The Ravens simply haven’t looked good on offense lately. Yes, Ray Rice had that great game against the Saints, but in the last six weeks Baltimore’s offense has slumped from No. 12 to No. 22 overall and managed just 199 yards in a close win over Cincinnati, the second-fewest yards in 53 games under coach John Harbaugh.

You can bet that Rice (107.3 yards average rushing over last three games) will be the featured performer, which means that Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson and defensive end Glenn Dorsey must have solid games and fight through the blocks. Baltimore is 6-1 when Rice gets at least 20 carries.

The Chiefs just allowed the Raiders 209 rushing yards and they didn’t have Darren McFadden. If Rice doesn’t produce, the Ravens will turn to Joe Flacco, who passed for over 300 yards against the Chiefs last season.

Flacco does have three receivers with over 600 career receptions, but he’s been off target with Anquan Boldin lately. Boldin has only five catches for 26 yards in his last three starts. However, the Chiefs are vulnerable at cornerback and it makes sense to throw as long as the Ravens can control pass rusher Tamba Hali.

Baltimore QB Joe Flacco has the NFL’s second-best passer rating since Week 5, throwing 16 TDs and two interceptions during that time. In the same span, Ravens RB Ray Rice has the fifth-most net yards from scrimmage, averaging 118.9 total yards per game. But he has only scored three TDs in that span. Baltimore has again re-adjusted its offensive line, returning Chris Chester to right guard and moving Marshal Yanda back to right tackle. This unit has allowed 13 sacks in the last three games, 22 in the last five games. Ravens LT Michael Oher needs to contain Saints RDE Will Smith or Flacco could be running for his life again.

Veteran wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth generated the Baltimore Ravens’ longest play from scrimmage this season against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He caught a 67-yard pass that quarterback Joe Flacco short-armed.

“The corner must have thought it was going to Ed Dickson and it kind of went over his head and Joe made a safe throw,” Stallworth said. “We had an easy completion. It was a smart thing to do. We were able to get down the field and change field position.

With his speed, the Ravens would like to get Stallworth more involved.

He has two receptions for 82 yards this season and four runs for 30 yards.

“Yeah, I think that’s something we’ve been working towards, just trying to get some balls down the field,” Stallworth said. “Hopefully, that role could be expanded during games.”

Baltimore doesn’t want QB Joe Flacco forced into attacking CBs Aqib Talib and Ronde Barber (eight combined interceptions). The Ravens, despite the influx of new receivers, still don’t seem to have an offensive identity with Ray Rice their main running threat. The Bucs give up 136.5 yards per game on the ground, although rookie S Cody Grimm is getting better weekly while largely playing in the box. The Bucs are 0-3 against teams currently with winning records.

The Ravens love to pound Ray Rice as much as possible and then allow Joe Flacco to work off play-action. However, Flacco continues to prefer dump-off passes to testing defenses on deep routes. But offensive coordinator Cam Cameron says the two aren’t arguing about the play-calling. The Ravens also get back Pro Bowl FS Ed Reed and Brendan Ayanbedejo, one of the game’s best special teams players.

Ravens QB Joe Flacco is coming off his best game of the season, showing tremendous poise in the fourth quarter to beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Broncos CB Champ Bailey has commented that Flacco has a lot more weapons, starting with Anquan Boldin. This could be a pass-happy game because the Broncos can’t run while Kyle Orton has thrown for 1,419 yards in the first four games. The Ravens generally struggle after big wins, but claim to be focused for this one. Ray Rice is their big advantage, plus the improvement of their offensive line.

The Jimmy Clausen era starts today and again the Panthers will try to help him by getting their two running backs, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, untracked against a Bengals defense that is allowing 4.9 yards a carry after two games. Of course, Carolina's run game has been hurt by the absence of RT Jeff Otah. The Bengals have lost five straight road games and must play a more complete game to beat the Panthers. Clausen doesn’t figure to have much success against Cincinnati’s two fine cornerbacks, Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall. Those two guys basically shut down Joe Flacco last week.

Ravens WR Anquan Boldin (thigh probable) took full reps Friday and is fully expected to play this weekend against the Bengals. Boldin looked great against the Jets and we expect another solid performance as he emerges as Joe Flacco's go-to guy.

Baltimore Colts coach John Harbaugh expects T.J. Houshmandzadeh to play "a lot" vs. the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. Houshmandzadeh said he feels good with the offense and has good chemistry with quarterback Joe Flacco.

It would not be wise to have Houshmandzadeh in your lineup.

The Baltimore Ravens’ objective on offense this season appears to be eradicating all forms of predicability.

Joe Flacco threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns for the pass-happy Ravens, whose no-huddle offense befuddled the New York Giants in a 24-10 preseason victory Saturday night.

Flacco completed 21 of 34 passes before leaving after one series in the third quarter. Last year, he threw as many as 34 passes only seven times for a team that relied heavily on the run.

The third-year quarterback connected with five different receivers — throwing touchdowns to newcomer Anquan Boldin and old hand Todd Heap — and ran for a team-high 16 yards.

The Ravens passed 32 times in the first half, ran only 11 times and amassed 17 first downs and 243 yards.

Baltimore's wide receivers didn't leave the game unscathed however. Donte’ Stallworth broke his foot and will likely be lost for two months, while Mark Clayton sustained a mild concussion.