The Ravens offense was clicking in Sunday's 33-14 win over the Giants, and running back Ray Rice has been rewarded for his role in the performance.
The fifth-year running back was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 107 yards on 24 carries. He also had six catches for 51 yards and a touchdown.
"The thing is with me, I was fresh going into that game," Rice said. "I give my head coach credit; Coach Harbaugh took care of us. He took care of us during the week, and let us guys go out there, practice smart, and when it came to the game, we came out there ready to play."
Rice helped lead an offense that racked up a season-high 533 total yards, and he was one of two running backs to go over 100 rushing yards. Rookie Bernard Pierce had 123 rushing yards on 14 carries.
Rice had 30 total touches in the win, tied for the most on the season.
"We certainly understand how important he is to what we do," Offensive Coordinator Jim Caldwell said. "The fact that he is just a guy that once he gets the ball in his hands, he's going to do something special with it. We try and make certain that he gets it enough times, but like I said, that kind of all falls in line hand-in-hand, because if you're converting on third downs, you're doing all the little things right. That means that you're extending drives. If you are extending drives, everybody gets more touches."
This marks the first time of the season Rice has won the award, and the third time in his career.
Sunday's game was the fourth time of the season that Rice has topped the century mark, and he now has 1,138 rushing yards on the season. He is the first Ravens player to top 1,000 rushing yards in four straight seasons and his 1,616 total yards from scrimmage this year ranks sixth in the NFL.
Rice earned the Player of the Week recognition one day after **getting named to the Pro Bowl** for the third time of his career. Fans can also **vote online for Rice to be the FedEx Ground Player** of the Week.
