BALTIMORE --Donovan McNabb wasn't the only quarterback having difficulties at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Sunday.
Ravens rookie Joe Flacco was hounded and harassed all game long.
The Eagles notched three sacks and were consistently chasing Flacco out of the pocket, but the Ravens used their defense and special teams to put points on the scoreboard in a 36-7 win over the Eagles at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday.
"(Flacco's) tough," said Victor Abiamiri, a Baltimore native who notched his first-career sack. "A lot of us were close all the way throughout the game. We got him down a couple of times. I think he played well for a rookie quarterback."
In the first half alone, Flacco was 5-of-16 for just 59 yards. The Eagles brought him down twice and he was hurried and battered numerous times. He finished the game 12-of-26 for 183 yards and two touchdowns.
If not for a short field – a very short field – Baltimore would have been hard-pressed to score offensively.
"We should hold them to field goals every time they are down there," linebacker Stewart Bradley said. "That's our goal and when you have that level of talent on the defensive side of the ball, you should expect that and we should have done that."
The Ravens' first two scoring drives were two yards and six yards, respectively. That made the game much more manageable for Flacco, who had his difficulties before finally settling down in the fourth quarter.
That's when he connected with receiver Mark Clayton on a 53-yard touchdown strike that for all intents and purposes sealed the win for the Ravens.
"I really don't know what to say," linebacker Chris Gocong said. "The frustrating thing is, again, we were within reach up until the fourth quarter. We just have to find a way."
Defensive end Trent Cole was blunt regarding his assessment of Flacco's relatively mistake-free performance.
"He led his team to a win, and so that's all you can really say," Cole said. "I think (the pressure) was working. It's a team. We win as a team and everybody's got to do their part and everybody's got an affect on the game, and everybody affects each other and things just didn't get done."
Now the Eagles are left to face the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals on a short week. That's a lot of stuff to get over in a short amount of time.
"There's a lot of disappointment," Cole said. "We have to put this game behind (us). It happens to every team. That was just a bad game. It was an awful game for us as a team and there are no excuses for it."
