A few days ago I predicted a 17-16 win for the Titans, so I’m surprised I’m writing about a dominant win by the Ravens in Nashville today.

Eleven sacks by the Ravens’ defense set the tone. 11 !!!!

It helped that the Ravens established the lead on a rainy day from their very first series of offensive plays. Joe Flacco put renewed faith in his drops-afflicted receiver Michael Crabtree from the get-go, and it paid off. Flacco went to Crabtree on the Ravens’ first offensive play, finding him open for a 21-yard gain. That seemed to relax Crabtree and he went to work. A few plays later, Flacco found Crabtree again, good for 27 yards, as Crabtree made a nice move to get open in zone coverage and pick up a few more yards after making the catch.

Crabtree capped the drive with his 4-yard touchdown catch, and it wasn’t easy. On third-and-goal, Crabtree ran a quick corner pattern and Flacco made a back-shoulder throw with velocity on it. Almost as soon as Crabtree turned to look for the ball, it was coming toward him. But Crabtree snatched the ball in midair despite the wet conditions, tumbled to the ground, then threw the ball toward the sky in celebration.

The Ravens piled up 11 franchise-record sacks as they shut out the Tennessee Titans 21-0 Sunday in the rain. Za’Darious Smith had three sacks and Patrick Onwuasor had two for the Ravens (4-2), who had six sacks by halftime. They finished a sack off the NFL record for a game shared by five teams.

Dean Pees and the Titans simply couldn’t stop his old team as the Ravens outgained Tennessee 361-106 and punted only once against a defense led by their former defensive coordinator. Pees came out of a short retirement to join first-year head coach Mike Vrabel.

Joe Flacco threw for 238 yards and a touchdown for Baltimore. Alex Collins scored on TD runs of 13 and 2 yards.

The Titans (3-3) lost their second straight and were shut out at home for the first time since moving into Nissan Stadium in 1999. Tennessee has not scored a touchdown in eight straight quarters. The Ravens couldn’t have looked much better handing Tennessee its first shutout since Nov. 28, 2010.

Marcus Mariota tried playing both with and without the partial glove covering his ring and pinkie fingers on his throwing hand. It didn’t’ help as Mariota was sacked the most in his four-year NFL career and most allowed by the Titans since giving up seven in a loss at Houston on Nov. 1, 2015. Coach Ken Whisenhunt was fired two days later.

The Titans forced a turnover with All-Pro safety Kevin Byard getting his first interception this season, off a tipped ball by TE Mark Andrews that he would have been better off just letting it sail over his head. But Tennessee did nothing with the opporunity late in the first half.

Baltimore executed nearly flawlessly from winning the coin toss. The Ravens converted 12 of 17 third downs, not counting another off a Titans penalty. They also held the ball for more than 37 minutes.

Flacco drove Baltimore 94 yards over 17 plays, eating up more than nine minutes of the first quarter before hitting Michael Crabtree on a 4-yard TD. Collins capped their next drive with a 13-yard run and a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. After halftime, Collins finished off a 78-yard drive that ate up 7:20 of the third quarter.

Playing with an early lead is right up the Ravens’ alley. They can go to their running game and stick with it, which wears down the opposing defense and also sets up play-action passing which is the real secret to Joe Flacco’s success as a QB when he is on. It also allows the Ravens defense to tee off on opposing quarterbacks with a “Wink” Martindale patented style of pressure.

INJURIES: Ravens left guard Alex Lewis was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with a neck injury after being hurt within the first minute of the fourth quarter. Lewis had been blocking on a run by Gus Edwards when he turned away from the pile slowly and went down. Trainers strapped him to a backboard and carted him off the field. Lewis was later released from the hospital after a negative CT Scan and was allowed to travel home with the team. It was one of those severe “stinger” deals where an ulnar nerve is compressed and rendered Lewis without any feeling at all in his extremities. Fortunately it cooled own and Lewis should be okay, but he will remain under observation back in Baltimore.

Titans linebacker Derrick Morgan hurt a shoulder and did not return. Left guard Quinton Spain hurt his right shoulder with 6:51 left in the third quarter and did not return.

UP NEXT: Ravens finally back home hosting New Orleans after a 3-game road trip.

Matchup
1st Downs	23	7
Passing 1st downs	13	5
Rushing 1st downs	9	1
1st downs from penalties	1	1
3rd down efficiency	12-17	1-10
4th down efficiency	1-1	0-0
Total Plays	72	40
Total Yards	361	106
Total Drives	10	9
Yards per Play	5.0	2.6
Passing	238	51
Comp-Att	25-37	10-15
Yards per pass	6.4	2.0
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Sacks-Yards Lost	0-0	11-66
Rushing	123	55
Rushing Attempts	35	14
Yards per rush	3.5	3.9
Red Zone (Made-Att)	3-3	0-0
Penalties	10-70	4-35
Turnovers	1	0
Fumbles lost	0	0
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	0
Possession	37:34	22:26