Joe Flacco opens NFL career with win

BALTIMORE - There were some anxious moments, but the quarterback from South Jersey and the head coach who was imported from the Eagles both enjoyed a successful debut yesterday for the Baltimore Ravens.

Rookie quarterback Joe Flacco, out of Audubon High in Camden County and the University of Delaware, showed unusual poise in his first NFL game as the Ravens defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, 17-10, at M&T Bank Stadium.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, an Eagles assistant coach the previous 10 years, expressed true emotion.

"It's a thrill," Harbaugh said. "I'm appreciative of [owner] Steve Bisciotti and [general manager] Ozzie Newsome and the rest of the Ravens organization for giving a no-name a chance to be a head coach in this league."

Flacco's workmanlike performance included a 38-yard touchdown run. He said it was his longest score since high school, when, he said, he went about 60 yards against Gateway as a senior. His longest run in college was 25 yards last season for Delaware, which didn't go for a score.

"I was trying to get a first down, and once I got the first down I thought, wow, I think I am going to be able to keep going here," Flacco said.

Harbaugh said the most impressive part of the run was the mental adjustment Flacco made.

"They ran a certain blitz and the play we called was dead and he kept the ball and took it around the backside on his own," Harbaugh said.

The TD increased the Ravens' lead to 17-3 with 15 seconds left in the third quarter.

The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Flacco also had a hand, or, more specifically, a body, in Baltimore's first score, a 42-yard double reverse by Mark Clayton in the first quarter.

Going down the field, Flacco made two blocks along the way.

"I'm like, 'Joe, just don't hurt yourself, no matter what you do,' " Clayton said. "Coach tells us if you don't have the ball, you're a blocker and that goes for all 11."

Flacco, a first-round draft pick in April, completed 15 of 29 passes for 129 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. His statistics would have been better, but the Ravens dropped a number of passes, including what would have been a 3-yard TD by tight end Todd Heap.

Flacco admitted to having typical pregame butterflies.

"Everybody has a little bit of nerves during the game, but once out there, you realize you are just playing football," Flacco said.

Leading 17-3, Baltimore appeared ready to put the game away before rookie Ray Rice of Rutgers fumbled, and the Bengals' Johnathan Joseph scored on a 65-yard return with 10 minutes and 15 seconds left.

The Ravens sealed the win when defensive lineman Haloti Ngata stuffed Chris Perry for a 1-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 play from the Baltimore 25-yard line with 7:15 left. The Ravens then ran out the clock.

Like his old boss Andy Reid, Harbaugh wasn't about to tip his hand when asked if Flacco would be the starting quarterback from now on.

"We'll see," Harbaugh said.

When the game ended, Flacco's mother Karen, could finally exhale.

"I'm relieved," she said. "I'm glad he came through healthy and had no turnovers."

Flacco's father Steve, a former player at Haddon Township and Penn, summed it up succinctly.

"It was a beautiful day," he said. "This was just great fun."