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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, September 27, 2009

NFL: Unbeaten Ravens blow past winless Browns 34-3


Associated Press

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Ravens looked every bit like an undefeated team, and the Cleveland Browns fulfilled their role as a struggling franchise in disarray.

Joe Flacco threw for a career-high 342 yards, Willis McGahee scored two more touchdowns, and the Ravens cruised to a 34-3 victory Sunday.

After Baltimore (3-0) held the Browns to 78 yards while building a 20-0 halftime lead, Cleveland coach Eric Mangini pulled quarterback Brady Quinn in favor of Derek Anderson. The switch did nothing to turn around the fortune of a team that has been outscored 95-29 this season.

Quinn went 6 for 8 for 34 yards and an interception. Anderson, who lost his job to Quinn last year, was 11 for 19 for 92 yards and three interceptions.

The Browns (0-3) have scored one offensive touchdown in their last nine games dating back to last year.

Not only is Mangini winless in his first season as Cleveland's head coach, but he received unwanted headlines by fining one of his players $1,701 for not paying the hotel bill for a $3 bottle of water.

Flacco went 25 for 35 with a touchdown, and McGahee ran for scores of 7 and 15 yards, giving him six TDs in three games. Baltimore is 3-0 for only the second time in franchise history, thanks heavily to an offense that is averaging 34.3 points per game.

Derrick Mason caught five passes for 118 yards, including a 72-yard TD that made it 34-3 with 8:05 remaining. His third reception made him the 23rd player in NFL history with 800 career catches.

Cleveland played without running back Jamal Lewis (hamstring) and kicker Phil Dawson (leg). The Browns' lone score was a 29-yard field goal by Billy Cundiff with 14:55 left.

Baltimore set the tone in the opening five minutes, when Domonique Foxworth intercepted a Quinn pass and McGahee followed with a touchdown run. The 31-yard drive was extended when Flacco ran for 2 yards on a fourth-and-1.

Completions of 10, 26 and 17 yards by Flacco led to a 36-yard field goal by Steve Hauschka and a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Baltimore's next possession was similar: Flacco went 6 for 8 during a 16-play drive, but the Ravens again had to settle for a field goal after holding the ball for more than seven minutes.

After another Cleveland punt, Baltimore covered 80 yards in eight plays — seven of them passes by Flacco — before McGahee ran in from the 15 for a 20-0 lead.

Anderson completed his first two passes, then threw an interception to set up Ray Rice's first career touchdown, a 9-yard run that made it 27-0.