Well now… that was one doozy of a game.

The Ravens scored early, faltered often, scored late and some how pulled out a win - even if it wasn’t the strongest, most convincing victory in recent memory.

Here are some quick thoughts coming out of the game…

Game Balls: Offensive game ball goes to Ray Rice. 150 yards on 21 carries, including a huge run late in the game to set-up the go ahead score. Rice was strong throughout the game, even when it appeared the offense was having issues. He ran straight at blockers and only made moves when he had to. And boy, those moves were pretty. Standing in for Willis McGahee, you can’t say enough about Rice’s performance as a rookie.

Honorable Mention: Mark Clayton, welcome to the 2008 Baltimore Ravens offense. We’ve been waiting years to see this guy contribute in the way he did today. Cam Cameron and the Ravens finally seemed to figure out how to use Clayton in this offense: send him down field and challenge defensive backs to catch him. Sending Clayton downfield opened up the offense in other ways too - drawing linebackers out of the box and asking safeties to cheat.

Joe Flacco! First of all, wasn’t it nice to see the Flacco actually use that arm of his that we’ve been hearing so much about? Joe was able to thread the needle a few times today, in addition to finding Clayton and Derrick Mason downfield a number of times.

The Blame Game: There was a scary 30 minutes in the middle of this game. The 2nd and 3rd quarters weren’t exactly pretty for the Ravens. There are plenty of negatives to spread around here… the special teams, offensive organization, the defensive secondary… none were fabulous  and it almost (it’s nice to being saying almost) cost the Ravens the game.

Special Teams: Coverage on kicks and punts was pathetic. Our return game was pathetic. Even ‘Steady’ Sam Koch had issues getting the ball where we needed it. And let’s just say this: it’s quite sad that we’re too worried about our offense and our kicker to even attempt a play or FG on those second-quarter drives. It must be said that Matt Stover looked strong again.

“Suggs Package”: Is it fun? Yes. But we’re also learning pretty quickly that the Ravens offense is out-smarting itself. Not only did inserting Troy Smith cause commotion and waste timeouts, it simply didn’t work. Then the Ravens unveiled the formation that Peter Schmuck’s been waiting for for years - the Ngata-goalline set-up. That worked wonders as well, didn’t it? Here’s a tip, Cam: Keep it simple. Ray can run, Derrick can catch, and Joe is learning to throw. Let’s use that.

T-Sizzle: It took some time, but Suggs got his due late in the game and sealed the deal for the Ravens. When he, Pryce and the line were able to get pressure, though, the Ravens defense was at its best.

Derek Anderson: Dear Cleveland fans, Derek hardly finished on a high note, but few of the errors in the game were solely his fault. Brady Quinn would not have saved you today. In fact, it’s my bet that Quinn would have caused you to lose by a wider margin. Anderson deserves the blame for the Suggs interception, but that’s about it. Where’s the blame on Edwards for the dropped pass? And where’s the credit to Anderson for some spectacular passes he made (namely that bullet to Heiden over the middle)?

That’s all for a first look… discuss away. More to come as the week progresses and the win sinks in. Go cheer for a Steelers loss.