BALTIMORE -- Ray Rice ran roughshod over an overwhelmed Indianapolis Colts defense incapable of keeping up with his stride and cuts.

Joe Flacco darted spirals to a variety of targets, dissecting an overmatched secondary for a pair of touchdown passes.

And outside linebacker Terrell Suggs trounced offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo, leaving the befuddled rookie standing still with his blend of power and speed as he sacked quarterback Dan Orlovsky three times and forced three fumbles.

It was a thorough 24-10 beating engineered by the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday over the winless Colts before 71,187 at M&T Bank Stadium, dominating them to snap an eight-game losing streak to a downtrodden former AFC South power missing injured star quarterback Peyton Manning.

The victory boosted the Ravens to 10-3 for the second time in franchise history, maintains their place atop the AFC North and keeps them tied with the New England Patriots, Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers for the top record in the AFC as they chase the top seed and home-field advantage in the playoffs. Since all their competitors for the top spot won this week, the Ravens gained no separation in the playoff race.

"We have control of our own destiny," said Rice, who rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown and caught six passes for 46 yards. "We're in our driver's seat, but other teams are playing good football as well. So, you hope a team drops one. As long as we keep winning, we'll be fine."

Improving to a perfect mark in seven home games this season, the Ravens have now won a franchise-record nine consecutive games at home and 17 of their past 18. With Manning out of the equation, the Colts (0-13) aren't even close to being a formidable opponent.

"It's a different ballgame when you are playing against Indy, and Peyton Manning is standing on the sidelines," free safety Ed Reed said. "We'll take it, though. We'll definitely take it. We needed it."

Despite the absence of All-Pro middle linebacker Ray Lewis for the fourth consecutive game with a right turf toe injury, the Ravens' defense stonewalled the Colts. They gained only 167 yards of total offense, 50 on the ground.

The Ravens were on pace to set a franchise record for fewest yards allowed with 91 surrendered with 2:18 remaining until the Colts' final drive of 76 yards for a meaningless touchdown to tight end Jacob Tamme against several backups and third-stringers as time expired.

The Ravens have won all of their games with Lewis sidelined.

"He is still the general of this team," Suggs said. "Right now, I think we're all just doing our part holding the levees until he gets back. That's why I honestly think we're playing the way we are."

The Colts gained only 53 yards through three quarters and 47 by halftime, hounding Orlovsky into mistakes.

He completed only 17 of 37 passes for 136 yards and was intercepted once by strong safety Bernard Pollard.

The Colts were nearly prevented from scoring a touchdown for the second time in the past eight years.

The Ravens assumed control immediately after a 27-yard punt return from cornerback Lardarius Webb, marching 40 yards on their first drive with Rice gaining 32 yards through the ground and air to get down to the Colts' eight-yard line.

On the ensuing play, Flacco located speedy rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith in the right corner of the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown pass.

"I thought I had a good shot at getting the ball, so I just ran the route to the corner," said Smith, who caught his sixth touchdown of the season. "Joe made a great throw."

The Ravens would boost their lead to 10 points on their next possession on a 36-yard Billy Cundiff field goal.

After the first quarter, the Ravens had built a 111-10 yardage edge with eight first downs to the Colts' one.

Flacco was particularly sharp in the second quarter, completing 5 of 7 passes for 54 yards on a drive capped by Rice's 10th touchdown run of the season that gave Baltimore a 17-0 lead.

Now, Rice has rushed for 1,029 yards for the season. He tied Jamal Lewis' franchise record with his third consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season.

The Ravens rushed for 146 yards on 37 carries, and Flacco completed 23 of 31 throws for 227 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

"We were cooking on all cylinders," Rice said. "We passed it when we needed to pass it, and ran it when we needed to run it.

"We've been victims of not bringing our best, and we've been beat. We wanted to come out and score to help our defense. We wanted to protect our home."

The Colts settled for an Adam Vinatieri field goal late in the first half following a 51-yard Joe Legefed kickoff return.

The Ravens would answer in the third quarter when Flacco had his pick of either throwing to tight end Dennis Pitta or Smith, who was trailing behind him in the end zone.

Pitta snatched a seven-yard scoring pass out of the air and managed to avoid a collision with his teammate.

"Man, that would have been bad," Smith said. "I saw the black helmet at the last possible second. Joe said he was throwing it to Pitta. We would have run into each other and the ball would have dropped in the end zone, but he caught the touchdown pass and that's all that matters."

The drive was set up by Rice running it five times for 40 yards and a 21-yard reception by wide receiver Lee Evans as he tight-roped the sidelined.

Then, Pitta and Smith nearly ran into each other.

"When Joe threw it I felt someone on my back side," Pitta said. "I figured it was a defender and was bracing to get hit. Fortunately, it was just Torrey and he didn't try to make a play on the ball. He needs to share the wealth a little bit. I'm not sorry about taking it away from him."

Unlike a week ago when the Colts mounted a late comeback in a loss to the New England Patriots with three touchdowns toward the end, the Ravens kept their foot on their throats.

If the Colts lose their last three games, they'll become the second team in NFL history to go 0-16 along with the 2008 Detroit Lions.

"Losing sucks," Orlovsky said. "Whether it's football, if it's rock-paper, none of us like to lose. There's nothing fun about losing."

After dispatching the hapless Colts, the Ravens can win the AFC North division title and earn the top seed in the AFC provided that they win their remaining three games against the San Diego Chargers, Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals.

There's no margin for error, though.

"It's very small because if you lose this one or you lose that one, you never know how the tables will turn," Reed said. "That's why early in the season you have so much frustration losing to the teams that we lost to. At the end, everything changes."

On a day where the Patriots and Texans won narrow games over the Washington Redskins and the Cincinnati Bengals in dramatic fashion, the Ravens acknowledge that they've engaged in some scoreboard watching.

However, they didn't get any help Sunday.

"It looked like there were a couple close games, couple of shots, looked like Houston might go down and they didn't, looked like New England might go down, and they didn't," Flacco said. "I'm not really banking on that anyway. I'm looking at the rest of the season saying we've got to win the rest of our games."