Rice, Ravens reign over Lions 48-3 BA

By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer

BALTIMORE — A cold, driving rain couldn’t prevent the
Baltimore Ravens and Ray Rice from enjoying a record-setting
day.

Rice ran for a career-high 166 yards and a touchdown, and the
Ravens enhanced their playoff hopes Sunday with a 48-3 victory
over the hapless Detroit Lions.

Baltimore (7-6) built a 20-3 halftime lead behind the play of
Rice, who had 155 yards rushing on only nine carries and four
catches for 53 yards. His 59-yard touchdown run made it 17-3,
and the Ravens cruised to the finish in handing the Lions (2-11)
their 19th straight road loss.

The win was particularly satisfying because it came only six
days after a lopsided defeat in Green Bay.

“I thought all three phases really stepped up: offense, defense,
special teams,” coach John Harbaugh said. “Maybe the first time
all year we put it together in that kind of a fashion. That is
encouraging.”

Baltimore set team records in total yardage (548) and rushing
touchdowns (5). The 48 points tied the franchise mark, set in
2005 against Green Bay.

Rice reached a personal high with 219 total yards and topped the
1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time in his career. He has
1,041 yards on the ground and a team-high 68 catches for 652
yards.

“Getting 1,000 yards is very special in this league. It doesn’t
come often,” Rice said. “It will be something I’ll cherish for
life – second year and rushing for 1,000 yards.”

Rice was pulled early in second half, and his backups continued
the assault. Le’Ron McClain scored from the 3 and Willis McGahee
added touchdown runs of 6 and 19 yards to make it 41-3 entering
the fourth quarter.

Backup quarterback Troy Smith ran in from the 15 with 5:02 left
to cap the rout.

It added up to a brutal homecoming for Detroit rookie coach Jim
Schwartz, a Baltimore native, who started his post-game
interview session by saying, “There’s not anybody going live
with this, are there? You might want to have a delay if you’re
going live.”

Schwartz didn’t use any profanity, but was obviously frustrated
by his team’s play.

“It’s not us. It’s not going to be us. There’s going to be some
accountability for this,” he said. “I thought the team was ready
to play. Obviously, I was way off the mark right there.”

The main problem was stopping Rice.

“I was concerned with tackling No. 27 and, obviously, we didn’t
do a really good job of that,” Schwartz said.

Detroit linebacker Larry Foote said, “We didn’t tackle well.
Mentally, I think we just broke down.”

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who was ineffective in the loss
to Green Bay, went 13 for 20 for 230 yards and a touchdown
before leaving in the fourth quarter.

“Joe bounced back. I thought it was gutsy,” Harbaugh said.

Baltimore needed a win to stay in the wild-card hunt. The top
two teams in the race, Denver and Jacksonville, both lost
Sunday.

The Lions lost running back Kevin Smith to a serious knee injury
in the fourth quarter. Smith’s left knee seemed to give out as
he was running downfield after catching a pass from Daunte
Culpepper.

Culpepper, starting in place of injured rookie Matthew Stafford,
was 16 for 34 for 135 yards and two interceptions. Kevin Smith
finished with 69 yards on 21 carries.

“They made it a tough game,” Culpepper said. “My hat’s off to
their defense. They didn’t make any mistakes.”

The Ravens missed a chance to make a statement on their opening
possession. Rice ran 52 yards to the Detroit 14, then lost a
fumble on third down.

“It actually just bounced right out. It was a wet ball,” Rice
said.

Three plays later, Dawan Landry had an interception wiped out by
a roughing-the-passer penalty on Trevor Pryce. But the Lions
wasted the second chance when Jason Hanson missed a 45-yard
field goal try.

Baltimore went up 3-0 when Billy Cundiff kicked a 38-yard field
goal after a 19-yard run by Rice and a 20-yarder by McClain.

It became 10-0 when Derrick Mason caught a short pass over the
middle, was sandwiched by Phillip Buchanon and Marvin White,
then emerged to run for a 62-yard touchdown.

Detroit’s best drive of the day – 15 plays, 69 yards – ended
with a field goal. Then, after a third-and-10 pass to Rice went
for exactly 10 yards, Rice sprinted up the middle for a 59-yard
TD and a 17-3 lead.

Notes: Detroit’s 19-game road skid is tied for fourth-longest in
NFL history. The record of 24 is held by the Lions, from
2001-03. … It was the sixth time the Ravens scored at least
40.