Ravens Ready For Division Rivals Steelers Next Sunday
BALTIMORE (AP) — Their spirits soaring after another home victory, the Baltimore Ravens will be riding a crest of momentum into their showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Joe Flacco threw two touchdown passes, and Baltimore beat Tampa Bay 17-10 Sunday to improve the Ravens to 5-0 at home this season and remained tied atop the AFC North with Pittsburgh. Baltimore will next host the Steelers on Sunday night.
The Ravens were looking ahead to that game only minutes after this one ended.
"We know what's in front of us," tight end Todd Heap said. "We know that when the Ravens play the Steelers in December, it usually has a lot of meaning — and this game coming up definitely does. It will be a statement game for us."
"We have as big a game as we've had all year coming up," linebacker Barrett Ruud said. "It's a division game, and they have a two-game lead on us right now. We definitely have to get back and find a way to win."
For the Ravens, next week's game wouldn't have been nearly as important if they didn't win this one.
"I don't think you ever want to diminish this victory," coach John Harbaugh said. "It's one we really need to get where we're going. It's a game that bridged us into December. It give us an opportunity to accomplish some things. We're playing the biggest game of the year."
Flacco connected with Heap for a 65-yard score and hit Derrick Mason for a 10-yard touchdown during a three-minute span of the second quarter to stake Baltimore to a 17-3 halftime lead. Flacco has 53 career TD passes, surpassing Vinny Testaverde (51) for most in Ravens history.
"Vinny didn't play here that long (two years), so it's not really that much of an accomplishment," Flacco said. "Hopefully, I can make that a little bit higher for somebody else to break in the future sometime."
Flacco completed 25 of 35 passes for 289 yards and had a 76-yard touchdown throw to Ray Rice called back because of a block in the back by Anquan Boldin.
"It was a bogus call," Boldin said.
Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman went 17 for 37 for 162 yards and a touchdown. Although he avoided being sacked, Freeman often was forced to throw under pressure and had only one completion of more than 20 yards.
"I played extremely poorly. There are a number of balls I usually hit that missed," Freeman said. "I just wasn't getting it done."
His 5-yard touchdown pass to Kellen Winslow with 3:05 left made it 17-10, but the Buccaneers didn't get the ball back.
"I thought we were in control. We were never really threatened until the end of the game," Flacco said. "We had to do a good job there and put the game away."
Coming close was no consolation to the Buccaneers, whose previous losses to winning teams came by a combined 96-40 score.
"There's no moral victories," coach Raheem Morris said. "I understand they're 7-3 and they're powerhouses, and we've got to give them credit for being powerhouses and that's cool. But we've got to find ways to win those games if we want to be the best."
Tampa Bay safety Cody Grimm hurt his left ankle, was carted off the field and did not return. Guard Davin Joseph left in the first quarter with a foot injury and did not return.
The Ravens had their share of injuries, too, most notably to fullback Le'Ron McClain (sprained left ankle) and left tackle Michael Oher (sprained right knee).
"A couple guys went down, but now you see those guys walk by in the locker room," Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis said. "It's just an exciting time to be a Raven."
