Pierce knew all about Lincoln Financial Field. As a three-year starter for Temple, the Owls used the Eagles stadium for their home games as well, and this time Pierce would see what the NFL visiting locker room looked like as he’d be proudly wearing a Ravens uniform for all his friends at home.
The Eagles had squeezed out a 17-16 win in Week 1 at lowly Cleveland and starting quarterback Michael Vick struggled against the Browns, throwing four interceptions. Meanwhile, the Ravens looked nearly invincible against the Bengals on Monday night, but would be a day short on rest headed into Philly. And the Ravens had a well-earned reputation for stumbling on the road.
It was a sun-soaked day in Philadelphia, and the Eagles wasted no time in attacking the Ravens’ defense, marching down the field until Vick got sloppy at the goal line, throwing an interception in traffic to Bernard Pollard. Two plays later, Flacco was stripped of the ball by Trent Cole, and the Eagles got on the scoreboard with a LeSean McCoy 1-yard TD run. But the Ravens responded by dominating the remainder of the first half with a Leach 1-yard TD run and a Jacoby Jones 21-yard TD pass from Flacco that was capped by a 56-yard field goal as time expired to go into halftime up 17-7.
But the Ravens were on the road – Hyde. Flacco threw an interception to DeMeco Ryans in triple coverage, and Vick answered by hitting Jeremy Maclin on a 23-yard TD pass. The game got tighter down the stretch as the Ravens offense struggled with three consecutive three-and-out series in the third quarter while the Eagles chipped away with a 23-yard field goal from Alex Henery. Tied 17-17 entering the fourth quarter, Flacco and offense began huddling and lining up under center instead of the shotgun and “sugar huddle” pressure they employed the previous Monday against the Bengals. The Ravens took advantage of a pass interference penalty called on Nnamdi Asomugha to get in range for a 51-yard field goal and Tucker converted to take a 20-17 lead.
The Ravens stopped Vick on the next possession, and Flacco appeared to have the game put away with a 25-yard fade into the end zone to Jacoby Jones over Asomugha, but the replacements officials called offensive pass interference, and the touchdown was nullified. Instead of a two-score advantage, Tucker nailed a 48-yard field goal, and it would be up to the Ravens defense to stop Vick with a 23-17 late lead.
Vick used tight end Brent Celek twice on the next drive to move into Ravens’ territory, and once again the officiating came into play when Haloti Ngata slammed Vick to ground as he was fading back to pass. The ball came forward and Ravens veteran defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu landed on the ball at the 1, and initially Baltimore was given possession. The play was overturned and ruled an incomplete pass. Vick ran into the end zone on the next play and suddenly the Ravens were down 24-23 with 1:55 left.
Flacco completed just two passes on the next drive, and the game ended when Flacco missed Ray Rice on a 4th down pass near midfield. The Ravens were suddenly 1-1 and fuming.
In the postgame post mortems, the entire story was the officiating, which was inconsistent at best, unprofessional at worst. Throughout the NFL in Week 2, the referees became a major part of the story across the league, and despite warnings from commissioner Roger Goodell to not indict the zebras, coaches and players couldn’t help themselves. Flacco almost applauded the Eagles’ use of the officials’ neophyte status to intimidate them and further confuse them on calls.
“I think those guys were calling us tight all day,” Flacco said. “There was a lot of holding a grabbing going on out there. For them to make that call [on Jacoby Jones’ TD catch], and I might sound a little bit like a baby here, was a little crazy. He didn’t even throw a flag. He threw a blue beanie and put his hands in the air and called offensive pass interference. I think you’re probably not too smart if you’re not trying to get away with [cheating]. If Jacoby did push off, he was smart to do it. He was probably getting held or felt like he was and that’s what he had to do to make a play. I think [the Eagles] were pretty successful with it today. We don’t know when calls are going to get made and when they’re not.”
