Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has never beat Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger until today.
All off-season the Ravens heard the criticism of Flacco, including Steelers Linebacker Lamarr Woodley, saying Joe wouldn’t win a Super Bowl.
The Baltimore Ravens and Joe Flacco proved today that Joe can do it as the Ravens put the Steelers on notice with a 35-7 victory.
Ray Rice got things going early as he ran for 36 yards on the opening play of the game to the Pittsburgh 27. Two plays later, Joe Flacco found Anquan Boldin in the end zone for a 27 Yard TD to give the Ravens an early 7 point lead. The offense continued to light up the Pittsburgh Steelers as they moved down the field with ease and eventually held a 21 to 7 lead in the middle of the second quarter. At the end of the game Flacco ended up 17/29 for 224 Yards and 3 Touchdowns on the day but it was the Ravens defense that made the most plays.
There were concerns heading into this game about how the Ravens defense would look under new Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano.Pagano would be the third defensive coordinator for the Ravens under John Harbaugh, but the defense looked like the old Ravens defense.
The Steelers, despite putting up a TD in the second quarter struggled to find any kind of offense all game long and was feeling the pressure all day. One of the reasons was defensive tackle Haloti Ngata who helped the Ravens defense get a team record seven turnovers.
Future Hall of Famer Ray Lewis showed that he still has some gas left in the tank by recording a interception and forcing a fumble that was recovered by fifth round pick Pernell McPhee, and Ed Reed came up with two interceptions in a game dominated on both sides of the field by Baltimore.
The tides have turned in the AFC North and the Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Joe Flacco are coming for the AFC title.