BALTIMORE _ Safety Eric Weddle predicted last week that there would be a time when the struggling offense would need to score 30 or 35 points for the Ravens to win.
The Ravens didn't necessarily need that many Sunday, but during a second half in which the defense struggled to stop the Detroit Lions and their prolific quarterback Matthew Stafford, the much-maligned offense closed the deal.
Alex Collins had two fourth-quarter touchdown runs and the Ravens tied a franchise record with 24 fourth-quarter points in a 44-20 rout of the Lions in front of an announced 70,500 on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Ravens' third straight victory puts them at 7-5 and strengthens their hold on the AFC's second wild-card spot.
Weddle closed the scoring for the home team with a 45-yard touchdown return of an interception. It was one of three turnovers forced by the defense.
Otherwise, the offense played its best game of the season as quarterback Joe Flacco threw for two touchdown passes and completed 23 of 36 passes for 269 yards.
Collins rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns and wide receiver Mike Wallace caught five passes for 116 yards.
The Lions got on the board on their first drive of the second half. Theo Riddick ran the ball into the end zone in from 4 yards out after Stafford had hit Marvin Jones, who out-dueled Marlon Humphrey on the play, for a gain of 42 to create the first-and-goal.
Later in the third quarter, Stafford led another scoring drive, which ended with Tion Green's 6-yard touchdown run. Matt Prater missed the extra-point attempt, keeping the Lions' deficit at 20-13.
But the Ravens answered and outscored the Lions 24-7 the rest of the way.
The Ravens, and Flacco in particular, played one of their best halves of the season in building a 20-0 lead at halftime over the notoriously slow-starting Lions. The offense, defense and special teams all had a significant hand in the early lead.
Flacco completed 15 of 22 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns. It marked just the third time this season in which he had two touchdown passes in a game. He gave the Ravens a 10-0 lead when he found tight end Benjamin Watson alone in the back of the end zone for a 1-yard score. The play was set up a Flacco 66-yard bomb to wide receiver Mike Wallace, who was tackled at the 1-yard line. The 66-yard connection was the Ravens' longest play from scrimmage this season.
Flacco culminated the Ravens' next drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to undrafted rookie turned defensive lineman Patrick Ricard. The big play on the 36-yard scoring drive was Flacco's 23-yard back-shoulder completion to Wallace on the far sideline. The play was initially ruled an incompletion, but Ravens coach John Harbaugh challenged the play and the incompletion was overturned.
Justin Tucker continued the Ravens' special teams success by going 2-of-2 in the first half. He started the scoring with a 38-yard field just with just under six minutes remaining in the first quarter and he gave the Ravens the 20-0 lead with a 46-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter.
The defense also did its part, holding the Lions to 133 total yards in the first half and forcing a turnover. Weddle's strip sack of Stafford and Willie Henry's recovery gave the Ravens the ball on the Lions' 36 and they punched it into the end zone with Flacco hitting Ricard for the touchdown.
Detroit also made a series of mistakes in the first half. An unnecessary-roughness call by Paul Worrilow on punt coverage gave the Ravens the ball past midfield, and they ultimately took the 3-0 lead on Tucker's 48-yard field goal. On the ensuing drive, the Lions were in field-goal range, but Stafford bobbled a snap on third down, forcing a 10-yard loss and the Lions to bring out their punter. Prater also sent a 43-yard field-goal attempt wide left.
