Game Recap - Ravens at Chargers

The Ravens didn't fall out of the driver's seat in the AFC. They got pushed from it.

The San Diego Chargers' offense went up and down the field all night on the Ravens, handing them a 34-14 loss on Sunday Night Football.

It's the fourth loss this season for the Ravens, but the first in which Baltimore didn't beat itself. They just got beat.

"This is a reality check," Terrell Suggs said. "This is an [butt]-whoopping."

Despite the loss, Baltimore (10-4) clinched a fourth straight playoff spot before the game due to losses by the Tennessee Titans and Oakland Raiders. But now they're looking at having to go on the road in the playoffs once again.

Baltimore now has to root for San Francisco to beat Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football in order to hold on to the lead in the AFC North.

It was a disastrous night for the Ravens from start to finish, but the biggest problem was not being able to slow San Diego's offense.

The No. 3-ranked Ravens defense surrendered a season-high in points (34) and allowed 415 total yards.

The Chargers (7-7) – who are now in the middle of the AFC West playoff hunt – didn't punt all night. It was only the fourth time in their franchise history that happened and the first since 1990.

Only twice did a Chargers drive not end with points. And those were only because a 37-yard field goal clanked off the upright and then San Diego didn't convert on fourth down as they tried to run out the clock on their final drive.

According to the NBC broadcast, it was the first time the Ravens have ever allowed an opponent to score on its first five drives in franchise history – 254 games.

"Disappointing loss," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "Credit to the Chargers, who played exceptionally well as they often do this time of year. They were clicking on all cylinders. We did not play particularly well at all."

It was that kind of a game for the Ravens' defense, which had its hands full against a hot and high-powered Chargers offense.

The Ravens' offense started hot, but had a couple missed opportunities early on and couldn't keep up with San Diego as it rolled up and down the field. The rout was on when Flacco threw a pair of interceptions in the second half.

"It was an ugly one," Flacco said. "Things weren't going our way. It was just bad. We didn't play that well."

Meanwhile, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers carved up the Ravens all night long. He finished 17-of-23 for 270 yards and a touchdown.

San Diego's aerial targets – namely 6-foot-5 wide receivers Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd – consistently beat Baltimore's defensive backs as the Ravens got little pass rush on Rivers. He was frequently throwing to wide-open receivers.

Jackson finished with three receptions for 84 yards and Floyd had five catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. They went at starting cornerbacks Jimmy Smith (who stepped in as a starter for injured Lardarius Webb) and Cary Williams.

"They're going to catch deep balls," Williams said. "They get paid, just as well as we do. They just outplayed us, plain and simple."

The Ravens missed early opportunities, and it put them behind early in a tough road environment. Flacco had Lee Evans open for a touchdown on their opening drive, but didn't put enough on it and it was swatted away at the last second by safety Eric Weddle.

They had to settle for a field goal attempt by Billy Cundiff, but he was wide right from 36 yards out. It was only Cundiff's second miss from inside 40 yards this year. All nine misses have come on the road.

The Chargers' offense marched down the field with ease from the get-go.

San Diego had a 12-play, 74-yard drive on their first possession that ended with a 2-yard touchdown on an inside handoff to running back Mike Tolbert. That broke the Ravens' streak of 21 games of not allowing a touchdown on the opponent's opening drive.

The Ravens' offense answered with a 12-play, 74-yard touchdown drive of its own, as the game early on took on the look of an offensive shootout.

On the legs of running back Ray Rice, Baltimore quickly moved to the Chargers' 15-yard line, where Flacco fired a pass into a tight window for tight end Ed Dickson, who made a great grab to tie the game at 7-7.

"I felt like we could have had success today on offense. We just got into a game fighting from behind," Flacco said. "We knew we had to score every time we got the ball and we probably had to do it pretty quickly."

The Chargers went right back down the field, thanks in part to a 15-yard personal foul on Terrell Suggs for a "head slap" that negated Baltimore's only sack. They took a 10-7 lead on a 45-yard field goal by Nick Novak.

After a third-and-3 pass was too high for Rice, the Ravens punted the ball to the Chargers offense for the first time on the night.

That left the door open for San Diego's offense to take command of the game, and it did just that and never looked back.

On the resulting drive, Jackson gave Williams a double move and got overtop both he and safety Ed Reed for a gain of 58 yards. The Chargers got to the 1-yard line on a 20-yarder to Floyd and running back Ryan Matthews took it in from there, giving San Diego a 17-7 halftime lead.

The Chargers' offense didn't cool at halftime.

San Diego flew 80 yards down the field in just four minutes, 22 seconds and got into the end zone on a 28-yard pass from Rivers to Floyd, who beat Smith. The Chargers took a 24-7 lead at the start of the third quarter.

The Ravens started to mount a rally, but Flacco was intercepted by linebacker Takeo Spikes and they punched it into the end zone again on a 3-yard carry by Matthews for a 31-7 lead.

Flacco was intercepted on the next drive too trying to dump the ball off to Rice on third down. This time outside linebacker Shaun Phillips went up to make the play. The rout was on.

The Ravens got their second touchdown with 1:55 remaining on a 36-yard pass from Flacco to rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith, who broke the Ravens' single-season touchdown record.

The Ravens now head back to Baltimore looking for help. They have two games remaining at home against the Cleveland Browns and on the road in Cincinnati.

"We fell from first to fifth, but we still can have everything that we want to happen to us," Suggs said. "We can either tuck our tails and see how it plays out, or we can go out and win the [darn] games."