Baltimore vs. New York
Ravens End Three-Game Losing Streak in Rout of Giants to Finally Clinch AFC North Title
The Baltimore Ravens ended three weeks of frustration in a one-sided thumping of the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants on Sunday.
As a result, the Ravens (10-5) clinched the AFC North for the second year in a row and the fourth time since division realignment in 2002.
The three-game losing streak took away any chance that Baltimore had at earning a bye into the Divisional Round of the playoffs, but they at least do not have to worry about the division title being on the line next week in Cincinnati. Instead, the Ravens can relax knowing that they will host either the Bengals or Indianapolis Colts on Wild Card weekend.
"I think all of us in this room who cover this division know how difficult that is and what a challenge that is," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said after the game. “It's been especially difficult coming for us the last few weeks, so we're darn proud of that. … I'm as proud of this team right now as ever. For them to earn a championship like this means a lot.”
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The Ravens jumped out to a 14-0 lead and never looked back in the 33-14 win that turned into a nearly game-long celebration at M&T Bank Stadium. The Giants (8-7) lost their fifth game in seven tries and now look to be a longshot to reach the playoffs and defend their Super Bowl title.
It felt good for the Ravens to be able to enjoy their accomplishment on the field after a victory. Last week’s securing of a playoff berth came following a 17-point loss to Denver, so there wasn’t as much of a mood to celebrate.
"Like I said last week, we're going to see what kind of team we are," quarterback Joe Flacco said. "I think that we showed ourselves and we showed people today that we are that kind of team."
Flacco had one of his better games of the season, going 25-of-36 for 309 yards, two touchdown passes, one score on the ground, and no turnovers.
In offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell’s second game calling plays, Baltimore racked up a season-high 533 yards of offense and 224 rushing yards, also the high-water mark this season.
Bernard Pierce ran 14 times for a team-high 123 yards thanks to a 78-yard gain. Ray Rice also topped the 100-yard mark with 107 on 24 carries. He also caught a touchdown pass.
On the receiving front, Anquan Boldin had seven catches for 93 yards while Torrey Smith had five grabs for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Neither team turned the ball over—the Ravens defense just did a good job at not letting New York do anything it wanted to do on offense. Eli Manning threw for just 150 yards, and the Giants only gained a total of 67 yards on the ground. Haloti Ngata, Brendon Ayanbadejo, and Omar Brown each recorded a sack in the win.
"We couldn't get anything going," Manning said of the Baltimore defense that did not do as good of a job in stopping his brother, Peyton, last week. "The Ravens did a very good job on defense. They put a lot of pressure on me, and they gave us a lot of different looks. They made it hard for us."
GAME RECAP
The Giants elected to receive after winning the opening coin toss but went three-and-out, punting the ball to the Ravens. Baltimore’s first drive went much better. It was a 14-play, 73-yard drive that ended with Flacco’s touchdown pass to Torrey Smith for a 6-yard score, putting Baltimore ahead 7-0.
After another New York three-and-out, Jacoby Jones took Steve Weatherford’s punt back to midfield, giving the Ravens’ offense good field position. They took advantage with a 43-yard pass from Flacco to Smith, then Flacco finished the drive with a 1-yard score. It was 14-0 just 10 minutes into the game.
The Giants responded with a score on their next drive. David Wilson took one around the left end for a 14-yard touchdown, cutting the lead in half to 14-7.
The score remained as such until midway through the second quarter. The Ravens got inside the 5-yard line, but could not punch it home. They settled for a Justin Tucker field goal to increase the lead to 17-7. In their final possession before halftime, Flacco dumped one off to Ray Rice, who took it the rest of the way for a 27-yard touchdown, increasing the lead to 24-7 at halftime and given how well the defense was playing, essentially salting the game away at that point.
The only points of the third quarter came from another short field goal from Tucker after the Ravens couldn’t get the final three yards they needed for another touchdown.
Tucker kicked two more field goals in the fourth quarter to move the advantage to 33-7. The Giants ended up getting a late score when Manning connected with Domenik Hixon for a 13-yard touchdown, leading to the 33-14 outcome.
UP NEXT
After opening up the regular season with a rout over Cincinnati, the Ravens now end the season next week in a Week 17 matchup against the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Cincy (9-6) clinched a playoff berth earlier Sunday in a 13-10 win over Pittsburgh. It was their first win over the Steelers in three years also knocked Pittsburgh (7-8) out of the playoff hunt.
There’s not too much on the line for Sunday’s game outside of some playoff seeding. Expect each team to give some starters a break since they will be playing the following week.