Flacco spreading the wealth

Flacco spreading the wealth
October 1, 2012, 2:31 am
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As the Ravens' no-huddle offense evolves, so has quarterback Joe Flacco's distribution.

While he may have relied too heavily on Dennis Pitta in the first two weeks -- Flacco even suggested on several occasions that defenses had "a bead on" where he was going with the ball -- he has begun to spread the wealth.

Pitta had 18 catches and two touchdowns in the first three games. In the 24-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Flacco targeted Pitta 15 times alone. In the last game, a 23-16 win against the Cleveland Browns, he only targeted Pitta twice.

As receiver Torrey Smith has gotten more looks from Flacco by stretching the field, so have the other pass catchers.

"Never panic if you're not getting the ball because anything can change," said Smith, who had four catches and no touchdowns in his first two games but 12 catches for 224 and three touchdowns since then.

"Joe goes through his progression and he hits whoever is open. He feeds the hot hand a lot of the time," Smith said. "We have a lot of different weapons, tight ends and a number of receivers, running backs. We're heading in the right direction as an offense."

Jacoby Jones gets a few targets as well. He only had three catches against New England, but he totaled 86 yards. He had a touchdown catch called back against the Eagles.

And Anquan Boldin, who seemed like a forgotten man until last week, exploded for nine catches -- one fewer than he had in the first three games combined -- and 131 yards against Cleveland.

"I don't worry about it. It's going to come. Your number is not going to be called all the time," Boldin said. "You got to be ready to make a play.

"Especially when you get man coverage, I feel like I can make a play on anybody."