The Ravens made a statement in front of a national audience Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Joe Flacco played fearlessly, finding John Brown downfield for a pair of critical receptions.
The defense did not allow a second-half touchdown for the fourth time this season.
The Ravens played with a swagger that harkened back to the days when Ray Lewis and Ed Reed roamed the sideline. The Steelers appeared helpless at times and were outplayed in all three facets of the game.
While there are 12 games remaining the regular season, the Ravens certainly have the look of a team that can make a deep run in the playoffs, barring key injuries.
For now, coach John Harbaugh is trying to temper some of that enthusiasm.
“I think it’s one game at a time, just like it’s one play at a time and thinking about it, it’s great for the fans,” Harbaugh said. “The fans have a lot of fun with it. They enjoy that and I hope they feel that way, have a lot of confidence in us. But we have to go to Cleveland, and the Cleveland team is playing really well with a rookie quarterback that’s playing out of his mind right now and we got to figure out a way to stop those guys and win.”
Flacco had another impressive game at Heinz Field, going 28 of 42 for 363 yards with a pair of touchdowns and no turnovers. He managed a quarterback rating of 109.5.
The Ravens did leave some plays on the field and were limited to four field goals by Justin Tucker in the second half. However, the team was in control and there was no need to take any careless chances as it continued to build on the lead.
Still, Flacco was not happy with the overall performance. The Ravens managed 451 yards of total offense, compared to 284 for Pittsburgh.
“Yeah, I’m frustrated, I really am. I feel like we left stuff out there today for sure,” Flacco said. “Especially the way we started. We came out of the gate swinging, obviously had some fortunate stuff happen with our defense, getting a turnover. Tony (Jefferson) made a hell of a play there in the flat to grab that ball from the guy. You know we got down to the goal line, didn’t score, and I thought there were a couple drives at the end of the half there, where we kind of shot ourselves in the foot.”
Receiver John Brown has emerged as the Ravens’ most dangerous playmaker. He finished with three catches for 116 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown reception. The Ravens should seriously consider extending his contract before he hits the free-agent market.
In all, Flacco had completions to 11 players.
“I look at it like this, if we execute a little bit better I don’t think we’re getting stopped and we got to get to that point,” Harbaugh said. “We execute every single time with precision but to see the guys come up and make big plays in the second half that had to be made in critical situations on third down. Joe standing in there making those plays.”
There were some downsides to the game.
Running back Alex Collins had a critical fumble on the 1-yard line that completely swung the momentum. Lucky for him, the Ravens recovered from the gaffe. Receiver Michael Crabtree has been inconsistent and had a costly drop on a potential first down pass.
Nonetheless, this victory will go a long way for the Ravens’ confidence, heading into a Week 5 game against hard-luck Cleveland.
“I’ve been in this division for 16 years now, so I am very emotionally tied to this game – to this team,” linebacker Terrell Suggs said. “So, I try not to really pay attention, and just play ‘D’ when it’s our turn. But, both coordinators did a really good job. We got our third win of the season, first quarter of the season down, and we played a good game. It’s still a long season.
“We’ve started hot the last two years, and then we end up missing the playoffs. It’s one game. It’s a good division game against a rival. We know that we are going to see that team again, and we just have to continue to play winning football.”
