QB Flacco fuels Baltimore
Ravens move closer to berth in playoffs
BALTIMORE — Joe Flacco threw for 237 yards and two touchdowns, Justin Tucker kicked three field goals and the Baltimore Ravens moved a step closer to securing a playoff berth by beating the Indianapolis Colts 23-16 on Saturday.
The Ravens (9-6) scored on their first two possessions and held off the skidding Colts (3-12) in a windy and rain-soaked second half.
Baltimore will reach the playoffs as an AFC wild card by defeating Cincinnati at home next Sunday.
Striving for their first postseason berth since 2014, the Ravens have won five of six following a 4-5 start.
Indianapolis made it tough on Baltimore, closing to 16-13 in the third quarter before Flacco threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Maxx Williams with 8:40 remaining.
It was 23-16 when Anthony Walker blocked a Ravens punt, giving the Colts the ball at the Baltimore 27 with 2:36 left.
Indianapolis moved to the 10 before a third-down sack and a fourth-down incompletion ended the comeback bid.
Flacco, who went 29 for 38, has thrown for seven TDs with just one interception over his last four games.
The Colts have lost six in a row for the first time since 2011 when they opened 0-13.
That was the year before they drafted quarterback Andrew Luck, whose absence this season with a shoulder injury contributed heavily to the team’s slide into the AFC South cellar.
Jacoby Brissett completed 16 of 33 passes for 215 yards and Frank Gore had 68 yards rushing and a touchdown catch for Indianapolis.
More importantly, the Colts did not commit a turnover against a team that leads the NFL with 33 takeaways.
Adam Vinatieri kicked three field goals for the Colts, but he had one blocked and came up short on a 60-yard try at the end of the first half.
Vinatieri later connected from 48 and hitting the right upright on a successful 38-yarder.
Baltimore’s Tony Jefferson swatted away the 38-yard field goal try in the first quarter, the 13th blocked kick by the Ravens since 2014 and their fifth over the past two seasons.
It was the first time the Colts had a field-goal try blocked since Nov. 3, 2013.
Flacco went 16 for 22 for 157 yards to help the Ravens take a 13-7 halftime lead.
After kicking a field goal on its first possession, Baltimore blocked a field goal try by Vinatieri.
The Ravens then launched a 71-yard drive that ended with Flacco tossing a 6-yard touchdown pass to Michael Campanaro for a 10-0 lead.
Brissett answered with a 14-yard TD pass to Gore, and Tucker kicked a 39-yard field goal for Baltimore after the two-minute warning.
Tucker connected from 36 yards out to increase the lead to 16-7 with 51⁄2 minutes gone in the third quarter, but Vinatieri kicked a pair for the Colts to make it 16-13.