Joe Flacco threw three touchdown passes and the Baltimore Ravens’ defense forced seven turnovers in a convincing 35-7 victory over the visiting AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Ray Rice ran for 107 yards and accounted for 149 yards and two touchdowns for Baltimore (1-0), which scored twice in a span of 2:07 bridging the first and second halves to turn the latest rendition of the NFL’s fiercest rivalry into a rare laugher.

Eight of the last nine meetings had been decided by a touchdown or less, but Baltimore avenged last season’s 31-24 loss in the divisional round by manhandling the defending AFC champion Steelers (0-1).

The much-maligned Flacco silenced some of his critics by beating Pittsburgh for the first time in seven tries. Overall, Baltimore had lost seven straight in the series when Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was in the lineup.

Roethlisberger threw three interceptions – two shy of his total from last season – and the Steelers’ NFL-best string of eight straight season-opening wins came to an emphatic end.

Similar to last January, Baltimore jumped out to a 21-7 halftime lead, but this time the Ravens didn’t wilt. On the first play of the second half, Haloti Ngata burst through the line and drilled Rashard Mendenhall before he could secure the handoff and recovered the fumble at the 18-yard line.

Flacco then hit a diving Ed Dickson for a touchdown on the Ravens’ first play. Punter Sam Koch ran in a fake extra point for a two-point conversion, adding insult to injury.