BALTIMORE -- Whether running back Justin Forsett starts for a third straight week is up to the Baltimore Ravens' coaching staff. There's just no argument that the veteran journeyman has done everything he can to keep hold of the job.
Forsett totaled 97 yards and one touchdown in Sunday's 38-10 win over the Carolina Panthers. The impressive part isn't that he's the only Ravens running back to gain at least 70 yards total yards in every game this season. It's how he's gained those yards.
Known more his speed and catching ability, Forsett is showing he can grind out yards inside and break tackles downfield. For the 5-foot-8 Forsett, it's more about determination than size.
"After all the experiences I had in my career, being hurt [and] being on the bottom of the depth chart last year, I didn't know if I was ever going to play the game again," Forsett said. "So every game I go out and play, I play it like it's my last."
It's become a weekly guessing game with the Ravens running backs because there's not much logic to it.
Forsett led the team in rushing in the season opener, and the Ravens started Bernard Pierce in Week 2. Pierce was active for Sunday's game, but Forsett got the start against Carolina.
After the game, coach John Harbaugh said Pierce wasn't at full strength and won't get out on the field until he's 100 percent. Pierce was listed as probable with a thigh injury.
Still, you have to wonder whether the Ravens will stick with Forsett because he's more durable than Pierce and more experienced than Lorenzo Taliaferro. Harbaugh was complimentary of Forsett after the game.
"He's making yards after the hit on his own. That's kind of how you measure a back," Harbaugh said. "I remember reading Woody Hayes' book when I was a kid, and he called it 'a string of pearls.' How many tacklers can you leave in your wake? That kind of is a measurement of a great back. And Justin is playing that way.”
Forsett clearly tops the list of biggest surprises so far. This is his fourth team in four seasons. He had a grand total of six carries for a bad Jaguars team last year.
It's difficult to believe that's the same back who broke arm tackles from linebackers Luke Kuechly (last year's NFL Defensive Player of the Year) and A.J. Klein and then bounced off safety Roman Harper for an 11-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
"He's very low to the ground," Flacco said. "He should have pretty good balance, and that's kind of what he has. When people hit him, he's very good about keeping his feet underneath of him. I feel like he spins a lot while he's getting contact, guys fall off of him. The touchdown run -- a couple of guys hit him, and he made sure he got in the end zone."
Flacco added, "That's huge. To get the ball into the end zone from the 10-yard line, and not have to go in there and pound it one, two, three times, that's huge for us; that's huge for down the road in the game. He's been able to do that all year so far.”
Whether that means Forsett is the starter for Sunday's game at the Indianapolis Colts remains to be seen.