Despite one of the most trying weeks in franchise history, Harbaugh told Baltimore 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.
But the Ravens looked more than ready, getting off to an early 10-0 lead and never trailing.
Like the 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, Baltimore middle linebacker Daryl Smith stripped wide receiver Justin Brown after a six-yard completion. DeAngelo Tyson pounced on the ball, putting an end to the Steelers’ 12-play, seven-plus minute drive.
Unlike last week, Baltimore’s offense started out in rhythm with a heavy reliance on the run 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, completed all four of his passes on the drive, the last a scoring pass to to Daniels alone in the back of the end zone.
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 seven-yard reception by Daniels got the Ravens into the red zone. After hitting on his first eight attempts, Flacco threw two incompletions as Baltimore settled for a 30-yard Justin Tucker field goal and 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.
