In a matchup of the NFL's top rushing offense and run defense, it was the Ravens who gave way in a 30-10 loss to the New York Giants.
Featuring their dangerous three-headed attack, the Giants gashed Baltimore all day long - at least according to the Ravens' typical standard.
New York rushed for 207 total yards, the most allowed all season by a unit that went into Sunday's contest giving up an average of 65.4 yards per game. In fact, it was the most given up by the Ravens since the Pittsburgh Steelers ran for 214 yards on Oct. 5, 1997.
The performance left a sour feeling in Baltimore's locker room following the disappointing defeat, which dropped the Ravens to 6-4.
"We're going to take this game personally," said defensive tackle **Justin Bannan**. "If we didn't take it personally, it would mean that we didn't care. We've just got to fix the things that went wrong today for us today and not let a team run on us like this again."
No opposing running back had gone over 73 yards on Bannan and his defensive teammates all season.
The Giants did it with two players. Brandon Jacobs carried the ball 11 times for 73 yards, while Ahmad Bradshaw totaled 96 yards on only nine attempts.
And they did it in uncharacteristic fashion, breaking off big gains throughout the entire game.
On his first run of the day, the 265-pound Jacobs cut off the left side and sprinted 36 yards before he was finally pushed out of bounds. The play set the stage for Jacobs' ensuing 1-yard touchdown run.
The Ravens had a chance to answer, but kicker **Matt Stover’s** 32-yard field goal was blocked by defensive tackle Fred Robbins.
Jacobs wasted no time making another impact, popping off a 15-yard run before he crossed the goal line from 1-yard out.
Baltimore went three-and-out after Jacobs' second score, and punter [Sam Koch pinned the Giants at their own 10-yard line.
But quarterback Eli Manning, who went 13-of-23 for 153 yards, marched New York 90 yards in 12 plays, finding backup tight end Darcy Johnson for a 1-yard touchdown pass.
As was the theme of the day, the drive was helped by a long run, this time a 22-yard burst from running back Derrick Ward.
"When you look at all the big runs they have, those plays we make 1,000 times out of 1,000 times," linebacker [Ray Lewis said. "The bottom line is when you give that many plays up and backs are bouncing off you, that's something we take pride in. That's something we just don't do. And today it happened."
The Ravens finally got on the scoreboard on their answering series. Operating out of a no-huddle offense, quarterback [Joe Flacco connected with **Derrick Mason** for a 15-yard gain and **Mark Clayton** for another 10 before Stover split the uprights from 38 yards.
Flacco, who completed 20 of 33 passes for 164 yards, snapped his four-game streak of interception-free football when he was picked off by cornerback Aaron Ross just under the two-minute warning in the first half. The Giants moved the ball to the red zone, but Lewis negated that drive with his third interception in the last two weeks.
Coming out of the break, the Raven' defense tightened to hold New York to only 4 rushing yards in the third quarter. Baltimore even closed the margin to 20-10 with a 10-yard touchdown pass to fullback **Le’Ron McClain** midway through the period.
There was a glimmer of hope when the Giants were shut down at midfield after McClain's score, but Ross corralled a deflection off wideout Derrick Mason and raced untouched 50 yards to paydirt.
And the Giants were not finished.
Bradshaw cut through Baltimore's defense for a 77-yard run to pull within range of Lawrence Tynes' 19-yard field goal, which gave New York a 20-point lead and the final outcome.
Despite the Ravens' uncharacteristic lapse in run defense, head coach **John Harbaugh** saw some positives in the game's aftermath.
"The Giants came up with three huge runs," Harbaugh said. "You can take away anybody's run and say it would've been a tight football game. Besides those runs, we played good tough run defense. They blocked three plays really well, ran three plays really well and had the three long runs. I have to give them credit, they did a nice job.
"We had a setback, a defeat, we don't wallow on that either, we build on that," he continued.
