Ravens rookie quarterback Joe Flacco completed 16 of 31 passes for 192 yards. It was very much a impure two-bagger for Baltimore Ravens rookie quarterback Joe Flacco on the Monday evening stage. On one hand, he threw his maiden touchdown stage as a pro and extended the Steelers into overtime in his chief byway game. But then again, he fumbled away the ball while being sacked on a clue give of the game, and he couldn't stimulate the Ravens when they received the ball in overtime before at the end of the day losing, 23-20.
"I was difficult to get out of the steal and her the ball away. If we captivate disquiet of the ball there, it's a unusual story," said Flacco, a bygone Pitt quarterback who was Baltimore's No. 1 design best with the 18th overall selection. "I learnt I have to conserve the ball.
" Flacco, who transferred to Delaware to take on for the Fightin' Blue Hens, fleetingly quieted a congregation of 64,038 by peerless the Ravens to a 13-3 halftime lead. The preceding take he played at Heinz Field was Sept. 18, 2004, in a down form against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and he never completed a road at home while playing for the Panthers. He overcame an doomed start against the Steelers when he fumbled his oldest snap, was tackled for a 1-yard trouncing and failed to finished a pass as the Ravens went three and out.
The Ravens couldn't preference up a from the start down on their second possession either, but down, 3-0, they put up 13 unanswered points as Flacco settled in. His beginning realization was an 18-yard flog to Derrick Mason in a manipulate that led to a tying province goal. Flacco then led the Ravens on an 11-play, 48-yard herd in the assign district for a go-ahead field goal. And with 17 seconds uneaten in the half, Flacco connected with securely end Daniel Wilcox for a 4-yard fulfilment and his original touchdown pass as a pro.
"It was jumbo for us at the time," he said. The Steelers' cadenza of 13 consecutive wins on Monday tenebriousness appeared in jeopardy, and Flacco had the diggings set off balance in the third quarter. On a third-down coverage with 11 yards to go, he scrambled to his progressive and then reversed interest before hitting Mason again on a 26-yard gain. It didn't govern to a score, though. "I just kept my eyes downfield," said Flacco, who called his introduction to the Ravens-Steelers difference as "pretty crazy." Then affliction struck for the Ravens.
Fifteen seconds after the Steelers scored their inception touchdown, Flacco was sacked by James Harrison and the ball came out. Linebacker LaMarr Woodley scooped up the ball at the 7 and ran it in for a the nod touchdown. But even when the Steelers went up by seven points, Flacco engineered a nine-play, 76-yard tying touchdown that fundamentally led to overtime.
"Joe does not get flustered, and he takes responsibility," rookie cram John Harbaugh said. "He's a very answerable guy. His behaviour speaks for itself.
The aspect we played, the speed we competed and fought, is something to figure on." A critical take part in on that operate was a 35-yard excrete on third down to Mason that put the Ravens on the 5. From a Baltimore brink of view, it was a occultism moment. "He didn't get rattled. He showed the assurance of a veteran.
That's all you can summon a immature quarterback to do," Mason said. "Certain quarterbacks cater to to fold, to get rattled. Joe's not that guy. I deem he thrives on being in situations a charge out of that, and he pulled a rabbit out of a hat." In the Super Bowl era, the only rookie who started out with three consecutive wins was Cincinnati's Greg Cook in 1969.
Flacco and Ravens got the ball outset in overtime, but they failed to cream up a start down, and the Steelers at the last moment put them away on Jeff Reed's sweet deal with goal. For the game, Flacco completed 16 of 31 passes for 192 yards. He was sacked five times for 52 yards, and his quarterback rating of 81.7 was measure better than Ben Roethlisberger's 80.4. "I'm not big into decent victories.
You either acquire or you lose," said Mason, who had eight catches for 137 yards. "We had it. We let it go. We have to put it behind us. We have a lot of football left. We'll envision [the Steelers] again.
" And the Steelers can bank on whereas a lot more of Flacco in the future. Bob Dvorchak can be reached at.
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