The Baltimore Ravens' defence scores twice in the fourth to beat the Carolina Panthers
The Baltimore Ravens came away with a 37-13 win over the ailing Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The Panthers were within two scores in the fourth quarter before Brian St. Pierre threw two interceptions that
were returned for touchdowns.
Carolina is missing both Matt Moore and Jimmy Clausen at quarterback and was forced to start St. Pierre, who was a stay-at-home dad a little over a week ago. The 30-year-old veteran had been in the NFL
for eight years before this season, and in that time he threw five career passes as a career third-string quarterback.
“It was only a matter of time,” said Ravens’ free safety Ed Reed. “We knew Brian St. Pierre was only with the team for this week. We knew they would be very cautious with the ball and play to their defence,
which they did and hung around. It was just a matter of time for guys to be in the places they needed to be.”
Carolina has the league’s worst offence, but they managed to keep the game close, mainly due to an 88-yard St. Pierre touchdown pass to David Gettis at the start of the fourth quarter. That touchdown made
the score 20-13.
Baltimore kicked a field goal a short time later to go up 23-13, and St. Pierre came back in to try and get the Panthers to within three points, but an interception by Reed put an end to the Panthers’
hopes.
It was Reed’s 50th career interception and it not only ended the drive, but it gave Baltimore another touchdown as he pitched the ball to Dawan Landry during the run back. Landry carried the
ball for 23 yards before leaping into the end zone to put Baltimore up 30-13.
On the next drive St. Pierre was picked off by linebacker Ray Lewis, who ran it into the end zone from the 24 yard line, making the score 37-13.
"It doesn't get any better," Lewis said. "We came out and got the victory we were supposed to get."
St. Pierre was 13 for 28 with 173 yards in the game, one touchdown and two interceptions. His counterpart, Joe Flacco, had a considerably better game. He was 24 for 33 with 301 yards and a touchdown pass.
Mike Goodson did a good job for Carolina, replacing running back DeAngelo Williams, who is out for the season. He ran for 120 yards on 22 carries, and had another 31 yards on five receptions. He fumbled
twice, but Carolina recovered the ball both times.
Baltimore improved to 7-3 and is tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for first place in the AFC North. They’ll host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday.
Carolina dropped to 1-9 and will travel to Cleveland next Sunday to take on the Browns.
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