"For what seemed to be the first time in a while, the Ravens met an opponent that didn't appear to be too concerned about defending the deep ball.

And the offense took advantage, going long early and then finding underneath and intermediate routes later. That flexibility helped the Ravens secure a 37-13 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

"I think we definitely showed those guys that we were going to try to take shots downfield," quarterback Joe Flacco said. "Even when we didn't throw the ball downfield, we were making moves that were going to push those corners back, and I think that may have helped us do some things later on in the game."

Against a Panthers pass defense that had entered Sunday's contest ranked fifth in the NFL in average yards allowed, the Ravens collected 13 of 22 first downs and 278 of 378 total yards through the air.

Flacco passed for 301 yards -- his first 300-yard game of the season -- and his 56-yard strike to wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh on the offense's second play of the game helped him tie Vinny Testaverde for the most passing touchdowns (51) in franchise history.

Houshmandzadeh became the 53rd player in the NFL to catch the 600th pass of his career, and fellow wide-out Derrick Mason recorded the 900th reception of his career two quarters later.

But individual accolades aside, Sunday's performance was notable in that the offense appeared to dial in plays designed to attack Carolina's coverage, which initially seemed to be concerned about the Ravens' underneath routes.

On Houshmandzadeh's touchdown, Panthers cornerback Chris Gamble took a few steps inside, leaving Houshmandzadeh to run a deep post route against safety Charles Godfrey. Houshmandzadeh caught the pass and then dragged Godfrey across the goal line to give the Ravens a 7-0 lead just 2:34 into the game.

Flacco completed a pair of 23-yarders to Mason and Houshmandzadeh later in the opening quarter and then connected with tight end Todd Heap on a 26-yarder in the second quarter.

"We definitely came in wanting to take some chunks," said Flacco, who completed 24 of 33 passes and finished with a passer rating of 110.8. "We took some chunks early and were able to move the ball down the field and pick up some first downs without even getting into third-down situations. When you do that, it kind of gets your offense rolling. We kind of accomplished what we set out to do today.""