Joe Flacco, Ravens beat Steelers

BALTIMORE – The dismissal of Ray Rice wasn’t a distraction for the Baltimore Ravens.

Ultimately, it served as inspiration.

Playing a pivotal divisional game three days after the release of the star running back, Baltimore got a pair of touchdown passes from Joe Flacco and rolled past the rival Pittsburgh Steelers 26-6 on Thursday night.

Rice was reaching the end of a two-game suspension for domestic violence when a video of him striking his then-fiancee surfaced Monday. By the end of the day, the three-time Pro Bowler had been cut by Baltimore and suspended indefinitely by the NFL.

“We had a tough family situation this week,” coach John Harbaugh said. “I thought our guys handled it tremendously – with class, with character. They responded.”

Coming off a season-opening loss to AFC North foe Cincinnati, the Ravens (1-1) held Pittsburgh to two field goals and forced three turnovers.

“We was all about getting the win. We wanted to kind of give that to Ray,” rookie linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “We all wish the best for him. Even though he messed up, every man got to go through their mistakes to get better. We wish him the best, but as a team we’ve just got to keep moving forward.”

Bernard Pierce took over for Rice to gain 96 yards on 22 carries as part of a ground game that finished with 157 yards. Flacco went 21 for 29 for 166 yards and two TD throws to tight end Owen Daniels, and Justin Tucker kicked four field goals.

Pittsburgh (1-1) finished with only 22 fewer yards than Baltimore, but the turnovers made the difference. One Steelers miscue halted their opening drive, another set up a fourth-quarter field goal by Tucker, and an interception thrown by Ben Roethlisberger with 1:51 remaining ended any hope.

“Obviously, a disappointing effort for us,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “A lot of the self-inflicted wounds are going to prevent you from being in a football game like that. We turned the ball over too often (and) were highly penalized.”