Flacco?s in the saddle against Texans

His reward?

The starting job against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium on Sunday afternoon at 4:15.

“As we go forward or down the line, none of us have a crystal ball,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “But he will definitely be our starter against Houston.”

Flacco wasn’t perfect against the Bengals, but he was good enough to lead his team to victory and become just the fifth rookie quarterback in more than a quarter-century to win a season opener and the first since Houston’s David Carr in 2002.

Flacco, the 19th overall selection out of Delaware, completed 15-of-29 passes for 129 yards — and didn’t commit a turnover.

The 6-foot-6, 230-pounder also supplied the most memorable plays of the game: a lead block on receiver Mark Clayton’s 42-yard touchdown run, and a weaving, 38-yard scramble down the sideline for the decisive touchdown.

“Once you get on the field and you’re around the guys, it is just football,” Flacco said. “It’s the same thing we’ve been doing for the last 20 years of our lives — we’ve been playing football. We went out there and played our tails off, and that’s why we won.”

The Ravens scored 17 points and gained 358 yards. They are modest numbers, but slightly better than the average of 17.2 points and 302 yards the offense averaged per game last season. The Ravens also possessed the ball for the majority of the game, controlling it for 36 minutes, 15 seconds compared to just 23 minutes, 45 seconds for Cincinnati.

“Regardless of what happened, Joe stayed in the game,” receiver Derrick Mason said. “Through the ups and downs and in between, he was always in the game. He is really starting to come into his own right now.”

Flacco has a chance to have a big day against the Texans (0-1), who are coming off a 38-7 loss in Pittsburgh.

If Flacco continues to progress, the starting position appears to be his to lose with Troy Smith recovering from a tonsil infection and newly acquired Todd Bouman still learning the offense. Kyle Boller is out for the season with an injured shoulder.

“Our guys were not surprised by the way he handled himself,” Harbaugh said. “But by winning the football game and being out there and doing it in real life, the players were excited for him.”

[email protected] 

UP NEXT

RAVENS vs. TEXANS