Ravens bounce back from Week 1 loss with dominating 26
Ravens coach John Harbaugh walked toward the back of the bench to exhort the fans, held four fingers in the air to signal the start of the final quarter and welcomed Haloti Ngata to the sideline with a flying chest bump.
Despite one of the most trying weeks in franchise history, Harbaugh told general manager Ozzie Newsome on Wednesday that he felt his team was ready to play well and was he ever prophetic.
The Ravens broke the trend of close games against their biggest rival by delivering a 26-6 beatdown to the Pittsburgh Steelers in front of an announced 71,181 at M&T Bank Stadium and a prime-time television audience.
Quarterback Joe Flacco completed 21 of 29 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns, both to veteran tight end Owen Daniels. The Ravens' offense punished the Steelers with short passes and a persistent Bernard Pierce-led ground game. Justin Tucker kicked four field goals, and the defense forced three turnovers and held the Ben Roethlisberger-offense to two field goals.
And when it was over, a whole organization exhaled. The Ravens improved to 1-1 on the season and now get the weekend off before traveling to play the Cleveland Browns next week.
All week the Ravens dealt with the fallout from the release of Ray Rice. Despite the fact that one of their biggest rivals was coming to town, there was very little discussion about a football game.
But the Ravens looked more than ready, getting off to an early 10-0 lead and never trailing in the game.
Like the Cincinnati Bengals did last week, the Steelers took the opening drive and immediately pushed deep into Ravens territory. The Ravens thought that they had them stopped for a three-and-out when strong-side linebacker Courtney Upshaw sacked Roethlisberger on third down. But Upshaw hit Roethlisberger with the crown of his helmet and was called for roughing the passer, prolonging the drive.
An 18-yard completion from Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown moved it to the Ravens' 21, but two plays later, Ravens middle linebacker Daryl Smith stripped wide receiver Justin Brown after a 6-yard completion. DeAngelo Tyson pounced on the ball, putting an end to the Steelers' 12-play, 7-plus minute drive.
Unlike last week, the Ravens' offense started out in rhythm, with a heavy reliance on the running game. A week after Flacco tied a career-high with 62 passing attempts, the Ravens ran the ball on eight of their first 12 plays. Pierce, who didn't return to last week's game after his second-quarter fumble, started and got six of those carries.
Flacco, who prolonged the drive by picking up a fourth-down conversion with a quarterback sneak, was also 4-for-4 for 28 yards on the first possession. The drive ended with him finding tight end Owen Daniels alone in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
The defense then forced a quick punt, and Flacco again had the Ravens on the move. He hit Steve Smith for 23 yards to take the ball into Pittsburgh territory. A 13-yard run by Justin Forsett and a 7-yard reception by Daniels got the Ravens into the red zone. After hitting on his first eight attempts, Flacco threw back-to-back incompletions as the Ravens settled for a 30-yard field goal by Tucker for a 10-0 lead.
The Steelers, though, answered the field goal on the legs of second-year back Le'Veon Bell. He broke a series of tackles and bounced outside for a 21-yard gain. Roethlisberger then dumped the ball off to him on a 19-yard connection. Pittsburgh ultimately got inside the Ravens' 10 before settling for Shaun Suisham 's 25-yard field goal.
The 10-3 score held into halftime. The Steelers stopped the Ravens on the first drive of the second half and then took over right around midfield. More impressive running by Bell got the Steelers inside the Ravens' 30, but a big sack by Elvis Dumervil - his second of the night - contributed to the Steelers settling for another field goal by Suisham. His 43-yard conversion pushed the Steelers within 10-6.
However, the Ravens put together another drive with Flacco finding the rhythm that he showed early. On a third-and-4, he took advantage of a positive matchup and hit tight end Dennis Pitta in the slot for a gain of 24. Torrey Smith followed with his first catch, going for 10 yards, and then Daniels caught made an 11-yard catch two plays later.
Helped by two questionable defensive penalties by the Steelers, the Ravens converted on a first-and-goal with Flacco again finding Daniels alone in the back of the end zone. The 1-yard touchdown pass made it a 17-6 game. Flacco went 6-for-6 for 56 yards on the scoring drive.
On their next drive, Flacco made another completion to Steve Smith - this one for 22 yards on the final play of the third quarter. The Ravens had multiple shots from in close before ultimately culminating a 10-play, 53-yard drive with a 23-yard field goal by Tucker. He wasn't done.
Rookie weak-side linebacker C.J. Mosley stripped tight end Heath Miller after a short reception. The Ravens again were stopped in the red zone, but Tucker's 22-yard field goal - his third of the game - extended the Ravens' lead to 23-6.
After a seven-play, 53-yard drive, Tucker kicked his fourth field goal of the game -- this one from 20 yards -- to give the Ravens a 26-6 lead with under 5 minutes left.
jeff.zrebiec@baltsun.com
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