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Someday, the Baltimore Ravens' stunning 23-20 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night may be reviewed as a turning point in the career of quarterback Joe Flacco and the direction of the team.
Flacco's 26-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith with eight seconds left in the four quarter not only capped a 13-play, 92-yard drive, but it also meant that the Ravens had swept their AFC North rivals for the first time since 2006 and earned a coveted position in the race for the playoffs.
The team is tied with the Cincinnati Bengals atop the division and the conference with identical 6-2 records. The Ravens also own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Pittsburgh and could be in line for playing host to the franchise's first playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium since 2006.
"It's a big accomplishment," outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said after Monday's win. "In my eyes - to be totally honest with you - [the Steelers are] the defending AFC champs. So they're still the team to beat, but if we play Raven football throughout, we'll see them again in January, and they've got to come to our house. We swept them, but don't be fooled. We're going to have to see this team in January. Like I said, we just positioned ourselves for them to have to come to M&T so we can do [it]."
The Ravens haven't been home for a playoff game since dropping a 15-6 decision to the Indianapolis Colts on Jan. 13, 2007, and two of their past three seasons have ended with postseason losses to the Steelers in Pittsburgh. A repeat of that scenario would entail the Steelers making up two games in the standings and the Ravens performing poorly in a second-half schedule that includes just three games against opponents with above-.500 records.
"I told them, 'We'll probably see you guys again,'" inside linebacker Ray Lewis said. "But if we see them again, hopefully it's on our terms."
Coach John Harbaugh wasn't looking to the future, but even he understood that the team's fate could be decided in the coming weeks as Pittsburgh visits Cincinnati on Sunday and then welcomes the Bengals to Heinz Field on Dec. 4, and the Ravens have upcoming contests against Cincinnati on Nov. 20 and Jan. 1.
"The mathematical implications are definitely there, but it doesn't mean much if you go out and don't win your next game and your next game and your next game," Harbaugh said. "At the end, it's how many wins you have compared to how many somebody else has and then the tiebreakers come in at that point. You just have to keep stacking wins. That's why you talk about one week at a time. In the National Football League, every week your season is on the line. That's why we try to point to this Sunday and make that the most important thing we do."
The victory over the Steelers may be a defining moment for Flacco, who was praised by ESPN analyst and former Ravens quarterback Trent Dilfer and NFL Network analyst and former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin.
"The most important element for a quarterback is, can you make that play late in the game?" Irvin said during the network's NFL GameDay Final on Sunday night. "Today, Joe Flacco did that. We're used to watching Ben Roethlisberger do it. We're not used to watching Joe Flacco do it, especially not with Ben Roethlisberger on the field. Give him all the credit. He deserves that today."
Running back Ray Rice said over the last six quarters, no one in the NFL is playing better than Flacco. Wide receiver Anquan Boldin wasn't quite as reaching in his post-game comments, but he staunchly defended his oft-criticized quarterback.
"Maybe people will stop putting him down now," Boldin said. "We know what kind of quarterback we have. There was no panic with our offense and I think you saw that. A lot of that starts with our quarterback."
Flacco's stirring comeback was even more surprising considering that he had his success against what had been the league's top-ranked passing defense, Flacco completed 28-of-47 passes for 300 yards and a touchdown and set a franchise record by converting 14-of-21 third downs. He out-dueled Roethlisberger, who helped the Steelers climb out of a 10-point hole in the fourth-quarter and gave them a four-point lead with a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mike Wallace with 4:59 to play.
Even after his heroics though, Flacco declined to put too much significance on the victory.
"I don't know what it means," he said. "It means that we're 6-2, that we beat Pittsburgh two times, so we put ourselves in good position for the division. But we've got a lot of good teams that we still have to beat."
What will the Ravens have in store for an encore? The last time they defeated Pittsburgh with a 35-7 thrashing on Sept. 11, they laid an egg with a 26-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans.
On Sunday, the Ravens meet a Seattle Seahawks that has dropped three consecutive games and been outscored, 63-28, over that same span.
That's why outside linebacker Jarret Johnson made it a point to shift the team's focus from the Steelers to the Seahawks.
"We're at the halfway point, and we feel like we've put ourselves in a good position," Johnson said. "We're 6-2, but we've got a tough one coming up this week, a West Coast trip, and if we don't go out and play well next week, it's just going to put us back in a hole. We need to capitalize this week and make this win really mean something."
