Yeah, there isn't a better way. The 3.0 was designed to be in FWD cars where that oil filter would have been easily accessible, and was then put into the Ranger as an afterthought, not by the engineering department, but by marketing and accounting. Marketing thought the Ranger needed a smaller V6 option when the 2.9 was slated to be discontinued. Accounting thought using an engine that had already been designed and in production was a good idea, despite it being designed for a very different application.
That probably is your starter you dumped oil on. They were a big problem on the Tauruses because of oil saturation.
My recommendation would be, if you are able, to run it up on ramps and drain the oil, then roll it back down to do the filter. The whole thing is designed around the oil being changed on a lift, and thus with the vehicle level.
If you can't roll it off the ramps without starting it, once it's up there use a jack to jack the rear end up and set it level for the filter.