The Baltimore Ravens’ opening game at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the 2014 NFL on Thursday turned out to be totally one-sided as the Ravens thrashed the Steelers by a score of 6-26. Even after the dismissal of Ray Rice, the performance of the Ravens didn’t go down as they inflicted a big defeat on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Ravens dominated the match mainly because of their passing game. Lot of credit for the Ravens’ performance goes to their quarterback Joe Flacco who raised his level of performance against the Steelers. Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger reported to the camp with an energized and lean body. He was received by a young group which included players like Justin Brown and Markus Wheaton. However, Roethlisberger’s main target was Antonio Brown, who has to his credit a total of five catches for 116 yards with a touchdown in the opening game. Brown was responsible for setting a receiving record for Pittusburgh last season with a total of 110 catches for 1,499 yards.
Rice was under a two-game suspension on the charges of domestic violence after a TMZ video was released of him dragging his then-fiance from a lift. The punishment that was handed to him was considered very lenient by many when compared to the severity of the charges. After this incident another video surfaced which showed him acting in a violent manner against her as he was seen punching her in the face. The release of the latest video is the last straw as the Ravens have cut him from their roll as well as from the NFL, which recently announced a new set of disciplinary guidelines for such cases of domestic violence.
Rice’s wife Janay who is the victim in the whole episode hit back at the media for ruining the career of her husband. Questions are now being raised against the commissioner of the NFL Roger Goodell on why the elevator-video which they had access to for a long time was ignored.