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"I don't consider it a challenge. He's just one guy," Baltimore Ravens safety Darian Stewart said on Bengals receiver A.J. Green, via ESPN. "We have to make plays when it comes to us and just be aware of where he's going to be at all times."
Stewart, a former college free agent that's played for St. Louis for four seasons ('10-'13), signed a one-year deal in Baltimore during the offseason. According to the Baltimore Ravens depth chart, Stewart is the Ravens starting free safety (with former Bengals safety Jeromy Miles backing him up). In a way, he's unfamiliar with his assigned tasks.
His first task with the Ravens this season will be playing against Cincinnati, a team employign one of the league's best wide receivers... a receiver, ESPN's Jamison Hensley writes, who has hurt the Ravens in the past.
On Nov. 10 in Baltimore, Green made a leaping circus catch for 43 yards near midfield. Even though Green was double covered, quarterback Andy Dalton trusted his three-time Pro Bowl receiver enough to throw the ball anyway. Green made a juggling grab around Ravens safety James Ihedigbo, who was in position to break up the pass.
Green sent that same game into overtime with 51-yard touchdown off a last-second Hail Mary toss. After the ball bounced off Bengals receiver Marvin Jones, Ihedigo tipped the pass into the air instead of knocking it down. The ball landed into the hands of Green, who finished with 151 yards receiving.
In the regular season finale, Green put the Bengals up, 7-6, in the first quarter with a 53-yard touchdown. Ravens safety Matt Elam was burned so badly that he tried to hold Green to stop the Pro Bowl receiver from getting behind him and missed on that, too.
In five games played against the Ravens, Green has caught 21 passes for 334 yards receiving and two touchdowns -- both scored in 2013.
DATE | TARGET | REC. | YDS | TD |
12.29.2013 | 10 | 4 | 61 | 1 |
11.10.2013 | 15 | 8 | 151 | 1 |
12.30.2012 | 2 | 2 | 26 | 0 |
9.10.2012 | 11 | 5 | 70 | 0 |
1.1.2012 | 9 | 2 | 26 | 0 |