Baltimore vs. Tampa Bay
Flacco Throws 4 First-Quarter Touchdowns in Ravens’ 48-17 Road Rout of Buccaneers
The Baltimore Ravens haven’t been known for strong first quarters this year, but that all changed in Tampa on Sunday.
Joe Flacco threw four touchdown passes in the opening period in the Ravens’ 48-17 dominant win over the Buccaneers to improve to 4-2 on the season.
Flacco was 21-of-28 for 306 yards and five touchdowns on the day. He had two to Torrey Smith not even six minutes into the game, and his fifth one (a 56-yard strike to Steve Smith) was just 1:03 into the second half, giving him five in just 16:03 of game play and making it a not-so-stressful sunny afternoon for John Harbaugh on a warm October day in Florida.
“It’s about the fastest start you’re going to get. For the offense to do what they did early on for Joe and the wide receivers and the offensive line is just historic,” Harbaugh said to open his postgame comments on the podium. “[Flacco] got the ball off and was very accurate. The receivers were running really precise routs, and it showed in the fact that the guys were getting open. Our offensive coaches—starting with [offensive coordinator] Gary Kubiak—did an excellent job of game planning.”
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Flacco didn’t have a touchdown in the loss at Indianapolis last week, but he had a 300-yard, three-touchdown performance against Carolina two weeks ago, so this is two outstanding games out of his last three, and the offense tied their season-high in points (38) by halftime today. In the process, Flacco was the first player in the NFL to throw five touchdown passes in the first half since Tom Brady did it in 2009.
“It was definitely a fun day; you don’t get those too often in this league,” Flacco said. “We had a great first drive going down there and putting points on the board. Defense got us the ball back—they did a really good job throughout the whole first half getting us the ball back. We were able to convert into touchdowns for the most part. It happened so quickly.”
Steve Smith had another big game, leading the team with 110 yards and catching a touchdown pass. Torrey Smith had four catches for 51 yards and two scores. Michael Campanaro and Kamar Aiken also caught touchdown passes.
Justin Forsett had a 100-yard game, gaining 111 yards on 14 carries, including a 52-yard gain on the second play of the game and setting up the first touchdown. Forsett, who is from nearby Lakeland, Florida, had plenty of family in the crowd.
“We’ve been chomping at the bit to get to [the 100-yard] mark this season, and it’s just a blessing,” Forsett said after recording his first 100-yard game in five seasons. “I had a lot of family members here, so it was good to be able to put on a show.”
Aside from Forsett’s family, there were plenty of other fans at Raymond James Stadium clad in purple. A fact that didn’t go unnoticed by the head coach.
“The tell-tale sign for us is an ‘ohhh’ during the national anthem because that’s a Baltimore tradition,” Harbaugh explained. “it was about as loud as I’ve ever heard it. So, you know it was great to see them down here.”
The Bucs, forced into passing-mode early in this game, got over 300 yards and two touchdowns from Mike Glennon, but he was sacked five times and intercepted once. Jimmy Smith had the pick, and Elvis Dumervil led the front seven with 1.5 sacks.
It was the second loss already this season by more than 30 points for the Bucs (1-5) and first-year coach Lovie Smith.
“They’re a good football team, and we’re not a good football team. It’s as simple as that,” Smith said in his postgame news conference.
GAME RECAP
Baltimore received the opening kickoff, and as noted, Forsett busted off a 52-yard run to the right on the game’s second play from scrimmage. Two plays later, Flacco connected with Torrey Smith for a 15-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 just 1:41 into the game. After Jimmy Smith’s interception on Tampa Bay’s first possession, it only took four more plays to get into the end zone once again, as Flacco and Smith connected once again for a nine-yard score, making it 14-0 with 9:28 remaining in the first quarter.
After a three-and-out, the Ravens took over at the 50-yard line. This time, it was a seven-play drive that ended with Flacco connecting with Aiken for a 17-yard scoring strike, and it was 21-0 before 10 minutes even elapsed on the game clock.
History then repeated itself, as the Ravens forced a three-and-out, they got the ball back near midfield, and scored again when Flacco found Campanaro from 19 yards out. With 12 seconds left in the first quarter, it was 28-0 and essentially over.
That didn’t stop the Ravens though, as after yet another three-and-out, Baltimore scored on the second play of its next possession when Flacco connected with Steve Smith for the 56-yard touchdown. Stop if you’ve heard this before, but the Bucs went three-and-out once again, but on the next Ravens drive, they had to settle for three—Justin Tucker kicked a 46-yard field goal to close out the scoring barrage at 38-0.
That was the score into the third quarter, where Tampa Bay scored on its first two possessions to cut the Ravens’ advantage to 38-10. Baltimore responded with their final touchdown of the day, as Pierce ran left for a four-yard score.
Tampa Bay opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown, and Tucker kicked a 49-yard field goal midway through the final period to reach the 48-17 score that ended the contest.
UP NEXT
The Ravens are now 2-0 against the NFC South, beating Carolina and Tampa Bay in dominant fashion. They will look for a third win against the division next week when Baltimore hosts Atlanta at M&T Bank Stadium. Atlanta is 2-4 after losing 27-13 at home against Chicago today for their third-straight defeat.