In a regular season that began with unexpected adversity, the Ravens ultimately passed the initial test.
Joe Flacco threw for a career-high 307 yards and three touchdowns in lifting the Ravens to a season-opening 38-24 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs before an announced 71,099 at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday.
On a sun-splashed afternoon, Flacco and his teammates not only answered the critics, but they also responded to the pressure when it mattered the most. With the game tied at 24 late in the fourth quarter, Flacco stared down an all-out blitz and found wide receiver Mark Clayton for a 31-yard touchdown. It provided the decisive blow and sent a message to the rest of the NFL.
This was supposed to be the same bruising running offense from last year. This was supposed to be the team with questionable big-play receivers.
Yet, at least against last season's fifth-worst pass defense in the league, the Ravens attacked through the air, finishing with a team-record 501 yards of total offense.
"This is a new year, a new offense, a new mentality," Clayton said. "We are kind of remaking ourselves."
A 13-point favorite over a Chiefs team that won just two games last season, the Ravens made several mistakes, especially on special teams, resulting in a game closer than the final score would indicate.
There was a blocked punt that Kansas City returned for a touchdown in the second quarter. There was an interception that Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson ran back 70 yards to set up another touchdown.
That allowed a Chiefs offense, playing without injured starting quarterback Matt Cassel, to take a 14-10 lead in the third quarter and tie the game twice in the fourth.
Unlike previous seasons, it wasn't the Ravens' old formula - playing suffocating defense and running the ball - that carried the team to victory.
After Kansas City went ahead 14-10 (the touchdown was set up by an interception), Flacco passed for 114 yards and two touchdowns.
"It's awesome. It's so much fun," said Flacco, who completed 26 of 43 passes for the game. "As a quarterback, that's what you want to do."
When the Ravens fell behind for the first time (14-10 midway through the third quarter), Flacco answered with a 9-yard touchdown pass to tight end Todd Heap on third down.
When the Chiefs tied the game at 17 early in the fourth, Le'Ron McClain's 1-yard touchdown run put the Ravens ahead 24-17. The biggest play on that drive was a 24-yard pass from Flacco to Heap.
