Baltimore vs. Oakland
Ravens Score a Franchise Record 55 Points in Blowout Win Over Raiders
After a series of close wins, the Baltimore Ravens put it all together on Sunday against an Oakland defense that came into the game struggling.
The Ravens put up a franchise record for points in the 55-20 win in front of a sold-out crowd at M&T Bank Stadium, improving Baltimore’s record to 7-2 and keeping them undefeated at home.
Following a 44-13 rout of Cincinnati in the season opener, Baltimore’s next four wins were by 13 total points. Last week’s come-from-behind 25-15 win over Cleveland followed before this week’s one-sided contest.
“Obviously, that was a heck of a team victory. All three phases played exceptionally well, made plays, just real pleased with the way we played today and the way we finished,” Harbaugh said as part of his opening statement to reporters after the game. “I thought we started fast, we finished well, and we played pretty good in between, which we haven't always done. So, that's a good step in the right direction."
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The Ravens scored in double-digits in each of the first three quarters, rolling the lead up to 48-17 after 45 minutes of play. The icing on the cake came on a Jacoby Jones 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown following a Raiders’ field goal to reach the 55 points, which broke the team’s record of 48 set against Detroit in December 2009.
"They brought me in to play my role, and I'm going to do whatever I have to do to succeed. Every time they call my name–whether it be a kick return or a pass–I'm going to try to make that play,” said Jones, who also became the first Raven to have more than one kickoff return for a touchdown in his tenure with the team.
It was the second special-teams touchdown the day, as punter Sam Koch scored in the third quarter on a fake field goal. Harbaugh bristled when asked if he should’ve went for a fake field goal with such a healthy lead.
“When I'm looking at the clock, and I'm seeing 25 minutes left in the game, a lot of things can happen. Turnovers can happen, people can score quick,” Harbaugh explained, “so if they're going to give us an opportunity for four points that we normally wouldn't have, we just feel obligated to take advantage of that. We are trying to win the game, so if you can extend your lead, you really should do that in this league. There is just too much talent over there to assume that they can't get back into the football game, so that's what we do."
Joe Flacco, as you could imagine, had an excellent day. He was 21-of-33 for 341 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. Torrey Smith caught two passes—both for touchdowns—for a total of 67 yards. Dennis Pitta also had 67 yards receiving and one score on five catches.
"I think we just came out from the beginning and were able to do it just like we have been when we do those kinds of things. We kept the momentum from there,” Flacco said. “Obviously, we had success. We ran the game plan, and it worked well. We stuck with it. We scored points early and continued to score them.”
Ray Rice ran 13 times for 31 yards and a touchdown while Bernard Pierce ran for 23 yards on 10 touches. Paul Kruger had a great day defensively, recording two sacks and intercepting Carson Palmer.
This was the fifth game this season that Oakland allowed more than 30 points and the second in a row over 40. The 55 points tied a franchise record for points allowed that was set in 1961 and tied in 1981.
"We had too many mental errors on defense, gave up too many big plays, we turned the ball over too many times and we didn't execute on special teams," Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. "When you do those things, it generally results in something like that."
GAME RECAP
Oakland elected to receive after winning the coin toss, but a decision to go for it on 4th and 1 from midfield didn’t work out when Kruger sacked Palmer for the turnover on downs. The Ravens turned that into points with a 48-yard field goal by Justin Tucker to open the scoring at 3-0. After a Raiders punt, the next Ravens drive ended with even more points. Flacco ran it up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 10-0 as the first quarter wound down.
After Flacco’s only turnover of the day, the Raiders got on the board with a Sebastian Janikowski field goal to make it 10-3. That would be as close as the visitors would get, as the Ravens responded with a Flacco touchdown pass to Pitta to extend the lead to 17-3. At 20-10, Rice scored on a 7-yard run to give Baltimore a 27-10 lead at halftime.
The Ravens scored three times in the third quarter. Two were Flacco passes to Torrey Smith. At 41-17, the Ravens lined up for a field goal at the 7-yard line, and that’s where Koch took the snap and ran in on the fake. Jones’ 105-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter made it 55-20 with 12:47 remaining. Flacco’s day then came to an end in favor of backup Tyrod Taylor.
UP NEXT
The Ravens likely won’t repeat the 55-point performance next week when they head to Heinz Field for their first meeting of 2012 with the rival Pittsburgh Steelers. After a 16-13 overtime win over Kansas City, the Steelers are riding a four-game winning streak and an overall 6-3 record going into Sunday’s showdown in the Steel City. If the Ravens can win, they would have a two-game lead in the AFC North along with a road win over Pittsburgh.