BALTIMORE — Before launching the biggest comeback victory in the history of the Baltimore Ravens, Joe Flacco first had to withstand the indignity of being booed by his usually supportive hometown fans.
Flacco didn’t care for the treatment, although he could appreciate the sentiment. And it didn’t prevent him from carrying the Ravens past the Arizona Cardinals 30-27 Sunday.
Billy Cundiff kicked a 25-yard field goal as time expired, Ray Rice scored a career-high three touchdowns, and Flacco fueled the comeback with a gritty display of leadership and precise passing.
“You can take a few boos every now and then,” Flacco said, “especially when you come back and win the game.”
Using a fumble by Flacco and an 82-yard punt return by Patrick Peterson, Arizona scored three touchdowns during a five-minute span of the second quarter to take a 24-3 lead.
That’s when many in the sellout crowd of 71,022 voiced their displeasure.
“I don’t go to a lot of football games, but I probably would have wanted to boo if I was in the stands, too,” Flacco said. “We weren’t looking too good. We weren’t playing too well.”
Baltimore (5-2) answered with a 24-point run and moved in front 27-24 when Rice scored his third touchdown on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
Arizona (1-6) pulled even with a 45-yard field goal by Jay Feely with 8:55 left, but the Ravens won it with a 37-yard, beat-the-clock drive in the final minute.
After the Cardinals were forced to punt from deep in their own territory, Baltimore took over at the Arizona 44 with 52 seconds left. A 36-yard completion from Flacco to rookie Torrey Smith moved the ball to the 5, setting the stage for Cundiff’s game-winner.
The Ravens’ previous biggest comeback was from 19 points down against Tennessee in 2006.
“We woke up, plain and simple,” said receiver Anquan Boldin, a former Arizona star who caught seven passes for 145 yards and was a key contributor in the rally.
Flacco completed 31 for 51 passes for 336 yards, and Rice ran for 63 yards on 18 carries. In a 12-7 loss to Jacksonville on Monday night, the 5-foot-8 running back was limited to 28 yards on 8 carries.
Arizona has lost six consecutive. Four of those defeats have been by four points or fewer.
Kevin Kolb threw for 153 yards and a touchdown, and Peterson became the eighth player in Cardinals history to have at least two punt returns for touchdowns in a single season. The last one to do it was Vai Sikahema in 1986.
VIKINGS 24, PANTHERS 21 Ryan Longwell kicked a 31-yard field goal with 2:43 left, and host Carolina’s Olindo Mare missed from the same distance with 26 seconds left that would have tied it for the Panthers. Cam Newton put the Panthers (2-6) in position with a 44-yard completion to Brandon LaFell on fourth-and-15, but Mare’s kick was wide left and Minnesota (2-6) came away with the victory. Adrian Peterson had 162 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns for the Vikings. Christian Ponder won the battle of rookie quarterbacks, completing 18 of 28 passes for 236 yards and 1 touchdown. Newton threw a season-best three touchdown passes, but had two costly fumbles on blindside hits that led to two Minnesota touchdowns in the first half.
GIANTS 20, DOLPHINS 17 Eli Manning threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz with 5:58 to play to keep visiting Miami winless and perhaps put more pressure on Tony Sparano, its embattled coach. Manning completed 31 of 45 passes for 345 yards and 2 touchdowns in rallying the Giants from an 11-point first-half deficit. Mario Manningham caught the other touchdown, a 7-yard play which got New York (5-2) back into the game late in the first half. Lawrence Tynes kicked two short field goals, and New York’s defense got four sacks on the Dolphins’ final two drives. Corey Webster iced it with his third interception in the last two games. Steve Slaton and Matt Moore (13 of 22 for 138 yards) capped the Dolphins’ (0-7) first two drives with 1-yard runs.
TITANS 27, COLTS 10 Matt Hasselbeck threw for 224 yards and a touchdown, and Nate Washington scored twice as host Tennessee kept Indianapolis winless. Rob Bironas kicked field goals of 51 and 50 yards, and Jason McCourty recovered a blocked punt in the end zone as the Titans (4-3) snapped a two-game skid. Colts quarterback Curtis Painter was sacked twice and threw two interceptions, which were turned into touchdowns by the Titans in their first victory over the Colts in three years. The Colts (0-8), still without Peyton Manning, trailed 20-0 by halftime coming off a 62-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints. The Colts outgained Tennessee 399-311, but couldn’t overcome 10 penalties for 66 yards.
TEXANS 24, JAGUARS 14 Arian Foster rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown, and host Houston shut down rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert and the NFL’s worst offense. Matt Schaub threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score for Houston (5-3), off to its best start through eight games. The Texans also took one more step toward the franchise’s first division title and playoff berth by improving to 3-0 in the AFC South. The Jaguars (2-6) couldn’t carry momentum from their surprising 12-7 victory over Baltimore on Monday night. Maurice Jones-Drew scored with 5:15 left, but the Texans used nearly the rest of regulation to set up Neil Rackers’ 39-yard field goal. Gabbert completed 10 of 30 passes for 97 yards with two interceptions.
LIONS 45, BRONCOS 10 Visiting Detroit (6-2) sacked Tim Tebow seven times and turned his two turnovers into touchdowns in snapping a twogame skid. Cornerback Chris Houston (Arkansas Razorbacks) had the fourth 100-yard interception return in team history and defensive end Cliff Avril got a sack, strip and scoop, before rumbling 24 yards into the end zone with a fumble as part of Detroit’s 45-point run after the Broncos (2-5) had taken a 3-0 lead on their first drive. Matthew Stafford hardly showed any ill effects from a sprained right ankle sustained a week earlier, completing 21 of 30 passes for 267 yards and 3 touchdowns. Tebow was 18 for 39 for 172 yards.
BENGALS 34, SEAHAWKS 12 Rookie quarterback Andy Dalton threw two first-half touchdown passes and Brandon Tate returned a punt 56 yards for a touchdown for visiting Cincinnati. Dalton threw touchdown passes of 14 yards to Jerome Simpson and a 43-yarder that dropped into the arms of A.J. Green in the second quarter to give the Bengals (5-2) a 17-3 lead. From there, the Bengals leaned on their impressive defense that bent, but managed to keep Seattle out of the end zone until the fourth quarter. The victory made Marvin Lewis the winningest coach in Bengals history with 65 career victories.
BILLS 23, REDSKINS 0 Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdowns and the Bills defense had nine sacks over injuryriddled Washington in Buffalo’s victory in Toronto. Scott Chandler caught both touchdown passes, including a 15-yarder to open the third quarter, that put Buffalo ahead 20-0. Fred Jackson had 120 yards rushing and 74 receiving in helping the Bills (5-2) get off to their first 4-0 start in home games since 1995. The Redskins (3-4) have lost three consecutive.
49ERS 20, BROWNS 10 Frank Gore ran for 134 yards on 31 carries and a touchdown in a fourth consecutive game and Michael Crabtree made his first touchdown reception of the season for host San Francisco. Alex Smith completed 15 of 24 passes for 177 yards, leading the NFC West-leading 49ers (6-1) to their fifth consecutive victory since an overtime loss to the Cowboys in Week 2.
SUNDAY’S GAMES Tennessee 27, Indianapolis 10 St. Louis 31, New Orleans 21 Houston 24, Jacksonville 14 NY Giants 20, Miami 17 Minnesota 24, Carolina 21 Baltimore 30, Arizona 27 Detroit 45, Denver 10 Buffalo 23, Washington 0 San Francisco 20, Cleveland 10 Cincinnati 34, Seattle 12 Pittsburgh 25, New England 17 Philadelphia 34, Dallas 7 OPEN Atlanta, Chicago, Green Bay, NY Jets, Oakland, Tampa Bay TODAY’S GAME — All times Central San Diego at Kansas City, 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, NOV. 6 Seattle at Dallas, noon Miami at Kansas City, noon Tampa Bay at New Orleans, noon Cleveland at Houston, noon San Francisco at Washington, noon NY Jets at Buffalo, noon Atlanta at Indianapolis, noon Denver at Oakland, 3:05 p.m. Cincinnati at Tennessee, 3:05 p.m. Green Bay at San Diego, 3:15 p.m. St. Louis at Arizona, 3:15 p.m. NY Giants at New England, 3:15 p.m. Baltimore at Pittsburgh, 7:20 p.m. OPEN Carolina, Detroit, Jacksonville, Minnesota MONDAY, NOV. 7 Chicago at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Sports, Pages 17 on 10/31/2011