Flacco keeps poise, shows nerves of steel

Yet at home, with a lead, against a Ravens defense he has had his moments against before, Roethlisberger played the first half of last night's game as if he were the one facing the hostile crowd and the long odds. In fact, by halftime, the crowd was hostile - it was booing him and the Steelers, who had fallen behind 13-3 to the Ravens and their poised newcomer.

Roethlisberger had thrown a hideous interception to, of all people, Haloti Ngata, had been sacked three times and fumbled once, recovered by his right tackle.

On the other side, Flacco had been dazzling throughout the half, eluding the rush, escaping big mistakes, marshaling the touchdown drive in the final minutes of the first half, even coolly throwing to Daniel Wilcox for the score even though he didn't even break the huddle until 10 seconds left on the play clock and with no timeouts left.

Then, in the third quarter, he had done another Randall Cunningham impression, zigging way left, then zagging way right, then finding an equally zig-zagging Mason on the right sideline for 26 yards.

"It's interesting. Joe doesn't get flustered, and he takes responsibility," coach John Harbaugh said. "He's that kind of guy."

The caldron of Heinz Field, the Steelers and the Monday Night Football audience didn't seem to faze him. Flacco's resilience bought the Ravens an overtime they otherwise wouldn't have had.

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