The season got off to a fantastic start with a Monday night blowout win at home against Cincinnati. Flacco averaged over 10 yards a completion, throwing 2 touchdown passes. Ray Rice had only 10 carries but still rushed for two touchdowns. The defense played well, including S Ed Reed returning an interception 34 yards for a touchdown. Things did not go so well in a Week 2, 24-23 loss to Philadelphia. Flacco barely completed 50% of his passes, and the offense was unable to take advantage of four Eagles turnovers. Even worse three of those Eagles turnovers came in the red zone, so the game could have been a blowout. The Ravens didn't have any time to feel sorry for themselves, as the New England Patriots came to Baltimore in a rematch of the 2011 AFC Championship. New England led 30-21 in the 4th quarter, but a touchdown catch by Torrey Smith and a game winning field goal at the buzzer by rookie Justin Tucker, improved the Ravens to 2-1. Smith had learned that morning that his brother had died in a motorcycle accident. However, he still played and played tremendously, catching 6 passes for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Ravens improved to 3-1 at the quarter mark of the season with an ugly 23-16 win against Cleveland on Thursday night football. This game will be most remembered as the night the regular officials returned from being locked out. Flacco had his second straight game over 300 yards passing, while Ray Rice had just 49 yards rushing. This was proving to become a bone of contention in Baltimore, as fans felt the offense utilizing the talents of Rice enough.
Things didn't get any prettier for the Ravens in a Week 5 trip to Kansas City, but the wins kept coming, this time in a field goal filled 9-6 win. Rice went over 100 yards rushing, but he was about the only part of the offense doing anything. The defense let Jamaal Charles run all over them, but picked off Matt Cassel twice to help preserve the victory. Baltimore would win its fourth straight game in Week 6 against Dallas but it proved to be a costly victory. Their best corner Lardarius Webb tore his ACL and was lost for the season. It appeared that LB Ray Lewis was also lost for the season with a torn triceps. An already struggling defense was now without 2 starters the rest of the way, leaving a lot of questions for the Ravens. A week 7 trip to Houston would be a good barometer of where the Ravens stood with the league's best following their defensive injuries. Early returns were not good, as the Texans routed Baltimore 43-13. Flacco threw 2 picks, one of which was a pick 6, and Ray Rice had just 9 carries as the game became ugly early. The Ravens had been hopeful as it was LB Terrell Suggs first game back from an off-season injury. Suggs played alright but didn't receive much help. After a week off, the Ravens earned a reprieve in Week 9, when they got to travel to Cleveland to face their punching bag, the Browns. Flacco had another pedestrian game, but didn't turn the ball over. Rice had 98 yards rushing and a touchdown, while the defense picked off Brandon Weeden twice in the 25-15 win. The win improved the Ravens to 6-2 at the halfway mark and in first place in the AFC North.
The Ravens improved to 7-2 with a 55-20 rout of the Oakland Raiders. Rice did very little while Flacco threw for 341 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. TE Dennis Pitta had one of those touchdowns and continued his emergence as another threat for Flacco to go along with Smith and Anquan Boldin. The defense played without Haloti Ngata, and CB Jimmy Smith, and allowed over 400 yards to the Raiders offense. It didn't matter though with the way the offense was playing, and free agent pick up Jacoby Jones even got into the act with a 105 yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The Ravens were back in primetime in Week 11, at their arch rivals the Steelers. Pittsburgh was without QB Ben Roethlisberger and were force to start Byron Leftwich. Leftwich shocked everyone with a 31 yard rushing touchdown to give Pittsburgh an early 7-0 lead. That was pretty much his and the Steelers offense lone highlight of the game. Jones again made his presence felt, returning a punt 63 yards for a touchdown in what proved to be the game winning score, as the Ravens would hold on to a 13-10 win. The Ravens were now 8-2 and two games in front of the Steelers in the AFC North. The Ravens would earn a miraculous 16-13 win in overtime at San Diego in Week 12. They trailed the Chargers 13-3 with a little over 7 minutes remaining. They would eventually get within three points on a Flacco to Pitta touchdown pass. With 1:37 remaining in the game, the Ravens faced a 4th and 29. Flacco then hit Rice with a little screen pass, that Rice then turned into a 29 1/2 yard gain. The play became known as "hey diddle diddle, Ray Rice up the middle". Tucker would nail a 38 yard field goal the buzzer, and then another 38 yarder with just 1 minute left in overtime. The Ravens also got good news as the Steelers fell to Cleveland, giving Baltimore what seemed to be an insurmountable 3 game lead in the division with just 5 games left. In fact, with the Steelers coming to Baltimore in Week 13, the Ravens could clinch the division with a win. It seemed like a win was inevitable as Pittsburgh was down to their third string quarterback, Charlie Batch. The Ravens had also won 15 straight games at home, and 13 wins in a row within the division. Baltimore led going into the 4th quarter 20-13 but Batch would bring Pittsburgh back. Shaun Suisham would hit the game winning field goal as time expired, shocking Baltimore 23-20. Flacco continued his inconsistent play, while the defense shockingly allowed 366 yards to the Steelers offense. It was a tough loss but Baltimore still held a 2-game lead in the division and felt good about themselves at 9-3.
Things started to become tense the next week, when Baltimore dropped their second straight, this time a 31-28 defeat in overtime at Washington. Flacco was held under 200 yards passing for the fifth time in the season and a 121 yard rushing effort by Rice wasn't enough. The Ravens led 28-20 late in the game, and even knocked out Redskins superstar QB Robert Griffin III on a vicious hit by Ngata. But Kirk Cousins came in and still led the Redskins to the game tying touchdown and 2-point conversion. In overtime the Ravens allowed a long punt return and a Kai Forbath field goal sealed the loss. Despite sitting at 9-4, coach Harbaugh felt changes had to be made and fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. Cameron was replaced by former Indianapolis Colts coach, the "fiery" Jim Caldwell. There had long been rumors that Flacco was not a big fan of Cameron and it was clear that Harbaugh was hitching his wagon to Flacco. The move didn't pay off right away as the Ravens dropped their second straight game at home, getting blown out by the Broncos 34-17. Flacco had an awful pick 6 at the end of the first half that led to the Ravens trailing 17-0. The Ravens had gotten all the way down to the Broncos 2 yard line, then saw Chris Harris return the interception 98 yards for the score. The Ravens trailed 31-3 at one point, before two late garbage touchdowns to Pitta made the game look a little more respectable. The Ravens had now lost three in a row and were 9-5. The Cincinnati Bengals had kept winning and now just stood a game out of first place in the division. The Ravens faced a must win game at home against the New York Giants in Week 16, and rose to the challenge. Flacco threw for over 300 yards for the fifth time that season, Bernard Pierce and Rice each rushed for over 100 yards, and the defense confused and frustrated Eli Manning all day, as the Ravens routed the Giants 33-14. The win clinched the AFC North title for Baltimore and left them with nothing to play for in the Week 17 finale against Cincinnati. They mostly played backups in a 23-17 loss, finishing the season at 10-6.
The Ravens hosted Andrew Luck and the upstart Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round. Ray Lewis was playing in his first game since tearing his triceps against Dallas in Week 6. It was also going to be the final home game he ever played, as earlier in the week he announced his retirement. The game was methodical and didn't feature much scoring, as each team turned the ball over twice. The Colts were hanging around, down 17-9, until Flacco hit Boldin for an 18 yard touchdown that sealed the victory. RB Pierce continued his emergence, rushing for 103 yards. Flacco had just 12 completions but made them count, averaging over 12 yard a completion. The win set up a rematch with Broncos, but this time Baltimore had to travel to Denver. The Ravens were heavy underdogs and not given much of a chance. The game was exciting from beginning to end, the Broncos raced ahead 7-0 on a Trindon Holliday 90 yard punt return touchdown. Flacco and the Ravens responded right away with a 59 yard touchdown toss to Torrey Smith. Then Corey Graham put Baltimore ahead 14-7 with a 39 yard interception return for a touchdown. The teams continued to trade scores and went into the half tied at 21. Then Holliday started the second half with a 104 yard kickoff return, putting the Broncos ahead. The Ravens would tie the game with a Rice touchdown run but the Broncos took a 35-28 lead late in the 4th quarter. The Ravens faced third and 3 from their own 30 with just 31 seconds remaining. Flacco would then hit Jacoby Jones for a 70 yard touchdown pass, shocking the Broncos and their home fans. Neither offense would score in overtime but the Ravens would pick off Peyton Manning in Denver territory to close the first overtime session. Justin Tucker then hit a 47-yard field goal in overtime number two and the Ravens had completed the shocking upset. They were in the AFC Championship game for a second straight season and fittingly would be at New England once again. The Ravens trailed New England 13-7 at the half but the Patriots suffered a huge loss when they lost CB Aqib Talib to injury. Flacco took advantage of his absence in the second half , throwing three touchdown passes. Oddly, for the second time in the postseason, Pierce, not Rice led the Ravens in rushing. The Patriots offense couldn't get in a rhythm all day as Tom Brady averaged just 5.9 yards per completion and was picked off twice. The Ravens had their revenge, winning 28-13, earning themselves their second Super Bowl trip in franchise history and setting up the Harbowl.
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