The Ravens offense has shown a spark the last two games.
Jacoby Jones and his quick step probably have something to do with that.
The speedy wide receiver has returned to form in recent weeks, and helped jump-start an offense that was in desperate need of playmakers.
"I'm starting to get my bounce back, and I'm just getting back into rhythm with Joe [Flacco]," Jones said.
Jones came up big in Thursday's 22-20 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jones finished with four catches for 53 yards, and he also added two kickoff returns and two punt returns for a total of 123 yards.
It was the kind of performance the Ravens expected to consistently get out of Jones this year, before his season was sidetracked by a knee injury in the first game. Jones hurt his knee in the first half against the Broncos when teammate Brynden Trawick crashed into him while he was trying to fair catch a punt.
The injury sidelined him the next four games and limited his explosiveness once he finally did return.
But now Jones has his burst back, and he's shown off that speed with big plays in back-to-back games.
"I'm getting back to myself physically, health-wise," Jones said. "I'm just getting back to myself, where I was Week 1, had to do all that again."
Jones has brought the big play element to the Ravens offense that was lacking earlier this season. He had a key 34-yard catch against the Steelers to set up a critical fourth-quarter field goal, and he also had a 66-yard game-breaking touchdown against the Jets in Week 12.
"Jacoby is huge," Flacco said. "Any time you can get two guys on the field that can run like he and Torrey [Smith] can, it makes it a tough match up, because [opponents have] got to pick one to feel like they've got to stop. Jacoby's doing a great job running some of the short routes, so that when he does get deep, it's usually a pretty big role."
In the last two games, Jones has eight catches for 156 yards and a touchdown. He also has 269 total return yards.
He likely would have scored on one of those kickoff returns had Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin not interfered by stepping onto the field with his back to the play. Tomlin jumped out of Jones' way at the last second, but still altered his path and forced him inside to get tackled by cornerback Cortez Allen for a 73-yard return.
"I still should have scored," Jones said. "I should have broke the tackle or something."
Even though Jones wasn't able to make Allen miss, he is back to making the kind of plays that earned him a Pro Bowl selection as returner last season, and showing that has regained full strength just in time for the final stretch of the regular season.
"I'm feeling good again," he said.
