Resilient Ravens storm past Steelers amid signs of Rice
Baltimore crowd split on NFL’s punishment of former running back
BALTIMORE— A short and tumultuous work week for the Baltimore Ravens ended with a surprisingly lopsided victory.
Playing three days after running back Ray Rice was released, the Ravens got a pair of touchdown passes from Joe Flacco and rolled past the rival Pittsburgh Steelers 26-6 on Thursday night.
Rice was reaching the end of a twogame suspension for domestic violence when a video of him striking then-fiancée Janay Palmer, now his wife, surfaced Monday. By the end of the day, the three-time Pro Bowler had been cut by Baltimore and suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
The media immediately descended upon the team’s training complex, and the line of questioning had little to do with this heated AFC North rivalry.
The Ravens (1-1) shrugged off the distraction to bounce back from a season-opening loss at home to division rival Cincinnati.
Bernard Pierce took over for Rice to gain 96 yards on 22 carries as part of a ground game that finished with 157 yards. Flacco went 21 for 29 for 166 yards and two TD throws to tight end Owen Daniels, and Justin Tucker kicked four field goals.
Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger completed 22 of 37 passes for 217 yards. It was the first time since Nov. 26, 2006, that Baltimore held Pittsburgh without a touchdown.
Although the Rice video and the reaction was the talk of Baltimore for much of the week, a few fans showed their loyalty to the banished running back by wearing his No. 27 jersey.
“There’s two sides to every story,” said the 23-year-old Ravens fan Racquel Bailey, a waitress from Baltimore. “I saw the video. That’s their personal business, and it shouldn’t have affected his career. I don’t agree with domestic violence, but she’s still with him, so obviously it wasn’t that big of a deal. Everyone should just drop it.”
Ravens fans male and female, young and old, debated the events that have affected their team over the last few days. All condemned Rice’s actions, but there was little consensus as to what his punishment should be. The NFL did the right thing by suspending him, some said, but the Ravens shouldn’t have terminated his contract as well. Or maybe the suspension should have remained at two games, where it stood before the punch video be- came public. Meanwhile, those who wore Rice jerseys were getting heckles and high-fives. “You support a wife-beater!” one female fan yelled at a male fan wearing No. 27 about 90 minutes before kickoff. Outside at least one entrance, a memo explained the “Ray Rice Jer- sey Exchange” policy, aimed at “particularly families, women and children” who wish to exchange a Rice jersey for that of another Ravens player. The team is no longer selling Rice jerseys, but at least one independent vendor had some Rice action figurines on sale next to his collection of vintage Colts wares. Paul Kilduff, 65, put two pieces of duct tape over the letters “Ray R” on the back of his faded shirt so that it read “Be Nice” instead of “Ray Rice.” But the tape kept falling off, so he took off the jersey, then put it back on without the tape while uttering, “Ah, I might as well.”
“Everybody deserves a second chance,” he said, a refrain heard often in the parking lot.