**Joe Flacco** completed only 2 of his 9 passes in the first half and the Ravens punted on their last five possessions of the half. Sounds like a recipe for a loss, but not when **Ed Reed**
and the Ravens defense have got your back. Ed Reed, who was having a rather ordinary season until the past few weeks, won this game in the first five and a half minutes.
Reed intercepted Jason Campbell on the third play of the game setting up a **Le'Ron McClain**
TD. A few minutes later, he scooped up a Clinton Portis fumble and ran 22 yards for his 11th career touchdown. 14-nothing Ravens. Good night everybody! For the night #20 had two interceptions and a fumble return TD.
It looked like everybody could have saved their anti-freeze and gone home on this chilly night, but then, what would Al Michaels and John Madden have talked about for the next two and a half hours?
Somebody with more time on their hands than me can look up the Ravens record when they score a defensive TD at home. And when's the last time they blew a 14-nothing lead at home?
This was a great night for the record crowd of Ravens fans who waited 30 years for the Redskins to come to Baltimore for a game that mattered. Ed Reed and the Ravens defense made a loud statement early and the Redskins returned the early surge with less than a whimper.
Facing a 4th and 2 from the Ravens 43 with under two minutes left in the half, Jim Zorn elected to punt. You don't get many chances against the Ravens D and when you get a 4th and 2 on their 43 and punt, you've basically surrendered.
As the Redskins walked off the field at halftime, I was checking to see if their team buses had been summoned to the east tunnel for an early exit to their Virginia homes.
About the only question left, would the Redskins score? Washington answered that challenge with a 1-yard – YES 1-yard – field goal drive in the 4th quarter.
In the 4th quarter, the Ravens nearly Plexed themselves in the foot-thigh region. A Joe Flacco interception set up the field goal. Then a **Willis McGahee** fumble led to a Redskins TD. Suddenly the lead was cut to 17-10 with 11:27 left.
There was no way the Redskins offense was going to get back in the game, but if the Ravens wanted to give it away, they'd accept the charity. It was about then that the Ravens decided they'd leave the giving to Santa.
The Ravens defense started it and the Ravens offense finished it, and how! The offense, sluggish most of the night, turned out the lights on "Ole DC" with a back-breaking 12-play 83-yard drive that used up almost eight minutes.
After 11 straight runs (10 by McClain) **Derrick Mason**
ran by cornerback Carlos Rogers and caught a 22-yard TD from Joe Flacco. Final: 24-10. No "Hail to the Redskins" on this night.
Wow! Seven wins in eight games and a home showdown with the rival Steelers next. Could Ravens fans ask for anything more? Sure, a little help from the Cowboys would have been nice.
3 and out!
Scott
Long-time and respected broadcast journalist Scott Garceau has covered Baltimore sports, including all of its pro football teams, for the last 30 years. Scott, who was the radio voice of Ravens football for the team's first 10 seasons (1996-2005), is a seven-time Maryland Sportscaster of the Year. Garceau is also honored as Baltimore's Pro Football Hall of Fame selector/voter. A native of the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, where he is a member of the area Hall of Fame, Scott has covered the NFL since 1971.
