns. “Listen now. You’re talking about a person who probably should be running track, but he chose football,” linebacker Ray Lewis stated about Johnson after the game. “He is a mismatch problem for a lot of people.”
The Ravens did have some bright spots however on Friday night. The offensive line held their own against a fierce pass rush from Lions starters including Cliff Avril and Ndamukong Suh. The only sack that the group gave up was when running back Anthony Allen missed a block on the second play of the second quarter. Quarterback Joe Flacco finished his evening 7-for-12 for 79 yards and no interceptions
The Ravens kicking game was tested last night in a battle between current kicker Billy Cundiff and rookie Justin Tucker. Cundiff hit both of his field goal attempts from 33 yards and 44 yards. Tucker went kick for kick with the veteran and made both of his attempts including a 50 yard field goal in the second quarter.
The Ravens will host the Jacksonville Jaguars in preseason game three next week at home in Baltimore.
