NFL: Baltimore record 11th successive home win

Joe Flacco threw for two touchdowns as Baltimore Ravens made it 11 home wins on Sunday evening, thrashing the Cincinnati Bengals 44-13.

Flacco completed 21-for-29 for 299 yards, while the highlight of the night came when Ed Reed took an interception 34 yards for a score.

The Ravens were pegged back to 17-13 but they pulled away by scoring 27 unanswered points thereafter, with Ray Rice running in two short touchdowns in Baltimore’s ninth consecutive victory in the AFC North. The Ravens were the only team in the division to win the opener.

Baltimore’s defence excelled in its first game under co-ordinator Dean Pees. Playing without injured NFL Defensive Player of the Year Terrell Suggs — who had 14 sacks last year — the Ravens dropped Andy Dalton four times.

Baltimore also turned two turnovers into touchdowns over a two-minute span. After Reed’s touchdown return, 37-year-old linebacker Ray Lewis forced a fumble that was recovered by Lardarius Webb, setting up a one-yard touchdown run by Rice to make it 41-13 with 13:41 remaining.

Reed’s jaunt with a pass tipped by Cincinnati receiver Brandon Tate put the diminutive safety in the NFL record book. Reed has 1,497 yards in interception returns, eclipsing the previous record of 1,483 yards by Rod Woodson. It was Reed’s seventh career score on a pickoff return.

Dalton went 22-for-37 for 221 yards, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 91 yards and a score on his Cincinnati debut.