Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

John Harbaugh explains why he wasn't running up the score

BALTIMORE -- When the Baltimore Ravens scored their final touchdown in a 29-7 win Sunday, there were some Atlanta Falcons players who were visibly upset by Joe Flacco throwing a 39-yard strike on fourth down with 1 minute and 46 seconds remaining.

Former Ravens cornerback Josh Wilson was animated in talking with Flacco on the field and pointed in the direction of coach John Harbaugh.

"Well, maybe I have more respect for their team than they do," Harbaugh said after the game. "I mean, it's a 13-point game at that point with plenty of time left on the clock."

The other factor for not punting or kicking a field goal on fourth-and-9 from the Falcons' 39-yard line was the Ravens losing their long-snapper for the year. Morgan Cox tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee with four minutes remaining, which meant defensive tackle Haloti Ngata was handling the long snaps.

"So snapping the ball back there in that situation, that's risking any number of bad things that could happen to us," Harbaugh said. "[To] put them back in the game wouldn't be smart. We certainly weren't expecting a touchdown. But we get all-press man coverage, and that's what we do. That's just football. It was big for us because it sealed the game at that point."

Falcons coach Mike Smith said he didn't have any objections to it.

"They called a play, we didn't stop them and that's the end of it," Smith said. "Our job is to stop the opponent, and we didn't do it. It doesn't matter what the situation is, or what the score. That's what our job is."

Flacco said the objective was getting a first down, but they simply reacted to the Falcons defense.

"They gave us a throw, so we took it," Flacco said.

Torrey Smith, who caught the touchdown, believes the Ravens could've taken the shot downfield earlier.

"They had been playing cover zero on every snap," Smith said. "Honestly, I wanted to do it on first down. But that's probably a sign of disrespect. We really had no choice but to throw the ball and finish with the ball in our hands instead of giving them a shot."

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