Week 10 Game Recap: Baltimore Ravens 27, Tennessee Titans 26

What you need to know

Baltimore Ravens

Steve McNair helped bring back the Ravens after a sluggish start, and his solid play helped Baltimore overcome an early deficit to earn a hard fought win against McNair’s former club. He connected on scoring strikes with WRs Mark Clayton and Derrick Mason, as well as FB Ovie Mughelli.

RB Jamal Lewis failed to put up big numbers against the Titans, rushing 16 times for 45 yards.

Derrick Mason had a productive day against his former team, catching eight balls for 64 yards and a touchdown, and fellow wideout Mark Clayton continued his solid play with seven receptions for 125 yards and a score.

Baltimore played without stellar LB Ray Lewis, and their defense struggled early in the game without their leader. However, they stiffened in the second half and did not allow Tennessee to score after halftime. They gave their offense good field position that played a big part in their comeback victory.

Tennessee Titans

Vince Young played well in the first half, throwing for 151 yards and chipping in with a rushing score from two yards out. The second half was a different story, as the Ravens bottled up the Titans’ offense and exposed Young and his inexperience.

RB Travis Henry carried the load in the first half, running for 86 yards on 16 carries that included a one yard touchdown run that helped the Titans jump out to an early lead. However, in the second half Henry was held to 21 yards on 11 carries.

Drew Bennett finished with nice numbers, six catches for 115 yards, but just like Young and Henry, his second half was far from productive. Five of his catches came in the first half, for 103 yards, and he only caught one ball in the second half.

The Titans were able to shut down the Baltimore running game, but were carved out by former QB Steve McNair to the tune of 373 yards and three scores through the air.

What you ought to know

QB Steve McNair, Pass: 29 - 47 - 373 - 3 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 2 - 9 - 0

McNair was undoubtedly fired up for this game, and it showed in his play. The veteran signal caller finished 29 of 47 for 373 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. His team was down 26–7, and he led them to four unanswered scores in the second half. McNair spread the ball around nicely, connecting with eight different receivers and throwing touchdown passes to three different pass catchers. Aside from his two interceptions, McNair also stepped out of the end zone in the second quarter on a play that was ruled a sack and a safety. Showing the veteran poise you would expect from him, McNair put his mistakes behind him and played a tremendous second half to lead his team to victory.

RB Jamal Lewis, Rush: 16 - 45 - 0, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets)

Lewis ran the ball 16 times for 45 yards, and caught one pass for five yards in the game. The Ravens fell behind early, and resorted to throwing the ball and attacking the Titans’ secondary for the majority of the game.

RB Ovie Mughelli, Rec: 3 - 44 - 1 (3 targets)

Mughelli caught all three passes thrown to him for 44 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown reception was a score from 30 yards out.

RB Musa Smith, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets)

Smith caught just one pass for five yards, and was hurt on the play with an apparent head injury. He was carted off the field and did not return.

RB Mike Anderson, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0

Anderson ran the ball just one time for three yards in the game.

WR Mark Clayton, Rush: 2 - -7 - 0, Rec: 7 - 125 - 1 (14 targets)

Clayton’s involvement in the offense continued to grow, with the youngster catching seven passes for 125 yards and a score from 65 yards out. He tied Mason with a team high 14 targets.

WR Derrick Mason, Rec: 8 - 64 - 1 (14 targets)

Mason had a productive day against his former team, hauling in eight receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown came in the fourth quarter against blown coverage from 11 yards out and proved to be the game winner. Mason was targeted 14 times for the game.

WR Demetrius Williams, Rec: 4 - 75 - 0 (6 targets)

Williams was targeted six times, finishing with four catches for 75 yards. Three of his catches resulted in first downs.

TE Todd Heap, Rec: 4 - 49 - 0 (5 targets)

Heap was targeted five times in the game and finished with four receptions for 49 yards. He left briefly in the second quarter with an ankle injury, but returned in the second half.

PK Matt Stover 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points

Stover hit field goal attempts from 27 and 40 yards out and made good on all three of his extra point attempts to finish with nine points.

BAL Rush Defense

Playing without star LB Ray Lewis, the Ravens' defense struggled to stop the Titans’ rushing attack in the first half, where Tennessee ran the ball 22 times for 117 yards and three rushing scores. They turned it up in the second half, shutting the Titans out and holding them to 45 yards rushing on 16 attempts as a team. DB Dawan Landry recorded seven tackles and five assists to go along with a sack, and LBs Bart Scott and Adalius Thomas each chipped in seven solo tackles.

BAL Pass Defense

Baltimore’s pass defense did a good job limiting the options Young had in the passing game, and with the exception of the strong first half outing of WR Drew Bennett, pretty much shut down the Titans’ passing attack. For the game, they gave up just 205 net passing yards and held the Titans to five of 15 on third down conversions. They sacked Young twice in the game, and Ed Reed picked off a Young pass for their only interception of the game.

QB Vince Young, Pass: 13 - 25 - 211 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 8 - 39 - 1

Young had the type of game you would expect a rookie quarterback to have against a defense the caliber of the Ravens. In the first half, while relying mostly on the running game, Young made good decisions and did not turn the ball over. He completed seven of 13 passes in the first half, five of which went to WR Drew Bennett, and ran the ball four times for 15 yards, including a two yard touchdown run. Young ran the ball three straight times inside the five yard line, scoring on his third attempt. In the second half, Young and the Titans’ offense were neutralized by a stingy Baltimore defense, and improved play by the Ravens offensively. While the Titans ate up most of the clock in the first half, the Ravens turned it around in the second half with smart play offensively. Young was forced to leave the game on the last drive after he was shaken up as he fell at the end of a scramble. He did not appear to be seriously injured. Kerry Collins replaced him, but did not attempt a pass.

QB Kerry Collins

Collins replaced Vince Young on the last drive of the game, handing the ball off to Travis Henry in an effort to set up the potential game winning field goal. He did not attempt a pass.

RB Travis Henry, Rush: 27 - 107 - 1

Henry had a solid game against a tough Baltimore defense, rushing the ball 27 times for 107 yards and a touchdown. Most of his damage came in the first half, where he ran the ball 16 times for 86 yards, including a second quarter touchdown from one yard out. Henry really helped ease some of the pressure on his young QB Vince Young early in the game, as he helped the Titans control the ball, and the clock for most of the first half. He was bottled up in the second half, as the Ravens seemed to focus most of their attention on stopping the Tennessee running game.

RB LenDale White, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (1 targets)

White did not register a carry in the game, and caught just one pass for eight yards on the only pass thrown to him.

RB Chris Brown

Brown was inactive for the game.

WR Drew Bennett, Rec: 6 - 115 - 0 (8 targets)

Bennett was targeted eight times in the game, catching six passes for 115 yards. It was a game of two halves for Bennett, who caught five passes for 103 yards in the first half and just one reception for 12 yards in the second. All of his receptions resulted in first downs.

WR Bobby Wade, Rec: 1 - 18 - 0 (2 targets)

Wade caught one pass for 18 yards, and was thrown to twice in the game.

WR David Givens

Givens did not catch a pass, and was hurt late in the game with what seemed to be a leg injury. He was carted off the field and did not return.

TE Bo Scaife, Rush: 1 - 13 - 1, Rec: 2 - 48 - 0 (4 targets)

Scaife caught two passes for 48 yards and scored a 13 yard touchdown on a lateral from QB Vince Young. The ball was thrown behind the line of scrimmage, so the play was counted as a run.

TE Ben Troupe, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (2 targets)

Troupe was targeted just two times in the game, catching one pass for three yards.

PK Rob Bironas 1 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 6 points

Bironas hit a field goal from 21 yards out, but missed from 41 yards out and had a 43 yard attempt blocked at the end of the fourth quarter that would have won the game for the Titans.

TEN Rush Defense

The Titans played well defensively in stopping the run, limiting the Ravens to 50 yards on 21 attempts for the game, a 2.4 yards per carry average. They bottled up Jamal Lewis and contained Steve McNair when he was flushed out of the pocket. DB Chris Hope recorded six tackles and two assists and LB Keith Bulluck had four solo and four assisted tackles.

TEN Pass Defense

The Titans’ secondary was shredded by McNair, giving up 373 yards and three passing scores. On the scores to Mason and Clayton, the Titans seemed to blow assignments as the receivers were wide open on each of their respective scores. DB Lamont Thompson intercepted two McNair passes, but overall it was a tough outing for the Tennessee secondary.