After calling Calvin Johnson “old”, I fully expected Ravens rookie safety Matt Elam would look like a fool in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football. Boy was I wrong.
Megatron was limited to 98 yards receiving on six catches, he was targeted 14 times. Elam led the Ravens in tackles with 10 (7 solo) and ended the Lions’ hopes of a comeback after Justin Tucker‘s go-ahead 61 yard field goal when he intercepted Matt Stafford with 38 seconds remaining in regulation.
“No disrespect to Megatron, I didn’t mean it that way,” Elam told the Baltimore Sun’s Aaron Wilson after the game. “He’s one of the greatest receivers. It was just my competitive spirit.”
Whatever you want to chalk it up to, it worked. There ended up being no extra motivation for Johnson who was limited to just two catches for eight yards in the first half.
Johnson told reporters last week that the Ravens secondary were “definitely guys we can make plays on.” Jimmy Smith begged to differ as he shut down Megatron all night.
