OWINGS MILLS – Joe Flacco is convinced the Baltimore Ravens need to officially join the NFL arms race, and commit to an aggressive passing game after scorching the St. Louis Rams’ secondary.

Never mind that the Rams’ cornerbacks of Justin King and Bradley Fletcher are suspect to be kind and liable to be victimized by many quarterbacks, Flacco is certain that the Ravens need to emphasize an aerial approach going forward.

It was definitely an effective strategy during the Ravens’ 37-7 demolition of the Rams on Sunday as Flacco completed 27 of 48 passes for three touchdowns and a career-high 389 yards.

“We came out and attacked,” Flacco said. “I was thinking to myself: ‘What are the top teams in this league? What are they?’ They are passing teams. Do they run the ball? Yeah, but they really throw the ball very well. They’re not just the top offenses. They’re the top teams.

“Is the goal getting to the playoffs for us? No, it’s not getting to the playoffs for us. We know we can do that. The goal is to win the Super Bowl. In order to do that, you have to do that.”

Ravens coach John Harbaugh loves the enthusiasm after watching Flacco target King for three touchdown passes to speedster rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith in the first quarter.

He’s not going to abandon the run, though. Not with Ray Rice headlining his backfield.

“I think Joe is right about a lot of things, he’s right about the fact that you have to go after people,” Harbaugh said. “You have to attack people down the field and outside. Would you want your quarterback not saying that? He probably wants to throw every single time. That’s what you expect from your quarterback.

“He and I talked about that a lot this week. That was stuff that he expressed to me going into the game. That’s true. You have aspirations to win a championship. You’ve got to be able to attack people in every different way, but that’s not to say we aren’t going to run the ball, too. You’ve got to be able to do everything well.”

The Ravens revamped their offense this year, getting younger and faster in the process of cutting wide receiver Derrick Mason and tight end Todd Heap and drafting Smith in the second round and acquiring Lee Evans via a trade from the Buffalo Bills.

Now, they’re beginning to add a vertical element to their offense as Flacco connected with Smith for touchdown passes on a 74-yard fly route and a 41-yard post pattern.

Only Vinny Testaverde has ever passed for more yards -- 429 during the Ravens' inaugural season in 1996 -- in a single game for Baltimore than Flacco's Sunday output.

“You want to be able to stretch the field vertically, which is something that we’ve really wanted to do coming into this year,” Harbaugh said. “To see that happen is a big plus for us. It opens up the check-downs, it opens up the crossing routes, it opens up the run game.”

The Rams entered the game with the last-ranked rushing defense, so they were anticipating that Baltimore would try to pound the football down their throats.

Instead, they did the opposite although Ray Rice still rushed for 81 yards on nine carries.

“They were defending the run, there’s no question,” Harbaugh said. “I think they expected us to come out running the ball, too. So, they gave us looks that were not great against the run but good against the pass. What we had to do was beat those guys out there one-on-one. Those young receivers stepped up and did that.”

The Ravens set franchise records for most yards of total offense with 553for a game and in a half with 406 yards by halftime.

They set a tone in the first half.

“We wanted to come out this week and make a statement,” wide receiver Anquan Boldin said. “We wanted to start fast.”

And it took the pressure off the Ravens’ defense, which teed off on Rams quarterback Sam Bradford for five sacks.

“We have a good defense, the way our defense has played however long we’ve been in Baltimore,” Flacco said “When you have a defense like that, it’s my opinion you shouldn’t be grinding out games 14-7 every week. We need to come out here and be aggressive and take control of games. If we lose a game doing that, we lose a game doing that.”

Trying to reposition themselves as a more balanced offense could happen for the Ravens if Smith continues to progress after a silent first two games followed by his breakout performance.

The Ravens are also hoping to get Evans healthy after resting his injured left ankle Sunday against the Rams.

Between Smith and Evans’ speed and athletic tight ends Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta with wide receiver Anquan Boldin working short to intermediate routes, the Ravens could have the makings of a dangerous passing game.

“That’s the idea,” Harbaugh said. “You’ve got two downfield type threat guys. I’d put the tight ends in the same category. Anquan gets downfield in different ways. We’ve got a chance to be pretty good.”

The New York Jets could be a different story, though, in how they defend the Ravens’ receivers.

They feature All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis and mercurial cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who has flashes of greatness mixed with concentration lapses.

“Teams will do what they do,” Harbaugh said. “I’m not going to expect the Jets to back off. They’ve got great corners. I’m sure they’re going to challenge us and see what they can make of how we play. And I’m sure we’ll challenge them and see how good they are.”